Everland Adventure

Everland

(This happened on December 22nd, 2013....It's my second post about that long weekend we had, this covers Sunday. I'm still catching up on my posts >.<;;) 

The Magic Tree

It’s really fun to go to theme parks during certain holidays because they go all out with decorations and themes so it just adds a lot to the atmosphere. I actually usually really plan out my theme park trips but this time we just decided to go to Everland (South Korea's version of "Disneyland") and kind of do whatever we felt like doing.

Christmas at Everland

The cool thing about Everland is that it is a theme park and also a Zoo. We went to the Zoo first and checked out all the animals. It’s been forever since I’ve been to a zoo and there was a lot to see. 

Everland also has two different safari-like rides you can go on where you hop in a bus and the driver takes you through an exhibit where some exotic animals walk around like tigers and bears. 

 

It really felt like a safari and was neat to see the animals up so close and free like that.

The zoo also happens to be a filming sight from a recent show called Good Doctor (staring Joo Won and Moon Chae Won). Jenee hasn’t seen it but I was pretty excited to get another drama sight in from a show I really like.

Joo Won and Moon Chae Won visit the Zoo at Everland in Good Doctor

After finishing up with the Zoo we headed down to the main square to watch the Christmas parade. Actually, we ended up only watching the beginning of it on accident because we thought it was over only to find out (after we moved on) that it was, in fact, still going. Oh, well. What we did see was nice and I’ll admit we giggled a bit over all the foreigners in the parade.

We went on the pirate ship/viking ride next. 

Viking Ship

It was actually the only “ride” we really went on (my stomach doesn’t handle most rides well these days) and we just had to go on this particular ride because it’s in like every theme park scene for every drama (probably not this particular one but…still).

Romantic Illumination at Everland

After the ride we got some food and then took the cable car down to the bottom of the park (it’s built on a mountain…) where the Romantic Illumination event was taking place. 

It was starting to get dark so the lights all turned on and it was just so pretty. There were lots of different displays and we actually found out later that this area was used as a shooting location for another drama The King 2 Hearts. 

Lee Seung Gi and Ha Ji Won at Everland in The King 2 Hearts

It’s really beautiful and makes for some great photos especially earlier in the evening before the hordes of people started showing up.

No water fountain this time of year...

When we finished looking around at all the lights it was dark and cold so we went and got some hot chocolate to drink while we waited for the moonlight parade. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait too long and we got a good spot with a nice view as the illuminated floats paraded by. The effects were neat and the dancing was cute. I can’t remember the last time I saw a parade at night so it was a nice experience.

By the time the show was over, we had about an hour before the last event we wanted to see was going on which was the Christmas firework show. We took up post at a spot with a really good view and waited out in the cold, freezing, singing Christmas songs to make ourselves feel better. Despite the agony of waiting, the show was totally worth it.

We were standing above the Romantic Illumination arena and facing the main stage. As the Christmas music played the lights synchronized to the songs and then fireworks started going off (also in sync). It was pretty much the coolest firework show ever (I would argue that it was even better than the International Fireworks show we saw earlier in the fall…though it wasn’t as long). Plus, it was all Christmas-ie, which was just too awesome.

Here is a video of the opening part of the show:

Here is a video of the grand finale (it's pretty awesome):

We left the park after that and headed home. It kind of sucked getting back so late on a Sunday knowing we had work bright and early the next morning after two very long days of doing things (I really need my one day per week of lazing around doing nothing). But it wasn’t too bad, and it was worth it!

Christmas in Seoul

Sign at City Hall

I'm so far behind on posting and this particular weekend was really busy for us so I’m dividing it into two parts. This post will cover Friday and Saturday (the 20th and 21st).

Friday was field trip day. As fun as these excursions are, I’m super glad they are only once a month. I enjoy getting to do fun activities with my students but between the motion sickness that always happens (little stuffy bus full of screaming kids) and the stress of keeping everyone together (preferably NOT fighting) makes for a really long morning. By the time I get back to school I’m always exhausted and it’s quite a challenge getting through my afternoon classes.

