Redemption in Taejongdae, return to Centum City

On my last visit to Busan, I made the mistake of being too ambitious and ended up with a bit of regret.

An aside: I still haven't gotten over the novelty of grabbing breakfast at a local convenience store. Sad to have missed the mulberry milk seen the previous year in the city, I decided to try the vanilla milk. It was good and sweet, but banana still triumphs.

In the spirit of learning from past mistakes, it was then in the cards that we return and rewrite the experience of Taejongdae with a more pleasant one. 

After a long bus ride across the city, we were dropped off at the entrance of the park. Simply seeing the sign in the daylight was enough to get me excited.

During the last visit, there were many breaks in the trees that I could barely make out through the dimly lit streetlights. This time, it was a treat to be able to see the sea beyond the trees.

This is where the beginning of the end of my previous visit occurred... I saw the lighthouse in the distance beyond the trees, and had ventured down the steps. This time, we decided to take the "rougher" path. In conclusion: it wasn't that rough.

The eerie lighthouse looked very mundane in the light. 

I love coastlines. There is just something very calming and powerful about seeing the etches of time through the rock formations.

We ventured up to the lighthouse viewing deck for a better view.

It is during times like this that I really wish I lived by the sea and the mountains.

Down below were ladies selling fresh seafood.

There were also a few hiking groups. I think that is something that has become somewhat common in Asia; hiking groups consisting of the middle-aged demographic, well-equipped to scale mountains.




After we walked down as far as we could, we headed back up to continue throughout the park. Luckily, we spotted a an ice cream stall just as we were feeling a little warm.

A stop for cool treats.

The sky started getting gloomier, and we decided to head to our next destination. As per the newfound love for buses, we hopped on another on our way to Centum City. A lovely plant/book/cafe was passed on the way there... 

We took a quick walk around the sculpture park.

Thoroughly starved, we wandered into Centum City for sustenance, and spent an egregious amount of time trying to locate the food court. I was quickly tempted by the eomuk, though I quickly regretted my lack of moderation.

A quick stop through Busan Museum as rain started to overtake the city.

My favourite manju.

Now for the highlight of the day: the return to one of my favourite memories.

Unfortunately, the outdoor hot springs was under construction, so after soaking in the indoor part, we wandered down to the saunas.

We went all out and ordered both sauna eggs and bingsoo.

We were determined to take the bus again to our next destination, as we were recently reacquainted with and on good terms with the bus system, and I had yet to take the subway this trip. We waited in the rainy streets waiting for the next bus, and just as it was arriving, someone hailed a taxi right in front of us, and the bus driver thought we were all getting on, and carried on his route instead of stopping. A lady and I both tried in vain to flag down the bus, and then resignedly took soggy selves to the subway. 

As most restaurants were closed at this time, we visited the same milmyeon restaurant. I had been feeling a little under the weather since the tail end of our time in Japan, and I left her to finish the bottle of soju alone. 

After a quick walk along rainy Haeundae, we returned to our hotel, where I proceeded to down the remaining vitamin drinks and slept with my mask in an attempt to recover.