Boryeong Mud Festival 2011 & Toy Museum Sincheon

Saturday was the famous Boryeong Mud Festival... which if you didn't know occurs annually this time of year about 3 hours south of Seoul and is extremely popular with foreigners.

I went on the second weekend so it wasn't as busy as the previous weekend but there were still a lot of people about all caked in mud!

I thought that the place had mud flats but to my surprise the mud is all brought in especially for the event and the beach is all sand.

The sea was also crowded with floating tubes and banana boats being towed along by jet ski's.

It was excellent.. I hadn't been in the ocean for over a year so it was a treat for me!

We also rented a room for 3 hours and all it cost was 30,000w just for the convenience of having somewhere to put our bags.

Anyway here are some pictures for you to look at and a quick video of some of the landscape on the journey back by train.

I also discovered this cool toy museum just across the road a bit from where I live. It has lots of old toys and some for sale too! Take a look:

Here is the official website and directions:

http://www.pollalla.com/index.php?pass=1&pgurl=shop/etc_infocp

Well that's almost it for this week and more excitement for next week.. maybe a late posting as well as I have 2 days off :)

Have a fantastic week and I will leave you with this:

Lotte Shooting Range, The Science of Aliens & Aiins World

Tuesday, that's right Tuesday... I had the afternoon off so what better way to spend it than shooting a hand gun!

Lotte World in Jamsil has a shooting range on the lower floor next to the ice skating hire place.

As far as I can see its only for hand guns but there is quite a selection to choose from.

The cost is 30,000w for 10 rounds.

I chose the Glock 45 and blazed away with that. I was actually surprised by the weight of the kick of this thing! It is a pretty powerful hand cannon but super cool to use. This was the first time I have used a pistol but I shot ok with it.

Here is the video... a little long at the start with the safety drill but you do get to see the action :)

Here is the result:

a 99... one a little wide, a little high and a couple a little low.

Here are the gun options and details:

Saturday - The Science of Aliens... I cannot find anything on the web about this in Seoul so I cant give you the address... but I am sure this is close to Kunkuk University.

So this cost 13,000w per person and I really think this is a little overpriced when you compare it to other things I have been to. There is a little museum display of old movie memorabilia, an alien autopsy area with a rubber alien, a rubber floor which you can pretend is the moon, a science area for wildlife and planets and a make believe planet, an area to send a message into space and a mission impossible laser obstacle course oh and also a movie room... that's it nothing mindbogglingly exciting... but here are some photo's:

And a slide show:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64219328@N07/sets/72157627089392835/show/

From there it was onto Aiins World:

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264491

10,000w per person - worth it!

Probably it would be a good idea to go when the rainy season is over and not in a thunderstorm...

So this place has many of the famous building from around the world which you can visit all in one day! Some of these buildings are really impressive especially when you see the area set out for the pyramids which is quite large. Its a fantastic place to visit and take pictures and since pictures can tell a thousand words....

Slide show:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64219328@N07/sets/72157627214064364/show/

Well that's all for this week. I am fully booked out until October so I will see you back next week with something else interesting :)

Have an excellent week!

Rain

Today's post is going to be more of a review post than normal.

Last night I went to Cirque Eloize - Rain. Unfortunately its run in Seoul has come to an end (10th of July 2011).

This happens to be the only show I would not "recommend" going to but I would insist that you must go and see it. If you get a chance to see either this show or this performance group sometime in the future you have to go and see them!

This had to be the most entertaining and distracting show I have ever seen. Calling this a circus is a little misleading. This is not like the Chinese circus or any death defying spectacles of the like. This is more art in motion. There are amazing feats of strength, acrobatics and flexibility all given an early 19th century French feel. The male and female cast perform magically showcasing a truly unique and captivating experience.

If you are questioning the art, cirque fusion I can give you an example. An angel is narrating a story under a piano that is suspended from the ceiling as two men roll a box across the stage. Or perhaps the scene where boots rain down from the ceiling onto the stage like rain... This gives the show a very vividly visual aspect and mixed with the stunning performances leads to a wonderful and satisfying experience that takes the mind on a fantastic voyage.

Some of the highlights for me were the "curtain acrobatic dance", The actual rain at the end of the show that must have lasted for 10 minutes or so... and the box contortions or flexability show.

