Anne and Col in....

Out and About in Korea...

2007-05-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

My name is Colin, but my friends call me "English" and by friends, I just mean the random kids on the street. They are very original, Anne's nickname too is English.

Us at galbi (Korean BBQ.)

Cho and Adrian having a galbi-rific good time.

Not posed at all....us at a fountain in Children's Grand Park. We had to wait in line to get this picture as many others were doing the exact same thing.

ASTRO BOY!! He is everywhere here...I think I look just as tough.

Rule number one : Safety.

Rule number two : Safety.

Rule number three : Safety.

But not in Korea! Fun first!! Our question was...how do the kids get back down without stepping on the other kids. Answer, they don't.

Ancient remains are imported all the way from Eqypt. (Or just a pretty good knock off.)

Check out the uniforms for these guys...straight from Eqypt...I guess??

Kangaroo!

Anne and Julia outside a hotel in Seoul. Or maybe just another good photo-op...you decide!

Our second Korea wedding! This time we actually knew the bride (our co-worker Esther teacher.) We had a better idea what to wear this time.

The happy couple blow out the candles on their fake wedding cake during the ceremony. Like us Esther is a sucker for the photo-ops!

Our co-workers, Joshua (yes that is a girl), Wanda, Theresa and Lisa teacher.

Korea knows how to do sporting events..

2007-05-20T06:58:00.000-07:00

Always a crowd in Korea and the same is true for a baseball game. This game in particular..it was Seoul vs. Seoul...Doosan Bears vs. LG Twins...both from Seoul. We sat on the Doosan Bears side (they divide up the crowd into sides) and clearly it was a good pick - we trounced the Twins 8-2!! Look at the those thunder sticks go!

Part of the crew at the game. They are enjoying their $3 Hite-uh and sunshine.

The man that makes it all happen. The keg man, literally a man with a keg on his back wondering the stands for thirsty souls. We were thirsty, $3 later, we weren't.

This game had it all, excited fans and riled up players! Nothing became of this bench clearing and then the players bowed to one another before heading back to their dugouts (we kid, we kid.)

Thunder sticks...we love thee. $2 a pop and everyone had them!! I wonder if leaf fans will notice that ours have bear claws and not maple leafs on them when we come back to Canada...

Then it was off to a soccer game (well actaully...we went to the soccer game first...but posted about it second.) Once again, a few people joined us.

Mark, Julia and Colin checking out the dried squid concessions before we went and got our tickets.

FC Seoul!!

Seoul plays at World Cup Stadium which was built for the 2002 World Cup. It's awesome - this game had tons of people there, 55,000, because Seoul played their rivals, Suwon (and sadly lost 1-0.)

Anne and Julia enjoying their $3 hite-uh (note the repetition.) The lack of price gouging leaves us all with a happy feeling inside...or maybe that was the beer.

Mark, we still don't know what you were thinking buying this cold, pre-made, hot-dog....or I guess, cold-dog (haha, we are so witty!)

To rally support for Seoul it was time to bust out the huge Seoul jersey - lucky for the people underneath Seoul didn't score at this time or they would have missed it. Unlucky for them, Seoul never scored...

Action on the field.

And so our love of Korean sporting events grows...always a good and highly affordable day out!

Colin turns 2-6!!!

2007-05-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Colin!! On May 1st, 1981, Colin O'Connor decided to grace the world with his presence. 26 years later, in Korea, we celebrated that occassion.

Note the knock off Mickey mouse birthday hat on Mark's head. Shocking, these are Disney trademarked!

Colin and Anne sing it up noray-bong styles (X 2 thanks to our mirror image!)

The gang at norah, picking out what tunes to sing - and drinking the imported convience store beers.

Colin really doesn't get into norah-bong at all. I mean, I don't know why we did this for his birthday, he was clearly not enjoying himself at all.

Colin shows off some of his awesome birthday presents :) I (Anne) am not biased at all.

On the actual special day we decided to hit up the driving range. Aka, a teired building where you fire the golf balls off into a net. Space limits have nothing on the Korean society.

Hey Dad, perfect form or what?! haha.

Ice cream cake, Baskin Robins style. Delicious.

So, once again, happy birthday Colin!! Hope it was the best Korean birthday you had to date!

Seoul Land!

2007-05-18T21:11:00.000-07:00

Seoul Land is one of the happiest places on earth because Christmas is year round! Well, maybe not, but this ride is. The 2 loop coaster was for kids though, and alas, we were too big (but this did bring back memories of Santas village....oh how Anne misses Santas village!!)

Mom and Brad, this ones for you. I thought you might like to re-live the french horn days - so just swing back down to Korea, and we'll take you on this awesome ride! Ms. Rice would be so proud.

Colin's favourite - he's just so keen on what the future holds they built him a building. Aptly named, Tomorrow land. The future my friends, silver buildings with cool writing on them. ASSA.

In preparation for the 3D movie. These glasses will be hitting the streets on Myeong-dong and Dongdaemun within hours.

What could be cooler than 3D glasses? Riding a super fast (and by fast, I mean slow) singing tiger (all for the price of 1,000 won! - aka $1.)

Colin clearly needed a turn, his jealously enraged him, and he threw Anne off. Well, no she just got off so he could have a turn. He's so Korean - look at that VWE.

After his barbaric attack around the tiger, Colin got back to his roots as a caveman. Really, he just decided to hit up (as did Anne) a tourist head cut out - we are always on the lookout - from Japan, to Jeju, and back in Seoul.

