More Busan

Today was my last day to travel with Todd, so I made sure to wake him up at the crack of dawn.  I also woke up very early and couldn't go back to sleep.  So we decided that we were going to tackle Dongbaek Park today. This had several different attractions and also had the APEC building where several world leaders came to meet in 2005. This was beautiful, of course, because it is right along the coast.  We also quickly found out that it is where people come to exercise.  Korean exercise is MUCH different than American exercising.  Their main workout is walking, aaaand that's about it! They also enjoy dressing up in long pants, jackets, face masks, and hats in the middle of summer. I'm not sure why they do it, or how they survive, but that is how I have found much of Korea. None of what they do makes sense!  It makes for great people watching.

Dongbaek Park with unusual Korean exercisers.

We toured the APEC building, which stands for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation.  This conference was held in 2005 in Busan and apparently they built an entire building just for this conference. There were 21 world leaders from around the world that came to this conference. At the time, George W. Bush was our representative.  Now, it appears that it just stands as a museum.  Pretty crazy to build one building for that nonsense!  I'm sure they were quite productive. 

The APEC meeting room where the 21 world
leaders sat to stare at each other.

Where George W. Bush sat during APEC.

A wall showing all leaders involved.

Next we just looped around the path and admired the beauty of this city.  I haven't gone one place that doesn't have a gorgeous view. 

Another beautiful sight in Busan.

Panoramic of the whole view.

Typical Asian photo on the suspension bridge.

Random mermaid sculpture.

It was nearing time for Todd to head off on his next journey, so we headed back towards Gwangali and grabbed a quick lunch.  He was off to the airport for Thailand afterwards and I was on my own until Katie got off work.  So, I decided to hop on the subway and visit Nampodong.  This was an area with alleys upon alleys upon alleys of markets.  I couldn't handle myself.  There were big retail shops 

and very small independent stalls.  It went on FOREVER!  I probably could've spent all day here. 

Nampodong markets everywhere!

Then I met Katie at Busan Station since we needed to head back up to Seoul for her Gaelic Football tournament.  More on this very unusual sport tomorrow.  However, she felt the need to feed me because as you have learned, Koreans eat 24/7.  I love it!!  She took me to a typical sit down Korean restaurant for mandu.  This is a Korean dumpling filled with minced meat, tofu, green onion, garlic, and ginger.  They were DELICIOUS!  

Eating delicious mandu before heading to Seoul.

To the left of is, the locals take their shoes off and sit on the floor for a nice, sit down meal. 

Then we were off to Seoul on the KTX (another train system) and met up with her Gaelic Football players.  We got told about 10 times to be quiet on the train ride there.  I am not exaggerating with the 10 times.  Koreans love their peace and quiet time to sleep.

After we got to Seoul we cabbed our way to Itaewon, the area of Seoul that we were staying in.  This was very much a "foreigner" area and the place to be at night...as are most areas in Korea. I saw more English speaking people than I have since I left America! We are staying in a hostel which is very common among European and Southeast Asia travel.  So I pretty much crashed upon arrival with 9 strangers and 1 public bathroom down the hall.  Should be a solid evening!  More to come on Gaelic Football tomorrow.