technically not from the weekend, but given to me by a friend when we met up for lunch on Thurs — they were too pretty not to post!
see that cluster of buildings on the right? That’s our apartment. Our building is the one poking out on the far left.
Koreans seem to like putting fountains in lakes and streams
a lot of people hang out under the bridges playing card/board games. Unlike the States, it’s not sketchy. And no grafitti — anywhere!
apparently there are Eurasian river otters that live in this stream. Dear otters: I will find you. You have been warned.
several tunnels connect the river to street level. this tunnel led to an artsy street – Kim Kwang-Seok Memorial Street, named after a famous singer
Sly spotted this tiny trailer on top of a building and we got all excited thinking we could stay there. Turns out this place ia a massive wedding/engagement photo studio and the trailer is a ‘glamping’ set. If you think the wedding industry is nuts in the US, you have no idea. Korea is like next level.
I kept calling these birds cranes, but actually they are gray herons
we often wake up to find this guy under the covers
sushi-go=round at a department store food court
– One of our newly made friends is moving just north of Seoul. We met up for lunch and to say goodbye one last time and instead of us giving her a going away gift, she gave us housewarming flowers? It’s not that we won’t see her — I mean Korea isn’t *that* big of a country but still, it’s sad that she won’t be as close.
– The weather was awesome on Saturday — one of those we-need-to-be-outside sort of days. We bought some coffee and walked along the river? stream? that runs beside our apartment building. The stream cuts through the city, following one of the main highways. It’s an awesome way to get around by bike or on foot. On both sides of the river are stretches of grass perfect for laying out on, shaded tree-draped pergolas, tennis courts, playgrounds, basketball courts, paved courts for riding bikes or rollerskating, artsy mural painted bathrooms, fountains — and of course, (urban) wildlife including herons, cranes, fish, and otters(!!!) I don’t think we really planned on walking too far but it was such a beautiful spring day that we decided to see how long it would take us to get to Bangcheon market.
– Um. There are otters living in the stream????? We didn’t see any — there were a lot of “don’t touch the otters” signs, as well as otter statues — but you can bet I have since googled the crap out of them to determine the best time to see them. Sorry otters, I will be stalking you now.
– It didn’t take us too long to get to the market, and once there it was a flurry of craft and food stalls. New restaurants had popped up everywhere since we had last been in the cold of winter. We spotted a place called “Beer + Burgers.” Pretty sure we’ll be walking there a lot this summer.
– After walking around the market and the nearby streets we headed back home. On our way we stopped at a department store called Debec. We were less interested in the typical department store stuff like clothes and perfume but more interested in what they had in their basement food courts. All nice department stores in Korea seem to have grocery stores and food courts on their basement levels and this one was pretty great. Tons of food options, a liquor store, a badass grocery store that had LOTS of organic stuff (as well as a box of Cheez-Its for $7), a tea and cake store, a place that sells fabric — total score.
– On our way home we discussed getting scooters – like adult razor scooters — to ride along the river. How fun would that be?
– We watched/stalked a lot of the birds wading in the river and marshy areas along the river’s trail. Even though we live in the city, having the stream with all kinds of birds and the mountains nearby — literally across the street from our apartment — is amazing. It was so relaxing walking along the river (even if we did get sprayed by the fountains in the stream. Bleyecch.) Next time will walk the opposite way — towards the mountains and away from the city — on the river and see where that leads.
– On Sunday we decided to go see a baseball game. Our home team — the Samsung Lions — have won the championship the past 3 years. I was pretty excited/curious to see how a baseball game in Korea differed from those in the States — especially as far as the food was concerned. We decided not to buy tickets in advance and instead drove to the stadium about 10 minutes prior to the start of the game. Wrong decision. The ticket lines were insane and parking? What’s parking? Like I don’t even know if there was a parking lot. We aborted mission and instead drove back to the department store we explored the day before and had sushi-go-round for lunch and something called a “Baumkuchen” (tree cake) for dessert. How random is it that we found baumkuchen in Korea?
– The rest of the weekend we just lazed about with the kitties, drinking coffee, reading, coming up with ways to use all the food from our CSA boxes, etc. I love weekends where we explore other parts of Korea, and this part of the world, but I really just love exploring our (new) home too.