Anne in front of Seoul Land. Note: 'Epcot center'!! We're in Florida (again...see Lotte World post.) The knock offs here are really quite exquisite.

Anne and Colin looking out at the world. Then, the monkeys mimicing them. Oh monkeys, you are so cute.

Nice work Seoul Land. Two more happy, satisfied customers.

a random assortment

2007-04-18T03:35:00.000-07:00

A friend from home, Ashley, decided she wanted to check out some Asian culture and what better time to do it when you have friends living in an Asian country! So she hopped on a plane and trekked over to Korea. This is us getting our "culture" on at a palace downtown.

Us outside of a building at the palace.

A few** riot police downtown in preparation of protests re: the Free Trade Agreement between USA and South Korea.

**15,000...as read in an online article afterward.

We're models :) Or at least we can pretend to be by asking some people to take our picture at the fashion show (part of Seoul Fashion Week) that we went to.

The real models on the runway at the show.

The designer who made it all happen - it was really awesome to see a fashion show live...and hear great music that we clearly can't find to download as it's Korean...

Colin showing off his moves. Or maybe this is the picture of one of the guys putting on a show outside of Lotte department store. Break dancing is HUGE in Korea...and they are all really good at it.

Who's number one?! Park Ji Sung!!! Or at least that is what this poster in Korea will tell you - Ronaldo and Rooney who??

Ahhh isn't that sweet...literally, that juice was super sweet.

The gang out at a Parisian cafe for some mean Belgian waffles and drinks. Belgium, Paris? I thought they were in Korea you're asking yourself...well we are...we are also in Itaewon the international hub of Seoul, it's awesome. As was the woman who owns this place. She speaks French, English and Korean. We....we speak English.

These kids sure get excited over paper...

2007-03-21T21:53:00.000-07:00

July 2nd....what a great day.

We like to hold pieces of paper and get our pictures taken.

They sure do get excited over these pieces of paper...why you might ask? WE'RE COMING HOME!! July 2nd is the lucky day :) Just thought we would pass on our excitment! We'll see you all soon (ish!) In the meantime...back to enjoying the warmer weather here in Korea and having fun these past few months!

Irish Invasion!

2007-03-20T06:14:00.000-07:00

These two fine gents...or at least they like to think so...were all classily (we made it a word) dressed in preparation for the Irish Invasion (aka our party!)

The ladies, Julia, Anne and Leigh, as well, classily dressed! Special thanks to all those great midnight street vendors in Dongdaemun who outfited us.

OUCH! Are you okay?! I think so! (brought to you by English Time...this is the only way we talk now...conversation time, word time, practice time, and who could forget phonics time!!!!!) But seriously...somehow I cut my foot in our bathroom...I don't think the wine had anything to do with it.

Part of the crew on route to Itaewon where the one Irish pub in Seoul awaited!

Mark and Julia enjoying the festivities at Wolf Hound (aforementioned Irish Pub!)

Anne and Julia showing off their sweet threads. Clearly we didn't notice we were holding up the stairway (or that the leprachaun we robbed was sobbing upstairs!)

Adrian, Hilary and Wendy at the pub!

Colin, not under the influence at all, well maybe the Asian influence, but that's it...or so he says.

The happy couple - how we love St. Patty's day.

TOKYO!

2007-03-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

Mount FUJI!!! As seen from the bullet train on the way to Tokyo.

Shibuya interesection - just a few ads and people to take in while you wait for the mass crossing! (as seen in many movies.)

The crossing begins (as seen from a 2nd floor Starbucks - sweet sweet Starbucks.)

The crossing continues!

More Hello Kitty?! Shocking!! We were pretty happy to get a glimpse of Hello Kitty as she is hardly anywhere in Asia.

Can you spot the Harajuku girls (as made famous by Gwen Stefani) hiding in this picture?

WENDYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Need we really say more...

We like Japanese writing.

Colin, on a mission. What is that mission? Meeting Anne after a brief separation to...well, if you must know, use the washroom facilities along the main strip in Harajuku. (To much info??)

Anne + crepes = a happy camper (again)

The subway stops.

Cool Audi building - nice to see some different shaped buildings - it had been a while!

Where was this picture taken again?

The greatest sandwiches of our lives - or at least, the last 8 months. So delicious.

Harajuku at night.

And it a nutshell...well I guess 4 separate posts isn't a nutshell...but that was our trip to Japan. As you can see, we had a blast! Definitely a great place to visit!

Hamamatsu!

2007-03-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

Our first stop in Japan led us to Hamamatsu. Gwen, a friend of mine from school, offered to take us in. She is there teaching English as well. Gwens friend, Masako, nicely offered to take Colin and I to a cave in the area. We got there and just had to wait a short time while the workers finished up the dig. We then started our trek through the cave - dodging bats along the way (okay, well we only saw one and it wasn't really that close to us...but none the less, there were bats.)

Mirrored pond.

Rock formations along the way.

The happy couple in the cave - how romantic.

After we left the cave we were informed that some rocks had fallen in the cave and they needed to be removed. So, clearly wanting to help fix this problem, Colin and I pulled on our uniforms and went directly to work.

Our next stop with Masako was a museum that was at the top of a hill in Hamamatsu. The museum might have been closed, but the views from the top were awesome.

Colin and Masako taking in the views.

Anne taking in the views.

You guessed it! More views.

Artistic shot - with more views.

DJ'ing on a Saturday morning in Hamamatsu.

Feeding the ducks. This was on the way up to Hamamatsu castle.