Well thats enough talk... I will let the pictures and video tell the rest of the tale. Here is the official website, keep an eye out for dates after August they might be coming to a town near you :)

http://www.cirque-eloize.com/en/shows/rain/calendar

That's all for this week. Oh except for the Techno Mart building shaking which I happened to walk through as it seems that the idea of closing a building which potentially could collapse escaped the authorities that day...

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/07/06/2011070600847.html

So have a fantastic week and see you again soon!

Apartment # 3?! Yes that's right but more about that later....

On Thursday I went back to Sydney the restaurant which I mentioned in a previous blog and this time I took some pictures of the restaurant and it decor for you to look at.

Its a very nice and interesting restaurant so if you get the chance I recommend it.

Ok Sunday I went to my friends church to watch some of the performances. There were also some Somalians and Kenyans there who performed as well so I got some of their performances on video. Have a look:

And finally Saturday was another big move across from Gyenoggi Do Namyangju to Seoul. So now I live in the big city and also have a new and exciting job with many opportunities to follow up on. So perhaps I will talk to you more about that at a later time... But for now here is my new apartment:

So until next time have a fabulous week :)

Taekwondo Black Belt Test 25/6/2011

Saturday morning was the big day after training hard for a month on Poomsae 1,2,3,4,5 & 8 it was time to test our skill.

Amanda and I were the 2 foreigners testing with 6 other Koreans.

You have a picture and number tagged to your uniform and stamped by the officials before starting and waiting anxiously while the grades before you perform in front of the judges.

Then it was our turn. First up it is the general test of punching and kicking skill with a straight punch technique, front down or ax kick, front kick and I couldn't hear what the last kick was but I guess it was a side high kick... I cant spell the Korean names for these kicks... :/

Then it was Poomsae 3 and 8... 3 is my worst as well as 2 but I made it through.

Finally its the sparring 1 minute or so "exhibition" to demonstrate skill. However it never really turns out to be an exhibition as everyone tries to kick a hole in each other.

I managed to launch a kicking attach and be kicked in the head at the same time causing me to fall. So if you would enjoy watching me get kicked in the head then I have a video of that for you to see :) The sparring went well I guess as I landed a few more kicks but it still looks messy and scrappy but I guess you cant expect much more than that for a 1 minute show of skill rather than an actual fight.

So at the end of it all I was just so relieved as this has been such a hectic month (still a little more to go) and I am taking a day to do nothing and relax.

Here are some photos and video's of the event:

Me and Amanda from Dong In branch.

Me and my best friend :)

Here are the videos:

And some sparring fights that took place after mine:

I am going to be fairly busy next weekend and I will post about that (if it is possible... I may not have internet next weekend)... So I may be posting or not but I will have something to tell you about when I can :)

Have a great week and I will see you soon!

Lotte World All Night Hip Hop Party & Insadong Redux

Wow I am a busy bee this week! Why does Korea demand so much out of every hour of the day? I don't have enough hours in my day anymore so here is a delayed posting due to many other demands on my time (so much so that I am running a 19 hour day today and probably tomorrow as well!)

Insadong revisited finally... I took a stroll down the busy street of Insadong with pedestrians and cars / trucks!? I still cannot figure out why the street is not closed to traffic...

So if you are not familiar with Insadong it is a hot spot for foreigners looking for artwork, crafts, designer clothing, traditional dining and cafe's and just a general collecting or souvenir hunters haven.

Here are a handful of images that illustrate what I mean:

Also get a doughnut fried thingie from this stall... it will be the best 1,000 won you will spend. It is very unusual but deliciously sweet and I think I want to go back just to get another one... hmmm :)

The show:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64219328@N07/sets/72157626996633916/show/

Directions: Anguk Station Line 3 exit 6... follow the crowd. Turn left where you see the obvious :) If you cant turn left without being run over by the traffic on the street you are going the wrong way :)

Saturday night was a spontaneous trip out to Lotte World for a look at the Hip Hop All Night Party! Which started around 11.30 and was supposed to go until 5.30am. The coolest part was that Lotte World was also open as well as having the concert you could go on the rides! And compared to normal days lines there was barely anyone there so you could jump on anything you wanted without waiting... and the food stores were open too so it was like a charlie and the chocolate factory moment running around playing on all the rides and eating hot dogs! So this was really fun!

Here is a quick video of what the first 2 acts were like after that it was a rampage around Lotte World :)

Next week should be a posting which has personal significance for me :) So until than have a great week!