Busan is a treasure hidden in South Korea, the second-largest city in South Korea. Bigger than Seoul but quiet in its character. The weather at 6 degrees greeting us with a cool breeze. I ran out in just a t-shirt, I missed this kind of air. Cold but welcoming.
We spent 4 days in Busan, exploring what it had to offer so here is our little Travel Guide to Busan!
DAY 0.5
- Chinatown, Texas Town, Russian Town
DAY 1
- Mayor’s Residence
- Hauendae Beach
- Haedong Yonggung Temple
DAY 2
- Gamcheon Culture Village
- Busan International Film Festival Square
- Jagalchi Fish Market
- Busan Traditional Arts Centre
- Shinsegae Centum City
DAY 3
- Busan Cooking Class
- Cafe 38.5
- Seomyeon Street
- Bay 101
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRIP
HAUENDAE BEACH
Haeundae Beach is Busan's most famous beach with its white sands reaching far that stretches 1.5km long. The shallow bay and city skyline reminds me of Singapore, if not bigger. We went when it was quiet, the sun and wind hitting our skin.
Our tour guide, Hailey told us it was better in the Summer, filled with locals ready to swim when the cultural events and festivals happen frequently. I didn't mind though. I think I just in awe how silky the sand felt between my fingertips.
Our tour guide, Hailey told us it was better in the Summer, filled with locals ready to swim when the cultural events and festivals happen frequently. I didn't mind though. I think I just in awe how silky the sand felt between my fingertips.
HAEDONG YONGGUNG TEMPLE
Described as 'The Most Beautiful Temple in Korea' and I agree.
'At least one of your wishes will be answered here through sincere prayers' is Haedong Yonggung Temple's motto - and maybe it rings true. I know prayer brings peace, and seeing people pray in this holy temple gives me hope.
The Buddhist temple is nestled along the shoreline, a rarity since most temples are up in the mountains. It's a far walk to its main temple, but every step taken shows you a view you've never expected. Even if you might get lost like I did.
'At least one of your wishes will be answered here through sincere prayers' is Haedong Yonggung Temple's motto - and maybe it rings true. I know prayer brings peace, and seeing people pray in this holy temple gives me hope.
The Buddhist temple is nestled along the shoreline, a rarity since most temples are up in the mountains. It's a far walk to its main temple, but every step taken shows you a view you've never expected. Even if you might get lost like I did.
GAMCHEON CULTURAL VILLAGE
I have never been to a place like the Gamcheon Cultural Village.
Known as the Santorini or the Machu Picchu of Korea, the houses are built in staircase-fashion on the foothills. Paintings and murals cover the village in vibrant colors to catch our eye. The government, village, and artists collaborated to renovate it in 2009 to become a tourist attraction.
They certainly succeeded.
BUSAN TRADITIONAL ARTS CENTRE
The Busan Traditional Arts Centre recently opened in April 2019. It's a base for local traditional arts, cultural exhibitions, and cultural properties. We met the artists of the trade like a shoemaker of Korean slippers and the Buddhist monk who specialized in calligraphy.
It was a short visit but showed us the importance of cultural tradition for Busan. I always admired classic art forms, only they could do so well.
CAFE 38.5
Photos by
Danial Aldani
When I say this is the coolest cafe ever, I say it is the coolest. Cafe 38.5 is located somewhere in Yeongdo-gu, four floors of floor to ceiling windows with a scenic view of the coastline. Let me just say it was absolutely magical.
We had gone when the weather was perfect at 16 degrees. On the fourth floor, we accessed the slanting rooftop and sat there as we ate the amazing pastries. The sky clear and seaport close by, it felt like I was in a K-Drama and my leading man was going to show up any minute.
He still hasn't.
The media trip was sponsored by
Busan Tourism Organisation
Busan Tourism Organisation
If you'd rather watch instead, I do have the trip in two videos! Even though it was three days, it felt like one loooooooong day filled with walking, food and good company. I'd love to go back again with my family next time.
I spent last month reflecting on how my 2010s began and how it ended. In 2010, I was likely asleep, considering I was 12 and tired of life already. In 2019, I was in the living room, watching HBO with my family. When the clock struck midnight, we cheered, 'Happy New Year' and went to bed. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
In just 10 short years, I've learned a few things - mostly through a lot of embarrassment and failure. Here are 10 Things I Learned in the 2010s.
1. Teenagehood is a witch with a capital B
2. You'll lose friends but gain better ones
3. The people you love don't dictate who you are
4. The world is too big to stay in one place forever
8. Destiny may not be real, but you can manifest
9. Everyone is figuring it out
10. Home is not a place, it is a feeling.
What is something you learned in the 2010s?
with love,
Bash Harry
Five years ago, I wrote about my 2015 Resolutions.
