Costco Yangjae

Ok so this week is going to be a pretty quick update as I spent most of this weekend studying... yes that's right self study... well its about time I use my time here seriously and I'm doing that but more regarding that later...

So Costco Yangjae (Well near enough to the station anyway...) Exit 7 walk straight out and past 7/11 there are 2 bus stops on that side of the road. I caught the bus from the furtherest bus stop right outside a gym (or a marque of a gym).

Take the 3000, 11-3, 441 and 917. The bus will drive down the street and then later it will take a sharp right turn. Get off at the stop after the turn you will see Costco on the right but will have to walk back to it from the bus stop. To get back to the subway station simply cross to the opposite side of the street where you got off and catch one of the above bus numbers back.

So this Costco is about the same size as Sangbong and no major surprises. I did find a few things I have not seen before like Lego...

Nothing too special though. I did however drop into emart and got myself a toaster finally and I am going to put it to good use as well!

20,000 won (rounded up) not too bad.

So I have been spending a lot of time lately on "tapes" and books about life strategies and other interesting things all related to developing a "winning" (to coin a Charlie Sheen phrase) strategy for life.

I have also had the privilege of doing multiple Anthony Robbins courses and have found one exceptional one that I will mention to you now. Its called The Time of Your Life. In my opinion it is an outstanding set of principles to how to plan, manage and ensure that you have a clear focus.

Well I will leave you with a clip if you are not familiar with Anthony Robbins and want to see what he is all about:

LOTTE WORLD! (and another Costco :)

YAY LOTTE WORLD AT LAST!

So I finally deliver on my promise of Lotte World. I took some pictures of the place so you can see just what its all about and some video. I even took a full ride video for you!

So Lotte World is in Jamsil... Its pretty hard to miss. Line 2 or 8 will get you there and you can surface anywhere and look around to see the big Lotte Buildings or you can follow the underground signs to exits 4 and 3 of line 2.

I took my pocket camera this time for the convenience so some of the video is not as good as it would have been with my other camera just so you know :)

Its just a little less than 40,000 won per person for the day but we got some kind of couples pass for 54,000 won so that was a good deal!

Lotte World is not only an inside adventure land but also outside at Magic Mountain:

That's where the BIG rides are and a few small ones like the Dodge em Cars and a Ghost House!

The Ghost House is a 3D movie which is pretty cool but mostly for the kids to watch as its not very scary. There are some Dodge em's inside too but the place has so many nooks and crannies its difficult to remember where things are.

Tomb of Horror inside Lotte Adventure is a must! It has some fantastic scary moments in there and you have to open the doors to each stage by placing your hand in potential traps!

It costs and extra 2,000 won but its worth it!

Another 2,000 won worth it experience is the Morror Maze:

3 rooms of mirrors and its really fun for something that is so simple.

So I took some random clips of some rides and one short one of getting to Pharaohs Fury. It is actually a long walk to Pharaohs Fury but the walk is very impressive with all sorts of Egyptian statues and mock up digs and there is a 20 foot tall statue on the way to the ride as well. I only got a minute of the walk on camera... maybe next time :)

We then went on "The Amazing Sinbad" ride which is also cool. I took a video of the whole ride so you can get an idea of the quality of the ride. I have to say Pharaohs Fury is a little better but I think that is because it is newer and there are long lines at times for it too... But here is Sinbad its very good as well :)

There are also performances throughout the day and a couple of parades. I took the whole of the night parade so here it is:

I will leave Lotte World with my favourite part :) I had to visit these guys a few times during the day as they really make me quite chuffed and happy and I may have even had a little chuckle! Amazing but true ..... xD

Here is the flickr photo dump of Lotte World!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59716500@N03/sets/72157626207027888/show

Baekseok Costco

Exit 1 Line 3 Baekseok Station:

This is the biggest Costco I have been to so far. The outstanding things to me here was the bulk drink isle. I believe this has to have the most variety in bulk drinks so far and they are all in one place rather than being split between two or three sections in the store.

I also saw some baked beans that I have not seen before :)

This place also has butter, Anchor cream cheese and "I cant Believe Its Not Butter" Stuff.

It seems like each Costco is just a little different but nothing major to say go here or there. But my Costco adventure continues so I cannot draw any conclusions just yet...

So I guess that's all for this week... I don't know what will happen next week!!!

Annual Event & Costco Yeongdeungpo

So last week I promised Lotte World.... well due to changes in schedules Lottle World has been postponed to this coming weekend :)

So anyway on with the show. I didn't post anything last night as I was out at dinner (which does not happen often on a Sunday night).

This week there was an annual song and dance performance for the school I am at. As you can see its a lot like WWE wrestling with the go go signs.

The event turned out OK and I would have had more to show you but... call me old grandfather time or perhaps Mr conservative but I am not all impressed by the contemporary "dress the kids like Friday night hookers" costumes that were chosen for these little kids or "children" to perform in. And a few of them also felt quite uncomfortable wearing them.

So I took a few pictures and a video to show you.

