“People forget the years and remember moments.”
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple 东海龙宫寺
Another amazing and astonishing experience that made our jaws dropped!
Located in Gijang of Busan, Haedong Yonggungsa Temple is a Buddhist temple that is perching on the coast of a cliffside, it was first built in 1376 by Master Naong - a great Buddhst teacher during the Goryeo era, but it was destroyed during the WW2 and the temple was rebuilt later which mean this heritage by name is near 650 years old!
It is said that many prayers were answered, and miracles were received and thus over the years, this temple had a great reputation and received devotees from here and abroad. Through the years of conservation, preservation and expansion, Haedong Yonggungsa Temple is a must visit place in Busan. There is no entrance fee, and it is open daily from 5am to 7pm.
On the day of our visit, construction works was in the process at certain parts of the temple.
.jpg)
A) 12 Stone Zodiacs
At the left entrance of the temple, there standing a row of Chinese Zodiac animals stone statues - Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog & Pig.
All these 12 Stone Zodiacs of human heights guarding the temple, scanning through all visitors that walked past them.
Visitors usually will take photos of their own zodiacs.
Meanwhile, at the right side of the entrance, there are several Chinese Stone statues of deity and fortune symbols and animals.
The Great DaMo Monk
The Great DaMo Monk AKA "Bodhidharma" was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century. He began the physical training of the monks of Shaolin Monastery that led to the creation of Shaolin Kungfu. He is known as Dámó in China and as Daruma in Japan. His name means "Dharma" of awakening (bodhi)" in Sanskrit.
B) 8 Levels Pagoda
Next to our view after the 12 Stone Zodiacs is the 8 levels Pagoda that is decorated with 4 lions each symbolizing "happy", "joy", "anger" and 'sad".
At the bottom of this pagoda, there is a small shrine of "Car Wheel' where visitor pray for "road safety", first time came across such special shrine.
Right behind, there is another statue of mother and children, which I interpreted as "unconditional mother's love".
At the left back, there is another gate heading to the main attraction.
It is down slope, with buddha greeting you along the way. It is said that touch & pray to this buddha and you will be granted a son.
C) 108 steps
The next signature of Haedong Yonggungsa Temple - The 108 Steps which symbolize the 108 sacred prayers in the Buddhism.
As we walking close the steps, we were greeted with scenic views and the sound of healing waves. We stood by this area for some time as the view was very beautiful. Take note that you need to pass by these 108 steps again when you are exiting the temple.
In the middle of these 108 steps, there is another shrine which says: pray & will be blessed with good academic results.
D) Crossing the arch bridge
This bridge connects visitors to the main hall of the temple.
The right side is full of statues and "making a wish" by throwing in a coin.
The left side is the pretty sea view with huge rocks while healing from the sound of the waves.
Standing on top on a hill, visitor may access by climbing up some stairs.
F) Bathing the Buddha
The Bathing the Buddha Sutra describes that when you bathe the Buddha with a sincere and respectful heart, it not only cleanses the impurities in your body and mind but also bestows purity, freedom and auspiciousness. Furthermore, it brings immeasurable benefits and merits, accomplishing various excellent virtues.
G) Healing Fountain
Located down the stairs, it is said to drink water from this fountain, you will be cured with all sickness.
Apparently, we took the photo from above as the stairs going down was pretty narrow.
H) The Golden Laughing Buddha
As a Buddhist, Laughing Buddha is a familiar sight for me since young as my dad had a statue of this buddha at home.
The real name of this buddha is "Budai", a well-known figure in the Chinese culture.
He is depicted as a jolly, bald man with a large belly, carrying a cloth sack. His cheerful demeanor and laughing face have earned him the nickname of "Laughing Buddha". The buddha symbolize happiness, contentment and abundance, his large belly is associated with wealth and good fortune and is believe that rubbing his belly will bring you good luck.
I)The Golden Pigs
Pigs are known for "abundance and good fortune", do give them some rubs as well.
J) The Reclining Buddha
The statue showing the Buddha lying down depicts the meaning of the Buddha about to reach his final enlightenment of nirvana. It is a common posture of the Buddha in most temples in Asia.
K) Main Hall
All temples come with several halls for different deities and are confirmed to have a main hall for the main deity or deities AKA "owner of the temple".
In Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, the main deities are: 1) Haesu Gwaneum Daebul (Goddness of the sea), 2) Daeung-jeon and 3) Yongwangdang.
L) Little bamboo forest for the best view
This forest reminds me of Arashiyama Sagano Bamboo Forest in Kyoto, though this is much smaller scale.
As we are here in the morning, the smell of bamboo is in the air, the crowd is not heavy, good way to enjoy "Forest Bathing'.
Just after this Bamboo Forest, there is a path to lead us to a viewing platform for another perfect view from above on the temple and the sea.
More views of the place.
This is how the place looks like without renovation, courtesy from goggle.
Festive Market
Located right at the entrance of the temple is a bustling festive market selling street food and souvenirs when we visited after visiting the temple.
Sidetrack below, are the 3 other places we visited in Gijang area as well but during different period of our travel...