The castle!

Pathway in the park surround the castle. We've said it before, but we'll say it again. We *heart* greenspace!

More castle!

Gwen, our gracious host, and Colin, looking out over Hamamatsu.

Anne and Gwen with the blossoms!

The group (including Colin, Gwen and some of her friends). Nothing like a beer after eating deep fried brie cheese to make for a good night.

Next up! Tokyo!!!!

Kyoto!!

2007-03-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

Kyoto!!

The golden pavillion in Kyoto. This temple was incredible as you can see.

Us infront of the golden pavillion.

Anne taking in some of the nice Kyoto incense. Washing away all evil (apparently...)

Japanese barrels - they looked cool we thought.

GREEN SPACE!!!! We *heart* green space.

Us in the botanical garden in Kyoto. This is really cool because there is a ton of green space in Kyoto even though there are lots of buildings and everything. Kyoto did a great job of keeping parks and gardens in their natural beauty.

Colin and the cherry and plum blossoms!! A sure sign of spring (we then came back to snow in Korea...mmmm)

Bamboo forest!! Another thing we *heart*, bamboo.

Temple in Gion.

Crepes make every day better - even when they are good days, crepes bring even more happiness. Sweet sweet crepes (these ones were from Gion...I must say, Osakas were the best - to answer the question - yes, we tested them in every city.)

Japanese garden in Gion. One word for it - ASSA (awesome in Korean.)

Anne walking through the garden with crepe on her face (sorry, the whip cream doesn't show up when the picture isn't enlarged. But trust us, it's there...true sign of deliciousness.)

Restaurant in Gion.

We're so artistic!! Self-shot. Gotta love it. Or I guess you don't, but we do :)

The story of the Geishas - we did see some (human form, not just poster form.) But they scurry really quickly and that combined with the slightly older model digi cam it was hard to capture them on film. They are set in our memory though. Very cool to see. (In Gion of course.)

Self-explanatory.

Kyoto tower. (That may not be the name...but to us, it is.)

Although we may have missed them in the streets of Gion, we did manage to find a Geisha at the train station. She nicely obliged to a picture before we headed back to Hamamatsu together on the high speed train. Nice lady.

Up next - Hamamatsu!

Osaka!!

2007-03-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

This here picture is of this intense covered street mall that goes on for ever!! Literally...we got lost in it - there are twists and turns...and of course lots of shopping. It was awesome especially because it was raining.

Anne with the Japanese icon - yes, that is a massive hello kitty. Just wait...

If you want authentic - this restaurant was it. This man made sushi as you can see by the tons of raw fish in front of him. It was awesome.

Street side in Osaka - not much visual stimulation eh?

A random river that flowed through Osaka. We paused for a swim - and by swim, we mean photo op.

The protective lion that is found outside of all temples.

Inside the temple.

THE MOAT!! This was awesome - it was surrounding Osaka castle. It was a tiring swim across but the pictures were totally worth it.

A little rock - that as you can see, is massive. Colin is in the picture to illustrate the sheer size of this rock - he is also reading about the massive rock. Did we say - this rock was massive?

We're not tourists or anything. Castle in the background + head cut out touristy things = a great time in Osaka.

Why stop at one when you can take pictures with all the pretty cut outs!!

MORE!!!! Do you like our outfits? We're palace royalty - clearly.

We figured at the castle we might actaully want to take pictures of the castle - sans head cut outs. It was amazing.

More castle!

View of Osaka. Osaka does a good job of combining the old (castles, temples, etc.) with the new buildings and urban landscape.

View of Osaka as we left the castle. This picture doesn't do it justice - it was beautiful.

Symbol of Osaka at night.

Osaka was a great city. We really enjoyed it.

Up next - Kyoto!!!

2007 beginnings in Korea

2007-02-07T01:57:00.000-08:00

What could be better than shooting a bb gun inbetween bar stops in Kangnam. The answer: nothing.

What could be better than winning these great prizes for shooting the bb gun in bewteen bar stops in Kangnam. The answer: nothing.

What could be better than some beers at a bar in Kangnam. The answer: nothing.

Mark and Julia enjoying the greatness of the Marche. All you can eat, all you can drink, $25. Coming soon to Canadian shores! (just kidding!! jealous yet?!)

What could be better than running into a random bamboo dragon on the street. The answer: nothing.

Colin was trying to ruin the romantic moment under the claws of the dragon. Actually, his mouth was cold. I was trying to warm it up for him.

Anne + Korea = HIVES!! The oven mits did quite well to inhibit the itching.

Our co-workers out for Chinese food. Theresa showing one of her dolls that she recently finished making!

Only in Korea do you find a giant teddy bear outside of Gucci.

The teddy bear liked Col's style and wanted to give him a high five. Colin obliged.

Oh Louis Vuitton you're high end mechandise and high end facade enthralled us.

The Infamous - Rodeo!! (Street that is.)

What could be better than this blog post? The answer: nothing!!!

Our Korean Wedding

2007-02-05T20:52:00.000-08:00

That's right...we were invited to a Korean wedding! It was a very close friend of ours - our apartment building security guards niece. We thought we would tag along and experience for ourselves what we have heard to be quite the experience!

The couple doing the walk down the isle which was immediately reversed as the couple was rushed back to the front of the room for more pictures. Korean wedding we think is really just code for "photo op."

The happy family.

We doned our Sunday best and our wishes were granted as we got a family picture of our own!! If you can't tell - this was quite an ackward picture as the general thoughts going through our (and their) minds was "who are these people?"

