[Korea] Busan Familiarity Tour 2012

Thanks to Korea Brand Communicator (by Presidential Council of Nation Branding) and Busan Convention & Visitors Bureau for sponsoring the Busan Familiarity Tour which was on July 2-4, 2012. 

On the first day , we went to Nampodong. We visited the BIFF (Busan International Film Festival - changed to PIFF) in Nampodong, the new location for PIFF is the Busan Cinema Center in Centum City. Then we found the Patbingsu Alley, which is a unique place and lifestyle of Busan. 

We continued to Bosu-dong Book Alley, where I wanted to visit long time ago. The book alley has long history even before the Korean war. 

View of the Book Alley in Bosu-dong.

Next to the book alley, we could see mural painting on the way in the village.

Mural painting on one of the house in the village.

Mural painting on one of house wall and the scenery behind.

 Next destination on that day was Busan Tower. Even I have visited the tower many times, I always amazed with the scenery of Busan I could see from the tower. You can see mountain, building, bridge, sea...and get the image of Busan city.

Busan city from Busan Tower

Next on our list was Taejongdae and Yeongdo Deungdae Visit by boat. Many seagulls were following our boat while we were on the boat to Taejeongdae lighthouse. What an experience!

Jagalchi Market was also on the list and we went there for dinner. The market was very happening and people were friendly to us. One of the seller showed us how to cut and slice the fish. He even gave us bonus!

Fish seller at Jagalchi Market

The first day was perfectly done by experiencing Busan Night Tour. We went up to Hwangnyeonsan Mountain to see the breathtaking nigt scenery of Busan. I never know that place before and it was an awesome place to have a glance of Busan at Night. Another place for Busan Night tour was Haeundae Marine City. Haeundae beach looked geourgeous, didn't it?

Geourgeous Haeundae

On second day of tour we were guided to see Nurimaru, BEXCO (with its new auditorium and the new building), Busan Cinema Center, Shinsegae Department Store, Yacht Tour, UN Memorial Cemetery in Korea, and Haedongyeonggungsa Temple.

Busan Cinema Center is a place I like to visit again. The cinema was designed elegantly, as you can see in the picture below. I would love to try watching movie in the cinema.

One of the cinema in Busan Cinema Center

Ice skating ring in Shinsegae Department Store

Last day tour was done by having cultural experiences in Gijang Culture and Etiquette School (Hanbok experience and learning Samulnori), making makgeolli in Geumjeongsansong and meeting with Vice Major of Busan City.

My most unforgettable experience on the tour was the yacht tour. My first time to be on a yacht and touring to see the beautiful view of Haeundae and Gwangalli from the sea. We were served with snacks, fruits, bread, wine, and also BBQ! I did fishing, too.

The yacht experience program is offered to public and private charter program. It can be used or small-sized conventions such as meeting, presentation or even wedding proposal! Uh-hm...sound interesting? Come and enjoy it, only in Busan!

Me, enjoying yacht tour with Haeundae as the background ^^

[Korea] Yeosu Expo 2012 - Atlantic Ocean Joint Pavilion (West)

My second visit to joint pavilion is to Atlantic Ocean Joint Pavilion, the west pavilion. It has another one, the east pavilion. Each pavilion has 15 countries participated in the exhibition. 

The West pavilion consists of Tajikistan, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Commonwealth of Dominica, Armenia, Guyana, Suriname, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Paraguay, Guatemala and Colombia. That's a lot, right! I learnt about some new countries I haven't heard before.

I love how the pavilion was designed. Each country booth presented their country info and details. It exhibit tales of the Atlantic Ocean so clearly and lively. Each participating country's booth features their culture, too. You can see dolls, traditional costumes, art and crafts, accessories, and many more. 

One that I really like is the culture of Paraguay, which is a combination of culture of colonial Spanish and indigenous Guarani,  as shown in the fabric of embroidered lace Nanduti. It usually has geometrical patterns and shows the high skill of craftsmanship. 

