A Photo Safari Halloween Solo Trip for Oct'13: Trip Report Started!

[DaveinFallsChurch]

So I haven't been able to keep up with the Dis in weeks it seems. I am so happy your family had a wonderful and safe trip. I've been reading your mini TR and the photos are amazing, I always love seeing new places, they always seem so exotic Also, the historical background you give is fantastic! Reading through it the history is so amazing, and it always makes me remember how "young" the US is. I had to laugh about the driving though - DH and I are originally from NJ (so the manhattan cabbie image was funny) and all I could think of is how he would love to drive there(he is the only person I know who enjoyed driving a commercial pick up truck through NYC) While, I definitely would defer to mass transit The teddy bear museum seemed interesting, although I have to admit, I may have gone the other way after seeing the bear with the "sketchy" look I am in total awe and amazement of the architecture, it is beautiful, and the detail.... Wow.... Well I can't wait to see more!!

My brother lives on the Jersey side of the Hudson River across from NYC so I've had some experience driving in Manhattan. I tell ya, once you've mastered the bottleneck merge on the Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel nothing really scares you anymore.

 

[khertz]

Looking forward to meeting you and your family in October over a plate of The Grey Stuff! Actually, I'm guessing you and I will be pointing our cameras at The Grey Stuff while your DW and DS enjoys it.

I think you have that one nailed!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

The "Dollar Bird" from Flights of Wonder

I don't know what else to call that bird since I can't remember what type of bird performs this nifty natural behavior trick during the Flights of Wonder show. If you haven't seen the show, one of the demonstrations involves a volunteer from the audience standing from his/her seat and holding up a dollar. The bird flies from the stage to the volunteer and snatches up the dollar. I'm hoping to be in good seating position to try to capture the moment the snatch happens

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi Dave! I'm thrilled to read along with your Seoul TR. The architecture and vibrant color of the buildings is stunning. As always, you have such awesome photos that really illustrate the beautiful sights so well.

Your kids did a great job trying to hang in there with the time change. Your poor son at the restaurant - planted face down on the chairs - adorable.

How exciting to officially have a new ticker! Sounds like your annual pilgrimage to Disney continues.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Hi Dave! I'm thrilled to read along with your Seoul TR. The architecture and vibrant color of the buildings is stunning. As always, you have such awesome photos that really illustrate the beautiful sights so well.

Your kids did a great job trying to hang in there with the time change. Your poor son at the restaurant - planted face down on the chairs - adorable.

How exciting to officially have a new ticker! Sounds like your annual pilgrimage to Disney continues.

Hi Brenda!

Yup, it looks like our Disney trips are becoming an annual affair! I have our kids school district to thank as they have a four day weekend every year during the last week of January which is one of my favorite times to visit because of the low crowds.

I wish I had a picture to show DD passed out at the same restaurant. She had planted her face down on the table while sitting up. Sometimes I envy how kids can pretty much fall asleep in any position any where. I have trouble some nights getting comfortable in my own bed!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Wednesday June 26th - Gyeongju

We had a very early start in the morning on this day as we were traveling to Gyeongju for a one night sidetrip to this former ancient capital of the Silla Dynasty (57 BC – 935 AD). Sort of reminded me of early starts at Disney. We had to leave my parents’ condo at 6:30am to hail a couple of cabs. Hailing cabs in Seoul is extremely easy as there are so many of them. We quickly got a couple and picked up DFIL at his hotel on the way to Seoul Station. We had an 8am KTX train to catch which is Korea’s high speed rail system. The train reaches 190mph at its peak speed. Both DD and DS were extremely excited about going on the “bullet train”. We arrived about 30 minutes early at the station so looked for a quick bite for breakfast. Burger King and KFC was open. Interestingly, KFC appeared to be selling their regular fried chicken menu and not a breakfast menu at 7:30am! We ended grabbing some coffee and breakfast sandwiches at Dunkin Donuts and ate them in the waiting area benches. The kids found a rotating fan and played in front of it.

We boarded our train 15 minutes beforehand.


IMG_2860 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Crossing the Han River in Seoul. That gold building used to be tallest building in Asia when I was a kid. Or at least, that's what I was told.