Our security guard, his wife and son.

Colin, Anne and Security guards wife. She was very nice and has actually claimed us as part of their family. (see photo above.) If you can tell, Colin and I were quite hot at this point. We were rushed from wedding hall to buffet and out the doors all in a matter of 1.25 hours! Now that's efficiency!

an overdue New Years!

2007-01-18T05:06:00.000-08:00

Over New years weekend we headed to Busan on the KTX. The KTX is the bullet train and it was great - getting up to 300km/hr. This here happy Buddha is from Beomosa temple. He was happy to see us (who wouldn't be?!)

More statues at Beomosa.

New Years decorations downtown Busan.

Nothing makes you feel safer than knowing the BS Police are watching out for you.

Picturesque.

Wanna go swimming?! This poor guy jumped into the wrong tank. Pirahnas at the Busan aquarium.

Penguins!!

Do we look ackward? Well, this worker INSISTED on taking this picture - 3 times. Gotta love the starfish photo op...apparently.

Our favourite fish - don't ask what it is, but it looks cool eh?!

Jelly fish!!!

We waited for the shark feeding...but it seemed like the feeding was more for the hundreds of other fish in the tank and not so much the sharks. Either way - seeing people swim in the same tank as sharks was pretty intense.

Beaching it up December 31st. Nothing better.

The Jamiesons hitting the beach.

2007 year of the golden pig. You will see pigs EVERYWHERE. The girl in the pic...we're not sure who she is...but trying to get a picture sans a Korean doing a photo op was next to impossible.

Octopus - from the tank to your plate without much done in between (meaning...sometimes they leave the killing of the octopi to your teeth - seriously...they eat live octopus.) We didn't partake in the live eating as the stories of people dying while eating scare us (tenticle suction + our throat = X.)

A scenic shot.

Outside the UN war memorial in Busan.

New Years Eve!! What better way to ring in new years than with a few of our close friends - aka thousands of people!

The giant bell seen in this picture is rung 33 times at the stroke of midnight.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I had confetti stuck in my hood for days. All the specks in the picture are balloons and confetti that were shot off or let go at midnight.

Inside the UN War Cemetery. This is a tribute to the Canadian soldiers who fought in the Korean war.

Pretty trees at the cemetery.

The KTX ride home - ahhh we're so Korean.

A great way to spend New Years - although we're not crying that next year will be slightly less packed. A fun trip and good way to finish off the family visit.

Christmas in Korea!

2007-01-08T20:25:00.000-08:00

It wasn't a white Christmas here in Korea which made us kinda sad. But then we heard it wasn't a white Christmas at home either - so we decided it was okay.

Climbing sans jacket a few days before Christmas.

Mom and Brad enjoying the Korean mountain - very different from those back home. These have fancy workout stations throughout them - because apparently climbing a mountain isn't a workout.

The men - so Korean.

Sunset from Seoul Tower.

Clark Griswald - you have nothing on downtown Korea. Some might say downtown Korea actaully inspired that scene in the infamous movie, Christmas Vacation. We were one of just a couple* people looking at the lights on this fine Dec. 23rd eve.
*couple = thousands

Oohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Nothing like a sparkly red star to say Merry Christmas along with our massive tree! Massive is a relative term.

We could have got normal stockings but why? These tinsel inspired works of art clearly are superior to all other (it's no wonder they were worth 1000 - Won that is.) Yes Korea has dollar stores too. We also hear since we get presents first on this side of the world that we get all the good stuff from Santas sleigh.

Christmas morning festivities begin.

Soju-erific! Brads enthusiasm for the alcoholic beverage was not tainted with the 9:30am gift opening (and our earlier blog post stating our opinions of the beloved Korean beverage.)

Corey Hart wears his sunglasses at night - Colin O'Connor wears his in the morning. You tell me? Who's cooler?

Who's happier? Dad or Buddha?

Colin buys Anne hoodies so she will stop stealing his.

The picture speaks for itself.

Andy Warhol floating umbrella art in Insadong.

We've commented on the crowds in Korea before, but as you can see Christmas day was quite the exception. Oh wait - no no exception. Business as usual here in Korea.

Christmas dinner - although Anne and her Mom had to wait 45 minutes for some chicken at Costco - it was worth it! Christmas dinner with family and friends was great. We missed the big family gatherings at home but our apartment was full of Christmas spirit (see: tinsel stockings) and it was amazing a great way to spend Korean Christmas.

The crew under the pretty blue tinsel (you got it! more tinsel!)

But wait...Christmas isn't over! Loverly packages from those fine O'Connors made their way to Korea after only 8 weeks of travel. Gotta love the speed there! Nice to have Christmas part deux - especially because it landed on Christmas Ontario time.

Gotta love new gear!! Thanks O'Connors!! So appreciated!! We miss you guys! (Exclamation mark!!!)

Once again, we hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. We missed all our friends and family and can't wait to spend next holidays with everyone we care about!! Also - a big thanks to the Jamiesons for trekking over to the Far East to join us! We told you the apartment would be okay for all of us!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2006-12-24T18:26:00.000-08:00

There was snow in Korea...

But then the Jamieson's arrived and brought a green/brown Christmas with them! But...we forgave them very quickly as it just isn't Christmas without family. We are both so excited to have them to spend the holidays with. It's amazing how much we miss our families and friends - especially around the holidays.

The happy couple!

Merry Christmas from Lotte!!!

Korean and Japanese snowman wishing you a happy holidays!

