Frozen Han River (part 2): Han River from Atop the Rooftop...

I didn't expect anything from the river when I arrived there. Well, of course...I thought that it'd be nice to see some ice on the river as what the news was making a fuzz of. And..I just got what I wished for. Lots of ice...ice....broken ones...thick ones...frozen ones...adorned the river bank ..and surrounding the Floating Island where I was at that moment.

It's the first time ever..that I enjoyed the view of Youido from afar...from Banpo bridge...and what made it even more special was the fact that I was there on my own initiative. Not that what I've been doing are not mine, it's just..that. on.this particular day...I wouldn't have been allowed to be here in the first place. 

There were signs where visitors are refrained from entering the site due to the harsh weather...but then..I thought.."oh, well"

I just needed to take a bunch sample of pictures of this beautiful frozen river....which started melting. The fact that this was something out of ordinary...was one clear thing that I got to capture onto my lenses...and my memory.

oh, gosh....wondering what it must've looked like a few days earlier. It must've been awesome to be here earlier...though I might've frozen my hands....and all.

I saw a stair..a tall one...I mean stairs...leading up to the roof of the biggest floating island. I saw no signs or warning or whatsoever..that would prohibit anyone from climbing up the stairs...

So, without further ado, I dared myself to climb the stairs..and as I did....I could see the different sights and sound of the river...though the sound would just be 'stillness', I could see that something cold was happening down there...or up there on the roof.

Yup, I made it.  I was literally breathless...to be on the (almost) top of the roof. I was just some inches away from the top..when the wind sort of whispering ....not to go upstairs...yes I stopped right there.

Gee..the shivering feeling just trembled my feet even when I was writing down this entry. I felt that I was too scared to go up onto the roof. Maybe..it's too high for me. But, from where I was standing..I could see the different sight of the river...

The reflection on the glassed wall of the island...gee..it's really something to be there. 

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.