Getting there by bus
The Jeonju Express Bus Terminal is a nice and clean bus terminal. Inside there are ticket kiosks with both Korean and English instructions. They are easy to use and accept foreign credit cards. Having experienced the express bus in South Korea beforehand, we felt confident to take the express bus from Jeonju to Busan. This time, we ordered the luxurious express bus to Busan and it definitely did not disappoint. The bus was equipped with a touchscreen entertainment system, a wireless charger for your phone, a blind for everyone, and a reading light. The seat was also bigger than the regular express bus. The kids enjoyed the ride and we arrived in Busan in about 3 hours.
Weather
When we arrived in Busan, Typhoon Mitag was just about to hit South Korea. It was raining the whole time and there weren't many people on the street. We ended up spending a day in a Korean spa. It was an amazing experience. Fortunately, the typhoon effects didn't last long and we were able to enjoy the city on our third day.
Public transit
Busan is the South Korea's second most populous city after Seoul. It has an extensive metro network and bus network. Although Busan's attractions were quite spreaded out, they can all be accessed by metro or by bus. One of the interesting things about the Busan's metro is that the station's ticket kiosk can display four languages: Korean, English, Mandarin, and Japanese.
The T-money card we bought in Seoul could also be used in Busan. As far as navigation app is concerned, City Mapper doesn't work there but Google Maps can usually be relied upon.
People
Busuan is a major port in South Korea and is the fifth largest in the world. Like any other major port city, there's a distinctive feel to it. For example, in Busan, you will find a lot more foreigners on the street and more signs in different language, especially Japanese. The Busan people are also more comfortable to speak to foreigners in English.
I was told that the people in Busan speak in a higher pitch tone than the rest of Korea. However, my untrained ears couldn't tell the difference.
Staying
We stayed at the Nampo HILL Guesthouse which is conveniently located near Nampo-dong (a major shopping district), the Busan Tower, and the Jagalchi Market. The guesthouse staffs spoke fluent English and were very friendly. When it was raining, the staff suggested us to go to the SPA LAND Centum City to relax and we had a great time there.
There were self serve western breakfast every morning as well. The rooms were basic but for the price I paid, I wouldn't complain.
A little story on our last day in Busan
On our last day in Busan, we were going to fly to Osaka from the Busan International Airport.
Before we left, however, we decided to have the famous seafood in the Jagalchi Market. We thought we had saved enough money to commute to the airport. However, we didn't realize that there was a separate fare for the Busan-Gimhae Light Rail Transit (LRT). When we were at Sasang station to transfer to the LRT, we discovered we were just slightly short of credit in our T-money cards.
Unfortunately, getting cash in a Korean ATM machine was a tricky business. Not all of the ATM machines accept foreign credit cards. I tried a few of the nearby ATM machines and none of them worked. In the end, I was lucky to find KB Bank which allowed me to do foreign exchange with minimal fee. The whole commotion costed us more than 30 minutes. After we arrived at the airport, we all had to put on our best running shoes to run to the checkin counter. By the time we reached the check in counter, we were only 2 minutesbefore it was closed. What a close call.
Lesson learned.