David and Leigh getting into the holiday spirit! (In front of the American snowman...which aren't quite pictured...but we do see the British popping through.)

Colin saw Anne kissing Santa Claus....under neath the bright signs of Lotte.

British snowman saying Merry Christmas.

Colin and the Japanese have a stare down .... I'm putting my money on the snowman.

We just wanted to say a Merry Christmas, happy holidays and happy New Year to all our family and friends back home. We miss everyone so much and are looking forward to next Christmas/holiday season to spend it with everyone we care about!

Bowling adventures

2006-12-10T18:34:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we decided on getting our bowl on, but we thought we better be well nurished in order to bring our A game to the alley. We went to this Japanese restuarant, it was a good time! We love how cheap all the meals are here, definitely makes eating out more affordable.

Anne's new friend, "Silver Pepsi Man." In the clubbing districts this is how promoters dress up to encourage people to go to their club. I'm sure this will filter to downtown Toronto soon.

The infamous ball drop of 2006. Col claims he's been going to the gym but this 14 pound ball sure got the best of him on the back swing.

Despite the ball drop, Col managed to find his A game. And that my friends is a strike! The first and only in the two games we played! (Granted, one more than his teammate!)

Anne and our friend Lisa taking some time out to enjoy the sites at the alley. The game was intense, we needed a break.

Ryan, we're bringing this ball home for you. All the balls here tended to have random words on them. David's ball was the "A Bomb" there were also such classics as house ball, the patriot, etc. Koreans don't mess around when it comes to bowling.

As some atheletes have a signature move, Anne doesn't stray far from that trend. This is what some like to refer to as "granny bowling". Anne just calls it "bowling with style - and sore fingers". Lisa was such a fan she had to try it herself - she quickly realized that it may have been Anne's move and not so good for herself.

We may not have one the game, but our intensity sure shines through in this picture. Isn't that what bowling is all about? Being intense...and getting a score of 54?!

Continuing their Korean adventure

2006-11-17T04:14:00.000-08:00

What do you see in this picture? A: A mound of dirt or B: a Tomb...

If you answered B: a Tomb, you would be correct! Herein lies the body of...we aren't quite sure as we have yet to master the Korean language.

This picture is of a really cool fortress wall that we saw on a hike we took the other week. The wall is 13.2 km and was built in 132! We didn't miss any numbers there...really, 132!

More pictures of the wall.

After hiking what better way to conserve energy than running up a massive rock staircase. While some were hesitant, Anne liked the challenge (and thought others were racing her...alas, they were taking pictures.)

After Anne realized people weren't racing she decided it best to rest.

We got to the top of the mountain and there was an English rock band! And by top of the mountain we really mean Itaewon later that week. It was nice to hear some English music with some good company.

Itaewon - the place of some interesting people and sketchy bars. Enjoy! It's just a bar ;)

Well, we're not sure it's just a bar from the glance we got inside - don't girls usually wear more than lingerie in a bar??

Just a snapshot of a typical weekend here in Korea - where did the people go? Is it so desserted because it got colder? We are so lonely.

Lotte World!

2006-11-05T17:18:00.000-08:00

Florida!!! Disney World!! What a great weekend! Actaully on further inspection we realized we weren't at disney world, we were in fact at Lotte World (Yes, the very same Lotte whos name is branded on every product here in Korea!) Lotte World does look quite a bit like Disney World though which leads us to believe that Disney World copied Lotte World, aka the Original.

Before the Oktoberfest festivities (which lead us to Lotte World in the first place!) we decided to prep our stomachs by trying out the Gyro Drop. It was a blast!

Then, the festivities began! What could really be better...$30 park admission includes all rides plus all you can drink draft beer for the day! To show the extent of this great experince, we will lead you through with some pictures. Here is the beginning of our fun.

Note how we aren't wearing mouse ears, in fact, we are bunnies and dalmations here at Lotte World. Very original. (Ears = our love of hite beer and we felt left out being the only ones not wearing them!)

After our day of indulgence...we are so intense.

Disney World is supposed to be the happiest place on earth and so is Lotte World! Until Colin put himself into the dog house, aka chains, for taking off the ears!

The sights from above.

Slightly sobered fun on the merry-go-round! What aided in those beautiful smiles, maybe it was the memories of the great day we just had at the park, or maybe it was the woman with the puppet.

Eating new Things

2006-10-31T03:17:00.000-08:00

Today we ate GRASSHOPPERS. In case you were wondering, they don't taste like chicken.

Jeju part 1

2006-10-30T20:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Jeju! The island littered with these beautiful rock Grandfather statues! They are here to protect the island...from what? We are not sure. They also provide a marketing campaign for locals to sell all sizes of these beauties for thousands of won! The answer to all of your burning questions....Yes, we bought some.

This is the view from our hotel room. Quite nice. It was a little odd not seeing cookie cutter apartments and being able to see quite a distance. Odd but beautiful.

Grandfather statues guarding the phone booths. Can you spot Anne hiding in this picture?

Awful scenery eh?? We thought so as well.

It's amazing how you can work hand signals and gestures to convey "Can you take our picture please?"

Rock, lots and lots of rock. Beautiful rock.

Rock, part deux.

Colin getting in tough with his photography side. Nice picture eh? Nice to have some colour when the rest of the island is rock.

Jeju part 2

2006-10-22T02:19:00.000-07:00

No one can argue that Jeju has an amazing amount of natural landscape. This was at the second waterfall we visited. So nice how close we could get to it as well - no maids of the mist here!

