Busan Government Works to Improve Quality of Life by Giving Space Back to Citizens

The city of Busan did a nice job of cleaning up the filthy canal/river that stagnated under the elevated train tracks on line number one. The water now smells like, well, water, and much of the area was reclaimed for public use.

In many areas there are basketball courts and other public recreational facilities that now sit on the flat land beside the water. Additionally, a many-many-kilometers long rubberized-track path was laid so that people could get some exercise.

This picture was taken near the entrance to Jangjeon-dong train station (장전동 역) which is along an elevated portion of line one. The bridge spanning the gap sports a rather large sign informing people of how much exercise they need to do to burn off a certain number of calories.

In other train-related news, most of line number three has been completed and is open for public use. Line three (the red line in this map) connects Suyeong station, which is not far from the beach, with Daejeo station, which is a short cab ride from Gimhae International Airport. I'm pretty sure that train service should soon extend all the way to the airport, and my eyes confirmed as much when I saw all the construction there a few weeks ago, but this map doesn't have any information on that. Instead, it seems to indicate that line three will become a one line transfer station as it forks and intersects line one at Dongnae station and continues on until it reaches Bansong.

The official Busan Urban Transit Authority website, however, says that line three will terminate at Anpyeong which is a little bit further out than the Bansong region of Busan. Their map also has line three ending at Daejeo, so it seems that an outside company or authority is responsible for the line that will attach Gimhae airport to the rest of the city.

Anyway, it was nice to have extra commuting options when we were there last. I'm sure that the transportation system will have evolved even more the next time we visit.

Update 1 [April 9, 2008]:
The connection between Gimhae airport and downtown Busan will not be connected to line three. It seems that it will be a completely elevated line stretching from Sasang station on line two in western Busan, which also happens to be a large inter-city bus terminal, to the growing suburb of Gimhae city west of Busan. The line will travel through Gimhae International Airport on its way through.

All of the trains will be unmanned and the line is scheduled for completion in 2010. Capacity is projected at a maximum of 300,000 passengers per day.

Busan Government Works to Improve Quality of Life by Giving Space Back to Citizens

2005 APEC Summit Facilities in Busan, South Korea

They went all out in the preparations for the 2005 APEC Summit which was held in Busan, South Korea.

This meeting hall is part of the complex that was set up on the waterfront at Haeundae beach. This is where the heads of state sat during the second (?) round of meetings during the summit. The building, the surrounding paths and gardens are absolutely gorgeous. The facilities are completely open to the public, and if I lived in Busan then I would probably go jogging there every day (all the walkways and roads are rubberized track).

I highly recommend it for anyone who is staying in Busan.
Step one: Busan aquarium.
Step two: hit Papa John's for lunch (see post below).
Step three: long leisurely walk along the beach in the direction of the Westin Chosun hotel.
Step four: 2005 APEC Summit village (entrance located on the other side of the hotel).

2005 APEC Summit Facilities in Busan, South Korea

Papa John's in South Korea!

Imagine my surprise and delight when we discovered a new Papa John's outlet in Haeundae when we were there a couple of weeks ago!

We quickly bundled ourselves up the stairs and sat down for some meat-covered pizza and a side of breadsticks.

Papa John's, my favorite pizza supplier when I was attending university in Ohio, is using former Korean national soccer team coach Guus Hiddink as the face of its movement into the Korean pizza market.

From what I can tell, South Korea has a far wider variety of sit-down pizza joints than Japan does. Most pizza places in Tokyo are delivery establishments led by big names such as Pizza Hut, Domino's and Pizza-La. Shakey's is the only major chain in Tokyo that I can think of that is primarily a pizza restaurant.

I think Papa John's could do well over here if they combine deliveries with a nice restaurant environment. Domino's just opened a shop near Hanakoganei train station that combines the two although I can't comment on how well or poorly the system is working for them.

Anyway, it was very nice to have a box of breadsticks again!

Papa John's in South Korea!

2008 Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB) Season Preview

Garrett and I recently finished our 2008 Season Preview for the Japanese Professional Baseball League (NPB) over at TPR.

It includes a 30 minute podcast and lots of prognostications about what might be expected this season.

2008 Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB) Season Preview

Watering the Shrubs

Nothing special, just thought this was funny.

I took this photo while walking down the street in Busan. Whoever was in charge of watering the shrubs out in front of the building didn't feel like it was worth the effort to go outside and hose them down the way a custodian in Japan probably would.

Not that there's anything wrong with that; I applaud the creativity.

Watering the Shrubs

Artsy South Korean Electrical Appliances

This captured my interest while I was browsing in an electronics store.

This isn't a photo of a picture frame. Well, it is a picture frame, but it's also something else.

It's an air conditioner.

South Korean appliances are leaning towards the floral these days with lots of companies opting for similar designs--lots of red appliances too.

In addition to this picture frame air conditioner, they had others that looked like paintings. It's a nice way to disguise that ugly unit hanging on the wall--especially if you can change the display.

Artsy South Korean Electrical Appliances

New Seibu Line Trains (30,000 Series)

I risk being labeled a little bit of a nerd with this, but trains are how I get to and from everywhere around here, so I thought I'd share one of the new developments on the Seibu line where I live.

Seibu Railways (西武鉄道) will soon be introducing its 30,000 series of trains (pdf). I saw one pass through Kami-Shakujii station on a test run yesterday, and it looked comfy. It has double screens above the doors like the newer Yamanote and Chuo line trains, and the overall design looks much more modern.

The trains are probably also faster, but that won't become an issue unless more of the Seibu line is elevated. Hanakoganei station to Takadanobaba should still take 19 minutes.

New Seibu Line Trains (30,000 Series)

South Korean Beer

This has been going on for quite some time, but I always find it amusing when I go to the supermarket to buy some beer.

My first reaction when I look in the cooler is that beer is much cheaper in Korea than it is in Japan. It has always driven me crazy that I have to pay about 200 yen (two dollars) for a beer brewed in Japan that is only marginally better than a Miller Lite. And it always comes in a can!

In Korea you can generally expect to pay a dollar (1,000 won) for a glass bottle of comparable low-quality beer. Imports, naturally, cost more.

And one way that they keep costs down is the packaging they use in South Korea: plastic bottles.

This is primarily the case if one is looking to buy a 1.6 liter bottle of cheap summer brew, but smaller sizes are also available. So if you’re just visiting Korea, and browsing the aisles of the local grocery store in search of some soft drinks, just remember that you can’t feed everything that comes in a plastic bottle to the kids.

South Korean Beer