Sunday, June 28, 2009

Lucky 7


The most ritzy place in Korea to live Gangnam, by ritzy I mean expensive and nice! The black towers you see along the sidewalk are big screen computers that you can take pictures from and even email them!
The highlight of my day was being crowded in this subway car like sardines in a can! They actually have people blowing whistles and pushing people into the cars. We left the horse races early to avoid the crowd, I guess we did sorta!



A man made waterfall at Seoul Racecourse Park....AKA the horse race place!


Racetrack supervisors




The betting/odds board notice the million dollar figure on the bottom left, thats how much was bet on that particular race....some races I saw it go over 4.5 million. The horse park holds about 30,000 people and has a 5 floor viewing grandstand.





The track from our seats in the foreigners lounge! We sat indoors because the air con was a blessing to the 30degree heatwave outside! Also the outdoor grandstand is like one big smoking lounge, I heard a statistic that 89% of Korean males over the age of 23 smoke......lemme tell ya we watched one race outside and it was like a blue haze over the hot sticky air.







Horse race that I didn't win on!
I ended up winning on the second last race once I enquired and figured out the odds, turns out I was always betting on the long shot to win! Sure the payout would have been fantastic but the chances were slim!
I won $21.60 on that race and only lost $4.50 for the whole day!
Lots of inexpensive fun






Statues on the way into the race park







Ms D giving me the "look" on the subway platform.


















The view of the skyline/river/running paths in Ori a nice suberb no where near our house!























Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Sushi Train

Took the short trip to Jeongja, it is the second most expensive place in to live in Korea. The skyline is beautiful if your into TALL lit up buildings, it's all nestled next to a river with really nice walking paths, basketball courts and bike trails. Too bad my camera could not get a better picture of it all!



The reason we were in Jeongja is to go to the Sushi train restaurant. You sit at your table and the food goes by on a conveyer belt type thing, ya see something you like and grab it.
Although it was not cheap it was a load of fun! All the plates are colour coded and each colour plate is a different cost.
See the lady cleaning up, thats where we sat!










Our friend Charlotte keeping an eye on the train!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Singing In The Sunshine, Laughing In The Rain.

A quiet street in Seoul We went for a tour of Gyeongbokgung Palace, A place that was built for the king in the 1400's Destroyed by the Japanese in 1592 and was not reconstructed till 1868. Ongoing restoration is still happening today, It is 40% complete to it's original state as of 2009.
These were some of the random statues in and around the area



Stairs we were not allowed to climb Outside the sleeping quarters
Inside the sleeping quarters of above building

The attention to detail in every ceiling tile makes you go dizzy


A meeting area, I think
Guards at the gate, I bet they get their pictures taken at least 500,000 times a day!


Approaching the main gate
Always in deep thought....in this one I'm wondering where my shades are!

The night before the palace tour, we all went to eat at a Brazilian all you can eat steak place!
You heard me right! ALL you can eat steak and fixins for $25 bucks each, they had sirloin,fillet mingion, chicken wrapped steak, garlic steak and baby steak as the waiter called it! Done how you like it and they just keep coming, I didn't say a word for at least a half hour! After we rolled on out for some drinks and nori-bong which in English translates to singing room.
In this "Rock and Roll" bar they played alot of tunes by Rush, which I know someone out there reading this is quite impressed right now!

Tambourine Teri and Nathan rockin the Nori-bong



Statues you can buy for your yard!

Another smaller temple in Seoul, notice the swastika on the pitch of the roof, contrary to popular belief Hitler stole the symbol from the Buddhist religion


They like statues and trees!


Outside view of the temple
Inside view
A view from the balcony of this music warehouse we strolled through, imagine a building the size of Home depot filled with any and every kind of instrument you can imagine, I priced out a solid wood Acoustic guitar and it was $200 bucks or $190 if you pay cash....LOL
This building below Teri calls the eye in the sky! It's a bank or something but it's so tall it helps you orientate yourself in case you get lost!


A view of the street below, the eye in the sky is to my left

I think they are in desperate need of electricians here, I took this to illustrate what an average hydro pole in Seoul looks like, notice the wires, good thing its raining!

A better view of another

Teri always catches me checkin out the locals

This place is nuts were gettin out of the rain and going for a beer!

I think it's this way, down a labyrinth of alleys like this where guys on scooters drive like maniacs
Another thing I learned about Seoul is when traffic is backed up on the road they drive on the sidewalk, dodging the pedestrians and no one even cares. Scooters, cars and trucks I haven't seen any buses on the sidewalk yet but it wont surprise me LOL
Back alleys are like a city inside a city if you can find your way around!
























Friday, June 19, 2009

Wheat Kings

Another really hot day like plus 32, so we decide to go out for HotPot soup good idea eh....well actually it is! It's a cook it yourself kinda deal with all the fixins and man is it good, and messy, I got kimchi and soup broth all over my white shirt, I was quite pissed off about that that's why I'm not in the pictures. Still eating where did the beer go?Today's breakfast/lunch was roll or sushi, whatever ya like to call it....this was the spicy California and it was really good.
Ms D with her veggie roll and our tempura appetizer, this place was so good after we were finished they gave us free I repeat free frozen yogurt for desert, just for being lovers in a dangerous time!

Remember the Red Dog beer that didn't make it in Canada, well it made it over here LOL fifth one from the top left!
These guys try to run me over because I won't eat their food!


So far this is the safest place to fish in Korea, all the tanks are packed with fish you never heard of. The idea is you pick your fish, they catch it for you, 10 min goes by and your eating! I have stayed clear of these places so far but lemme tell ya there everywhere!
See the little dude with the bucket.......