Stand Up in Busan

Neil discovered a open mic for stand up in Busan, so needless to say, that's where we headed. I've always wanted to check out Busan. We booked a guesthouse near Gwangalli Beach since the venue is located there. Our stay was very short because it's only a weekend.

It takes the same amount of time for us to go to Busan as it does for Seoul (3.5 to 4 hours). It was snowing as we boarded the bus and for more than half the trip there was snow everywhere. However, as we got closer to Busan, there was no snow. I guess because it's near the ocean, it doesn't snow as much? Like Vancouver? 

I didn't realize how big Busan was, granted I do know that it's one of the biggest city - I think second? I expected a fishing village, but it's known for it's seafood there, but it's definitely a metropolitan city. Although their bus terminal was a bit less modern. There's a different vibe to the city and I can't quite put my finger on it. Their subway is pretty good and we made it to our cute guesthouse. This is our first time in one and it's super cute! It reminds me of a house that's in one of those k-drama. Tons of cute wall deco and furnishings. 

Our first night was the night of the open mic. We made our way to the beach and popped into a seafood restaurant right away. It was okay. The presentation was better than the food because there was a lot of food we're not quite sure what it was and the shells took up way too much space. I'd like to try other types of seafood though, so we'll definitely come back. It was a very very cold night and we walked back and forth on the boardwalk trying to find this venue, which we did.

This place had a window that overlooked the beach and the Gwangalli bridge and it was gorgeous! The evening went great as well. There were a lot of comedians, mostly amateur and some were funny. Neil went up and did his thing and he was great! The voting was buy the number of drinks you buy and there were over 10+ comedians that night, it would've been hard to keep track. Two local guys and a guy from Seoul won the top three positions. I still prefer Neil's edgier stuff compared to the safe and self depreciating ones. But then I am a little bias. 

It's a shame we didn't get to stay longer in Busan, we would've loved to look around more but alas work calls and we had to get back before Monday.