DAY 2
uhhh yeeah my sister is OBSESSED w/ sudoku. moving on...
my grandma's apartment is on the 3rd floor.
im such a nerd i had to take a picture of the
constantly-present green exit sign.
every apartment complex is accompanied by a few of these.
it's kind of like a mini mall with the usual
dentist/banks/realtors/tailors/grocery stores/etc.
LOOK AT 'EM SIGNS. makes my heard hurt reading them all.
in the afternoon, we drove to seoul.
[population 12 million]
this is a shoeshiner's shack. there are many of these in the city,
the way there are hotdog vendors in busy streets. the dude
shines and fixes shoes/soles.
we had the best nangmyun cold noodles for lunch.
you eat it with sugar, mustard, and vinegar.
this restaurant is apparently tres authentic,
and they gave us beef broth to drink instead of the usual tea. mhmm.
a typical menu in a korean restaurant.
all restaurants specialize in one dish and its variations,
and the menu never has more than 10 items.
i found this fact fascinating although
it was kind of in the back of my head all along.
according to this menu, my bowl of cold noodles cost around $7 CAN.
it didn't used to be like this only about 8 years ago, but these days,
95% of all signs are in both korean and english.
another thing. all city roads had like 6-7 lanes,
as opposed to the usual 2. there were still bloody traffic jams though.
a parking lot we were at sold vanilla ice cream.
how cute.
(one cone is 1,000 won, which equals to $1.14 CAN,
according to a currency converter...)
my sister and my mom
this was like a museum/gallery district.
i didnt have time to walk along the streets, though
we went to the... yeah you can read the sign.
COUGHtackytouristCOUGH.. ha
W 1,500 for the museum. (about $1.50 CAN).
this is a harabang: an old man made of stone.
these are pretty common, although not this size
this is the prettiest tree i've ever seen.
oh. i should explain that the National Folk Museum is right next to
Gyungbokgung, which is an old Palace where the king
used to reside in, except during japanese invasions
in late 1500s, then later in the early 1900s.
an old, but not ancient, book, seeing it's written in Korean
(which was developed by king Sejong in the 1400s.
ok fine i guess thats pretty ancient.)
if you were rich, you were carried in this magnificent
thing to your grave when you died
i sound like a friggin history teacher or something. ENOUGH LECTURE
LETS LOOK AT PRETTY PICTURES.
these are chinese characters.. the written chinese language is
intricately woven into korean culture, but that stuff is so
complicated i'm not even gonna bother explaining.
miniature people on horses! WHEEEE.
i forget what this exactly is... these are roayl outfits
but i dont know much else. eh.
omfg.
this is the SECOND BEST DRINK ON THE PLANET.
im pretty sure these are common in japan also.
gift shop porcelain dolls. W 30,000 is about 30 bucks.
my sister with her zodiac sign (the monkey).
see the resemblance between the two? oh yes.
uhhh yeeah my sister is OBSESSED w/ sudoku. moving on...
my grandma's apartment is on the 3rd floor.
im such a nerd i had to take a picture of the
constantly-present green exit sign.
every apartment complex is accompanied by a few of these.
it's kind of like a mini mall with the usual
dentist/banks/realtors/tailors/grocery stores/etc.
LOOK AT 'EM SIGNS. makes my heard hurt reading them all.
in the afternoon, we drove to seoul.
[population 12 million]
this is a shoeshiner's shack. there are many of these in the city,
the way there are hotdog vendors in busy streets. the dude
shines and fixes shoes/soles.
we had the best nangmyun cold noodles for lunch.
you eat it with sugar, mustard, and vinegar.
this restaurant is apparently tres authentic,
and they gave us beef broth to drink instead of the usual tea. mhmm.
a typical menu in a korean restaurant.
all restaurants specialize in one dish and its variations,
and the menu never has more than 10 items.
i found this fact fascinating although
it was kind of in the back of my head all along.
according to this menu, my bowl of cold noodles cost around $7 CAN.
it didn't used to be like this only about 8 years ago, but these days,
95% of all signs are in both korean and english.
another thing. all city roads had like 6-7 lanes,
as opposed to the usual 2. there were still bloody traffic jams though.
a parking lot we were at sold vanilla ice cream.
how cute.
(one cone is 1,000 won, which equals to $1.14 CAN,
according to a currency converter...)
my sister and my mom
this was like a museum/gallery district.
i didnt have time to walk along the streets, though
we went to the... yeah you can read the sign.
COUGHtackytouristCOUGH.. ha
W 1,500 for the museum. (about $1.50 CAN).
this is a harabang: an old man made of stone.
these are pretty common, although not this size
this is the prettiest tree i've ever seen.
oh. i should explain that the National Folk Museum is right next to
Gyungbokgung, which is an old Palace where the king
used to reside in, except during japanese invasions
in late 1500s, then later in the early 1900s.
an old, but not ancient, book, seeing it's written in Korean
(which was developed by king Sejong in the 1400s.
ok fine i guess thats pretty ancient.)
if you were rich, you were carried in this magnificent
thing to your grave when you died
i sound like a friggin history teacher or something. ENOUGH LECTURE
LETS LOOK AT PRETTY PICTURES.
these are chinese characters.. the written chinese language is
intricately woven into korean culture, but that stuff is so
complicated i'm not even gonna bother explaining.
miniature people on horses! WHEEEE.
i forget what this exactly is... these are roayl outfits
but i dont know much else. eh.
omfg.
this is the SECOND BEST DRINK ON THE PLANET.
im pretty sure these are common in japan also.
gift shop porcelain dolls. W 30,000 is about 30 bucks.
my sister with her zodiac sign (the monkey).
see the resemblance between the two? oh yes.