Big size of Nanduti is exhibited on the ceiling. When the guide asked us to look up, all of us were amazed!

Nicaragua coffee and volcano stone from Commonwealth of Dominica

The culture shops in this pavilion are located in the area just before the exit of the pavilion. They offer awesome stuffs such as scarf, bag, accessories, hat or even musical instruments. Check it out. 

 The lady on the picture was making earrings from colorful stones. I couldn't stand looking at those gorgeous color of stones in the form of accessories...:) They are pretty.

Joint pavilion was a very happening place to visit. Make sure you see it on your visit to Expo!

PS. Don't forget to stamp your Expo Passport. Commonwealth of Dominica stamp is cute with the whale and palm trees, while Suriname stamp is cute with the tortoise. But I love Panama stamp the most!

[Korea] Yeosu Expo 2012 - Indian Ocean Joint Pavilion

There are lots of international pavilions to visit at the Expo 2012. I just walked where my feet lead me to find any pavilion to visit. Certain countries had long queue on the entrance door. It might be because of many people wanted to see certain attractions offered in the pavilions, or because the countries are big and famous ones, or because of the exhibition systems in the pavilions divided into rooms with limited number of visitors in each time. 

I then quickly decided to visit the joint-pavilion after visiting some individual country's pavilions. There are four joint-pavilions in the Expo:
1. Atlantic Ocean Joint Pavilion - West
2. Atlantic Ocean Joint Pavilion - East
3. Indian Ocean Joint Pavilion
4. Pacific Ocean Joint Pavilion

My first visit is to Indian Ocean Joint Pavilion. As you can see on the picture above, it consists of Nepal, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Yemen, Uganda, Sudan, Eritrea, Maldives, Kenya and Seychelles.
Any country name that is new for you?

The Indian Ocean Joint Pavilion

The Culture Shops in the Pavilion

 I found that even though the pavilion consists of many countries and their exhibition booths are not that big as the individual country pavilion, the atmosphere in the pavilion is so vivid and enthusiastic. Besides the main theme of the exhibition, you can easily find culture shops in almost every booth, selling their traditional art and crafts to visitors.

Hand-painting

I found a long line of kids waiting for having heena hand-painting cost about 2,000 won. They looked so proud of their hand-painted.

Visitor was trying a bracelet [left] and two men were sitting on traditional chairs [right]

Stamp Corner

Oh, before I forget, the most interesting thing in this pavilion was the countries stamps for my Expo Passport. Since it has many countries in a pavilion, you can find each country's stamps in the corner of each country's booth, and they have different and unique stamps for each country! 


I was happy...and satisfied :)

[Korea] The MVL Hotel - The Most Valuable Life

I was invited by KOCIS to visit Yeosu Expo 2012 and Yeosu Tour for three days. While I was in Yeosu, I was so grateful to be able to stay in The MVL Hotel (엠블 호텔) for two nights, once in the Superior type and the other night at the Terrace Suite.

The MVL Hotel seen from the Navy ship that was open for public on the Navy Day

The MVL is a landmark building located within the Expo area. It is just walking distance from the Expo gate, thus it is very comfortable to stay there on your visit to Expo. It has 310 guest rooms and 26 floors. The hotel is the first-seven-star hotel built in South Jeolla province. 7 stars hotel! I never dream about staying in a high-class hotel like this!

ROOMS

Guest rooms in the MVL consist of Superior, Deluxe, Suite (Tower Suite, Terrace Suite and Executive Suite) and Noblian Suite (Silver Suite, Gold Suite and Royal Suite). All rooms are sophisticated and perfectly designed. The furniture is designed carefully and in detail.

The Living Room - Terrace Suite 

Bedroom - Terrace Suite

Detail of Living Room

Bedroom - Superior Room

Details

Details - Hangeul, Korean Alphabet

In the MVL hotel, you can find well designed products in the bathroom, bedroom, pantry or every part in the hotel which designed with the motive of Hangeul - the Korean alphabet. You can easily see it on the pillow cover design, runner, plates, packaging, and many more!

