Let's Fly the Kites....!!!!

Celebrating Chuseok @ Namsangol Hanok Village

What could be more fun than having outdoor activities in the holiday season like this?

We searched on the internet and bumped into an info from Korea Tourism Organization that some parks or palaces around Korea were having lots of Chuseok-theme activities for anyone to enjoy.

So, we decided to go to Hanok Village which was just a 30-minute ride by subway. After getting off at Chungmuro station, we were glad to have decided to come here.

Why? our kids loved it.

First: there were varieties of first-hand experiences for children to take park in. There were traditional Korean kite making, sculpture making, Korean mask making, etc. The one that attracted Eyra and Freya was the kite-making activity.

After paying 8,000 Won for two, they were ready to make their own first kite of its kind.

They glued and tied them up all by themselves.

Of course, parents supervised them..^^

The colorful kites seemed to have captured Eyra's creativity. 

In the chilling temperature (for us^^) of around 15 degree Celsius, the children were happy and seemed not to care of its surrounding...but to glued themselves into what they were making.

Tatatata......It's done.! They were so amazed at how things worked. They did it by themselves and they were just impatient of flying their kites off into the sky.^^

Aha....I knew it, Eyra and Freya chose the color and pictures of their favorite, ducks and dolphin.

It was a good thing that the sky was blue and that lots of things to do and see where just right there.

Afterwards, we went into several traditional houses available in the complex. Eyra learned about how things worked in the traditional Korean houses. Her Mom was just as curious as Eyra was.^^

This is pretty much how the house looked. Lots of visitors thronged into the house to take a closer look at it.See the white tent? I just learned that some Chuseok-related ceremonies were held in the morning.:( oh, no.... Had we known about it.

Still, it did not hamper or dampen our spirit of enjoying our time there. After all, there were other things to do and see inside Hanok Village. See the tteok that Mom was holding? We just bought it and ready to eat it...on the spot.

Eyra loved the green and yellow ones. She kept eating and munching the glutinous tteok.

One of the interesting things about this Hanok village is that it is located right at the center of the city (see the Namsan Tower?) that makes it accessible through varied means of transportation. So, we would take the  kids here again to learn more about this. 

Pose@! Action! 

Oops..it was getting dark.

But...we haven't seen all. So, let's go and start exploring...

Off we went to circle around another house. The Hanok village indeed offers to its visitors a rare chance of seeing authentic Korean traditional houses right in the middle of the city. Sky scrappers that dotted the village seemed to be the striking contrast of how modern and traditional legacies could exist at the same time and space.

While happily clutching her self-made kite, Eyra was happy to tag us along into the journey of learning or at least admiring the beauty of Korean traditional house/architecture.

Freya, too, was seen clutching her kite and her Mom was busy taking pictures into the interior of the house. 

I love the chimney (that's what I think it is...though I am not so sure)^^ Gosh, I wish there'd been some guide telling us what that was.^^

Anyone knows what those Chinese characters say? Hmm..wish I knew.

Freya:"Daddy, could you take my picture, please?"

* *Oh, sure, Honey..^^

Mom: "Me, too, please....^^"

**Oh...well, okay^^

This kind of stone-wall is typical of Korean wall. Well, I am not sure about it myself. But, judging from the fact that I found it at many other places, I think it could be it.

The red & blue lanterns hanging above were another typical Korean festivity-must have items.

*.* Have a Great Holiday*-*

Chuseok--Korea's Thanksgiving Day

풍성한 한가위 되세요^^

"Have an affluent Chuseok"

Chuseok, Chuseok, Chuseok..that's the catchy word for these days.

추석 or Chuseok or Thanksgiving Day for Korean comes today on September 29. 

Of course based on the lunar calendar, it is the 15th day of the 8th month. The full moon is right her for us to behold. 

Ok, I am not going to tell about this festivity directly but....what comes along with it...is what prompted me to write this entry.

I was walking by, transferring at, going to several subway stations....and..to my surprise, something caught my attention. Lots of new-to-my-eyes snacks were like popping out of nowhere in just one night..or that..I never paid any attention to i before? Anyhow, these traditional snack, candies, cookies, and sweets were all there to celebrate the Chuseok Holiday.

Since they were so tempting and that..I never tried those kinds of snacks before...I was urged to try it. The price was not pricey. It cost only 1,200 won per 100 grams of any kinds you took. So, I took some that interest me. A kind of random sampling^^

This is what I bought. So colorful, right?

Although I did not know most of their names^^:D....I enjoyed eating them very much.

Some resembled snacks back home in Indonesia. I guess...the rice flour being the main ingredient of this traditional snack was the reason why we had similar stuffs back home.

Happy Chuseok, everyone.^^

Have an affluent chuseok.

(I know that we should have eaten some songpyeon--the representative tteok or rice-cake in Chuseok), but  we have not yet eaten them.^^Instead, we had this first.^^

Good Morning, Suray^^

I was on my way to start my activities at the earliest time possible which was around 6 am 

(Thursday, Sept. 27).

The sky was 'cracked' open by the rise of the sun. The warm orange sunlight was reflecting itself into the Han River that morning. The shimmering light somewhat enhanced the silhouette of the dark-grey-looking apartment buildings. The Han river was like a calm rushing flow of water with crystals on its surface.

