As usual, I tried to go somewhere new and see something I haven't seen before. So, I set course for Eulsuk-do Island. It's in the southern part of Busan, rather far from most attractions, but I figured it would be cool to be on an island and to see a bit of nature.
Unfortunately, not too many birds were stirring and nature was, for all intents and purposes, dead...but it still made for a great walk, and it was nice to be in a big city and yet be far from the noise and hustle and bustle of city life. Plus, the island is smack-dab underneath the path airplanes take to land at Busan International Airport, so I got to see planes up-close and personal every couple of minutes, which was pretty neat.
Sunset at the sanctuary (southern tip of Eulsuk-do)
And a view of the industrial part of Busan from the island:
It was nice to have the island to myself, but I'm really looking forward to going back in a few months when things will be greener and more alive.
And so, I headed back to Busan, intending to go home, but of course Nampo-dong (an awesome little lively district full of camera stores) is on the way, and I got sidetracked.
On my way to catch a subway...
After drooling over some sexy photo gear (finally got to test out a Canon 100mm f2, a lens I ordered the next day!), I had to check out Yongdusan Park, a neato place I've never seen at night...this was also a great place to fall in love with my new camera (a used, chipped, all-around amazing Canon 5D)...This picture was horribly underexposed at ISO 1600 (on purpose, didn't want to blow out the highlights)...and still, it came out great...I've had this camera for a few weeks and am continually impressed by its performance...plus the 16-35 is wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide on it).
After that, I headed home and came into work on Friday...then on Saturday, Dawni, Nick, Sarah and I headed to...you guessed it...Busan!
I wanted to see two things, the Nurimaru APEC House (where the 2005 APEC conference was held) and the Busan Yacht Club...so off I went with my merry band of misfits and headed for Haeundae Beach where there is a beautiful oceanside boardwalk connecting the APEC House with the beach. Sadly, it was a hazy day (thanks to humidity and pollution) and I didn't get any decent exterior shots, but I did get a half-decent interior shot...
After that, we kept heading away from Haeundae Beach along the shore and pretty soon I was greeted with a sight I've been waiting for for nearly a year. I miss clusters of modern skyscrapers and real city skylines. Korean cities tend to be very spread out, with one neighbourhood melting into another and very little personality to separate neighbourhoods in once city from those in a city across the country. Not Busan. Busan is different. In Busan you get to see stuff like this:
The tallest buildings are the Zenith Towers, coming in at a sweet 300 metres (1,000 feet) plus. On the left is Busan's iconic Diamond Bridge...the whole sight was gorgeous. I was in heaven. So, naturally, I wanted to head to the towers.
So we did...and then we sneaked into one of the Zenith Towers, which are still under construction. To our great surprise, the workmen we encountered on the 75th floor (we walked all the way up to the 77th floor, but there were no windows there) seemed to be completely okay with our being there. So, we roamed around the penthouse suite and I snapped a few pictures...let me tell you, dangling my camera out of a window 300 meters above ground was a little nerve-wracking, but well worth it. For points of reference...the rectangular concrete slab/dock you see in the above panorama, you can see in the middle of the picture below. Also, in the picture below, the round building on the right side is the Nurimaru APEC House.
Oh yeah...I almost forgot the other reason I love Busan. The cars!!! You all know how much the boring cars in Korea make me want to slap random small animals some days...well, Busan is the perfect cure for that obsession as well. For example, as we were walking toward ME World (amusement park in Busan, pics later), I heard this sound that was a mix between angels singing and the ground ripping in half to let the Four Riders of the Apocalypse ascend from the fiery depths of Hell. In reality it was the dozen cylinders belonging to the Ferrari 599 coming to us at an ungodly speed roaring at 7,000+ RPM. Before we knew it, the red flash was receding on the other side of the horizon, leaving me with jaw dropped and knees trembling.
In our few hours there we saw an Audi R8 V10 whipping up and down the drag in front of Haeundae, more brand new BMW M3s than I can count, a Porsche Panamera, a Nissan GT-R (R35), and a '96 V6 Mustang rocking a set of rims so ugly I wouldn't put it on my parents' wheelbarrow.
Two more pics...ME World...we could see the ferris wheel from miles away. so we decided to follow it and see where we end up...it was a neat little mini amusement park where we got a churro and Sarah and Nick rode little mechanical animals.
And finally...though I don't drink, I thought this was a neat picture...taken with the 50 1.8 (@ 1.8, of course) in the window of a bar:
That's pretty much it...Busan just doesn't seem to get boring or old or mundane. I've been there more than any other Korean city (other than my own, Changwon, though lately I've been going to Busan more than even into Changwon) and I've yet to get bored of it...in fact, tonight after work I'll be heading to Busan again since it's apparently the first full moon of the Lunar New Year, and they'll have a big bonfire, dancing and other celebrations at Haeundae Beach (and across the country, but I'll take any excuse to hit up Haeundae)...so, hopefully if it's anything spectacular I'll have pics and maybe videos from that!
One more thing: If you haven't heard of the band The Coral, check them out. They kind of remind me of Blur (not the Song 2 phase, but Country House, etc)..good stuff. Dreaming of You has been on repeat on my laptop for weeks.
Y'all take care now!
T
Wow!!! Those pics turned up incredible!!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much :)
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