Anyway, this trip was to Gyeongi Children’s Museum and while we didn’t have enough time to explore the whole facility, we were able to hit up a few areas.

The place reminded me of OMSI only it wasn’t necessarily science-based. Some of the exhibits were pretty fun…such as the human body room where they kids got to do things like stuff plastic balls up gigantic noses and play doctor (aka attack teacher).

There was also a “Truth in the Fairytale” room that featured some displays from fairy tails…including these fantastic hats you could try on.

Ta da!

After school Jenee and I went to watch the recently released rom-com movie Catch Me staring none other than Joo Won. Having just recently seen him live on-stage at a musical, it was a super special experience for me watching him on the big screen.

Catch Me

The movie was pretty funny. There were some slow scenes but for the most part Jenee and I were cracking up. It was great!

Saturday we got to sleep in and then we headed into Seoul to do some market-browsing (not my favorite thing I’ve discovered with all the crowds and pushing) and then Christmas decoration scouting.

To get into the Christmas spirit we visited a couple of places rumored to have some good decorations.

First was Times Square in Yongdungpo-gu. There was a big Christmas tree lit up here and some lights. It was very pretty! And not very crowded! Yey!

Pretty Christmas tree

Next we went to the Hilton Hotel near Soul Station.

Seoul Station at night

It was actually quite an experience getting there. We weren’t really sure how to get to it so we took off in the general direction (luckily it’s big so eventually we could see it and just had to figure out how to get to it). 

View of Namsan Tower during our walk

At one point we passed this dark construction-zone. Just as we were coming up on it I looked and this business man came walking out and we both gave each other heart-attacks. It was rather humorous (thinking back, I about fainted at the time) when he saw me he jumped about a foot and shouted this expression they use here when someone/something scares you.

Merry Christmas at the Hilton

Anyway, we found the hotel and just walked inside. I’m actually not sure how that works with hotels but given the amount of people inside admiring the Christmas decorations like us I’m assuming it’s okay but regardless, we waltzed right on it and admired away.

 

The tree was awesome. It was huge and rotated around with really elaborate decorations.

There was also a small toy train set that drove around the entire thing. The details in the “scenery” were pretty cool, like this billboard for the Ghost musical I recently watched.

Can you see it?

When we finished taking pictures we headed back outside and decided to go back to the station a different way (which seemed easier to get to) and it was neat because we happened upon this historic sight:

Namdaemun Gate

Sungnyemun Gate (aka Namdaemun Gate) which happens to be Korea’s natural treasure #1. It was recently restored after being destroyed by a fire and opened back up in April 2013.  

It was pretty at night and all lit up. I think you can actually go closer but it was closed so we just took a peak at it from the gate.

From Seoul Station we embarked on the subway once again to City Hall where we got to see another large Christmas tree on display. 

The decorations were really nice. There were a couple more places I’d heard had good Christmas displays but after checking out City Hall it was getting late and we were pretty much done for the evening. 

I'm really glad we were able to see a lot of decorations. It helped us get more in the Christmas mood since it's not celebrated quite the same here and it's always a bit lonely when your away from home during Christmas time. 

Busan Christmas Tree Festival

Happy Busan Christmas, Busan!

Saturday Jenee and I loaded up on the KTX (Korea Express Train) and headed south to Busan. This is South Korea's largest city after Seoul and is a port city. It's famous for it's big beaches and is somewhere we've wanted to travel to for a while. 

The KTX is really convenient in that you can travel from Seoul to Busan in a little less than 3 hours. There is also trains leaving frequently throughout the day. Because we are foreigners, we had the option of getting a one-day pass (which basically cost the same as a one-way trip) so we could leave and return at whatever time we wanted. 

We ran into a slight problem on Friday night when we realized that we had to have a printed e-ticket in order to receive our pass.......and we have no printer. This basically means we had to run all around the Yatap area late in the evening searching for a PC Bang (place where you can use computers) that allowed users to print things. We met some really nice people during this whole adventure that gave us directions and went the extra mile to help us out. Thank you, kind citizens of South Korea!  

