Spring in Korea

There is a park nearby my home that has a large lake in the middle. Inside the lake is the outdoor portion of an amusement park. A walking/jogging trail goes all around the lake (2563km) and a footpath is higher on street level. I've been taking my bike to the park and getting some running in.


On my first visit to the park I took this photo. That was about 3 weeks ago. The photo below was taken about 10 days ago.


Quite a difference! I think I happened to visit the park at the peak of the trees blooming. If not the day I went, it was the day before.


Standing from the same position and looking to the right side of the lake. The old boat there is just for decorations.


A view of the outdoor portion of Lotte World amusement park. There is a huge indoor facility that goes with it.


I liked the contrast of the white and yellow colors.



The two photos above are the last from my visit to the park 10 days ago. Below are photos from my visit two days ago. The beautiful white trees have turned green already and now the flowers around them are beginning to bloom. I believe the main flower you see in Korea is the Azalea. They are literally everywhere. The colors are pink, red, and purple.





I took this photo to give you a sense of how many flowers will be in bloom at one time. These flowers haven't peaked yet, so I've got to return with my camera over the next few days.

The amount of flowers in bloom reminds me of spring in Oregon. However, I think there is a greater variety of flowers in Oregon.

Fukuoka Visa Run Part (Part 4)

In this post I will show some pictures from Ohori Koen Park in Fukuoka. It is a lake with a large pathway around it for people to run, jog, or walk. Of course it has benches for people to relax on as well. You can even rent small boats to paddle or peddle around in. One particularly neat thing are the three little islands that connect with little bridges for people to cross the middle.


In this photo you can see the willow trees that line the edge of the lake. I especially like willows. They use them along the river parks in Korea. I think they give the landscape a soft and relaxing look.

You can also see a pathway just on the edge of the lake for people to stroll casually. A little further back is the really wide path for people intending to exercise. My host told me but I forgot the distance around the lake. It must be nearly 1.5 miles (2.4 km).


Here is another cool feature of the lake. It's a small island with what looks like a dead tree on it. The tree is full of black birds. It looks like it may have been intended as a bird sanctuary.


This little hut extends from the islands in the middle of the lake. As seen through the trees with the city skyline behind it.


As seen from the entrance.


My last photo is of the the bridge that takes you from the islands back to the outer edge of the park.

I think visiting this park is a great way to enjoy some peace on a trip through Fukuoka. I'm really lucky that my Couchsurfing.com host lived just 3 minutes from it's edge. Thanks Mies!

Bukhansan Mountain

Back in October 2007, before it got too cold, I went to Bukhansan Mountain with my Korean friend Seijoeng. Mountain climbing is a serious pastime here. The demographic is middle aged mostly. Many Koreans like to bring rice wine with them to drink at the top along with their snacks which often include dried squid (think beef jerky).


On our way up we were asked to take a photo for this group of men. I snuck a photo for myself as well.


This a what you see when going up the mountain in the late afternoon, as we did. Scores of people focused on coming down.



There are two paths we had a choice between as we went up. One went up to the top of Bukhansan and the other went to a shorter peak. We chose the shorter peak because it was already late and my friend was extremely winded. This is the portion of the trail just before you hit the lower peak that we chose to climb.


The view is really interesting. Here is a Korean man taking in the sight near the top.


Finally, at the top Koreans chatted and took photos.



Here are two photos of the same view, one wide and one zoomed in. I read that something like 75% of the Korean landscape is mountains. Space is limited so Koreans build things vertically rather than horizontally. They use all of the available space right up to the sides of the next mountain. I think that is cool.


Looking in another direction.


Seijeong and I at the top.


Bukhansan at sunset.

A great thing about going later in the afternoon was the chance to take photos of the mountain as the sun went down. We had actually decided to leave the peak before the sun went down, so I was thinking I would not get the chance to take such photos. But, as we came down a few minutes, an opening along the trail offered the view you see in this photo.

I enjoyed the trip thoroughly and intend to climb all the local mountains and eventually hit mountains across the country.

Joong-Gang Park

There is a really big park near my workplace in Bundang. I occasionally leave for work early so I can spend some time there. The photos here are from two seperate trips. The first set is from late April. The second set is from late May.

Below is the second set of photos.

On this visit to the park, I took a walk up the small mountain/large hill to see more of the park. When I reached the top, I was surpised to find an outdoor gym. Or was I baffled?

Yeouido Park

Here is a photo of Yeouido Park from one end of the rectangle shaped recreation area. Many people come here to roller blade, ride bikes, play basketball, or sit in the shade. I come here to juggle on most Sundays. There is a small group of jugglers, high school aged, that meet here fairly regularly.

This location is also used by large organisations for festivals and protests. I was here just as one protest by the garbage truck union was about to begin. They all had black S.W.A.T. Team looking uniforms, red bandanas, and flags. There were thousands of union members present and the subway exit was pouring them out into the street. It appeared to be extremely organized.

A few of the roller bladers like to get up to speed and slide on the edge of the steps at this end of the park. You can see the roller blades are missing wheels in the center, allowing them to slide 5-10 feet.

The park nearby

My apartment is in the grey building on the left. This park is where I go on the nice afternoons to juggle. I like to juggle in the shade that you see in the picture.

Looking the other way, you can see the playground, the trees and some benches that many people frequently use. I feel very lucky to have a home next to this.