On to Busan, South Korea - Monday 19 August

The last 3 nights have been so tropically balmy we could have slept on the balcony. This morning, between 6am and 8am, we passed through the Kanmon Straits, a long narrow passage between the islands of Honshu and Kyushu. This passage requires an on board pilot and is one one of the world's busiest shipping channels, with ships everywhere. At one point we had at least 15, just on our starboard side.
On this cruise, we have some extra benefits thrown in - so with hours up our sleeve until we reach Busan, we ordered our balcony champagne breakfast this morning - stunning. Without ordering "extras", it comprised 6 plates of food, from salads, salmon, quiche, bacon, cheese, strawberries, blueberries, melon and cream (and that's ignoring about 10 pastries left unbeaten). Decadence, and thankfully, just a one day experience!!!
Naturally this required follow on exercise, so it was time on the Promenade Deck (a greater distance for one of us) - and a late, light lunch.
We arrived into Busan mid afternoon. Busan is South Korea's second largest city and has undergone rapid development. It has a huge port area, with dozens of wharves and many hundreds of container cranes - and it was a hive of activity. Off the ship we were required to go through immigration (and again when we returned) before a shuttle bus into the city. Busan is very different to Japan - it's rapid development and growth sees very big numbers of very tall skyscrapers (in comparison, building heights in Japan are generally much lower - even than Melbourne). It also appears that  South Korea is ever ready for defence, as we saw two big, heavily armed, groups of troops as well as naval presence in the harbour.
Despite the time of day, the Jagalchi fish market was still in near full swing. Dozens of stalls with every variety of "seafood" you can imagine (and many you cannot) - and most of them live. You can buy them and take them over the road to many restaurants, shops and stalls which cook them on the spot any way you want.
We then walked via Biff Square, the centre of the the principal shopping area, to Yongdusan Park, a big hill top park in the centre of the city and the home of Busan Tower. It is quite a large hill, and 5 steep and long escalators take you to the top - regrettably, there are no escalators going down. A quick search, however, turned up a long and winding path down the other side of the park and we gradually wound our way back via numerous small alleys/laneways, all full of retail shops and stalls, selling all varieties of goods (prices seem to be cheaper than Japan).
A cool drink and a wander in the other direction, took us into a big area of food stalls, where all manner of street food was available. Back then to the shuttle bus and return to the Diamond Princess. We will be back in Busan in a week or so's time - for a full day.
Excellent show tonight with an incredibly talented group of 5 young Korean drummers and who had the audience jumping.
Sail away tonight is under the Busan Harbour Bridge which crosses the port areas and joins two parts of the city - and it is a spectacle of coloured, sparkling and moving lights as we pass under (with minimal clearance). The night ended with the discovery of one of Pat's ankles being swollen.