Costco.... again

So I have decided to visit all (if I can) the Costco's in the Seoul Gyeongido area and tell you which I think is the best (at the end).

This week I went to Yeongdeungpo Exit 3 turn around take the first right 350m here is a map:

This Costco has a larger variety of stuff than Mangu or more correctly Sangbong Costco. It has the standard Costco things like Pringles, and Tim Tams but also a few goodies like Snickers Ice Cream Bars and Cheesecake which I didn't see at Sangbong (but I might also be blind). This Costco also has a wider variety of Liquor and I saw 4 liters of white wine for $20 so all you cheap wineo's out there...

I want to buy some cheesecake but 16 pieces is even a bit much for me!... Oh and if you are in Korea you may have noticed that the "cheesecake" here is not really cheesecake at all so I'm going to get me some Costco cheesecake maybe in the summertime!

Well that just about all for this week. Here is a photo dump and I hope to have some exciting Lotte World things for you next week!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59716500@N03/sets/72157626166673234/show

Jump & Animation Museum Chuncheon

Monday it was Valentines day and I was lucky enough to be taken to "Jump" the Martial Arts Comedy show in central Seoul.

Its a fantastic show filled with great martial arts tricks and some comedy obviously.

Here is a short youtube clip of what you could expect if you go along:

Link to directions and prices of the show:

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_2_1.jsp?cid=684044

Also in Korea it is a little different to my country for example in terms of Valentines Day. Women here get men chocolates for Valentines and the men reciprocate their love later in March. So lucky men get to have lots of chocolates to gorge on :)

So in the weekend it was off to the Animation Museum (Different from the Cartoon Museum) in Chuncheon. There is a couple of buildings that you can enter and have a look at some of the equipment, techniques and animation films as well as all the characters.

Here is an excerpt from Wikitravel on it:

• Animation Museum [1]

Korea's only Animation Museum is located in Chuncheon and is worth a visit of a few hours or more. The museum sits directly next to an animation studio. Patrons may also purchase tickets to view a screening of animated Korean short films for 4,000 won. The subject matter mainly pertains to the history of Korean animation, but also highlights animation from other parts of the world, including North Korea, Europe, Japan, and the United States. Although most of the displays are in Korean only, English speakers will still enjoy the variety of media presented. The sculptures outside of the museum, created with used car parts, are a popular photo opportunity.

of building

Here is the full photo set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59716500@N03/sets/72157625967867483/show

We also passed on the way some ice fishing, an interesting natural ice sculpture and other random things:

So that looks like it for another week. Next week (fingers crossed) Lotte World!!! :)

Garden 5 is a huge shopping and entertainment centre built to rival Coex as the place to go for your greatest shopping experience. Scheduled to open in April 09 it promised big things. However on my trip there this weekend it was basically a lot of empty space. There is still construction going on and I didn't see many actual stores there. It is almost a ghost town with the exception of Kim's Club and a few other places.

However there was a living art exhibition going on there where you could pose next to paintings as though you were interacting with them....

There were also a few strange ones as well...

Here is the full photo set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58055258@N02/sets/72157626037274886/show

Here's what Garden 5 looked like when I was there:

Oh and while I remember here is the wikipedia link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Garden_5_in_Seoul,_Korea.jpg

Line 8 Jangji Station Exit 3

Don't forget it's Valentines Day tomorrow (depending on where you are of course) so make it a good one!

And I will leave you with another Star Wars special:

Gyeongbokgung Palace, National Palace Museum & Cheongwadae (Blue House)

Its the year of the Rabbit...

So as promised I went to Gyeongbokgung Palace, The Blue House (or as near as I could get) Cheongwadae and the National Palace Museum.

The weather was a tropical +4 / +6 degrees.

I took the subway line number 3 to Gyeongbokgung and got out at exit 5 which puts you inside the palace basically. The cost is 3,000 won to enter and can be paid inside the main gate on the right hand side.

The palace is quite huge and will take you a while to get around everything. I would probably recommend waiting until spring and take a leisurely stroll around in a more humid climate and (my own personal preference) I think spring / summer would be more beautiful although the snow look is ok too... but no I prefer summer :)

For example I bet this place would be far more fun in Summer...

Anyway about half way through your journey you will see the National Palace Museum. Outside there is an old street with shops and a street car. There is a children's museum and the main museum right next door. It was free admission (possibly due to it being a public holiday) and is worth a casual look if you have time. It closed at 5pm so I had to be quick!

Carrying on back through the palace grounds you will exit the back gate and catch a glimpse of the "Blue House" and the dozens of police all over the streets around it.

So the weather is getting a little warmer and the snow and ice is melting and I am getting a little excited about spring and very excited about summer and all the exciting things I can do and see since I wont be freezing!

All the photo's can be found in my photo set here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58055258@N02/sets/72157625861970617/show

On a side note... these are my favourite biscuits/cookies in Korea and I may have a secret recipe in the summer if my theory is right...

I will leave you with a couple of things:

I am also going to check out this anime... Ergo Proxy... tell me if you know of any epic anime series :)