Snowboarding in Seoul?

This past weekend (Dec. 11-13) 50,000 spectators at Seoul's Gwanghwamum square witnessed Switzerland's Gian-Luca Cavigelli win his first World Cup event. Constructed in the middle of this insanely congested city sat a huge a jumping facility that The Seoul Metropolitan Government said cost a total of W700 million (US1=W1,164) and took over 6,000 steel pipes and 500 tons of ice to create. This was the 1st and only time an Asian country has hosted an event of this type.

It was pretty awesome all around. It's been awhile since I had been to any kind of snowboarding competition and this was a great one to watch.










Listening to The Cribs The Light Went Out.

Busy Weekend

Time is ripping past like a wild animal and this weekend did just the same. The last few Saturdays I've been playing soccer at a local park. It's been great being able to run around for a few hours.



My friend David took this shot. Check out some of his other stuff. It's pretty awesome.

Saturday evening Crystal and I went to Yeouido Island to check out the 63 Building. The building itself is 63 stories tall and you can see all of Seoul from the top. We didn't make it to the top but we did get as far as the 60th floor. There was an art exhibit at the Sky Cafe and 360 degree views of the city.



The exhibit was pretty cool also. There was a variety of work there and even a few Warhol pieces. I'll probably end up back at the 63 Building because there was a ton of other things to do there, including a wax museum and aquarium.

Sunday we took an hour bus ride from Bundang to Yongin to check out Everland. It was really cold outside, like in the 40's so there was hardly anyone at the theme park. The country is also really worried about swine flu so that could have played into the lack of people also. The rides were geared towards a slightly younger crowd but there was still plenty for grownup children to do also.

They were still transitioning to their winter motif so some of the things were not fully set up. It appears there will be sledding and stuff like that to do in the near feature. One of the rides that really caught my interest was the Safari Bus Ride. Basically a group of people load on to a mini bus and travel to a back section of the park. Freely wandering are a variety of super cool animals. There were bears, white tigers, lions, and LIGERS!!!!





Overall it was a pretty solid adventure. Everland is definitely worth the voyage to get to. The safari ride on its own is enough.


Listening to Ryan Adams Karina.

63 Building
Everland

Aquarium's Rock!

Since moving to Korea I've been to two different aquariums and have decided aquariums rock big time. Over the weekend Crystal and I went to the COEX Aquarium in Seoul. It started off in the right direction when I found a big box of popcorn for only 1,000 ₩ ($0.84)! The aquarium had an interesting mix of creatures, that included spider monkeys, chickens, and hedgehogs (all of which are not your usually aquarium clientele).

I'm pretty sure I spent 45 minutes infatuated with a ray shark that kept swimming laps around a group of fish. It was so graceful and awesome I had trouble leaving it.



After the ray shark we made our way to a tank full of piranha's. It amazes me how these creatures are born in the wild with amazing color patterns and can be so vicious.



One of the cooler creatures was a turtle that was hanging out. The interesting thing about it was it had two heads! At home there was a snake at the LA Zoo that had two heads and it was always so strange to see.




There were tons of other fish and lots of other things to be seen and done at the Aquarium. If you are looking for something cool and different to do in Seoul this is a solid bet.











Listening to The Henry Clay People Andy Sings!


Aquarium pt. 1
Aquarium pt.2

Busan and Haeundae Beach

Friday night we had a staff dinner, hosted by the school. The director Mr. Kim took everyone out for dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant. There were about 25-30 people there and the plan afterwards was to rest up for a temple stay a few of us had planned. This plan took a very different turn in a matter of 5 minutes. Another group of coworkers were planning on heading to Busan which is a few hours south of Seoul.

We arrived at Seoul Station to purchase bus tickets for the 4 hour ride; we quickly came to realize that there were only 2 tickets left, but 5 of us who were going. We decided to split up and we would meet in Busan in the morning. Forrest and Olivia took the bus, while Jason, Crystal, and I tried to figure out a game plan to get to Busan. The final decision was to take the KTX, but it didn’t leave until 5:30 am on Saturday morning and it was 11:45 pm Friday. At most metropolitan bus/train depots late night patrons tend to be an interesting breed and Seoul Station did not disappoint. There were a variety of locals milling around the station but the three of us had the distinct pleasure of being the only foreigners until almost 4 am (we stuck out like a sore thumb).

When 5:30 am finally arrived the three of us boarded the train and set sail for clear skies, and warm weather. The train took a little less than 3 hours to travel 210 miles, but didn’t make much of an impression because I slept the ride there. We found a hotel in Haeundae , dropped off our bags, showered up and wandered down the street to the beach.