Hearth Talk Korean BBQ
Known as 난로회담 in Korean and Nallo Hoedam in Naver map, this Joseon setting restaurant is very popular and reservations are needed as it is always fully booked.
We get our Korean friend to make the booking for us and glad that we made such amazing visit for our first official meal in Busan.
Although we were aware that the restaurant has an ancient setting, but we were still very surprised what we saw upon the entry to the compound.
The garden is beautifully decorated in an old tile-roofed house, so it's great for taking pictures. Good food, good service, good atmosphere.
Here are more photos I took as I really like this hanok!
Pork belly and pork neck grilled with vegetables on a unique grill. We ordered 2 share of meat - pork neck & pork bellies.
Gijang Market
Our Korean Oppa brought us here for dinner and he wanted to show us the local lives and Gigang Market is just round the corner. This is an outdoor market selling wet and dried goods while surrounded by shops that are mainly restaurants selling various seafood especially crabs... big crabs that look like spiders.
As it was in the evening at the time of our visit, there was only a handful of stalls that are still open, this market open from morning to night.
When these shops and stall owners hear us speaking English, they will take extra looks on us.
Very impressive local atmosphere here that mainly visit by the locals.
 |
Haesongdaege / Haesong Snow Crab 해송대게
Strongly recommended by our Korean Oppa and his family that this restaurant is where they fix their craves on crabs. As mentioned, this area is known for crab shops which originated from Russia.
This restaurant sells only one dish: Steamed Fresh Live Crabs.
The live crabs are on display in big tanks and there are a few to choose from like Bamboo crab and King crabs. Oppa choosen Bamboo crabs as this is the usual ones they will buy. I remarked that the legs of Bamboo crabs are very skinny and showing my doubts that it will be "meaty', Oppa assured me "a-ni" which means "no, they are actually very meaty"
Navermap for my future use:
This shop is very popular that it was visited by SBS before, the TV station. See the big banner that the owner proudly displays.
I was standing by the stove which is located by the door and unknowingly witnessed the staff netted up 3 crabs and passed over to the chef who just turned the crab over, knifed through the body and place into the steaming stove. It happened swiftly and I was pretty shocked about it, before I woke up from my daze, chef is on the way to kill the third crab and I quickly "said a little prayer" before he closed the steaming lid, I will never want to see it again.
We made our way into the restaurant and realized that it was pretty crowded, and staff ushered us a table nearby. The restaurant is spacious, clean and neat.
Love this table setting - a small plate, the special sauces, a pair of chopsticks, a spoon and a crab digger tool.
I am very familiar with this crab digger tool as I have 2 at home!
The meal starts with seaweed soup, pancake, soybean soup, chilled squid, various kimchi and a big plate of sashimi. These are included in the crab meal.
Seaweed soup is one of the most common household soups the taste of seaweed opened up my appetite immediately.
Fried Pancake is always one of my favorite dishes here, I was still wondering where to eat them and glad that this restaurant serves it. It is crispy and fragrance and perfect it with the sauce.
To be precise, this is fermented soybean soup which is known as Doenjang-guk in Korean which is similar that Japanese miso soup. Korean restaurants usually serve us with various starters and usually soybean soup is included in one of the starters, depending on what the restaurant is selling.
The sashimi platter of various seafood, all are fresh and tasty.
Here comes the star of the night: Freshly steamed crabs. Love the way the crabs are served; they are cut and neatly placed on the serving plate.
See the legs, indeed meaty like what Oppa assured.
Fresh, sweet, muscled and meaty - Oppa shared that these crabs are from icy cold water that why the meat are so muscled.
This is crab roe fried rice - the roe is green, so the fried rice is in green. This is our first time trying on this dish in Korean and we were very surprised of the taste of umami. The price tag for this meal is SGD250 for 3 people which you can never get this price in Singapore.
Here, we reach to the end of this blog on the amazing Haedong Yonggungsa Temple.
Coming up next is Haeundae Busan.
Meanwhile, here are the links on our PLAYs and EATs in Busan and Seoul:
4) "YEOGI"! Cheongsapo (Haeundae) @ Busan - coming soon
5) "YEOGI"! Dongbaekseom (Haeundae) @ Busan - coming soon
6) 6) "YEOGI MASITSEUMIDA"! What did we eat in Busan? - coming soon
2024 is a blessed year for us that we travelled quite a bit, here to share some of the links of the blogs:
Between 2022 to 2023, we visited The Netherlands & Belgium, here to share : Amsterdam, The Hague , Rotterdam , Kinderdijk
and Antwerp.
We even moved to stay in Denmark during the peak of Covid : Relocation from Singapore to Aalborg, Denmark
Feel free, you are most welcome to browse through my other blogs to France, Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia and cruises etc.
Next Trip: Chiangmai Thailand & Muar Malaysia while Japan is in the plan - Please stay tune by liking my Facebook page: followblueginger, Instagram page : followblueginger , TikTok page: bluegingerkaren and Tumblr page :followblueginger.
Thanks, and Cheers
"I travel because seeing photos in books and brochures was not good enough for me, To be there, that was everything"
No comments:
Post a Comment