When the Asia-Pacific Economic Community or APEC met in Busan in 2005, a special building of steel, wood and glass was built in Dongbaekseom Island just for the purpose. Today, tourists to Busan flock to the building which is appropriately called Nurimaru APEC house. I suppose visiting the building by itself wouldn't be as much fun as walking the trails of Dongbaekseom Park where the building is located. We walked the coastal path overlooking the Busan ocean and Haeundae Beach, enjoying the cool crisp air, the slaps of the breeze and the lush greenery characterized by the pine trees and camellia which had yet to bloom. Somewhere during our walk, we came across a statue of a mermaid in the distance, a mermaid not as famous as the little mermaid in Denmark but just as mesmerizing; this Princess of Topaz from the Kingdom of Naranda, wife of King of Mungungnara, who holds a topaz bead given to her by her grandmother as she yearns for her homeland. Our walk ended at the busier part of Haeundae Beach, a place, hip and with a crowd and where greenery give way to concrete structures. From there, we had a perfect view of the second longest bridge in Korea, Gwangan Bridge, otherwise known as Diamond Bridge.
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