Busan Aquarium

Sophie had her first visit to the aquarium this Sunday. Our friend Alana invited us to join a big group of Brazilians who were going to watch as a few brave group members went Scuba diving in the main tank. The main tank contains several very large and toothy sharks.

I do not want to share a pool with you, Mr. Shark

No, thank you! But we were interested to see our friends come face to face with sharp-toothed terror, so we hit the road a little before 10 on Sunday morning.

This was our first time driving on the new bridge that connects Geoje and Busan, and we were quite happy. We figure we can now make it to the airport in about forty minutes. We made it all the way to Haeundae Beach (the far side of Busan) in just a little over an hour, no ferry reservations necessary! We loaded Sophie into her backpack and set off through frigid wind to the aquarium.

Sophie's first visit to Haeundae Beach

The aquarium was packed and hot, so we spent the first hour or so gradually shedding layers as we oohed and ahhed over the fish, penguin, and otter displays. Sophie was overdue for a nap, overheated, and overstimulated by the crowds of people, but she did fairly well. I was able to take a break and nurse her in the relatively quiet nursing room, which helped her to recharge and face the afternoon. After our break she seemed more interested in watching the fish in the main tank for a short time.

It's an amazing world, little snork!

By 2:00 we were starving, and there was still no sign of our friends in the tank. So we bowed out and went to get some lunch at the Fuzzy Navel, a Mexican restaurant and bar where we ate burritos and Sophie got admired and photographed by the wait staff.

Hooray for Mexican food!

To finish off the day, we decided to try going to Costco to pick up some goodies that we can't find in Geoje. It was a big mistake to go to Costco on the Sunday afternoon before Lunar New Year, but we soldiered on. The parking lot and the store were packed! Amusing sights included a woman with a shopping cart full of 5-kilo bags of sugar and families huddled around their shopping carts eating lunches spread out atop their purchases.

By the time we got home, Sophie was punchy from exhaustion. She ate some carrots and potatoes, had a very giggly, squealy bath, and passed out for a seven-hour stretch. She was a trooper for her first trip to Busan on the new bridge!