Hong 
I don’t go out of my way for vegan food — I just eat what tastes good. So when I sat down at ARP, a small vegan restaurant on Yeongdo Island in Busan, and realized the entire menu was 100% plant-based, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Three dishes later, I left reconsidering what vegetables … Read more
I came to Changnyeong for Upo Wetland — Korea’s largest inland marsh, migratory birds, peaceful trails. But with a toddler in tow and no real plan for how to experience the area with a small child, I ended up at Changnyeong Upo Insect World instead. Two packed exhibition floors, a tropical greenhouse, and one cockroach … Read more
The station building still wears the same mint-green paint it got back in 1943. Tracks that once carried passengers across southern Korea now stop abruptly in front of a park bench, and a retired diesel locomotive sits quietly beside them. This is Jinyeong Railway Museum — a small, free museum in Gimhae that turned a … Read more
Most trips to Busan follow a familiar script: Haeundae Beach selfies, Gamcheon Culture Village murals, a plate of raw fish at Jagalchi Market. On a cool Saturday morning this September, I tried something that threw my usual routine out entirely — I strapped on a pair of headphones, picked up a portable field recorder, and … Read more
You can buy Samjin fish cakes at pretty much any major train station, department store, or airport in Korea these days. But there is something about tracking down the original — the Samjin Fish Cake Yeongdo flagship, where three generations of the same family have been making eomuk since 1953, right next to the same … Read more
Fridge magnets fade, snack boxes get eaten, and most Busan souvenirs end up forgotten in a drawer. At ADoR, a small Gwangalli perfume workshop tucked into a backstreet behind the beach, I blended my own custom fragrance in about 30 minutes — and left with a bottle that still takes me back to that afternoon … Read more
I had a late-night flight out of Busan and roughly two hours to kill after checking in. Rather than squeezing into a plane seat for a lukewarm in-flight tray, I headed to the 3rd floor of Gimhae Airport’s international terminal and found Plating — a self-service food court that turned out to be the most … Read more
I’d passed this building a few times while walking along Yangsancheon Stream in Yangsan, a small city just north of Busan. Each time, I wondered what was inside. Ssangbyeokru Art Hall in Yangsan turned out to hold a 250-seat concert venue on its ground floor — but the real find was on the second floor: … Read more
In 660 AD, as enemy forces stormed through the gates of a royal capital, the court women of the fallen Baekje Kingdom climbed to the edge of a riverside cliff and stepped off rather than face capture. Their billowing robes, witnesses said, looked like flower petals scattering in the wind. The cliff was named Nakhwaam … Read more
Not every destination earns a spot on a must-visit list — and sometimes, that is exactly the point. On a late-summer weekend, with the worst of the heat finally easing off, I went searching for something low-key near Busan. No crowds, no entrance fees, no tour buses. What I ended up finding was the Hwapocheon … Read more