IMG_2864 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The ride was very smooth and fast although DD acted like she was less than impressed and kept asking me “You call this fast?”. Sigh, so hard to please. DS enjoyed looking out the window. Once we left the Seoul Metro area, we saw lots of rice paddies and green houses lining the rural areas. The train had wifi but limited for only an hour on our two hour trip. I took the time to browse through some of the DIS threads that I had been neglecting the past few days. Everyone took quick naps and before we knew it we arrived at Shin-Gyeongju station which appeared to be very brand new.

As I mentioned early, Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla Dynasty which lasted approximately 1000 years beginning in 57BC. For the first 700 years or so, it existed as one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. It eventually conquered the other two kingdoms of Baekje and Goguryeo in the 7th century and entered the “Unified Silla” period before its demise in 935AD. Gyeongju has been a popular tourist destination for the past few decades for both Koreans and international visitors because of the troves of archeological finds, sites, and artifacts discovered in the region. I remember visiting Gyeongju when I was about 10 with my family and being absolutely amazed by the rich history the city had to offer. I also remember the surrealism and fascination of standing inside a Buddhist grotto that was over a 1000 years old or looking at artifacts that were 1500-2000 years old at the Gyeongju museum.

We hired a rental minivan and a driver for the day. The kids were extremely impressed how big the van was (sits 11) and suggested to me several times during our ride to the hotel that we should buy a “Korean minivan” when we return home. Looking out the window, the differences from Seoul was very noticeable as we were in a much smaller town. Passing by rice paddies and mountains in the background suggested that we were in a relatively rural area of Korea although I was surprised to later find that the population of Gyeongju was 264,000. Just goes to show how densely packed in the population of Korea. We checked into the Hilton Gyeongju which turned out to be a VERY nice and luxurious hotel. The staff was very courteous and helpful. We checked into our rooms, dumped our luggage inside, and went to the lounge to grab a quick lunch. Then we were off for some sightseeing.

First stop was Daereungwon which was the ancient burial grounds of the kings and royality of Silla. Each burial is marked by a very large mound as you can see.

Entry path into the park

IMG_2877 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The burial mounds


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They think the mounds with two humps are burials for a royal couple

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IMG_2943 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

In the 70s, the government drilled into one for excavation which yielded a lot of treasures. This mound was later named Chunmachong which in Korean means a flying horse based on one of the artifacts they excavated from the site.


IMG_2909 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_2921 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

While they are not sure whether this grave was for a king or not because of the lack of writing inside, they do believe it belonged to a man based on the size of the coffin and the type of jewelry found inside. Actually, that was a question DD asked an English speaking guide in the park – she raised her hand while the guide was talking and patiently waited for her chance to ask the question. The park services then made the mound more accessible for the public by stabilizing the structure and creating a viewing area inside. The design of the mounds was such that it contained a thick layer of rocks and boulders that would collapse on any intruders trying to dig their way in. One of the park guides told us that the remaining mounds have been left undisturbed as the scientists felt that they needed more technological advancement before trying again so that they wouldn’t have to significantly damage the burial sites.

The inside resembled a cave. Turned out that photography was not allowed inside so I don’t have any pictures of mine to share with you. Here’s a picture from the Korea Tourism Organization’s website just to give you an idea what it looked like inside.


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DD wanted to tour the inside of Cheonmachong by herself so we let her go in and out on her own. I think she got a kick out of the idea of “exploring” a cave on her own. She did this a couple of times.

As I was waiting for the rest of the group to come back out from Chunmachong, I found amusement in watching a series of tour groups making their way in led by their tour group leader with his/her versions of flags like this one. These were mostly Japanese tour groups. Is it just me or do I see a green hidden Mickey at the end of her flag there?


IMG_2935 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

We took more time walking around the area and saw lots more of these burial mounds. DS kept reminding us that there was a king inside each one.

Continued in Next Post

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Continued from previous post

The kids were spent after that long walk and they were already chanting to go back to the hotel so that they could go swimming in the pool. Before we got back into the van, my parents bought a box of “Gyeongju bread” which looked like a small sandwich made of pancake looking bread and sweet red bean paste in between. Pretty tasty.

We made a quick stop at Cheomsungdae which is the 1350 year old observatory that most believe were used to study the stars. The kids and my parents stayed in the van as the heat was starting to rise outside.