All of this was happening and flickering right before my eyes while crossing the Han river...

I was so happily blessed that I felt the urge to capture this amazing moment.

It's not everyday that I could see this beautiful grandeur.

For some, it may be just another trivial moment passing by...

BUT...

for me..

It WAS and will always be something special...

Afrizal in KBS

Who's he? Ok, Afrizal--currently a student at a university in Jakarta-- is the winner of 'Discover Korea' Essay contest conducted by KBS World Radio. He is the winner after rigorously outshone himself in making a very catchy video and essay about himself and he would do if he set foot in Korea. And he did it. 

So, this is a picture inside our studio along with program producer, Ms. Lee. 

This time, he had to retell a diary of what he had been doing for the last few days in his visit to Korea. 

Well, he managed it pretty well., though. Hope that this would be a not-that-easy-to-forget experience for him.

Freya's Yoga pose

Mom, Dad...Look! I am a tree now.

She was trembling while trying her best to balance herself. I think this is her fave pose in yoga. No, of course, she is not doing a  real yoga practice. It just happened that she used to watching her auntie Yoeni practiced Yoga back then in Jogjakarta. 

She was--I think--so captivated that even today she still remembers vividly to do some yoga.

(* it was midnight^^)

Yeosu Expo 2012 (a memoir)

Yeosu Expo 2012? YES..you read it correctly.^^

.I know I know..I should have written all about it a few months go...but due to some constraints and all...I did not write about it. Instead, as you may have already known, other posts on other stuffs did come out first.

So, I went to Yeosu Expo with (of course) friends from Korea Brand Communicator. We are the members of Korea Brand Communicator whose job and task were to cover everything about Korea that we may encounter along the one-year long activities. This Yeosu Expo was of course one-not-to-be-missed highlights of our activities.

(on the picture: as usual, me and Bushan Kumar, my fellow friend from India)

Oh, this was actually not in Yeosu Expo but in Odongdo Island which is located just a couple of minute-walk from the site where Expo was held. So, I might as well post it right here so as to make it into a one-package story of my trip to Yeosu. 

(on the pic.: me and the gangs)

In front of the plaza where admiral Yi Sun Si statue was located. He was a Korean naval commander, famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war in the Joseon Dynasty. That's all pretty much about it. And..Yeosu was one of the locations where the war took place--that's what I learned.

The whole pack of our Korea Brand Communicators was waiting in line to have our tickets to get into the expo. It was so hot...but we did not mind it since we were so excited of going into the pavilions.

The first group picture we took before going deeper and deeper into the realms of wonder in Yeosu Expo. I think it was taken right at the marina located near the entrance gate.

This is only --I think--one third of the whole Expo site. Since the theme of the expo was 'The Living Ocean & Coast', no wonder that Yeosu which was located right next to the beach....was  used as the site of the expo. 

Before continuing...I saw this perplexing yet amazing stunt done by a naval police or expo police. I did not know what it was, but as seen on the picture, one guy was propelled or thrust into the air after the pipe was gushed or highly pressurized with air+water which enabled him to be lifted up over the water.  From afar, he looked like flying over the water, right?

This is the biggest pipe organ in the world--I guess. The Sky Tower is a symbolic construction made by transforming a pair of abandoned silos into a masterpiece. This pipe organ can play a sound similar to a piano and its sound could travel as far as 6 kilometer away. ^^ wow...

I took this picture while strolling along the streets inside the Expo. People thronged to the site that made it at times impossible for us to enjoy all of the themes--due to long queue of the site. :( but..that' z the beauty of it.

This is something to behold. I could not help but admiring the magnitude of this LED screens. It was a ceiling made of all LED I could dream of. As I learned, it had 218 meters wide and 30 meters long with --be prepared--6,324 units of 60 inches TVs combined together and put them all up into this HUGE ceiling. It was also called the passageway of the international pavilions. Every time the films or images were displayed with interactive menus that we could  use through smartphones. (though I did not know how to do it^^). 

 

This is how it looked like at nights. The brighter and clearer view was more alive. Oh, one more thing...unlike other pavilions, I did not have to wait in a long queue just to watch this ceiling. While walking, I just looked up and saw what the screen was showing. ^^

There were hundreds of pavilions being displayed in Expo. As usual, each country had its best to offer in order to show off its own characteristics or uniqueness in terms of Ocean and its relation to its nation. As an Indonesian, I got a chance to see the pavilion with its theme ' Wonderful Indonesia'. Well, frankly speaking, compared to other countries, it was not that impressive or big. Just Okay-lah.^^ If only, it could look better and well prepared. But, I think the movie being shown inside the pavilion was somewhat a 'plus'.

 

It would not have been a complete visit to Yeosu Expo if we had not yet experienced the BIG-O show at night. So, after a day-long journey into the myriads exposure of Expo, we sat and watched the magnificent show displayed by the BIG O. 

(sorry for the not-that-clear picture).

This was dubbed as the heart of Yeosu Expo. IT resembled the letter O with special effects and water shows through its 345 fountains nozzles which could shoot up a water as high as 70 meters..along with the music that accompanied its rhythmic movements.

Oh, the laser show! Holograms!

Indeed, it was a perfect closure to a visit such a huge expo. 

(I had a great fun and memories at Yeosu Expo 2012--once in a lifetime experience!)

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