Two Ads I Saw at Subway Station

wait...this is not the one I saw at the station, but I bumped into this ad on the subway. This tells about ..wow...this is interesting....each region's best produce. wow...I think I could refer to this ad..and this picture to know what the specialties of a specific region are. Hmm..but..it's so darn cute and small. Too small to read.^^ People would just shrug it off..and would not notice it. 

The second one is about a charity campaign to warm the hearts of the passers by or the commuters. A story of an orphan who had to live with his (supposedly) grandmother and had to sustain on his own life. A help would be a warm blessing for him. 

I wonder how he's doing now. Hope things got better for him and his grandma. 

* but..one thing that quite intrigued me was ...whether...the same ad with the same picture will be used (again) next year? or..was there any chance that this particular ad was already used in the past?

either way...that would be so....oh, well.

Just hope for the best for the boy.

Sisters....

Eyra Freya....as captured by an impromptu camera.

싸우지않고는...참 어울려요.

...while they're in their room playing...

둘이 늘 항상 같이 노는거 보니 행복~행복 뿌듯.

....everywhere....they're always having....things...to talk about. 

Fuzzy as usual.!!!

지하철에서도...비밀이 있듯이 속삭이고 있네.

...couple bunnies...

엄마가 사준 점퍼를 입은채...웃으며...

Gasping for Air Conditioner...

I was on my way to Yeouido (as usual). But, boy..the heat..summer heat really drenched me in sweat..that I just couldn't wait to get into the subway......bracing myself....

just to get a glimpse of clean air....soaked in air conditioned atmosphere.

So, the other day...even a simple daily transfer from line 5 to line 9 had done me enough of ....trying to reach out for fresh air.

Was it the heat? was it my fasting? was it me all along?

Couldn't tell..or wait...a combination of them all?

One thing for sure....my tired-looking face summed up what just happened the other day on my way to Yeouido.

Something's Changing @ Seoggye Station's Transfer Corridor

Well, though we usually take a bus to go from home to campus or school, at times we take subway. It's been a while since the last time we got to transfer via Seoggye station. Along the transfer corridor, it used to be so dull...but now..the dullness is somewhat reduced by the effort of the management. 

Yup, they put lots of flowers in arrays of pots along the walking elevator. 

Just when we're walking pass the corridor, the flowers were being watered.

Nice effort, though.

Civil Affair Train!!! 365 Days A Year On The Train!!

Now there's something that not all carriages in every line of Seoul Subway could brag about. But this one surely can. Line 1 that connects the outskirts of Seoul where most of its inhabitants live (Gyeonggi Province) is the one I am talking about. I knew about this particular compartment back then..but I always did not take any notice until I really had time to take a look closer of what it is all about. 

Okay...this particular compartment is OFFICE on-the-GO. Yes..I call it this way. This is basically a government office ( I think ) on the train. The main goal of setting up this office on the train is to cater the need of anyone who does not have time to go to the governmental complexes. So...instead of 'waiting' for the 'customers (a.k.a. the civil), Gyeonggi-province government take a leap by cooperating with the Korail to set up one compartment and change it into an on-the-go office 365 days a year. 

But, first..let me take a look at one small booth in the compartment, I thought that it is also a section to help customers, but it's not. But..in some way..it DOES. It is actually a nursery booth where parents could change the diaper of their babies while on the train..or   mommies who need to breastfeed the baby could just go inside and use the booth. Cool, eh? 

Okay..back to the 민원전철 (minwonjeoncheol) or the civil service train! This compartment is divided into small booth or sections complete with officers in charge to help anyone who may want to ask any civil-related matters. Job interviews, job vacation, debt, health insurance, real estate-related issues, anything....I guess. The thing was that..it is a great idea in essence. People could just walk into the compartment and meet and talk to the person in charge and hope for the best of any solution they could come up with while ...they were going somewhere else.

Killing two birds with one stone? Anyway..

this is what I saw the other day on the train.

Salute to those who set up this idea.

Hope this indeed helps!!

School: Back&Forth

We moved to Hwarangdae after a year and a half living at Imundong. The best thing about the new neighborhood is that it caters all the need easily. But, it is surely a bit farther from the kids' school. We thought of having the kids moved their school but...they do not want to. So....

everyday we have to go up and down the deep and long escalator at subway station... 

Then...waiting for the bus....that would take us to their school. The good thing is that we can take any bus since all of them go in the same direction to where the school is. Pretty   comfy, I suppose. 

A bright morning+smile on their face: a great combination to start the day even though it takes 15-20 minutes to school. 

Morning on weekdays are filled with subway --> bus routines.

But, hey...that's FUN. 

Right, gals?

The Transformation of Seoul's Subway Tickets

Seoul has its first subway line back in 1974. Wow...it's as old as I am.^^ The other day I bumped into a very interesting ad (well, it's more like a public-service ad) issued by the authority of Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transportation itself. It tells about the transformation of tickets from its initial groundbreaking jubilee in 1974 up to the present. 

What intrigued me is the fact that the one made in 1974 is so captivating in that it has a colorful rendition of what it all started and looked like. 

I really wish I had one of these as collections.

Then in 1981 and 1886 it somewhat became simpler with less colorful touches.

But then...in 2004 up until 2009 with the coming of 'digital' age...^^ well, sort of...and I vividly remembered it since that's the time when I (once again) stepped into the doorstep of Seoul: back then..the Seoul tickets were printed on a T-Money kind of thing and also on mobiles.  Oh, wait..I also remembered the one made in 1999 since the first time I came to Seoul was back in 1998. So..it sort of a recollection of memories clamped into one ad.

That's what prompted me to 'take the picture' of this valuable ad.

Now...the interesting thing is the notion of what it'll be like in the future....

Maybe we can use our body or part of our body since we have each of us a chip ingrained or inserted into our nervous system.

Sounds so visionary but scary...at the same time.

If you buy something at the traditional market........then...

THEN...you do not only buy things but you also get 'love' 'affection'  or 정 (Jeong) like what Korean people address it.

I also bumped into another interesting public announcement. I love it.

The picture depicts an ajumma or a woman who sells (vegetables?) at the traditional market.

The ad says" 전통시장은 정을 팝니다" Traditional Market Sells 'Love+Affectin" *

* 정 is one of the difficult word to translate into other language. 

But...the point is that...more and more people in Korea tend to shop at hypermarket or any convenient stores or malls or department stores that penetrates almost every corner of Korea's public space. 

E-Mart, Lotte Mart, Shinsagae, Home Plus and many other medium-sized markets have  somewhat replaced the existence of traditional markets. 

And..that fact alone has triggered a massive concern as to whether traditional markets would be able to stand against the time and the pressure of something called 'modernity'

So, despite the fact that Korean Government has imposed the rule stating that major big  department stores to 'CLOSE' their stores twice a month on (for instance) the 2nd and 4th Sunday....

Still...a lot of people are flocking the modern market....instead of the traditional ones.

Well, preferences are hard to condone.

THAT is the reason why...This Kind OF Public advertisement is deemed necessary in subways and any other public venues.

The problem is:

DO PEOPLE really READ this?

I do hope they Do.

They read and then they think..and hopefully it will lead to action.

Got a Glimpse of...

of..something that caught my attention at Samgakgi station when I was going home.

Did not have time to learn what it was all about until the train arrived.

So...I just managed to take one click of I-still-don't-know-what.

My guess is that some kind of 'natural showcase of Norway....."

I should've stayed longer....