IMG_2948 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_2949 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Although it was a quick visit, I really enjoyed it. I remember coming here as a child when my parents took us for a tour and trying to comprehend how old this structure was and how it lasted all this time.

DFIL, DW, and myself were dropped off at the National Museum of Gyeongju while my parents went back to the hotel with the kids to spend some time at the pool. My parents had made a recent trip to Gyeongju so had already seen most of these sights. DFIL and DW got an English audio guide.

We first stopped at this bell which used to belong to a Buddhist temple of Silla.


IMG_2959 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_2963 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

One of the legends or myths about this bell when I was young was that a child’s body was cremated into the bell’s material and that whenever the bell was rung some could hear the child’s cry – I know, creepy. Apparently, scientists eventually decided to do some mythbusting on this popular folklore by testing the bell for substance that would indicate whether human remains could have been used. The result? Negative. Myth busted! The amusing thing was that this nugget of information was provided to us by the audio guide!

We then viewed the permanent exhibit of artifacts and treasures unearthed in and around Gyeongju.

Exterior of the museum

IMG_2968 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


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Royal head gear

IMG_2974 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Horses needed armor too. Why does the way this exhibit is set up remind me of the Godfather?

IMG_2976 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

It is believed that this artifact unearthed in Gyeongju actually originated from the Middle East and suggests that Silla had trades with the Middle East region through the Silk Road

IMG_2978 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The design can be commonly seen from this period which depicts the head of an animal from the Chinese Zodiac

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Afterwards, we returned back to the hotel to regroup with my parents and kids.

View from our hotel room

IMG_2985 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The kids had just finished their swim and were jumping up and down because they had so much fun. DS even was singing about having to take a shower after coming out of the pool – yes, my kid was singing joyously about taking a shower! We had dinner at the hotel’s dinner buffet which was quite good. Reminded me of some of the better buffets in Vegas with a decent mix of cuisines including Korean, Japanese, and European. DS who had been going strong all day without a nap (remember, we woke up at 2:30am), was starting to fade halfway through dinner. Once he finished his pineapples and chocolate covered marshmellows for dessert, he came over to me and sat on my lap. Within the next couple of minutes, I could see his body starting to sway as we began drifting asleep and then without warning his head just flopped down. Reminded me of Boo from Monsters Inc. One minute yapping and awake. Next minute, completely out. DD also was spent and starting to fall asleep on the chairs. We took the kids up to our room and tucked them in bed.

I had planned a night outing to Anapji Pond. This pond was man-made during the Silla period and was used as a “party space” for the royalty especially for visiting foreign dignitaries. Most of the structures were burnt down and destroyed over the course of time but the aquaduct system that sustained the pond and the pond itself was excavated in the 1970s along with many artifacts. The reconstructed all of the structures you see here. Everybody had recommended seeing this spot at night because of the lighting. At first, it was supposed to me, DFIL, and DW that were going on this little trip but DW backed out as she was feeling tired. DFIL and I grabbed a cab from the hotel and made it over to Anapji. I really enjoyed the scenery. The place was packed even at night time mostly with young couples enjoying a romantic stroll. I had brought my tripod with me to attempt a few pictures of this gorgeous pond.


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Afterwards, we made it back to the hotel and in bed by 9:30pm. DFIL offered to take DS in his hotel room for the night seeing how we got very little sleep the night before so I didn’t hesitate in taking up his offer and moved a sound asleep DS into DFIL’s room.

 

[Luvchefmic]

I have to start looking at a Thesaurus I am running out of words to describe how awestruck I am !

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I have to start looking at a Thesaurus I am running out of words to describe how awestruck I am !

The last time I visited most of these sights was when I was a kid 25-30 years ago so I had a new sense of appreciation for some of the beautiful and gorgeous scenery this time around.

 

[emmysmommy]

Dave, those photos at Anapji are particularly stunning. The brilliant colors of the structures in contrast to the night is so awesome!

The "mounds" I wasn't expecting to see so large but in honor of who is buried beneath it makes perfect sense. The "cave" is fascinating. What a great excursion!!

