Thursday, October 9, 2008

2008 Sept 28 Nami Island Trip, Part 2

On September 28th, Julianne and I decided to join Jeanette (from Japan) on a trip to Nami Island. Nami Island is famous (in Korea, and Asia) for the "second part of the KBS TV drama series Endless Love." (from wikipedia.com)

"Winter Sonata (a.k.a. Winter Ballad/Winter Love Story, Korean: 겨울연가) was the second part of the KBS TV drama series Endless Love. This installment was produced in March 2002 in South Korea. It was broadcast on Japan's NHK and has been a major part of the Korean wave both there and throughout Asia. It is known as 冬のソナタ (Fuyu no sonata) in Japanese, 冬日戀歌 (Dōngrì Liàn'gē) or 冬季戀歌 (Dōngjì Liàn'gē) in Mandarin Chinese, and Bản tình ca mùa Đông in Vietnamese." (wikipedia.com)

Walking around the island we came to this little theater,

This little theater was interesting--especially because of the banner . . .

"correctional music festival"
correctional: adjective, "of or pertaining to correction, esp. to penal correction" (my bold).

Ignoring the lack of capitals in the title, the bigger issue here is that I highly doubt that Nami Island, the romance capitol of Chuncheon, would be hosting a concert with convicts as the main act . . . lol. Somebody needs to hire a native English speaker as their editor.

This little place sits at the top of the theater, and right next to the bonsai tree exhibit.

It was kind of neat to see a kiln and the pots . . .

Further on we ran into the "first kiss" spot, from the TV show . . . I have no idea what kind of kiss it was or why it's such a big deal . . . but the Koreans visiting there, and Jeanette from Japan, all seemed to have a large degree of enthusiasm for the spot.

I'm sorry Korea, but this is NOT A SNOWMAN!!!

My couplehood sense is tingling . . .


Just for kicks--a "couplehood" you'll never likely see in Korea . . .

Man, they both have their arms in the air and hips cocked to one side--is there like some kind of vitamin that you take to induce couplehood? (No, I'm not talking about the above picture--look BELOW).

Have no clue who this guy is, or what his character did on the show--but everyone else thought it was important so I took a pic of it . . .

Alright, everybody over 30 . . . who ain't thinkin' bout "CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG!" right now???

From wikipedia.com, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car is a children's novel written by Ian Fleming (of James Bond fame) for his son Caspar, with illustrations by John Burningham. It was first published in 1964 by Jonathan Cape in London and Random House in New York, and later made into a successful film."

Seriously, this thing gives new meaning to the abominable snowman . . .

abominable: 1. repugnantly hateful; detestable; loathsome: an abominable crime.
2.very unpleasant; disagreeable: The weather was abominable last week.
3.very bad, poor, or inferior: They have abominable taste in clothes.

I thought everything in Korea was supposed to be cute . . . It's shocking when I think that this picture is cuter than the one above . . .
abominable snowman
Some kind of info thingy on the TV drama and the location on Nami.

Julianne and I decided to get in on the whole 'first kiss' action. I've gotta say that putting my hand on the "two snowmen" was kind of BIZARRE as it has NO RESEMBLANCE AT ALL to snowmen . . . lol. It did, however, remind me of something else . . .

A crowd of Koreans began to gather and I tried to convince Julianne that we should show them what a 'first kiss' REALLY LOOKS LIKE . . . but we decided to be "PURE" . . . at this point I'd like to use an expression Brian-in-Jeollanamdo favors: *COUGH*!!!

Walking to other parts of the island we ran into some 'interesting' sculptures . . .

Is anyone else wondering what the parental guidance rating is on this piece?

Okay . . . green cage-thingies . . . uh-huh . . .

Looked through the doors and didn't go inside. Some kind of exhibition hall--lunch was a higher priority at this point.

I spy with my little eye something that is . . . c _ u p _ e h _ _ d . . . (look in the bottom lefthand corner, you'll see).

LUNCH! Not bad, not good . . . but definitely, remotely, faintly western style food . . .

Does this sound remotely 'wrong' to anyone . . ? I'm not a beer drinker, so I'm not sure, but it kind of makes me giggle (I think that also sounded kind of wrong too, lol).

Hmmmm, frosty ice creamy goodness . . . that we had to wait TEN MINUTES TO GET!!! What is the deal with 'fast food' service in Korea?

Cool lilies . . .

Walking out of the 'food court' area (that had no resemblance at all to any food court I've ever been in in Canada or the USA) . . . Julianne and I suddenly saw this,

I don't think I could have staged this shot if I tried . . .

By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.
Macbeth (4.1.45-6), Second Witch

Actually, I just meant the smoke and how it reminds me of witches, fires, and Shakespeare's "Macbeth" . . . heheheheh . . .


Thus endeth Part II.

Coming soon . . . Part III,

I imagine this little girl is thinking . . .

The Bene Gesserit Litany against Fear.
Pg 19 of Dune

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

Okay, not really--but you gotta admit that using that quote has a very high 'cool factor'--how often can you quote Dune in an everyday situation?

Somebody must think I'm American (nope, London, Ontario, Canada--thank you very much) . . . see Brian in Jeollanamdo's blog on the whole "A"-phenomenon in Korea . . . I won't sully my blog with explaining it . . .

J----not, A.

No comments: