Traveling to Busan (부산)

Sana had a few days off after her English class ended. To take advantage of that, we planned a trip down to Busan for a couple of nights so that we could take Elizabeth to the beach and see fishies at the largest aquarium in Korea.

Even for a short trip, there is no such thing as packing light. Our luggage consisted of beach towels, beach toys, swimsuits, cooler full of snacks, fruit and drinks, clothes for Elizabeth, clothes for Mom, and clothes for Dad.

According to the Navi, the drive should take under 5 hrs to go 359km. However, it's almost 90% highway driving at around 100km/hr, so we were hoping it would only take 3 1/2 hrs to get there.

Elizabeth slept about 3/4 of the drive down. It was nice since we didn't have to entertain her. When she did wake up, she was occupied by a DVD playing on a portable player strapped to the back of the front seat.

The drive took about 4 1/2 hrs, which is like going from LA to Vegas. That just shows that Korea is not that big.

We got a room at one of the nicer hotels by Haeundae beach. Haeundae is a popular destination during the vacation season in Korea. We went after that so we got a pretty good deal on the room.

STRETCH...Elizabeth likes pushing buttons and always pushes the "Close" button in the elevator at home, but this one was a little too high for her.

After checking in and relaxing after the drive, we went exploring. We walked the beach, but Elizabeth fell asleep so she didn't get to see the water. No biggie though, this is just the first of our three day trip. -T

Out to lunch

One of the great things about restaurants in Korea are that many of them have a sit on the floor section, regardless of the type of food. It makes it much easier and safer for Elizabeth to roam around while waiting for the food to arrive. She dislikes being in a high chair, so previous times when we ate out, one of us would have to hold her. But now, she can do as she pleases. Sit. Walk. Run circles around us. It's much easier for us, unfortunately, we can't say the same about the other customers sitting around us. -S

EVERLAND

Everland is the largest theme park in Korea, with a zoo, water park, and amusement park. Even though it rained half the day and it was a weekday, there were still plenty of people there. It took about an hour from our home to get there and we spent over six hours exploring the park, including time out for Elizabeth to take a nap. Korea has great baby facilities by the way, all free of charge. Elizabeth's favorite part of the park was the zoo and safari ride.

Welcome to Everland, here's my ticket to get in.

Ready for the fun to begin...

Come Daddy, I want to show you the monkeys.

It's way too hot out. I am SWEATING!

Ice cream break. Yes, it's Dippin' Dots and it was only 2,500 won ($2.00ish).

Waiting in the long line for the Safari Ride.

Here we go...

Bears do what? "Growls with claw hands."

Off To Church

We started going to a local church called Songtan Central Baptist Church. We visited other churches in the area, but found that this was the best fit for us. The Korean side of the church is fairly large and has 3 different services. There is only one English service and it pretty much consists of people from base. During worship time, there is a play area that little kids can go to. We try to have Elizabeth go and play while we're in service, but she doesn't want to be there without one of us. She has no problems going to her pre-school and waving "Bye Bye", but she can't go to the church nursery. It most likely has to do with Elizabeth not recognizing anyone at church yet. It'll take time.

The church recently built a patio in front of the EM building, so we took some pictures after service was over. Elizabeth looks so grown up...for a 17 month old. -T

Playing Jenga to pass the time

Elizabeth is having a blast playing good 'ol Jenga...or at least her version of it. She seems to be going through her "playing with blocks" phase. -T