You're kids are so cute... yes, they need a "Korean minivan". That must have been a great experience to ride the bullet train. Even if your DD was underwhelmed, she'll have stories to tell her kids one day!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Dave, those photos at Anapji are particularly stunning. The brilliant colors of the structures in contrast to the night is so awesome!

The "mounds" I wasn't expecting to see so large but in honor of who is buried beneath it makes perfect sense. The "cave" is fascinating. What a great excursion!!

You're kids are so cute... yes, they need a "Korean minivan". That must have been a great experience to ride the bullet train. Even if your DD was underwhelmed, she'll have stories to tell her kids one day!

Brenda, completely agree with you about Anapji. I thought whoever designed the lighting scheme did an excellent job in coordinating the colors. Reminded me of what the Imagineers do at Disney with their night time lighting.

Our kids have been pushing the minivan agenda for a couple of years now especially after each Disney trip since we usually rent one during visit. We may actually cave in this year - the kids are starting to outgrow our current cars. But I have my eye set on a "Japanese minivan" though.

I wonder if there is a high speed rail between here and Orlando if I would utilize it. It would be a 5 hour train ride - hmmm. I probably would still take the air route.

 

[SAT887]

The night time photos are amazing, I can't even begin to think of how beautiful those building are in real life. Thank you so much for sharing this trip with us- the beauty and history of Seoul is fascinating. I love the "You call this fast?" Hehe you do realize you brought them on a plane halfway across the world! What did you expect!? All of your photos are beautiful, did you use a polarizer for the vibrant blue skies or do anything post processing? They are a gorgeous contrast against the green. Thank you again for sharing

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

The night time photos are amazing, I can't even begin to think of how beautiful those building are in real life. Thank you so much for sharing this trip with us- the beauty and history of Seoul is fascinating. I love the "You call this fast?" Hehe you do realize you brought them on a plane halfway across the world! What did you expect!? All of your photos are beautiful, did you use a polarizer for the vibrant blue skies or do anything post processing? They are a gorgeous contrast against the green. Thank you again for sharing

Thanks Sarah for the kind words! Good point about the plane vs train

I did use a polarizer but for two of the pictures also did some post-processing (the wide shot with the observatory and one of the mounds shots) by decreasing the blue luminescence to bring out the blue color a little more from the skies.

Speaking of blue skies, if you notice most if not all of my pictures taken in Seoul don't have any even on days that were clear. It's only when we went out to less populated areas like Gyeongju or Jeju (which is coming up) that we got to see blue skies. I'm guessing a lot of it has to do with the air quality in Seoul granted it's a whole lot better than it was 20-30 years ago. I remember living in Seoul as a kid and rarely seeing blue skies.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Thursday June 27th

DS apparently woke up again at 2:30am for DFIL. We were up at 6:30am and we all got breakfast downstairs. Breakfast was included in our stay package and apparently was the case for everyone else since the place was packed! The food was good. I loaded up on lots and lots of coffee.

We had made plans to squeeze in a little more sightseeing before heading back to Seoul in the evening. The kids wanted to stay at the hotel with my parents again for the morning and go swimming again in the pool. The places we were going to visit this morning required a good amount of hiking so we all thought that would be a better idea. I did offer DD a choice to see if she would be interested in coming with us but it was a no-brainer for her to go play in the pool. I hired a cab for about half a day to take myself, DW, and DFIL to two of the most famous Buddhist sites in Korea: Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto both of which were located up in the Toham Mountain which was considered to be a holy mountain during the Silla period.

Our first stop was Seokguram which was originally built as part of the Bulguksa complex but located at a higher elevation. It’s an artificial grotto built in 774 on one of the south-eastern slopes of Toham Mountain. The main Buddha is facing out to sea which on a clear day you can see very well. While the original intent of the builders was for the visitor to walk from Bulguksa Temple up the mountain to Seokguram (a symbolism of path to Nirvana and a 40 minute hike up), we decided to “cheat”, take our cab driver’s advice, and drive all the way up to the park entrance for Seokguram. Realizing how high we ended up in the mountain, I think none of us regretted that choice. I guess we’ll just have to wait for Nirvana a little longer. And considering the number of cars and cabs in the generously sized parking lot, we weren’t the only ones.

The view even from the admission entrance was breathtaking.


