War? and Snow and the DVD room

Well a week of very interesting developments. I can't say what some of them are just yet but I can say that they are concerning to say the least. I will keep you up to date on this with next weeks post... but I can say things are not looking so good.

I think last week I made a comment about the landscape turning from lush greens into something that resembled a war zone or battlefield:

And then I was reminded about something and I said "Oh yeah this is a war zone".

And then I found this which is probably the most modern footage of the North as opposed to those old clichéd soviet style propaganda films of the 60's and 70's.

So today I was keeping an eye on the news as South Korea and the US are continuing their Naval drills today and I saw this: (I hope the link still works):

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2010/11/28/0200000000AEN20101128005800315.HTML

Basically it says that Korea is in a state of ultra emergency as declared by North Korea.

Well I'm pretty confident that if something did happen and 1 million men came across the border with 180,000 special forces through the 20 other tunnels that the South has not found yet, that it would be impossible to get out of here as the major airports to the north would be rendered useless in under a day.

But anyway it snowed yesterday! Not as much here as other places around Seoul but it was snowing none the less.

Also Christmas is gearing up here already and I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities to get those lovely night Christmas light photos for you :) But in the mean time:

Have you ever wondered what the inside of a DVD room looked like? Well wonder no more! Its a small room about 2 meters wide by 3 - 4 meters in length with a projection screen and a large vinyl seat and a telephone I guess to talk to reception. These places can be found all over the place and I would assume... that it gives young couples a place to get away from everything for a couple of hours and 15,000 Won will get you some alone time.

So I will leave you with this - the song is Perfect War by FGFC820

Winter = Cold & Sick

So this week I got hit hard by some kind of sickness and I am at the very end of it now. The difference between getting sick in new Zealand and getting sick here is that you can feel the sickness creeping up on you in New Zealand and it usually takes a while to take hold and then a while to get rid of. In Korea its more like you turn around and wham you get hit by a bus. You really don't feel that sick i.e. you don't feel drowsy but you sure cant stand up in the classroom for very long and it takes a long time to get out of bed and try to get going in the morning. I did have a bit of a runny nose and a small cough but the worst of it was the rest of my body was just so fatigued that it was very confusing and just downright tiring. However I had a little help with some medication, food and clothing that a Korean angel sorted me out with so I survived.

So that being said I didn't get up to too much this week apart from a couple of meals and a long rest. But if you want to see a few photo's of what Korea looks like now keep scrolling down. I will be taking more photos this week as the scenery has turned from lush green to what appears to be a dead battle ground in some parts. Its an amazing transformation... well for me anyway having never been in this kind of climate for winter.

But first I went out on Tuesday for lunch (or was taken) to a traditional Korean restaurant to have many a spicy dish. Now I cant really tell you what this was like because by the afternoon and evening I was pretty down with this illness. But here is a photo of some shredded jellyfish and other dishes.

Saturday we rocked it to Pizza Hill. Now I have to mention Pizza Hill because its right next to Walker Hill Hotel and not only has amazing views but where else can you get a 50,000 won pizza? Well here it is with a 15,000 won salad :)

All right well winter is coming and some days it is very cold and other days its not too bad. One thing I have noticed however its not like a New Zealand cold. It something you would expect up a mountain. The air is dry and the cold is like being in a freezer box. If you are wearing a big warm jacket, a couple of pairs of socks and thermals you will feel cozy but every bit of exposed skin will be literally freezing like the hung meat at the butchers. So if you are just about to head over here be aware that it is cold and bring some serious winter equipment.

This is what it looks like here now:

Yes this is the sun at about 4:30 pm

And this is my favourite picture although it was only taken with my phone which I regret...

And for all who remember a few weeks back I was going to post a picture of my jacket.. well one of them... here it is:

Well being sick for 4 or 5 days has not been easy and I have had a TV show to keep me company for the long hours in bed. If you don't know the Trailer Park Boys... shame on you. This is quality Canadian television... :) Check out a clip for yourselves:

Now you too can "rock some Mitchell"

Guri Tower, Lantern festival and "Return"

Yes this week I got out and about to work of that pot belly I had been nurturing over the past few weeks eating at all those fantastic places... Well I don't really have a pot belly to get rid of but anyway.

So after months of promising that I would go to Guri tower I was lucky enough to be taken there. At 100m tall its not huge but it still looks impressive and especially at night when it is all lit up.

So of course it has a revolving restaurant inside with wonderful comfortable seating and great views of the surrounding cities.

The mains this time consisted of a Carbonara and fish and potatoes and rice. It was lovely and with a free coffee and tea at the end of the meal who could complain. There were live performances throughout the meal so if you wanted a quiet dinner... well you would be better off going somewhere else.

16,000 per main was very good but you could choose the steaks and chicken and be looking at the 30,000 - 40,000 range.

Over all very entertaining and just a fantastic way to spend a weekday evening.

On to Saturday I met my friend and we had lunch at Techno Mart Gangbyeun station where i took these photos of the city.

We then headed off to Seoul to look at the International Lantern Festival that is currently being held there. Thousands of people were there to see lanterns from all over the world; even New Zealand was represented.

You can check out more of the lanterns in the photo dump linked at the end of this post.

From here we went on to see "Return". A theatrical B-Boy dance performance featuring the Gorilla Crew. The performance was not just restricted to the general B-Boy or Popping dance which you may expect. There were some truly masterful displays of highly choreographed dance that were really impressive and going well beyond expectations.

The 90 minute performance was breath taking in parts and some of the displays of physical conditioning to be able to slow motion classic B-Boy moves was impressive to say the least. So if you are into this kind of thing I would suggest heading along to Kaya Art Theatre Chungjeongo Station Exit 7 and have yourself a good night of entertainment.

Here is a photos (yes taking photos is permitted but video is not... as I found out) and a short video of the performance.

As promised here is the photo dump:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54304440@N04/sets/72157625380698664/show

Well it seems that this is it for another week. I'm hoping this wee will bring some more fun and excitement and I am sure it will.

More Restaurants?!

Another week done and just about to start another one which will be a mystery as to what is going to happen...

This week was a nice quiet one with a few more restaurant trips to report on.

The first visit was to Restaurant Iami somewhere just outside of Deokso (I will have to get the details later as a quick internet search has turned up nothing).

Tuesday night pasta in a 2 storied restaurant overlooking the river. The place had a really unique feel to it as the levels were split in the middle of the building, so you entered on the top floor and walked down some stairs to the lower level and back up to the top level. We were seated on the lower level, each table had couches as seats, red on the top floor and beige on the lower level. The pasta was excellent, probably the best I have had and the largest quantity. The price was still up there being 27,000 won for tea and a pasta but overall it was a plesant experience.

Thursday night was a dinner at HoMyeonDang http://www.homyeondang.com/

A nice place very clean, modern and spacious. The food was good and at the 13,000 + range for a main. I had the pad thai and my friend the fried rice. A lot of these places seem to have valet parking and at 2,000 it is an affordable convenience.

I finally went to Itaewon to get a leather jacket (which I will post a picture of next week, if I remember). But first we had lunch at Between on the main street of Itaewon.

http://www.seoulgrid.com/blog/between-itaewon-tapas/

I had the soup of the day and a hamburger. The staff were friendly and of course could speak English. They were also very quick to refill your glass for you. The meal was very good. The décor was modern and tidy but some areas were a little dirty and not maintained which was a little let down to a great place.

These 2 meals came to 38,500 won so again around the mid to late "teens" 15,000 - 17,000 + for a standard meal.

So yes I need to do something more than eating :)

Anyway here is a clip to keep you entertained (notice the Korean subtitles in the video) :)