Frozen Han River (part 1): The Icy Cold Journey Began

Getting off at the Seoul Bus Terminal and headed myself towards exit 8-1.....then...walked for about 1 kilometer before I ended up ...finding myself at the riverbank...

This was what I was deliberately going to see. Yup, I heard from the news about the frozen river for the past few days....but...thanks to the cold snap...I couldn't just go out and check it out for myself...

until it reached about 3.3 degree Celsius as of yesterday. So, I kinda felt warmed up...and dared myself to take the train after work....not going straight back home...but instead....going to this particular corner of Han river where the famous floating island is located.

Seoul Tower was visible from afar...and some apartments were also visible from where I was standing. Right..I was at the Hanvit Floating island....at Banpo Bridge...

...and what I saw was..wow...it's like glasses ...layers of glasses just broke up into pieces on the surface of the river. I mean..wow..that's something beyond ordinary. Maybe it happens every winter...but boy...it's the first time ever that I was crazy enough to be this close to the center of the river...to see it with my own eyes.

I guess...it's about 4.30 pm and not many people..in fact...I was the only one ...strolling along the deck of the island. Yep..a crazy one. No one would want to be here in this terribly cold weather...but anyway..I pushed myself....to be here.

To take some snaps of this river. I was actually thinking of staying there until sunset and would love to take some pictures while the sun's setting ..while the river was full of broken ices. But, then..I decided not to. 

The architectural wonder floating on the surface of the river....with the melting broken ices surrounding it....enough to give it a different feel of the neighborhood.

Thanks to my camera...and sorry for my camera, too...well..since I brought it along during this cold snap...and I got to keep it warm so as to make it dearly good for me during the next one hour self-tour of this floating island.

Floating Island Near Banpo Bridge That Did Not.....

 ..did not work!! at all. yes, we came all the way to Banpo bridge to see the so-called and supposedly famous Banpo bridge fountaion show..only to find that the show was CANCELED!!

sigh. 

good thing ..that...there was this floating island....nearby.^^ 

the brightly lit floating market over Han River became one of the main attractions. 

so, we had no much time left to enjoy before all lights went out.^^ 

This is the Banpo Bridge fountain that did NOT work that night. oh, swell.^^ 

let just call it the night...^^ 

back to the floating island...on which cafes, exhibition, and other cultural halls are set up. 

We did not enter the halls, just being at the door steps leading to the island.

It's late already...and a bit cold and windy.... 

couples...families...and friends...took turn to take a moment or two..to take pictures. 

Freya..and her Dad. 

and Eyra, too. 

A Kebab vendor was spotted selling kebab right under the bridge. what a cool way to end the trip.

He was shouting 'halal' halal halal halal...so...tante Yuni dared herself to approach the seller..

and bought two kebabs. 

As for us, we're waiting for the bus to arrive. 

A cool way..to stand in the middle of a street under the Banpo Bridge.

^^

What a night.

A 2.6 km walk to Banpo Bridge

It was late in the evening, yet the sun had yet to set. It's summer and the sun sets at almost 8 p.m. But that day, it was a bit foggy and cloudy that we could not see the sun set. Yet, we surely knew that it was not even yet magrib or dusk, yet. 

We arrived at Dongjak station line 4 to start the journey that we never expected.

The station was right next to the river bank that as soon as got off the subway, we could see the riverbank and we stepped right onto it. See the grey buildings over there. It was Seoul from afar. Surely we WERE still in Seoul, but a different part of Seoul. 

Actually we were supposed to get off the Seoul Bus Terminal station, but we were misled by misleading information as to where we were supposed to get off. Anyhow, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. To reach the Banpo bridge (the destination that we were supposed to reach), we never expected that we had to walk for another 2.6 km!!!!!

Ok, the blessing number one: we could see another huge bridge and we were walking right underneath it.

We might as well use the chance to take the picture of it. 

I think it a bit eerie. Well, this is just exactly what it looked like when were there. The underneath seemed like another world apart. I can't believe it myself that it was right underneath the bustling city of Seoul. A very interestingly captured moment, right?

Freya, too, got a chance to take a snapshot there. Well, I did seize the moment so as no other people were visible but her. Nice view, I think.

It was another spot on our way to Banpo bridge. On our way there, we stopped to admire the landscape. Nice to go somewhere with my fellow friend, Wawan and his wife, mbak Ulfa, who always love to take a stroll everywhere we go around Seoul. 

We finally got into the destination: Banpo bridge. This building is a floating island in Hangang. Yes, it is a man-made island on Hangang^^. Amusement park, theater, museum, digital and media art center, cafes, and public spaces are available there.