Beautiful Busan

One of the things Sarah and I always praise Daegu for is its accessibility as a metropolitan region. In addition to be an accessible province in and of itself, it is also extremely close to many other exciting areas in South Korea. One of them is the coastal province of Busan.

Me inside a fish tank a Busan Aquarium at Haeundae Beach

Busan is a little over a 1-hour $10 roundtrip trainride from Daegu. It's located on the Southeast coast of Korea, and is known for its beautiful beaches, massive seaport, fish markets, and incredible nightlife.

This past weekend was Busan's annual fireworks festival, and a bunch of us went up for the weekend to enjoy the festivities. In addition, we also spent the day walking around the Busan Aquarium at Haeundae Beach (definitely recommend this as well!).

2011 Busan Fireworks Festival at the beach

This exhibition of explosions and loud noises is not your average fireworks show (sorry, 4th of July), and it is certainly not for the faint at heart. :)

We arrived at the beach around 3:00 in the afternoon, which I would recommend to anyone going to this festival in future years. We were able to secure a front row spot on the sandy beach and had some of the best seats in the house when the official show began around 6:00.

The only complaint was the excessive rain and overcrowded vibe. People come from all over Korea (and other nearby regions) to watch this firework show, so you can imagine the insanity (just think New York City during an Apocolypse...haha!).

All in all though, it was an INCREDIBLE weekend and worth every minute waiting on the beach and every drop of rain that fell on us. Put this in your list of "to-do's" if you haven't already!

Happy birthday, Tom! (Tom & Lisa)

It was also a great weekend in that we had the chance to celebrate our good friend Tom's 23rd birthday (he's a youngin!). It was a fun combo of festivities and a great way to hang with friends.