Start from the beginning, Part 1: Flying to Tokyo After
getting off the KTX in Part 4, the next day we set off for the Busan Shinsaegae mall.
The glass atrium on the side is the ice skating rink I think and the the white building with blue windows to the right is a Lotte shopping mall. This place is
huge, must have been 8 floors, I think. My aunt told me it is the (or one of?) the biggest malls in the world....I totally believe it....indoor valet parking, grocery store, to-door grocery deliver, ice skating rink, food court (well, more like a food floor) O_o...it's a little world in there.
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Shinsaegae Atrium from another angle. Shows Lotte Trevi Plaza/Lotte entrance.
Basically this atrium connects the Shinsaegae to the Lotte. |
We went into the Shinsaegae's basement level where groceries and foodstuffs are sold.
On the same floor there is a huge food court that sells all types of food...it's really fun to walk through since there are samples and realistic plastic food models everywhere (I noticed both Japan and Korea like having displays of realistic fake food ^_^). I only took pictures of real food here though.
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| Bread and pastries galore. |
After browsing a bit we decided to eat at the Sushi Bar of the food court.
I was so excited to try this! The food travels around the bar and you just pick what you want to eat; different dish colors indicate price. I'd seen this on TV and it looked like lots of fun :D (and it was)
Here is some of sushi I ate... It was all really fresh and good; Busan is a seaside city so they're famous for their excellent seafood. I can only imagine how good sushi must be in Japan :D
Yummmm ^_^ After lunch, I noticed a
Beard Papa's in the dessert section! I'd read
about this from
Eki and she raved about it so I had to try one! For people who've never heard of it, it's a Japanese chain that started in 1999 basically sells little crispy buns (choux pastry) topped with powdered sugar (original) or buns dipped in chocolate. The fillings (custard) are chosen by you and filled on the spot (vanilla, chocolate, matcha are the standard). The bigger stores carry more exotic flavors like Earl Grey, coffee etc. They have stores in the US in CA, NY, FA, IL, WA (at Hmart ahah), NJ and HI and
worldwide so check it out if you have one in your area!
Unfortunately, I couldn't remember which one Eki said was really good :\ so I ended up getting a plain vanilla. They filled the puff with vanilla when I purchased it so it was very fresh ^^ The outside was soft with a slight crunch on the top. The creme was very light but not too sweet. The puff filled about the palm of my hand but it was so light and airy, I probably could've eating five of them at least ^_^ We also bought some puffy loaves of bread...
All the people who serve food wear these little masks over their mouths, I suppose to prevent spit from going onto the food when they talk ^^ It's a bit funny looking but very hygienic ;)~ The bottom of the roll is just a mildly buttery roll but the top of it has something on it....like sweet, slightly crumbly bready thing. It's really hard to describe...overall, the roll is chewy with the sweet baked piece of bread adding a bit of texture and flavor. It's quite good and popular with older folks (who don't like sweet things). At the time I thought it should've been a TAD sweeter but I have an overly indulgent sweet tooth :P In retrospect, I think it's perfect the way it is. I ate one these for breakfast the next day with coffee and it was
perfect. Soft, filling and it doesn't drop crumbs so you could eat it on your way out.
We also bought a cake from Oumt ^_^ It was some kind of cheese-based cake (CHEESE = LOVE). My mom jokes that I'm the only Korean (or Asian for the matter) that she knows that likes cheese as much as I do ehehe The cake came in a lovely little box~
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| Sugared raspberries, sides covered with toasted coconut with a graham cracker bottom. |
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| Isn't it just beautiful...^o^? |
I can't remember what kind of cake it was but oh my, it was delicious~ The cake part was creamy and mild with a slightly tangy aftertaste (from the cheese I'm sure). The raspberries were quite sugary so they went very well with the slightly tangy cheese. The crust on the bottom tasted just like a graham cracker. A wonderful ending to wonderful (key word "full") day :)
Part 6: Heading Back to Seoul
