Wow, so this has taken me a while to upload! This blog post actually about a trip I took I took to Busan three weeks ago on October 15th, with K-Shuttle’s Southwest bus tour.

The view from the first stop on the tour, Busan Tower.

Busan Tower

Korean War memorial dedicated to the refugees who fled south to Busan, away from the North’s advances.

Photo of the CN Tower in Busan Tower

Love tiles

Me in front of Busan Tour

Me in front of Busan Tour

CNN Café in downtown Busan

Canadian store!

Wow, Canadian style

Entrance to the famous Busan Fish Market

Colours, sounds and “fragrances” to delight the senses

Some lucky pigeons getting a snack from a fish monger

Art on the boardwalk

Standing on the boardwalk with the wind blowing in my face

Blackout Korea!!

A ship at the fish market

Unloading cargo

Unloading cargo

The bustling market

Being the only white person/foreigner for quite some distance, this guy was pretty amused at me walking around the fish market in my flowery dress taking pictures of everything (tacky tourists of the world unite!). He struck a pose and shouted “HELLO!” playfully.

Outside the fish market

Outside the fish market – can you spot the Canadian flags?

A funny-looking dog (with no visible owner in sight?) chilling outside the fish market.

One of the things I wanted to do in Busan was eat some freshly-caught raw fish (Korean sashimi). My guide recommended this fish; of course I forget what it’s called. It looked kind of like flounder. Apparently it’s the most popular type of fish to eat raw in Korea.

The fishmongers slicing up my flounder…

…And packing it up

The finished product! It was served with wasabi (catering to the Japanese tourists) and Korean hot pepper sauce (gochujang). I would’ve preferred soy sauce or Sriracha (maybe even some spicy mayo, hehe!) but when in Rome! All of that cost me about $10; I could barely finish half of it.

Lanterns where we sat to eat our sashimi.

Delicious Korean street food: six of these little bites for $1. They tasted like Yorkshire puddings: crispy on the outside, hot and eggy on the inside.

A “Gangnam Style”-inspired marketing piece inside a department store downtown.

The strangest ad I’ve ever seen for a baby photo studio…

A typical street in downtown Busan, near the famous BIFF (Busan International Film Festival) district.

Found this pretty bakery tucked away in one of the side-streets:

Like many bakeries in Korea, the goal was obviously to model itself off of the traditional French/European bakery style…

I freaked out a little when I saw these!! Yes, they are mini Totoro pastries – so cute! I love Studio Ghibli, but I think I’d pick “Spirited Away” as my favourite movie (not Totoro). Still, these pastries looked so hilarious.

And for only $2, I had to buy one! I ended up taking it back to Seoul with me, and splitting it with my roommate (using a metal chopstick to slice through poor little Totoro’s body!). Filled with Bavarian cream (or custard?), he tasted absolutely delicious!

Some beautiful cakes in the bakery, which was called “Côte d’or” (“Gold Coast” in French)…

…Turns out that the place was run by some Japanese bakers (hence the Totoro donuts!). Absolutely lovely… This is the kind of stuff that I love about of Korea.

CONCLUSION:

 I had a lot of fun on my K-Shuttle Southwest Tour. Although there was some misunderstanding about how full the bus was going to be, it still turned out to be a really fun trip. My only regret is that we didn’t visit the famous Haeundae Beach or APEC House in Busan or the island in Yeosu, but I guess there were some time restraints that prevented doing those things. Overall, I would recommend visting K-Shuttle’s facebook page to stay updated on the promotions they do. You can also visit their website here: http://www.k-shuttle.com/