IMG_3017 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

You can’t see it well in the pictures but we were able to see parts of the ocean over on the other side of the mountains. Right next to the admission gates, there was a replica of a bell frequently found in Buddhist Temples. At the cost of less than a dollar which goes to charity, you could ring it which both DW and DFIL couldn’t resist trying. The ladies manning the bell gave out instructions and were a delight even though they didn’t speak English. I had to translate to DW and DFIL their instructions and comments. DFIL went first and apparently his effort was a bit timid according to one of the ladies who said that they could really go at it harder. So DFIL paid again and got the nod of approval with his second ring.

From the admissions gate, you walk up a 10 minute trail to get to the grotto. We really lucked out with the timing of our visit. My parents had warned us that there would be a lot of tourists along the trail based on their recent visit. But to our delight, we pretty much had the whole trail to ourselves. Quiet. Beautiful.


IMG_3070 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_3074 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

I took this picture so you can get a sense of how the interior of the grotto is structured.


IMG_3076 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

No photography was allowed inside the grotto so here’s what it looks like using one of the pictures from Seokguram's website (http://www.sukgulam.org/).




On the outside, a roofed structure was built that covered the antechamber – my understanding is that this housing structure was added in modern times to provide additional protection for the grotto which was deteriorating from moisture and mold.

Since I wasn't allowed to take any pictures inside, I spent a lot of time releasing my pent up photography energy by taking lots and lots of pictures of the outside

IMG_3078 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


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But you can imagine how amazing it would have looked without it with just the main Buddha looking straight out towards the ocean and this view unobstructed.


IMG_3077 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Right below the grotto there was a working Buddhist temple that were off limits to tourists. They had set up these lanterns which were so colorful that I must have snapped a couple of dozen of pictures of them.


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(Tired of my lantern pictures, yet? )
You can see from the tags hanging off of them that each lantern was bought by individuals as a donation to the temple. They also offered writings on these roof tiles as another way of donation but I still haven’t figured out where these tiles actually go afterwards.


IMG_3108 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Continued in Next Post

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Continued from Previous Post

After hiking back to the parking lot, we drove back down to the foot of the mountain where Bulguksa Temple is situated. This temple was also completed in 774 although all of the wooden structures were burned down in 1592 during the invasion attempt by the Japanese. The 1592 invasion by the Japanese was very costly as you remember that both royal palaces in Seoul were also burned down during that year. All of the stone structures including the pagoda, bridges, and stairways survived though and are pretty much in their original form. The wooden structures of the temple were rebuilt in piecemeal over the course of time throughout the Joseon period but also during Modern Korea as archeological findings advanced better understanding of how the original temple was structured. We took about an hour touring the Temple and its grounds.

One of the gardens along the entry path to the temple

IMG_3121 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Over the bridge - hmmm, I think I spot another photo enthusiast in the left there.

IMG_3125 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

These statues were inside the structure right after the bridge you see in the picture above which I imagine is a spiritual "guardhouse." I'm guessing these are the guardians of the temple.

IMG_3135 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_3137 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Finally, the temple itself


IMG_3139 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The main entry up those stone staircase was closed off for preservation. Visitors used the side entrances seen here.

IMG_3145 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

One of the two famous pagodas of Bulguksa that survived the test of time. This one is called Dabotap.

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IMG_3159 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The detail and craftsmanship that went into these structures are absolutely amazing.

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Saw lots of dragons around the roof work. No two dragons were alike.

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Hmmm, didn't realize fish was part of a dragon's diet.

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I could take pictures of traditional Korean roof work all day!

IMG_3203 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

I can't explain exactly why. But this is one of my favorite pictures from Gyeongju. I think it may be because it has modern and traditional elements of Korea co-existing in one frame. The contrast between the Buddhist monk on the left and the young man with his smartphone on the right just adds to that. A few seconds after I took this picture, the monk offered to take a group photo of the three people standing next to him.

IMG_3204 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

We got back at the hotel a little before 2pm which was time for the late check-out for our rooms. The kids had spent a couple of hours in the pool with my parents and were back in the room with them and still with enough energy to be bouncing off the walls. We checked out and checked our luggage with bellhop since our train didnt depart until 7pm! DFIL offered another trip to the pool for the kids and off they went! DW, myself, and my parents hung around the hotel lobby lounge drinking tea and coffee for the next couple of hours. Chatting. Internet browsing on our ipads. The kids had a blast with their grandpa and my parents had a chance to unwind from the kids a bit.