The beach was pretty awesome. The water was super clear, which is very different than the water at home. It’s usually in your best interest to not go in the water in Los Angeles, but in Busan it was encouraged. We hung at the beach for a few hours; dug in the sand, napped, played with the local wildlife, and then went back to the hotel to wash up for the evening.





That evening we went to the local live fish market that had just about every kind of seafood item you could think of. The way the market worked was you picked the live creature from one of the many vendors, they would cook it, and then you get to eat it. This was definitely an experience.



Now my eating repertoire only includes one kind of fish and that is a goldfish cracker. Outside of that; seafood and I don’t mix. Forrest picked out the lucky creatures that would be moving upstairs with us for dinner and we went and found our table. A few minutes later a king crab, live octopus, clams, and more were laid upon the table. Inside my head was a toddler throwing a pretty intense tantrum, but on the outside I held my composure, and actually tried the crab.

Thanks Crystal for the photo.



The next morning we went to the Busan aquarium before heading to the bus. There were a lot of awesome creatures. Overall it was a solid weekend.









Listening to Bright Eyes Lua.

Insadong and Downtown Seoul

A week or so ago I made my way out to Insadong which is near downtown Seoul. Insadong is an older outdoor shopping area that was packed with people. Wandering the streets, Insadong quickly become one of the top 5 places I've been to in Korea so far. There were tons of cool street vendors and lots of shops to venture into.



The city was an interesting mix of young and old. The young aspect that stood out was an interesting artsy vibe. The architecture some of the buildings was super cool. There was one shopping center that had a variety of boutique style stores that catered to a young crowd. This area was highly populated with university students, couples, and foreigners. The walls of the building were littered with graffiti that seemed to be encouraged and added an interesting touch to things.







Once we made our way back to the main street the vendors seemed to be in full effect. Now granted it was a Sunday afternoon, and prime shopping/selling time but it was a bit overwhelming to see all stuff for sale. There was everything from traditional Korean clothing to tea pots to hats to porcelain pigs. The hat guy reminded me of the book Caps for Sale. The only thing missing was the monkeys.





One of the things I really enjoyed about Insadong was that fact that you could wander down an alley and it seemed like a whole new world would appear. It was as if one had ventured down a rabbit hole and popped out somewhere else. The first place we popped out at; was in front of an awesome art gallery. The exhibit was a variety of 2D sculptures that appeared to be 3D. There were several sculptures of Korean pop stars and a variety of other worldwide figures.







As we left the exhibit we found another alleyway to explore and popped out in front of a tea house. The place was amazing. The tea and food were delish as well as the building was visually cool. They had a variety of teas, some hot and some cold. I had this super yummy citrus tea. My friends David and Melissa ordered a different kind of fruit tea that I was totally keen on. I don't know what the snack food we ordered was, but it was really good. It was rice based and very light.



After tea we made our way towards downtown Seoul. We walked about a block before running into some kind of dance festival. It was really entertaining and really packed. As we were watching an older Korean man pulled me aside and wanted to take a picture with me. It was pretty silly. The dance party went on for a bit and then people went their separate ways.





After the show we went a bit further down the street and wound up on Sejongno street. Sejongno is littered with different monuments and civic offices including the US embassy. Along Sejongno is a huge fountain area that surrounds a statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin who is a naval hero in Korea. The statue and fountains we pretty elaborate.





Other than that things have been pretty quiet. I finally got a cell phone and found a gym down the street that I signed up for. We got a new teacher at work and have a staff BBQ on Friday. Hope the food isn't like the last meal I had that was sponsored by the school.

Saturday and Sunday a group of us are heading to Golgulsa Temple which should be interesting.

Things are swell in Wonderland.

Listening to Little Joy How To Hang A Warhol.

Insadong and Downtown Seoul

FC Seoul

Saturday evening 7 of us made the journey to the World Cup Stadium in Seoul to watch FC Seoul host Ulsan. We got a late start but made it to the stadium at the end of the first half. The stadium itself was beautiful. It was built when Korea and Japan co-hosted the 2002 World Cup.




The stadium was about half full and we sat in the general admission section near the FC Seoul supporters. The supporters section was a sea of black and red and had an awesome amount of energy. They stuck around for the entirety of the game and showed their passion even when Ulsan took a 2-0 lead.

The game ended in a 2-0 loss for Seoul. Something that I found really cool was the team made a point of going to each section of the stadium and acknowledged the fans who were there.

Overall it was an entertaining adventure. We decided that next time we needed to find a bus that would take us out to the stadium because in the end we spent more time traveling then we actually did at the match.




                                               Thanks Andy!

After the game there was an intense kawi bawi bo (rock, paper, scissors) match that took place. Loser had to lay down at the subway door before it opened. It was pretty silly.




"Come on out. Oh, the weather outside is weather." Make's me laugh every time.