Deep in thought.

Let the rain come down...no one says it better than Hilary Duff. Don't worry, Colin did not get too wet here - yet.

Our beloved Lotte hotel. Isn't the hotel we stayed at gorgeous?! And by "stayed at", we more so mean, "pretended to stay at." It was slightly nicer than ours, so we just hung out here a lot!

The view from our balcony, errrr by balcony we mean Lotte.

Always good times had at the beach. Who would've thought we could hang out at the beach in October! Pretty sweet.

This shot was pure spontaneity...no planning, really.

Look out baywatch! A day at the beach isn't complete without pretending to be "The Hof!"

Jeju part 3

2006-10-22T01:07:00.000-07:00

Colin "Look at me! I can jump this wave!"

Anne "No, clearly it doesn't seem you can..."

Colin, "My shorts are wet ! "

All dried off and exploring some of the slightly nicer hotels (than what we stayed at.) These places were incredible. This particular hotel we were pretending to stay at was called "The Shilla". It was a mere $400 per night. It looked incredible as you can see by the nice landscape in the background!

We went to another hotel, the amazing Lotte Hotel (Lotte rules the world in Korea. They have Lotte department stores, movie theaters, grocery stores, drinks, literally everything you can imagine!) They put on this fire show which was pretty neat. If you look closely in the picture below you can vaguely make out a dragon like creature in the fire shadow (in the middle of the picture.) It was a really neat show, amazing how hot the fire can feel even when you are sitting a ways away from it!

World cup stadium!!

It was beautiful to see the stadium, but also a little odd as it was desserted. Nothing like being alone at a major tourist attraction. A weird feeling especially when we have become used to being surrounded by masses at all times!

The "Grandfather" statues that were EVERYWHERE in Jeju.

the Han River

2006-10-16T20:20:00.000-07:00

Nothing says magic like burnt out rust coloured rope lights in the shape of a heart! This part of the boat cruise was a magical moment we won't soon forget. A true love boat to say the least!
Colin: "Anne, what was that I just saw to the North?"

Anne : "I think that's a pirate ship Colin!"

And sure enough! There it was! The most yarr worthy pirate ship on this side of the Caribbean!
Colin's artistic shot (or attempt!) We found it hard to take action shots cruising along the Han at 2km/hour!

The city at night. When it's dark - you can't see the haze in the air. So beautiful.

The happy couple - mid cruise. Still reeling in the magic from the "heart" moment.

You saw it in the day (previous post), now, here it is in the night! Korea's tallest building, good ol' 63.

Changgyeonggung

2006-10-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a break from our usual shopping through random markets and take in some culture. Changgyeonggung Palace which was built by King Sejong in 1418 for his father, Taejong, who had abdicated the throne for his successor. It was englarged by King Seongjong and its name also changed to the present Changgyeonggung (as seen in the brochure). The following few pictures are of a reinactment of King Sejongs 50th bday bash! (That was not seen in the brochure).

Where the king sits.

The bearing of gifts for the king. We felt bad for the actors as it was a really hot day and those outfits looked really warm.

The procession of the king to his throne.

The Crown Prince making his way to the throne to honour the king.

The dancers performing for the King.

The great observatory - I'm sure that's exactly what you thought when you first saw this picture. Really, I wonder how much they saw from 6 extra steps above the Earth.

Changgyeonggung Part Deux

2006-10-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

Historical records show that King Yeongjo greeted the top winnders in Gwageo, a goverment administered civil and miliarty exam here at the, Haminjeong, (this brochure is awesome!)

Adrian, Hilary and Colin taking in some knowledge.

Inside one of the palace buildings.

Stele which guards the next picture.

This taeshil (a stone container that holds the placenta of a prince) is pictured below. Yes, you did read that correctly, it holds the placenta. Why it was kept, we don't know (the brochure does not say!)

A nice man made lake, lots of fish in there though.

Those are the faces of kids who learned something today. Yay to learning.

our random adventures

2006-10-06T06:52:00.000-07:00

Heck no, we won't go! We were thinking of not going...but then we decided to carry on with our shopping. We're not quite sure what was going on - kinda similar with our everyday lives here in Korea!

Thanksgiving dinner you ask? Not quite, although we're not sure what these pigeons in cages are used for. However, the sound of a pet pigeon has always been a dream of Colins, maybe now it will come true! The random things you can buy at Dongdaemun.

Colin was missing home and his chicken farm, this is slightly smaller scale and slightly more random - but boy, he was happy!

The man - the legend!

You can never go wrong with a statue like this!

Here are a couple of dongdaemun market pictures just so you can decide...do they have everything under the sun?!

Christmas decorations, VCRs and playstation - OH MY! They go together like kimchi and chopsticks!

Dongdaemun

2006-09-28T03:26:00.000-07:00

Dongdaemun market is the only place in the world you can get EVERYTHING. Granted...we haven't been that many places in the world, but when you see everything you could think of buying in one place you feel it's a legitimate claim. Everything of course includes these hot glasses!

And...these haute glasses! Watch out Paris Hilton, there is a new trendsetter in town. Well, not so much in town as much as in the Far East, but she should be worried anyways.

David and Leigh trying on wedding bands, and by bands we mean massively huge dragon rings.

Baseball? Who needs a baseball field when it can be turned into a massive outdoor flea market!

Tiffany's in Korea is slightly more diverse than in North America. Here they specialize in diamonds and suits! Who would have thought, I wonder if it comes in a blue box? Oddly, they did not want me taking this picture...I wonder why?

