Sky High and Deep Down Under

We had no plans today, so we slept in until very late, enjoying our lack of itinerary. After we took our time in the morning. we went to Haeundae Beach, the most famous beach in this beach town. There was a stunning sandcastle exhibit on the beach.  At least 90% of the visitors and beach goers were in street clothes, with only a small minority actually in swimsuits or in the water.  Many were carrying parasols, wearing long sleeves, and protecting their hands from sun damage with gloves.  Most just wanted to see the sandcastles, so we were in good company.

The Vatican in sand

Each exhibit was an interpretation of a famous work of art. 

Next up, the aquarium. We are collectively suckers for sea life, and an aquarium gets us excited. This one had it all! Again we were surrounded by sweet, polite, and cherished Korean kids, which made the Sunday crowd feel like no trouble at all. 

Jane was overtly thrilled with this aquarium. They put on a great show, and I can’t ever remember having gone to one this nice. 

Petting sea stars

Jane loves moon jellies!

Piranha exhibit, complete with skeleton

Sometimes translations run amok in Korea. We thought this was the case here, but nope. That’s what they’re called. 

We rode in a glass bottom boat around the shark tank and reef. 

At the end, they gave everyone a cup of tiny shrimp to feed the fish. 

Jane watched a Netflix documentary about Mermaids a few months ago, and she’s been talking about wanting to see mermaids ever since.  Today was her lucky day, because they had a mermaid show right after the boat ride.

There were mermaid props and even 2 costume changes during the show.

Next up was a Lego exhibit.  We were the only people there, but that suited us fine. The Lego sculptures were spectacular!  In each of the wonders of the ancient world, there was a hidden Indiana Jones to find. 

Here’s the seaside temple we went to yesterday. You can even see the two golden pigs whose rumps we patted for luck. 

Here’s Himeji Castle, a castle in Japan that the 3 of us visited in 2018. From the back, the castle is open and the rooms are all occupied. 

Here is a temple in Ephesus Turkey we saw last year. 

Indiana Jones is in the bottom chamber. 

Here’s the giant statue of Zeus from Olympia.  We saw the ruins of this temple last year too. 

This Arc de Triomphe reminded me of when Judy and Beth ran across all the lanes of traffic to get there, totally unaware there was a system of tunnels for pedestrian access. 

Our route, in Blue.  Can’t believe we lived to tell the tale. 

The most unnerving piece was this massive sinking titanic. The detailed horror of this moment was realistically rendered in legos. Lego characters in states of distress, imminent death, and physical trauma were all around. We couldn’t help but be awed by the artistry. We had no clue how they got it to stand up. There were no wires suspending it. 

Jack and Rose were there. 

The designer and builders notes on this one say it all. Truly a gruesome selection. 

By the time we left the LEGO exhibit we were very hungry, and Jane didn’t want to wait to find something to eat. We went into literally the first restaurant we came to, which happened to be Chinese food.  We were issued bibs and scissors again. Just as American Chinese food isn’t Chinese, it turns out that Korean Chinese food isn’t very Chinese either. There were standard kimchee and Korean pickled vegetables.  Everything tasted much like Korean food. 

Eating in Korea includes liberal use of scissors. When scooping up noodles on chopsticks, one simply cuts away the excess. Brilliant!

We decided to take the subway to our next stop. After a pleasant walk, even though the weather started to turn colder, we walked to the train platform. First, our fare was $1 each, drastically cheaper than NYC. We are standing at the platform in silence, and Jane finally breaks it saying “Are we going to talk about this?”  

We just all stared straight ahead. After a beat she asked, “So nobody is going to talk about the entire lack of feces and urine smell?  How clean this place is?  How there are plexiglass walls so nobody can get shoved into the tracks?  How there are nice vending machines?  And bathrooms?  And a lack of homeless people?  And absolutely zero trash?  And floors that look freshly cleaned? And no rats?”

No Jane, we didn’t even know this is something one could expect from a Subway. 

Here’s a video from the New York subway this March. See if you can spot the jumbo rat running by. 

Back in Busan, we rode the spotless train to Centum City, the location of the World’s largest department store. This place was a circus for of a shopping experience, spread out over 14 floors.  With an ice rink, a driving range, a movie theatre, a daycare,  school, and countless restaurants to access, there were numerous twists and turns of escalators, elevators, and winding paths throughout.  We bought nothing but a piece of bread for Jane but explored the heights. When we got to the 9th floor, we discovered an outdoor park with dinosaurs.  It turns out that’s only one of 3 outdoor parks in this mall. There is a full scale hot springs spa in the bottom and a full club and spa at the top as well. 

This giant AI face is selling luxury sunglasses. We have seen this brand once before in the Houston Galleria but not with a functional creepy face. 

There were very cutting edge clothes for sale here, with some seriously cool street styles. They had brands we mostly haven’t heard of, but they also had all of the standby luxury brands as well. We find luxury brands boring, but the experience of the mall was fascinating. 

Some sort of K-Pop band had a “magic school” pop up experience in the mall. People were packed in line to buy the magic school goods. We thought it just looked like a hello kitty Harry Potter hybrid, and didn’t understand the fuss. 

We have seen some amazing English shirts today, but this one was a clear winner. 

This brand had brief American popularity in the mid 90s and then faded into utter obscurity. It’s thriving here in Korea. I see someone wearing their logo on a shirt at least once every 10 minutes. 

We thought we were at the top at story 9 (ignoring the basement levels)….

… but there were still more stories to go. 

Through this rib cage was a full scale park, with trees and flowers, a merry-go-round, a pirate ship, and playgrounds. 

After seeing it all, we headed back to the hotel for a rest. 

We ate at the “Outback Steakhouse” equivalent of Korea, a thriving upscale Korean BBQ chain. They were doing a huge business and the place was packed. 

They put these tiny shrimp on our grill. They were the same shrimp we fed the fish in the aquarium. Only Jane was brave enough to sample the chum, and she confirmed it was not an experience she would repeat. The pork on the other hand was delightful. 

This is our restaurant. My favorite part is this wacky power pole and permanent traffic cones. 

Because one doesn’t tip in Korea, the bill is either paid up front immediately before dining, or paid at the end up front. Either way, the check is kept at your table the entire time. One is never trapped at the table waiting for a bill or your credit card to return. We think Barbie Clark would approve, as she’s the one who pointed out to us how she hates to be trapped at a restaurant when she’s done. 

Off to bed. Tomorrow we leave Busan for our next chapter.