Bathroom - Superior Room

Have I told you that all rooms in the MVL have view to the ocean? The view from the room was awesome. From my room, I can see the Expo, the ship, the ocean an the mountain at the background. On the other day, I have view to Odong island which located next to the Expo site.

View of Expo from Superior Room

RESTAURANTS
There are four restaurants in the MVL:
- Mare e Cielo, a restaurant and bar on the 26th floor where you can see the breathtaking scenery of the Expo and ocean through the window.
- Adria, where we had our morning buffet. The food and the atmosphere of the restaurant with its high-ceiling is great!
- Estrella, a spot where you can have coffee and cakes.
- Tavola Tavola, an outdoor dining with the night view of Odong island.

Bread - Adria

Sweet Treats - Adria

Veggie & Fruits - Adria

Nice presentation - Adria

The Counter - Estrella 

Estrella

Outdoor Dining - Tavola-Tavola

The View of Expo from Tavola Tavola

FACILITIES

The MVL is equipped with many facilities such as sauna, fitness, cafe (Cafe Indigo), flower shop (La Flora), Good & Goods, and also a Business Center.  For corporate banquet, the MVL has seven places for banquet with the capacity of 450 people. 

The Lobby

Hotel Entrance

Hotel corridor

Business Center

Good & Goods

Post cards of the MVL

There are two postcards of the MVL available inside the stationery kit in every room. I brought them home as souvenir and one of them will definitely be my postcard collection. The other one will be send as soon as possible to my best friend.

I would like to thank KOCIS for the chance to stay in the great hotel such as the MVL. I did enjoy the stay there and I couldn't wait no longer to share about the MVL to everyone. I hope you enjoy the pictures. ^^

Reference:

The MVL Hotel

[Korea] Haedong Yonggungsa Temple - Our pictures

We visited this temple last year. I have visited many temples in Korea and this one is very beautiful and unique since it is located facing the sea. The scenery from the temple was so wonderful. The size of the temple is also very big.

This was San in the main gate going to go the temple. You can see 12 statues based on Chinese horoscope.

The distance from the gate to the temple was quite far but it was nice since we had to walk through many stairs, small gates, seeing scenery from the stairs to the sea...We took many pictures even before we arrived in the main place.

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple is situated on the coast of the north-eastern portion of Busan. This superb find of a tourist spot and temple offers visitors the rare find of a temple along the shore line. Most temples in Korea are located in the mountains. Haedong Yonggungsa Temple was first built in 1376 during the Goryeo Dynasty. During the reign of Uwang, the great Buddhist teacher known as Naong established this temple beside the sea. Haesu Gwaneum Daebul (Seawater Great Goddess Buddha), Daeungjeon Main Sanctuary, Yongwangdang Shrine, Gulbeop Buddhist Sanctum (enclosed in a cave), and a three-story pagoda with four lions can all be seen looking out over the ocean. 

The main sanctuary of the temple was reconstructed in 1970 with careful attention paid to the colors that were traditionally used in such structures. On the right-hand side, inside the a cave, is a uniquely designed Buddhist sanctum, while situated just in front of the main sanctuary is a three-story pagoda with four lions. The four lions are symbolizing joy anger, sadness, and happiness. Other special sites at the temple are the 108 stairs and stone lanterns lining the rocky landscape. After going down the 108 steps, one will be delighted with the beauty of the temple. Midway down the 108 steps one can stop and enjoy the calming sounds of the waves as well view the majestic sunrise. Many people often come to this spot on New Year's Day to make a wish for the new year as they watch the sun come up. April is an especially beautiful time of year with cherry blossoms in full bloom. The birth of Buddha is also celebrated in April (following the lunar calendar) and offers a spectacular night view as the temple area is aglow with electrically lit lanterns. (www.visitkorea.or.kr)

Homepage

www.yongkungsa.or.kr