Not much has changed yet so much has.
My 2015 Resolutions are different but they came true. Eventually within the next five years. Keeping that in mind, I'd like to do a Goals list for the next decade instead of the usual resolutions list. After all, the 2020s is the perfect start for this kind of post.
Here are my 5 goals for the decade.
1. 30 COUNTRIES BY 30
I'm 22 now and just developed the travel bug. Why did I wait till my final year of Uni to start solo traveling?
As of writing this, I have been to 15 different countries - 6 of them from last year alone. Thinking about it both excites and scares me. I've always wanted to travel more and maybe in 8 short years, I will visit 15 new countries. Here's hoping for an EU Rail trip and an Asian adventure.
2. HAVE A SCREENPLAY PRODUCED
This will be kept open and broad - cause it's already happened.
The Bungsu Story premiered in 2018, and under the poster said 'Screenplay by Bash Harry.' It showed in local cinemas, and in 2019, was nominated for Best Asian Drama at the First Asian Content Awards. That's pretty freaking cool.
I'd like to do that all over again. Write a new screenplay to be produced in the next decade, maybe even premiere globally. Right now, it's wishful thinking but that's where everything starts.
3. PUBLISH A NOVEL
There are murmurs of exciting things going on - that I can't quite talk about yet. This relates to it, kind of. I'd like to write a straight forward young adult fiction to be put on paper. A super cheesy love story of a girl meets boy to somehow finds herself along the way. That, or a story about Death.
I haven't decided yet.
4. LIVE IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY
I've done this already. Three short years in Great Britain, a town called Exeter where it's too quiet for me. In the next decade, I don't want to live somewhere too quiet. Not for the foreseeable future at least. I'd like to live in, or somewhere close to, a city. Whether Singapore or London for a few years or more, just to experience city life for a change.
5. BE HAPPY
Happiness is such a fickle thing - so asking for a feeling to be constant is an immediate failure.
That being said, I'd rather have the long term mindset of being okay, accepting that life is a constant rollercoaster but to prepare my feelings for it. Rather than succumb to the depressive episodes I get, I'd rather accept and move on. Grieve and carry forward. Happiness isn't supposed to be constant, but it is good to feel okay most days.
What are your goals for the 2020s?
with love,
Bash Harry
I haven't done one of these in a while.
My last Year in Review was in 2017, as I had finished up the first term of my second year. I think back and realize how much I missed in 2017. It was lackluster in comparison to the next two years, but I was surrounded by good friends and felt good about myself.
Earlier this year, I posted an overview of my January - August. It's a gentle reminder that less than five months ago, life felt emotional, reckless and terrifying. Now, looking back at the past four months, it has been nothing like that. It's better.
How did it go?
How did it go?
SEPTEMBER
- Kuala Lumpur with Tourism Malaysia
I found out Tourism Malaysia was taking me and Amirul Adli to Kuala Lumpur two days before the flight. Five days in a familiar city, with different people. I had grown to love Kuala Lumpur as a second home, and it still feels like it. Just a little bit louder, wilder and friendlier.
My favorite part of the trip was the quietest. I left the hotel for an old friend's flat where we stayed outside at the balcony, just chatting the night away. It's the little things like this that make me feel alive.
OCTOBER
- Joined an internship program for Climate Change
I feel like such an adult ever since I started my internship. An 8-hour workday at a fancy office, that I'm glad to spend with old friends. We spend most mornings finishing work as we chat about the future then go for lunch and bubble tea afterward. It's amazing.
NOVEMBER
- Busan, South Korea with the Busan Tourism Organisation
I went to South Korea and to be honest, I still can't believe it. It felt like a whirlwind of three/four days and the only recollection that I have is in film. As if the whole thing was a narcissistic surrealist's dream but it wasn't It was amazing, beautiful and cold - in a good way.
- One day in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
We had a 10-hour layover in Saigon before our next flight to South Korea, so I took the chance to get out. Saigon still rings in my ear - the honks and screeches of the traffic outside. One day in Ho Chi Minh is definitely not enough, but I'm still thankful I got to visit this city.
DECEMBER
- Performed as Madame Giry for Seeds Brunei's 10th Anniversary Show in Mystery of The Opera
I haven't been on stage for over five years but Seeds Brunei was celebrating its 10th Anniversary. It was the first home I ever made so I auditioned and was cast as Madame Giry - and I had to sing. It was terrifying, and it wasn't. All because of the amazing people in it.
Every weeknight spent singing and practicing with the family I missed so much. I've known most of them since I was 14, and now, we're older and much better.