After a hard day of ggagga chuseyo'ing (discount please!) we met up with Lisa, one of the Korean teachers at our school. Everybody is all smiles because we just found out that the buffet here at Marche Korea is 25,000 Won (aka $25), all you can eat as well as all you can DRINK! Draft beer always tastes better when it feels like it's free!

Oh how we enjoy buffets.

Sidenote, incase you were wondering how they deliver pizza in Korea the answer is seen below. A fleet of mopeds willing to brave any sidewalk crowd or road traffic to get the pizza to your door on time! (Incase we forgot to mention, moped drivers can drive anywhere they want, from sidewalks to streets and anywhere inbetween.)

Noraybong!

2006-09-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

After only a month away from the Princess singing room we decided to return for round two. The vocals were intense and once again we belted it out to such classics as "Stop" by the Spice girls, "bohemian rhapsody" by Queen and the ever popular "Wonderwall" by Oasis.

We *heart* singing....almost as much as people love hearing us sing!! Riiiiiiiiight...

Sebastian enjoying the sweet smell of rock...or the scented mikes...you choose!

The tough decision of what tune is worthy of being selected! Many songs in the blue section of the book (aka the English section)...but only a few are choosen.

What out tambourine man! Anne plays a mean tambourine (a nice relief from her singing!)

The Lipsett's doing what they do best!

We sang to a sold out crowd...of 7!

Oh Noraybong, we will see you again!

random weekend adventures!

2006-09-24T02:00:00.000-07:00

A random weekend is never complete without a few random ice cream (or should I say yummiest fruit yo urt in the world!) slogans. At home an ice cream shop wouldn't be able to have the slogan start loving myself - it would have to be start loving more of myself! Here, it's frozen yogurt - so apparently you can eat that and love yourself.

In Korea most people share dishes when they eat out. We were going to get one each, but then we thought we stand out enough already! So instead we ordered the largest one on the menu...and it was some yummy yogurt!

Granted, we haven't been to too many other countries, but we feel pretty confident saying there aren't many places where you can find such unique sculptures on the sidewalks!

Oh yeah ice berry!! Does it ever make you fresh! Another random slogan...

Mmmmmmmm, giant frozen yogurt awesomeness. How we love thee.

Needless to say, we *heart* dessert!

the top of the world!

2006-09-19T22:47:00.000-07:00

With Adrians brother, Sebastian, in town we decided what better way to get over his jet lag than to climb the lovely Dobongsan mountain. It was a brisk 4 km up, 4km down.

After the paths disappeared, the rocks led the way to the top!

As you can see, the scraped knees, hands and bruised buttocks were worth the incredible view from the top! (Or at least very close to the top!)

After the hike we all decided it was time for some much need Galbi. Sweet, sweet galbi :)

The tender meat in all it's glory!

The only way to eat galbi....stuff it all in at once!

Bikes on the Han

2006-09-14T06:06:00.000-07:00

The two things that matter most to Koreans, Kimchi and biking...well maybe not, but we decided that we should venture out for a wee little 38 km bike ride to explore what The Han has to offer and no it's not just pollution and dirty waters! The Han is a river that divides Seoul into North and South sections. It's pretty nice to have this bit of break from high rises and busy streets.

A picture taken along the Han before the bike adventure began! We angled it so you couldn't see the dead fish floating in the background.

Our trusty biking partners, Hilary and Adrian "pedal to the Korean metal" Lipsett, with Colin along the Han!

Do we look tired? Because we are! And only 12 km's into the ride...

The mighty rings! Ahhh the 1988 Olypmics...yes Canada...Calgary wasn't the only city to have an 1988 Olympiad...the summer games were held that year in Seoul. This was the destination at the half way mark of our ride, where our legs were like jello and our shorts blackened (note we all - minus Adrian wore our nice white shorts...)

Back at the start of our route - when we finally arrived back - we found this building to be enticing. This is the tallest building in Korea - 63 floors. It is appropriately always referred to as the "63" building. Original Korea, original.

All in all, a great day of rented biking and site seeing. Good times.

Crooner's Paradise!

2006-09-04T04:50:00.000-07:00

We started off the goodbye weekend for Nathan and Lydia at Noray-bong. The song books came out in our private rooms and the tunes were belted! As you can see Nathan and Lydia found something they were pretty excited about!

Snap back to reality, oh there goes ... Colin and Nathan?! The boys decided it was time to mix it up a bit and they layed down some killer white rapper rhymes!

Following the rappers, the girls stepped up with a little Barbie girl...Oh Oh Oh Yeah! It was 1996 all over again...kind of matches some of the Korean clothing trends we have seen here...

The next logical step after singing for 1.5 hours was to head to a hof & Soju bar....mmmm soju. As you saw in our previous post....it's not the most pleasant stuff! But amazingly when it is in a soju bomb...you can't really taste it, but you sure can feel it! The bomb basically means a shot of soju is dropped into a mug of beer....mmmm, mixed drinks!

The bombs began!

After the bombing and a few shots, we thought it would be a good idea to test the boys ability to catch grapes in their mouths. Judging by the grape stains on their shorts in the morning, they didn't exactly succeed.

This is our lovely boss Sebastion who keep the soju flowing like wine (and not vodka like wine that soju really is!) Here we are doing a shot that will ensure that we live until we are 100. Well, I'm not sure if we will live that long, but we definitely felt like we were 100 years old in the morning!

