Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Day 3- Busan station, Damalji Hill & Spaland

On our 3rd day, we took off to Busan Station where the Damalji Hill is located. We took Line 1 from Haeundae to interchange at Seomyeon Station before reaching our final destination at Busan Station.

We stopped at the famous Paris Baguette while waiting for our train at Busan Station to have our light brunch. We ordered some custard buns, doughnuts, tarts, 3-in-1 hotdog+cheese+corn, curry doughnut puff? And not-to-be-missed every morning, coffee. 


Clean, modern and elegant interior (Suitable as hang out place for young peeps)


Loving their cute take away coffee cup ∩__∩y


Raining all day long _


We took a bus and realised how silly we were when we realised that the actual location is near where we were staying which is Haeundae beach *palm-slap on the forehead* And the bus driver just stopped us at a random bus stop when we told him that we wanted to get to Damalji Hill as both of us couldn’t understand each other. So, we were left aimless at the bus stop and in the end, we just took a cab to the place as it was just 10-15 mins away. What an adventure!

Upon reaching Damalji Hill, we immediately spotted the beautiful gingko trees.


Coffee really makes the world goes around in Korea. There’s literally one on every corner and all in between along the street! We stopped by at “Angel In Us” café which is famous for their pastries and coffee, of course. In fact, it is one of the most franchised cafés in Korea, aside from the Paris Baguette as it is more focus toward the high-end district. 

Me posing in front of the coffee and beans ^_^;


The cosy environment suitable for catch-up with friends and colleagues ^^


Overlooked the nice view points and cafes on the way down


Walked down to enjoy the view  (´`)*








Posing with the 600 year old gingko trees ^^v


Hubby's classic throw leaves act =.=


Stumbled across a temple (When spiritual meets nature)



The buildings in Damalji Hill were aesthetically pleasing as they resembled the artistic street of Busan. Most of the buildings were modernist architectural and consist of wedding studios, art studios and etc. Some of the buildings were blending modernist European style architecture with plenty of open-concept cafes. 






A hint of autumn (´`)*




Overlooking the breathtaking Haeundae beach


Panaromic view of the beach




Tree branches along the street



We managed to queue up for free Shrimp burgers when we stopped by at McD along our way. 


Hubby just can’t get over the new “toy”!~


After the exhaustive Damalji Hill, we wanted to look our for some relaxing place and headed over to our first trip to Korean spa, one of Busan’s biggest and most modern “jjimjilbangs” (Also know as public bath here). In fact, it’s called the Spaland and is located in Shinsegae department store. We were greeted by smiley customer service at the entrance and paid Won 35,000 (RM105) for 2 pax which is considered cheap given the facilities and variety of rooms. I guess it’ quite common for the Koreans to have public bath here.



When we went separately to the public bath house (gender-separated), I was perplexed to look at the nudity roaming around the room. O.o And we were given two mini towels to cover. I was just completely taken off by the people walking in front of others. It’s just funny to get looks from the peering eyes and the "ahjumas" had no issues with that as it was a norm to them.



The first room had around eight separate baths and claimed to be good for both the skin and blood, heated to various degrees. The temperature for the baths was averaging between 37 degree to 40 degree. Some pools were still and serene while others had bubble effects for “water massage” feeling.



After showering off, we met at the gender-mixed area and were intrigued to try the variety of saunas which were waiting for us. We tried the 52 degree of “Pyramid Room” which is the so-called “angle of energy collection from the universe”. After few minutes, as we were unable to stand the heat, we moved forward to the “Hamam Room” which resembles the Turkish bath house and “Body Sound Room” which was good for the bones, I think. But, my personal favourite was the “Green Room” where serene and peaceful music surrounded the room which claimed to be good for mental stability.




After the relaxing saunas, we were ushered towards the “Relaxation Zone” with massage chairs and guests were enjoying the chairs with their own personal TVs. But, that didn’t fancy us too much as we were more intrigued with the massage chairs. The chairs were placed as same level with the capsule machines which claimed to burn Xxx calories upon sleeping in it for an hour along with some facial and hair parlours.



We enjoyed the massage chair so much and it was so different compared to those massage chairs in Malaysia. Every touch gave us the “oomph” sensation and we were so looking forward to the chairs when we were back in Malaysia.



We only stayed for four hours in Spa Land as it is one of their restrictions unlike most of the other “jjimjilbangs”. We had our light dinner in their food court and enjoyed our makgeolli before making our way back to the hotel. We really enjoy the Shinsegae “jjimijilbangs” and thought it will be great if they have Thai/ Balinese massage as well. It will be a perfect complement! Overall, we are looking forward our next trip to other “jjimijilbangs” in Busan if we were to re-visit Korea in the future.



That’s all for the day before we took off to Seoul the next day ^^v

XOXO
sassycat

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