- Performed spoken word at the launch of the Tiny Lit Festival
It was the first time I performed in spoken word since March, and the first time I performed in Brunei in over two years. The Real Word invited me as one of the speakers for the launch. It's inspiring to be surrounded by creative people flourishing, pouring hearts in poems and songs. Also, meeting some old friends that night. Quite nice.
And that was my 2019.
It felt like two different phases in my life, one absolutely horrible and the other quite good. I like to think it balanced out to a productive but dissociative year. What 2020 has in store the world can only wait. Good things perhaps but I can only hope.
How was your 2019?
with love,
Bash Harry
I’ve been thinking about this a lot - more than I should lately.
The collective ‘We’ had said; University will be the best years of your life. When I asked why; they said it changes you. You'll grow as a person, learn somethings about the real world and maybe find a love or two. While it certainly has changed me, I don’t think it was for the best.
In truth; I'm leaving Exeter tired, drained - and a little lonely.
What happened?
3 years ago, I enrolled at the University of Exeter. A small city in Devon with a quayside and the highest tree-to-student ratio. I remember being excited to be somewhere new. It was unreal, I genuinely thought it was going to be for the best.
No one leaves Uni the same person they came. For instance, I don’t wear braces anymore among other differences. My hair has grown out and I embraced the sun. Some things stay the same though; my eyes slant when I smile and I still have no idea what I’m doing.
Honestly, I don’t. I’m surprised I made it this far.
Uni makes you feel both empowered and undermined. Everyone deserves to be here, but do you? Maybe you had slipped through the cracks, like a leech sucking off academia. Hyperbolically, of course. The hyperbole stems from some truth though. That thought lingers until it overwhelms you. This Uni is real and this world is real.
Something here is real, but it’s not you.
It felt like I had taken this opportunity of a lifetime to make sour memories and heartbreak. I studied what I did, but never fully embraced the Uni experience. I never went out more than once a month and joined few societies. More late nights were spent watching Netflix alone than with friends. I lost interest in writing and blogging despite promising I would update.
Instead, I missed friends and family. 8000 miles away with a 7 hour time difference. I’m not a texter so I rarely responded unless to send an appropriate cat gif. Everyone close to me was growing up, and the people around me were too grown up. Uni had not turned out the way I had expected - it was stagnant, tiring.
Hills don’t like me very much and the sporty lad culture clashed with my idealization of Uni. I wanted stories from Exeter; of endless nights and strobe lights. Instead, they were sleepless in a cluttered bedroom. The stories I do have are traumatic, boring and loveless. I wish they were better, then they’d be worth telling.
This isn't supposed to sound like I'm whining. I'm not.
I am forever grateful that I have had this opportunity. I got a Law degree from a Russell-Group University, I have made some life long friends and learn a few deep lessons I will carry with me forever. This isn't a complaint, just reflecting on University. It wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst.
If I could change anything, I would have set reasonable expectations on myself and University. I'd manage my time better and perhaps traveled more. Regardless, life moves on and so will I.
Were your Uni Days what you expected?
Everyone loves and hates Instagram.
We share articles about how Instagram affects mental health, leading to rises of depression. We complain about people who like to take pretty photos and caption something nice, if not a little superficial. We don't like Instagram, but we use it anyway. It's the #1 social platform now.
I'm not here to complain. Rather, I'm here to ask a simple question.
Did Instagram Kill Blogging?
I ask this hyperbole of a question because it's been on my mind for years.
I haven't posted regularly on this website for years, inconsistent posts perhaps every other month (if at all). I'd blame a hectic University schedule but a part of me knows that's not true. In truth, I felt the blog had become repetitive. All thanks to Instagram.
Blogging has become a different scene, slowly shifting to short-form visual media that Instagram has captured. Captions are now longer, pictures dynamic and easier to maintain an audience with just a simple follow. By comparison, on a blog, you'd need a Bloglovin, Twitter, email subscription or Instagram to get notified if you aren't checking every day.
It's exhausting to blog, especially if you're just one person.
We're a society that prefers short-form content, easily digestible on Twitter or Instagram, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It gets to the point and easy to access. Instagram has connected people in ways I can't even fathom, not the way blogging has.
That said, I prefer written content, both in terms of my own content and others. Scrolling through blog posts about the mundane lives or tips I can just do a quick check on. I think Instagram has diminished the need for blogs but it hasn't taken away my love for it.
It's true that I don't post as much anymore but I want to start. Blogging on the site won't be my main focus, but it'll still be my little corner of the Internet. I also have a space on Youtube, Twitter, and of course, Instagram.
Great segway, I know.
What are your thoughts?
Do you think Instagram has killed the blogging industry?
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