A great send off for Nathan and Lydia...we miss you guys!

BENNIGANS!

2006-08-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

This past Tuesday we decided to indulge in some sweet sweet North American Bennigans. PS...they do serve kimchi here and they make a mean deep fried sandwich.

This is our waiter, Boya. He seemed to like practicing his English on us. He was really friendly and even gave us two loaves of bread as a parting gift.

The best part of dinner was by far the dessert. The Death By Chocolate is exactly what the name suggests, chocolate everywhere! With extra chocolate syrup on the side! It couldn't have been better!

We left a happy couple!

A Weekend Of Firsts!

2006-08-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend we decided to branch out and try some new things, authentic Korean new things. Below is Anne's first indulgence with the Korean staple, Kimchi. That's some spicy cabbage!

We both decided to go with a meal that we heard was really good. It was bulgogi dup bap which is basically pork, some onion and the bap is rice. Very good!

Next came the Korean alcohol of choice....SOJU....mmmmmm.

We were both pretty excited for the experience!

So we took the plunge.....

And how did it taste you ask....the pictures speak for themselves!

Mini-Bike Heaven

2006-08-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

Move over Harley, theres a new hog in town. What better way to spend 5,000 Won (aka $5) then by renting these beasts for 30 minutes! And as the foreign teachers (Nathan and Lydia) at our school said, "it may not be safe, but at least it's fun!". That 30 minutes was filled with tons of people going in any which direction, not to mention the kids area, which was basically the center of the bigger kids area! In Canada, helmets and a waiver of liability would be required, but not in Seoul! Let the good times ride!

Adrian and Hilary - new friends that we met through Nathan and Lydia! They also shared our passion for the mini-bike.

Lydia and Adrian ripping it up.

At the end of our ride, Colin's bike got a little slow so he traded it in and we hit the road together! (that's a leg workout!)

By the way, the reason we stumbled upon this mini-bike heaven was because we had set out to explore a lake in Ilsan. It was beautiful and a nice retreat from the mass amounts of people everywhere in Seoul as well as the numerous buildings.

All in all, a great day!

Downtown Seoul

2006-08-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

Here is the great view at the exit of the City hall subway stop. Pretty awesome if you ask us. That's all along the side of their city hall building. Very cool, very patriotic here in South Korea. Next to this building is a concert stage and on Saturday when we were their the lawn in front had sprinklers going to help give people a break from the 46 degree (with humidex) weather!

Ahhh Starbucks, million dollar franchise, million dollar prices! But how good it tastes!

Just a shot by some buildings...

"korean korean korean [insert f-bomb here] korean korean korea [wave your mother f***ing hands in the air] korean korean korea"

That sums up the Korean rappers seen below.

It was nice to take a load off on the way home, we'd been in crowds all day it seemed, so it was really nice to have a break from all the people on the subway.....oh wait....there is no such thing as personal space in Korea (especially not on the subway!)

Malbok

2006-08-10T04:47:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday was what the Koreans call Malbok. According to the lunar calendar this is the hottest day of the year and subsequently the end of the summer heat wave (as of today it wasn't any cooler!) On Malbok individuals eat Samgyetang or Poshintang. We were taken out for lunch by the Korean teachers at our school and had Samgyetang (luckily....as Poshintang is dog meat soup...literally.) Samgyetang is basically a chicken broth with a small whole chicken that is stuffed with rice, ginseng, chestnuts, garlic and a date. Both of these dishes are thought by Koreans to increase stamina and help you get through the extreme heat. We quite enjoyed the samgyetang (although I didn't feel staminated -yes Ry we know it's not a real word- afterwards!) and learning about this aspect of Korean culture.

Gwanghwamun

2006-08-05T04:34:00.000-07:00

Today we rode the rails to Gwanghwamun. We have no idea how to acutally pronounce that. There was a bookstore there that we had heard had English books, so we thought we would check it out. The building below had a huge bookstore in it's basement that was pretty cool.

As the day progressed, we found our way to a stream that runs through the middle of the city, that was once a highway. It's neat how there is a lot of green space here despite the large number of buildings and population density. It was hella packed, but we're getting used to that here.

This area had a lot of cool shops, this building just shows how well the Koreans use their space in that every floor is a different business.

This is the Vietnamese restaurant that we tried out for lunch. It had pictures in the menu which made it easier for us to actually know what we were getting for lunch.

Our Home..

2006-08-01T04:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our beautiful home in Seoul...it actaully feels a bit bigger than it looks. We're still keeping our eyes open for some decorations as right now we have some pretty sweet white walls, but hopefully we find some "flare" soon!

(the only room with any colour!)

(our bedding situation is rather sad....but we do have a blanket, some hope and a plan!)

KOREA

2006-07-30T03:47:00.000-07:00

We departed from Toronto on July 23rd at 2:40 pm and landed in Icheon, right by Seoul, at 5:55pm on Monday July 24th. Definitely a lengthy flight. Since landing, the jet lag has been fierce. However, our bodies seem to be adjusting pretty well thus far. We have started at Herald Language Institute, which is our new home away from home, Monday to Friday that is.

We arrived at just the right time because we have a term break at the school, meaning, we have a four day weekend this weekend! So, after being booted from our apartment on Saturday for wallpaper and flooring repairs (which were done extremely quickly!) we decided to embark on an adventure in No-Won Gu...the area in which we live.

As you can see, franchises have made their way across the Pacific. And really...we're not complaining!

Our next two days off we are going to continue exploring and see what Seoul has to offer!