Pororo & Friends: Seoul Lantern Festival 2012

Pororo, Lupy, Eddy, and.... 

Gosh I wish I knew what their names were... 

Oh, Poby the bear. That's it. 

Well..well...we spent like 30 minutes letting Eyra and Freya admiring their beloved characters.. 

Freya loved them, too. 

Oh, did I mention about the music that kept on playing over and over again?  

And lots of people were swarming into the place....with their kids, of course. 

Seen in the dark, the characters came to life.^^well, figuratively speaking...  

Oops, it was the camera. We could not do a better shot like this one. :(^^ 

One angle to show how crowded the people were in front of the Pororo exhibition. 

It turned out that from the left-side of the lanterns, they looked brighter and clearer. 

See? If you may wonder as to why I put all of these pictures right here on the blog. Well, it is because...the moment that Eyra and Freya had while enjoying the Pororo and friends' lanterns was a precious one. 

Oh, Spidey, too...was hanging tough over the stream... 

The cloudy sky--the skycrappers beyond: a perfect background for spidey to hang on tight. 

Then, just as we thought of seeing no more: we found another character that both kids love: Robocar Poli. 

I guess, the organizing committee of this Lantern Festival must've used their time and energy to compile what the kids love and they put them on display--to surely attract both parents and kids to come and see the festival. 

What a better way to promote the event other than 'utilizing' the psychology of the kids' who would drag their parents to see a show or a two like this. 

On our way back home, we circled the stream and arrived right at the back of Pororo lantern characters so I could get a glimpse of what the onlookers may look like in front of the characters they were enjoying. 

The contrasting color and bright lanterns were vis a vis their spectators...vaguely visible in the darkness. 

like this one here, too. 

Using the flashlight, it became clear that this Pororo and Friends lantern was one of the top-visited lanterns in the festival.

Seoul Lantern Festival 2012 : Pororo & Friends Came Along

First thing first, they put Pororo Lanterns almost at the end of the exhibition. That means: we got to walk for about 2 km before reaching the Pororo lanterns that my kids were crazy about. First, we saw lots of -- of course-- more than what we bargained for in the first place. What are those? 

Instead of just wondering what they were, we were just lucky enough to enjoy the extravaganza that both the displays and the onlookers were showing..

The fact that the festival was held over the Cheonggyecheon stream was more than captivating in itself. 

Who would wanna miss --well, I wouldn't--the shimmering reflection of the lanterns on the surface of the stream? Besides, if we took a time to read what the lantern was all about, we ended up learning a history or two. Or, ended up....taking more time to walk.^^ 

But, I guess, only 2 out of 10 people would just stop and stare and read the display's lengthy explanation. For some, the inscriptions may be important. Wished it hadn't be that cold.... 

The historical figures from the past dynasties were --of course--an annual guests to this Lantern Festival. That's at least what I recounted. They seemed to get stranded on the stream in the midst of the now sprawling city of night-lights-illuminated Seoul. 

They may get lost in the present-day Seoul.

Let's see. If I am not mistaken, it was a dragon made out of wish-list-yellow paper glued to the strings attached to the dragon skeleton. 

People did get in line to buy some notes to put on them. Well, I guess...

I did not believe it myself until I took a closer look into it. 

OH my Oh My...some people did write some wishes on these notes. What a festivity it was. 

I could not make out what those words were. Time was tight. Did not have time to do so. So, instead, just take a quick click and camera away.... 

 

Back to the stream. Those little colorful lanterns were the ones being tugged away or washed away. They resembled another activity believed to send messages full of wishes onto the stream. well, since they would otherwise flock and block the streams, they ended up a few meters away after being tossed off. 

NOw..ThiS is what I call one of the highlights of the festival.  Pineapple lantern. 

A huge one. See the intricate details they poured into the pineapple? 

As I took a look closer, not only pineapple, but most tropical fruits were accompanying the big pineapple in the middle.  

It turned out that this tropical fruits lanterns were made by Singapore Tourism Board. What a fantastic way to advertise...it was a marvelous idea. Simply different. 

Then..off we went further down the stream to find a long array of dolls lanterns symbolizing the countries around the world. They were so adorably decorated. They looked so alive. well, use a little bit wee of imaginative power in our mind...and zaaappp they came to be alive right in front of our eyes.

Otherwise, they were nothing fall short of mere doll lanterns. 

Name a country and try find one. 

Good luck finding one. Well, I tried to find one that representing Indonesia... 

Until we ended up ....sitting down to take a rest. They were so many and people were just kept on flocking into the exhibitions. Not to mention..the precautions we must heed so as not to fall into the stream.^^ 

One of these? Nope.

It must be among these lanterns..... 

One of these? Neither... 

Oh, finally found it. Well, Indonesia has more than 300 tribes be it small or big. So, I guess it would be a challenging task to represent what could be a representative doll symbolizing Indonesia. What I found in this festival was...a lantern doll representing a Balinese man. 

clad in a sarung, not in Batik as it was written on the inscription / explanation. 

Well, at least..I finally found one doll from Indonesia in this 2012 Seoul Lantern Festival. 

Fish..Fish..Fish....Yippey Freya..you rocked! Peace^^ 

So many fishes dangling over us. They were all lit up to give a festivity-touch above the air, too. 

Not to mention these fishes....too. 

Eyra, Freya..surely did not want to miss the chance to see those fish fly...by.

I think..the picture speaks for itself what they were. 

Happy, Eyra? Sure sure sure.  

Ohhh...뽀로로다!!!  

well, not these ones. It was another folktale being told through lanterns. 

Freya was gleaming with cheerfulness as she met her adorable characters right in front of her eyes... 

Eyra, too. But, not because of those bears... 

nor because of those little fishes. 

But because of those Pororo and Friends characters .. 

which came to life....in wonderfully colorful lanterns.