The first time we heard people talking about typhoons was in Shanghai. We were finishing up dinner at Canton Disco and the manager was asking where we were off to next, warning us a typhoon was imminent. True enough, the next morning we sat on the tarmac at Shanghai airport for nearly an hour as rain and wind lashed against the window before eventually taking off for Yichang. I think we had underestimated the power of south Asian storms when deciding to travel there in September/October: we were under almost constant threat of attack for the next six weeks!

After such a full-on experience in China, we were looking forward to some ‘down time’ in Korea. For our two weeks we had decided to only travel to three places, Busan, Jeju Island and Seoul. This gave us five days in each, allowing us to really get to know the local areas. Having always got on with any Koreans we have met elsewhere in the world, we were looking forward to experiencing South Korea.

As we touched down in Busan, typhoons were a million miles from our minds. The city looked stunning from above, the scenery very dramatic, it helped that it was beautifully sunny. After smugly finding our way very easily on public transport from the airport to our cute Airbnb apartment ‘Frank’s Loft’ (via light rail and hundreds of stops on the metro – what a good idea to number the stations and have lovely volunteers to help you buy your tickets) we decided we deserved some beach time.

We couldn’t resist a late lunch at the Spanish club, enjoying paella and Cava! One fun stop along the beach was to the hot springs that you could dip your feet and legs into, my were they hot!

We were staying in Haeundae, arguably the country’s most famous beach. Having seen pictures where the sand is hardly visible due to the volume of visitors, we were pleasantly surprised to find it almost deserted, a sign that we were there in the off season…. We enjoyed walking around Dongbaek Park where we found a statue of a mermaid in the sea and one made of plastic bottles on the shore. There was a fun slide at the corner of the beach too.

Gamcheon Culture Village was a brilliant find for us. A mountainside slum originally home to refuges after the Korean War, it is accessible by a local bus up a windy road.

The area was given a makeover in 2009 when students decided to turn their creative juices to making colourful installations and quirky sculptures across the village. Architects were also commissioned to transform several of the rundown spaces.

You can buy a fun map which gives you a few routes for a scavenger hunt up and down the hillside spotting different things and collecting stamps.

Other cultural spots worth a look were the Busan Museum of Art with an outdoor sculpture park and botanic garden project, and Soul Art Space. Busan’s film festival is one of the most important in Asia, you can get a taste of the action by checking out ‘movie street’ by the coast.

There were also some nice examples of public art paintings on the former rail route now turned into a park with sleepers still visible marking the old tracks.

We picked a clear evening to go up Busan Tower at sunset, which from its summit in Yongdusan Park gives fantastic views of the undulating bays and mountains that make up the city as well as the many colourful containers at the port.

It was a fun journey up via escalators and a lift, with an interactive gallery downstairs with UV lights and 3D models. We also had a laugh in an Oli Oli type play area in the rain, which had VR rides on horses.

A highlight was dinner at the Jagalchi fish market. You start on the ground floor, looking at the tanks and picking what you want to eat.

Once you have chosen you watch your selection being chopped up and then take the escalator up to a 2^nd floor seating area (on the floor, no space for Tom’s legs!) and wait for it to be served. You don’t have to wait long if you have ordered raw baby octopus (san-nakji).

I think Molly and I enjoyed this the most – it was only later I read of horror stories of the suckers getting stuck in your throat, and also of the questionable ethics…oops. It was rather delicious. We tried abalone for the first time which I grew to enjoy: the scallops and flounder fish were probably the tastiest dishes.

We had our first tastes of Korean cuisine in the backstreets of Haeundae, such as bibimbap (a mix of vegetables, meat, fish or egg with rice served in a stone hotpot) and Haejangguk (which translates as hangover soup – containing a mix of soybean paste, vegetables, meat bones and spices). I was definitely finding the cuisine more celiac friendly than China.

It was fortunate we had fitted a lot into our first few days in Busan, as for our last 48 hours we were house bound due to vicious Typhoon Tapah! The apartment was definitely shaking. We were fine, taking the opportunity to eat pesto pasta and watch Matilda till it passed. It did mean we missed out on seeing more of the countryside around Busan, but at least we were safe and had enjoyed our first few days in Korea.