Tapgol Park

We took a trip to Tapgol Park in central Seoul. Here are some shots:



This stone monument was built at the Monument of Wongaksa Temple after the completion of a 13 story stone pagoda in 1467. The pagoda is gone, but this stone prop remains with recordings carved into the stone. The monument is almost 5 meters tall. The turtle is granite and the body and head stone are carved from one piece of marble.




I think it's an old man hangout spot under the pavilion.



This is the Wongaksa Pagoda. It's 12 meters tall and was built in 1467. It's the only surviving stone pagoda of the Joseon Dynasty. It's made of marble, which is strange in Korea. Pagodas are usually made of granite.



A few palm reading stands outside the park.



Some older men smoking and playing checkers.

Snackin' at Rice Story

We stopped for a snack at Rice Story around the corner from our place a couple days ago.

Sweet and spicy pickled radish in the chopsticks. Sweet pickled cucumber and cabbage to the left. The cup on the right is a bowl of green onion and beef broth.

Cass was impressed by this secret napkin and chopstick drawer. You can keep the hot sauce you don't want to share in there.



Extra spicy noodles with shrimp, mussels and bean sprouts.

A few photos

We've been eating a couple times a month a a great galbi place. Starting with the plate with the scissors and moving clockwise: marinated pork rib, dried octopus with radish and brown sauce, spicy zucchini and mushroom soup, marinated onions, pickled radish, two kinds of kimchi and sauce, gelatinous sesame tofu, cabbage salad with sweet dressing.


I noticed the scouts camping at the elementary school next door to our apartment. They're really roughing it.


This gate is right in the middle of a busy intersection:

"Originally called Heunginjimun, Dongdaemun Gate (East Main Gate) is National Treasure No.1. Dongdaemun Gate was built by King Taejo in 1396, renovated by King Danjong in 1453, and its present structure was built by King Gojong in 1869. Apparently people started calling the gate Heunginjimun from King Sejo’s (1455~1468) reign."




The Original Cowboys at work at world famous Moon Blues bar in Guri City.


Cassie rocking out a Madonna tune:

Hiking, Caving, Ferrying...is that a word?

We went on a ferry ride and a touristy cave on a day trip with Adventure Korea. It was worth the $40, but I think the highlight was the ferry ride. The cave was pretty, but we had 80 people trying to walk through it in an hour. Next time, maybe we'll try a smaller group. Anthony said this site used to be a cave, but it collapsed and all that is left is the stone archway.













Here are some photos of Anthony and I at Soraksan National Park. Anthony climbed to a peak, while I took a cable car up into a different area. There were Buddhist temples all over, and lots of water falls. The mineral water stream tasted naturally fizzy! It was cool!

Here is our lunch after our hike

Sunyo-do Island

Here are a few pics of our Easter weekend trip to Sunyo-Do Islands. It was a small group of islands in the western part of Korea. The islands were connected by foot bridges, that only allowed golf carts, foot traffic and bicycles. We rented bikes and tooled around the islands for 2 days and 1 night. It looked like an odd combination of an ALMOST tourist spot, and working fishing villages. Maybe if I had a ton of money, I could be the first big investor and exploit the natural beauty, as well as clean up the islands (there were trash pits everywhere).

This is a typical Korean meal. The small silver bowls are full of rice. Each person gets a bowl of their own, and as you can see, there are many salads. The bowl of soup has tofu and local muscles. To the right of the soup, is the meat dish. This spread is for four people to share. You pick a little bit of what you want, and put it on top of your rice bowl, or eat directly from the small side plates. Most of this food is too spicy for me. I ate some of the soup broth on my rice, and ate a little bit of the spinach, bean sprouts, and a tiny bit of meat. Everyone else gobbled it up! It is acceptable to ask for seconds of everything but the main course (soup and meat). Pretty healthy meals, if you think about it....

Do you have anything simple, like soup? Hold the eye balls....

A little rental house on the side of a cliff. We wanted to stay here, but it looked pretty abandoned at the time....not the season?

Local fisherman mending his nets

These are small anchovies that they fish, dry, and sell to the rest of Korea. People are crazy for anchovies here. They sell them by bulk. They are served with rice, and somewhat crunchy. Sometimes they add peanuts, which I enjoy.

Low Tide

Anthony ate some local muscles on the first day. He said they were the best muscles he had ever eaten. Then we had a bonfire and he drank soju, beer, and makali. Needless to day, he wasn't feeling too well the second day. He is waiting for the ferry in this photo.