We headed to the train station where we grabbed some dinner from a Korean noodle chain restaurant.

Some roadside scenery pictures during our drive to the train station.

IMG_3221 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Rice paddies

IMG_3231 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The sun was setting while we were waiting for our train at the station after dinner.


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And then we boarded our train to Seoul. A little story about DS and me during this train ride as we were sitting together. I was determined to keep him awake as long as I could that evening as he had not taken a nap all day and I saw this as a golden opportunity to get rid of his jetlag for good. So, during the two hour train ride I kept him pre-occupied with toys, videos, and conversation. There were a couple of times where his eyelids started getting heavy and I would pull out a different toy and kept talking to him and tell him jokes. With about 10 minutes to go before arriving in Seoul station (around 9pm), the poor kid couldnt take any more, leaned back on his seat, and closed his eyes. I once again tried starting another conversation with him to keep him awake but this time he waved his left hand in the air in front of me with his eyes still closed and said Stop. Please stop. Please stop talking to me. That had me and my mom busted out laughing and I finally gave up. But it worked! He never woke up even when I carried him off the train, on to a cab, and carried him into my parents condo.

 

[Luvchefmic]

catching up, each site and picture more beautiful than the one before..keep saying That's a screen saver...no that's a screen saver" Answer to "seen enough lanterns ? " No, mesmerizing, so delicate Had to laugh when I followed the link to the website and tried to translate from Korean to English all I got in English was the date number of viewers and the copyright You'll have to tell me all about it someday

Wise to take that cab up that big climb that path looks so peaceful You know Dave your pictures just pull me right in so that I feel like I was right there with you Thank you again for sharing


re- MNSSHP I DID forget it was a later date than ours but still want to get together when you can Tonga Toast !!


Ruthie

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

catching up, each site and picture more beautiful than the one before..keep saying That's a screen saver...no that's a screen saver" Answer to "seen enough lanterns ? " No, mesmerizing, so delicate Had to laugh when I followed the link to the website and tried to translate from Korean to English all I got in English was the date number of viewers and the copyright You'll have to tell me all about it someday

Wise to take that cab up that big climb that path looks so peaceful You know Dave your pictures just pull me right in so that I feel like I was right there with you Thank you again for sharing


re- MNSSHP I DID forget it was a later date than ours but still want to get together when you can Tonga Toast !!


Ruthie

Thanks Ruthie! I should have put a warning up front that the English version of Korean websites can be a hit or miss Sometimes I think I could make a boatload of money by offering service to provide grammatically correct English translations for Korean websites!

Yes, I haven't forgotten about a Dismeet with you at Kona. I'm thinking it will be Tuesday October 29th morning but would like to have breakfast early so I can try to make rope drop at MK afterwards.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Thanks Ruthie! I should have put a warning up front that the English version of Korean websites can be a hit or miss Sometimes I think I could make a boatload of money by offering service to provide grammatically correct English translations for Korean websites!

Yes, I haven't forgotten about a Dismeet with you at Kona. I'm thinking it will be Tuesday October 29th morning but would like to have breakfast early so I can try to make rope drop at MK afterwards.

certainly sending you a PM

 

[khertz]

Really enjoying all of the updates. The scenery and architecture is just so gorgeous and amazing! I really loved all of the lantern photos too. Kind of like a Korean version of the balloons from Up!

I once again tried starting another conversation with him to keep him awake but this time he waved his left hand in the air in front of me with his eyes still closed and said Stop. Please stop. Please stop talking to me. That had me and my mom busted out laughing and I finally gave up. But it worked! He never woke up even when I carried him off the train, on to a cab, and carried him into my parents condo.


[/SIZE]

Poor little guy!!!! But that is just too hilarious!!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Really enjoying all of the updates. The scenery and architecture is just so gorgeous and amazing! I really loved all of the lantern photos too. Kind of like a Korean version of the balloons from Up!

I didn't think about that but now that you mention it they do have similar color combinations, don't they? Sort of mash up of Up and Tangled!