Busan, South Korea

31 Aug -3 Sept 2015

Sorry for the delayed blog post (as usual)... but this time can't blame it on Mr. Hubby for taking a while to upload pics to FB...

***this mummy was to blame!!!*** Lols

It's been almost 2 months now since our trip and my post pregnancy brains is kinda rusty now, so forgive me if this blog post seems vague! U can still ask me questions :)

It's my 3rd time to south Korea now (but 1st time to Busan), Sienna's 2nd time to south Korea and baby Skye 1st time!!!.. :) 

PREVIOUS Korea trip : Click here.....

This time Mr. Hubby didn't join us as he is heading to Incredible India yet again to attend another cousin's wedding! 

But truth be told, it was a last minute decision to go to Busan, South Korea... we joined gong gong on his flight as he had a 3 nights stay there!!! Sienna was super duper excited to know that gong gong was the driver... N even said gong gong can't go to the toilet as he had to fly the plane... Lols...

Chiu Chiu Jeffrey aka Manny couldn't joined us either as it was last minute...so it was just me, the kiddos, po po n gong gong!

Places we covered in summary:

1st day: (monday, early morning): After checking in, gong gong obviously NEEDED to sleep but for the rest of us, we were wide awake n ready to hit the streets of Busan!!! But actually our stomachs were growling... so gong gong gave us a few tips on where to go nearby for food n grocery shopping. We stumbled upon a noodles place recommended by the guy selling Korean chicken across the street.

Then we headed to "save zone" supermarket for some grocery shopping. Bought some milk(cheap n super yummy creamy just like Japan milk), snacks n yogurt drinks (for the kiddos), Korean coffee drinks (for me of course), mom went all excited n bought a BIG Box of grapes which we ended up eating everyday n brought back the leftovers! Bananas, etc...  

The grapes were so cheap!!! 10 bunches costs 8900 won = SGD 9 whereas when I came back to Singapore, the same Korean grapes cost SGD 4 for just 1 bunch in NTUC

Explored Haeundae street market... mom wanted to taste corn dog for the first time (I tried it before when I was living in the USA) but this Korean version is more "bread-like" instead of corny! Kiddos were happy with their meat on a stick while I was happy with my rice cake desserts!!! We "Tapao" some sweet potato for gong gong in case he got hungry later. 

went back hotel n had a nap...

Evening: Haeundae beach... our hotel "Novotel" was right smack on the beach...thus we stopped by it every evening on our way back! Sienna n skyler went "cray cray" over the sand...

Dinner: Korean bbq pork...was quite disappointed coz I still remembered my Korean bbq experience in Hongdae Seoul during my last Korea trip where I had it every night!!! Cheap, yummy n big portion... this time, it was the opposite!

2nd day: woke up bright n early! Headed to Gamcheon culture village aka "Santorini of the east"!!! The pictures of the village turned out surprisingly nice... we didn't explored much as we had a stroller with us n the place was hilly with lots of steps in between the narrow lanes of houses... the sun shining was unbearable hot! Otherwise, the weather was nice!

Headed to Jagalchi fish market to have our seafood lunch! Cheap seafood...33,000 won!!! We went with mixed seafood...lots of different kinds of fried/grilled fish. Not forgetting the overflow of yummy side dishes (Korean meal is accompanied with loads of free side dishes)

Gukje market for shopping... read reviews that it was similar to namdaemun market in Seoul but unfortunately we didn't buy anything as the fashion there was so outdated that even my mom said it was "granny" fashion!!!

BIFF square - shopping n street food... we walked pass it but again shopping was not as expected... we were so full from our seafood lunch that we couldn't really enjoy the street food. Bought a peach blended drink, ice coffee drink n a fried doughy caramel coated with nuts snack !

We headed back to another train station "Nampo" n stumbled upon Lotte shopping mall where we stopped to rest our tired legs while I breastfed baby Skye! Went to the highest floor aka skypark to get a birds eye view of busan!

Dinner : mom wanted to try black bean noodles made famous by Korean dramas... I tried once in Singapore but wasn't impressed... but this one was so yummy!!! We had pork dumplings as well...

3rd day: shopping day!!! Headed to shinsegae shopping mall at centum city (largest mall in the world according to guiness book of records)... not much sale going on and all the shops there were mostly the same as in Singapore n Malaysia... disappointed yet again. 

Ate our brunch at the food court (dad had beef bulgogi n the rest of us shared a family platter of assortments), tried the famous "patbingsu" aka shaved ice for the first time (nothing to shout about other than the ice was very fine!!!)

