Julianne and I had planned on going to Seoul today but when we arrived at the Chuncheon bus terminal it was PACKED. It looked like it would have taken about 30-40 minutes just to wait in line to get to a ticket window--and then find out that all the tickets were sold, or something like that . . . So, we then decided to head to the train station and see if we could get to Seoul by train--nope, standing room only for all tickets today . . . I took it as a sign that we should stay in Chuncheon. We decided to walk up the path that runs beside a small river feeding into a system of lakes.
We noticed that a lot of dragonflys were flying around, and took a bizillion pics of them trying to find the holy grail of dragonfly closeups . . .
While Julianne and I were furiously trying to take the holy grail of dragonfly closeups Shane and Jeannette rode by on the road above us . . .
We chatted for a bit, and then decided to meet up later for dinner . . .
Then Julianne noticed one of the scary neon green, yellow, and black spiders that are EVERYWHERE . . .
Further along the path I noticed this little guy watching us from the riverbank with his master.
I LOVE the blue skies that Korea gets in the fall . . .
Chuncheon is pretty much surrounded by a ring of moutain ranges. They make for awesome pictures when there are blue skies.
Along the river path there are many pumpkin patches. I think this is a pumpkin blossom . . . ?
Why use one fishing rod when you can use FIVE!
I love how a massive pile of peppers can be left out on a roadside to dry with no worry of anyone stealing them, or a ticket of some kind being given . . . lol. During the end of August, into September, and even early October you'll see a lot of different vegetables being sun-dried EVERYWHERE: streets, sidewalks, the hoods of cars . . . E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E!!!
Continuing along the path towards the lakes . . .
I'm not sure what the meaning of this statue is supposed to be . . . but I DO have some ideas . . . lol.
I was surprised to see a Korean War memorial for Ethiopian soldiers . . . but also happy that one had been made for them.
If you find the small river/stream running along the center of the map going towards the left where the lakes are you'll see where it opens up into the system of lakes and small islands . . . this is where we finished up the evening.
There is a small sport's center with a soccer field. It was fun to watch the kids playing, and of course, to take pics with my camera. I'm getting better at low light fast moving pics . . . I think.
I swear the kid on the right is looking at the referee for a penalty to be called--learning to 'trip' at a young age, eh? LOL . . .
I don't think they're wearing shin guards--so I guess if it was me I'd be jumping over another player's legs to avoid being kicked too . . . yikes.
He shoots--HE SCORES!!! Wait a second, that's for hockey . . . I've been out of Canada too long.
After watching the kids play for a bit we continued on exploring the area around the first lake we reached . . .
I still can't wrap my mind around the idea of designing a TRUCK that is this SMALL . . .
View from a bridge . . .
I think Julianne made a new best friend.
Later we met up with Shane a friend from Japan. We headed to the Myeongdong area (downtown Chuncheon) to have some chicken dokgalbi.
Yep . . . it's a whole street dedicated to chicken dokgalbi restaurants. BEWARE THE AJUMMAS (middle-aged married women) standing in the doorways of the restaurants! They are pretty aggressive with trying to get you to go inside their restaurants . . .
From right to left: Jeannette, Shane, and Julianne . . . I'm not sure what happened to the focus here--I'll try to get a better pic from Jeannette . . .
This is seriously the biggest pile of chicken dokgalbi ingredients I've ever seen! And I've been to about 10 chicken dokgalbi restaurants in different parts of Chuncheon . . . credit goes to Shane for suggesting the restaurant . . .
Hmmmm . . . chicken dokgalbi . . . chicken, spicy red sauce, sesame seed leaves, sweet potato slices, and rice cakes (like long tubes of pasta) . . .
Afterwards, in spite of being stuffed, we decided to go to "Creme"--seriously the BEST PIE AND CAKE place I've been to in all of Korea. In Myeongdong, with Dunkin Donuts behind you, walk across the street and down the main walkway towards McDonalds. Walk until you reach the intersection where you turn right to go to KFC. Creme is on the second floor above KFC.
The color scheme for Creme is PURPLE . . .
The pies and cakes cost 3,000 to 4, 500 won. Some of them come with a free drink (coffees, ice coffees, tea, etc). The chef speaks English and often comes out to help foreign customers order. He's very friendly, and his CULINARY SKILLS ARE PHENOMENAL!!!
The menu . . .
Oh yeah . . . the kitchen in the back is the CLEANEST I've ever seen anywhere in Korea!!!
Dark chocolate cake . . . words are insufficient to describe this rare and wondrous beauty . . .
A great ending to a great day.
J
I got to see some authentic Russian cooking done by these three ladies who are graduate students at the university . . . I ate a little (I was too full from dinner and wished I hadn't been).
If I remember correctly this is called something like "Bolotny"--it was really good.
Shane and Brendan eating some of the awesome food . . .
Julianne and I weren't drinking, and were too full to eat anything, so we went outside and walked around. We ran into Winnie the Pooh's long lost cousin . . .
We also ran into some rather scary (or at least they were trying to look intimidating) guys in uniform. I asked a student why they were there and was told that they were there to stop any fights that might break out. I thought this was hilarious as most of them didn't look like they could stop two high school boys from fighting let alone the kind of brawl that could happen if things got out of hand in the 20 or so beer tents that circled this field. Their haircuts were also very 'interesting' as I've never really seen too many people in uniform with hair that goes below the neckline . . .
Funky light decorations . . .
Sexy dancing?
Hmmmm . . . might want to practice a little more, lol.
After the 'sexy dancing' this drumming group came out and performed for about 20 minutes.
This drummer did a solo for about 5 minutes. She had a lot of enthusiasm, and was pretty good, but FIVE MINUTES???
Apparently hair-tossing is mandatory when drumming. Synchronized hair-tossing is preferable . . . lol.
There were a lot of people at the festival . . .
A LOT OF PEOPLE . . .
Near the end the fire canons and smoke machine started going nuts--the problem is that there was no real connection to the performance that I could see. I think the fire canons were in sync with the beat, but it didn't really do much to add to their performance . . . if they had had a good lighting director, and special effects guy, the performance would have been a lot better.
Hmmmm, YUM! Nothing says "FESTIVAL" like roast pig!!!
This guy (girl?) is in the top 3 now for biggest spider I've seen in Korea.
J