The only other inconvenience is that the station is all the way up in Seoul, about an hour and a half by public transportation from where we live. So we left here (Bundang) as early as we could and arrived at the KTX station in time to catch the 7AM train to Busan. 

Our tickets! Success!

It was so nice! Compared to both airplane and bus, I'll take this train ride any day! The seats are comfortable and there is even foot rests (hallelujah!) so the trip passed really quickly. 

Our main reason for making this particular trip to Busan was to see their annual Christmas Tree Festival but since we arrived in the morning and didn't need to head to the festival until after dark, we hit up some local tourist spots first. 

First stop: Haeundae Beach! 

This is probably the most famous beach in South Korea and even though it's winter there were still lots of people out and about enjoying the view. 

We didn't spend a lot of time there because neither of us felt like getting into the sand but it was a nice sight to see none-the-less. 

Next stop: Haedong Yonggungsa Temple

I actually had no idea about this place but one of our co-workers suggested that we go and I'm really glad we did.

The temple is a bit out of the way but you can get there by bus or taxi. We opted for the taxi and arrived easily. The temple is situated along the coast so it's really scenic and beautiful. I'm not big into temples (not being Buddhist) but I appreciate their architecture and historic significance.

The trail leading to and from the Temple was crowded with street vendors selling souvenirs and food. I used up a good amount of my coin collection on the later but really enjoyed getting to try all the treats.

We took a taxi back to Haeundae after searching the map for a place to go next. Busan has a lot of fun sounding spots to visit but since we were only there for one day we couldn't go very far from where the Christmas Tree Festival would be held. 

Third Stop: Busan Tower. 

This place is located right next to the festival so it seemed like a good destination. We found it with little hassle (went the wrong way after exiting the subway--of course--but eventually found a map and figured it out). 

The tower is located in a park (Yongdusan Park, to be specific) on top of a mountain but a few sets of escalators take you up fairly quickly. Thank you, escalators! 

We meet again!

In the park is another famous statue of Lee Soon Shin. We've visited the one in Seoul twice (see here and here) and a pavilion. We decided to go up in the tower to the observatory and got to see some amazing views of the city. 

When we were finished we still had some time left before the festival so after grabbing some food we decided to check out one of South Korea's largest markets.

Fourth Stop: Gukje Market.

Kim Soo Hyun...kya kya! (I just wanted to post this...)

When we were up in the tower, one of the nice English guides pointed this place out to us and said that you can find anything in this market and for great prices, too. 

Since it was close by we wandered the extremely crowed streets and did a lot of "window" shopping (I did buy a shirt...). It was really exciting to experience such a thing but also a little frustrating because people are so pushy sometimes! Don't go to this market if you are afraid of crowded places! 

When it started getting dark we headed to the entrance for the Christmas Tree Festival. Speakers throughout the street were playing Christmas music and after the sun set the lights all turned on and it was really an awesome sight.

There were different decorations, mostly Christmas trees, but also various things were lit up beautifully. 

These were all along the street (photos from Jenee)

One particular part of the street had a bubble blower attached to the top of one of the buildings and the assent of bubbles made it look like it was snowing. 

Snow bubbles!!

In the center there was a huge Christmas tree flooded with lights (and people).

Then two more streets branched off with even more lights and decorations. 

It was a bit cold but we were bundled up so it wasn't uncomfortable. It was also really crowded but not as bad as some of the events we've been to in Seoul so that was a relief. 

The center tree...so pretty!

Overall, the experience was really pleasant. We were able to leisurely enjoy the sights before heading back to the station to catch a KTX train back to Seoul.

Busan Station

I'm actually really surprised and excited that we were able to do this! We went to Busan, all by ourselves! Also, even though we did a lot of things, it never felt overwhelming or exhausting. I hope we are able to head down there again (probably in warmer weather) and experience some more of other areas in South Korea.