Weekend in Busan...Haeundae Beach and the Biggest Mall in the World!

Last weekend, our boss Chris treated us and the other teachers to a night in a luxury hotel in Busan as a reward for having 75 students enrolled at our new school. Since we were all meeting in Busan, which is about an hour away, we decided to take a bus. We weren't sure where to get on the bus, so we asked a couple of police officers if they could point us in the right direction...well surprisingly, they told us to get in their police car and they drove us to the bus stop! It was only about a minute away, but it was really fun and the first time either of us had ever been in a police car!!! You've gotta love the Korean hospitality...

Paradise Hotel

We stayed at the Paradise Hotel, which is a hotel located on Haeundae Beach in Busan. It was a really nice hotel and since there was a holiday in Japan that weekend, the room Chris booked us was $500 a night because of all the Japanese tourists...normally it's not that expensive.

Our room was traditional Korean-style, which meant we slept on cushions on the floor.

Chris and Jessie stayed in the room next to ours.

This is the view from our hotel room of Haeundae Beach.

Another view of Haeundae Beach from our room.

Frank enjoying the balcony.

We spent the day at the hotel pool and hot springs. Next to Melissa is Helen (Omni's receptionist) and Jessie (Chris's wife who is also a teacher at Omni). The pool backed right up to the beach.

We had to wear swim caps...it's an Asian thing.

Chris

Chris, Frank, Helen, Jessie

Frank the midget!!! haha

There were 5 natural hot spring tubs ranging from 104F to 111F (40 to 44C) next to the pool.

Do we look like we're boiling? We felt like it!

Hot Springs

Chris and Frank in the hottest tub...111F!

After a fun day in the sun, we went for dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. We love the pho beef and noodle soup! The picture above is of Chris, Frank and Rabey (a teacher who teaches a couple classes at Omni).

Girls side of the table...Melissa, Jessie, and Helen

Shinsegae Mall: The BIGGEST Mall in the World!

Down the street from the beach is a new mall that is considered the biggest mall in the world: 509,810 sq. meters (5,487,594.84 sq. ft.) It has 14 floors, a 3 story spa, a driving range, an ice-skating rink, an art gallery, and a ton of other stuff.

This picture's from the internet of Shinsegae Mall.

Guinness World Records certificate

Frank, Jessie, and Chris strolling past Fendi.

We couldn't resist eating sushi on the conveyor belt in the food court!

The mall had some of our favorite stores, including Banana Republic, Gap, Apple, and of course all the designer stores that we can't afford like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Armani, etc.

The ice-skating rink was in the middle of the food court. We thought it was funny how everyone wore helmets and gloves.

We ended up having a very fun and relaxing weekend in Busan...too bad we can't be spoiled every weekend! ^_^