9/27/2011

Lets Rock Festival 2011 & MMA ChangDong Station


Finally got around to updating this week :)

Saturday I found myself at the 2011 Lets Rock Festival. The event was held next to the Han river and I found the location curious as parking and ease of access to get to the event was not exactly easy... as the day went on the cars started piling up and some interesting parking places were utilized such as on the motorway or just about anywhere there was enough space for a vehicle.

The early morning was not exactly "rock" but as the night came on the harder sounding bands appeared. However the size of the crowd was not as big as I expected but it was a fun atmosphere none the less. Here is some photos and video's of what was happening there. I did not spend the whole day there but the morning and night and skipped the afternoon.

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Sunday ChangDong Station right next to exit one on the right there was a free open air MMA Kickboxing event which was an all age competition from very young to adult and some of the fights were really impressive. I spent a few hours there but the sun was very hot and I went out for dinner before the night events began but here is a taste... by the way Road FC 004 is on at the Hilton Hotel on the 3rd of October... however I cannot find a google link...so.... maybe if you have a Korean friend that is into MMA they will know :)

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So another "chocka block" weekend done and dusted... bring on next weekend for some more excitement! Another long weekend too! Excellent! Have a great week! :)

P.S. Have a look at one of my students websites. They have designed and made handbags from Korean leather and are available in selected stores and online. Here is the link and a few pictures :)


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9/18/2011

Ocean World !!

So its still pretty hot or hot enough to go to a water park anyway so Vivaldi Park Ocean World was the place to be. If you have been on the subway recently (in Seoul anyway) you would have seen the different swim wear coloured girls advertising the different rides there. It was a pretty quiet mid morning but there were still long lines and we went on the big blue ride (the name escapes me right now :/ ).

The things that impressed me were:

* the convenience of having a wrist bracelet loaded with money so you didn't have to carry cash just scan the bracelet and get your hot dog!

* If you forgot or didn't have any swim wear you could purchase shorts, rash vests, hats, sunglasses, bikini...... there at a couple of stores, one at the gate entrance and one inside just a little further past the mens changing rooms.

* Little lockers before many of the rides where you could store a camera or cell phone / hand phone while you went on the ride.

* The safety of the rides - no huge out of control designs which end up flipping you on your head like other water parks.

There is also an inside section a lot of areas for kids, a sauna and Jacuzzi area, lots of places to eat including Burger King (inside) and generally enough to keep you fun filled and happy for a good day!

So I took some photos and video of the rides on my small camera which I will share with you. But before I do here is the official link:

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This is the resort which I guess is more popular in the winter when the ski fields open up next to Ocean World.

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So there you have it! Well worth the trip but get there early to ride the popular rides as lines can be long!

Until next week have a great time! :)

Oh P.S. last week I could not find the link to the car cafe but my friend gave me it today :) so here it is. I also updated last weeks post with this info as well:

9/13/2011

Everland and Little Prince Car Cafe

Wow so another late update due to the holiday for Chuseok which gives me Monday and Tuesday off which I am thankful for :)

So in the weekend I took a trip to Little Prince Car Cafe (Which is different from Little Prince Kids Cafe). I cannot seem to find any links on Google to this place??? :/

**UPDATE**

Oh Well anyway it is basically a restaurant surrounded by collectible cars and cars in the process of restoration. I would imagine in the peak of summer or spring it would be wonderful to sit and have a meal. Being my personal bias I don't fancy fall or autumn so the falling brown leaves didn't do much for me I am afraid. Anyway I will show you some pictures along with a slide show so you can check it out and maybe if I find a link I will post it later: **(see above)**

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Slide Show:

Straight after that we took a trip to Everland which is another fun park south of Seoul city. It is much bigger than Lotte World and has many animals and a Safari ride as well as the traditional roller coasters and themed areas like a rock n roll 50's american street area and a haunted hello-ween area as well as others.

It is probably too big to do all in one day and we got to see probably 1/4 or 1/3 of the attractions. I took some pictures and video of the safari trip and the night parade for you.


Official Links:



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Slide Show

And yes you can pat some stinky sheep if you want :) and feed some birds and perhaps some monkeys as well if you are up for it.



So check it out for yourself! Also Caribbean Bay (waterpark) is right next to Everland so if the weather is still warm in a week or so maybe I will head on back... if not there may be a chance next year :)

So until next week have fun! :)

9/05/2011

Chungju World Martial Arts Festival

Chungju World Martial Arts Festival 2011.

http://visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_2_2.jsp?cate=&area=&dateStart=01-01-2011&startDate=20110101&dateEnd=&endDate=&keyword=&category=&areaCode=&gotoPage=&stype=&cid=697308&out_service=

Currently the festival I being held until 8 September 2011 and I was lucky enough to attend on Saturday. About 2 hours from Seoul on the bus we arrived at about 12pm and began our day looking around. The place was quite large and had one big main stage and a small stage further out the back with a section for horse mounted archery and sword play.

We headed toward the Museum first which is quite small but spaced out over 3 or so levels. There were weapons and models of some of the fighting arts from around the world.

From there we had lunch and proceeded to look at the events. The back stage had children’s displays from such arts as Kendo, Hapkido and Taekwondo as well as B-Boy and motorcycle displays. Moving onto the main stage at 3pm we saw some Chinese forms and a Taekwondo display team.

I left a little confused however as the event itself seemed a little slow without much in the way of a “world” exhibition although I did see some other nations walking around in their track suits. No stalls selling things or giving information or samples of things like protein bars or drinks or things like that and not much actually on the schedule. So I am still a little confused about the purpose of the event. However it was a nice sunny day for once and I enjoyed the time away from the city.

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Until next week have a fantastic time! :)