Went up to the highest floor where they had a kids playarea called "zooraji"... 

Couldn't resist the yummy abundant food at the food court... so we all shared a huge stir fried Korean noodles...yummy n spicy!!!

Went back hotel to nap...

Gong gong took us for a seafood dinner nearby the hotel...

4th day: (thurs evening flight) since my mum n I were disappointed with zero shopping, we decided to head to "save zone" departmental store nearby the hotel in hopes for our last minute shopping n my usual "supermarket sweep" (which I normally do on my last day) to fill up my empty luggages!!!

Fueled up with yummy steaming pork hot broth with rice aka "gukbap"!!! Might be one of the yummiest meal we had in this trip... cheap n good... 

Headed to "save zone" where we shopped till we dropped!!! Gong gong volunteered to babysit baby Skye while the ladies did our shopping...  it was a "fruitful" shopping haul where we bought clothes, shoes, n lots of groceries... call us crazy we even bought a big box of peach!!! Lols... 

Mummy tips:
~ bassinet - make sure to book in advance. We didn't need one for baby Skye as he's a little too big for it. Plus it's easier to breastfeed him with him by my side. The flight was quite empty so po po n sienna had a whole row while me n baby Skye had another.

~ it was red eye flight going there... which helped A LOT as all of us were happily snoozing most of the way!!! and we were out and about the next day we arrived!

~ baby Skye did not have any ear pressure problem this time! (THANK GOD)! Now that baby Skye is on solid food, we offered both kiddos snacks n drinks throughout the flight (especially during take off n landing). Sienna was happily sucking on her lollipop. She knows to associate lollipops to treats going to the aeroplane n vaccinations...hahaha... ***am a bad mommy, depriving my kids of lollipops!!!*** baby Skye had a lollipop on the flight back...

~ public transport is SUPER DUPER BABY friendly... just like in Singapore! But we had a bad experience where they did NOT offer to give up their priority seats to gong gong who was carrying Sienna even after numerous attempts by po po...nearby passengers did not bother either.

~ taxi ? We didn't need any... the trains were good enough...haeundae station is just minutes away from our hotel...

~ stroller - yes!!! Bring along...everywhere was stroller friendly... we didn't once had to carry the stroller... (except at gamcheon cultural village where there were steps). On a side note: the escalators had a pole in the middle to prevent strollers from getting on. But with a little maneuvering, we managed to get on ... in Singapore, we are pro at using strollers on escalators!

~baby high chair... they didn't have it except at big shopping malls. The rest of the restaurants were so small that we had to leave our stroller outside. (Note: we had to take turns eating as baby Skye couldn't sit at the table as they were hot pots, bbq, and lots of side dishes) very unsafe... so at one point I fed baby Skye outside at the sidewalk while the steps kept him entertained...

~baby changing or nursing rooms ~ Only at big shopping malls.

~no problems with baby food now that baby Skye is on SOLID FOOD... ! 7-11 are everywhere...not forgetting street food n the abundant of eatery places!!! The kiddos were happy campers as they are meat eaters n Korean food is good for them as the meat are thinly slice with no bones!

~ bottle water not needed. Just boil at the hotel.

~ we bought fruits, snacks, yogurt drink, milk, etc on our first day to last us the whole trip

Overall, this trip was a good holiday albeit a tiring one as Baby Skye does not really want to sit in the stroller n when he gets tired, he only wants mummy to carry :( n we didn't bring a baby carrier this time as this mummy packed light coz we were gonna be staying a few weeks in Malaysia. 

I'm surprised my parents can still walk quite a fair bit...N not forgetting sienna walking ALL the way with no naps!!! My legs were all jelly by the end of each day... how I wished busan had cheap massages like in Thailand...  my mom commented she lost weight even though we ate non-stop...Lols...

I'm glad we did go for this trip as it was the last time me n the kiddos could take picture with gong gong in the cockpit!!! This mummy even managed to record gong gong giving his pilot welcoming speech!!!

 ***So emo n sentimental*** cause this mummy has been growing up being in n out of the cockpits 

Tips:

~3 nights was just the right amount of time for us to visit busan...as we had kids n wanted to take it slow.

~we bought (at the ticket machine) a one day train/metro pass on our 2nd day as we were out n about...(4500won). But do note that it can't be used on buses n valid on the date itself n not 24 hrs - unlike other countries.

More BUSAN pics (on mr. Hubby's FB)
Click here..

Didn't managed to take a picture of our KOREAN goodies haul...coz po po unpacked n kept all of it away once we reached home!!!