On My Way to Youido: By Bus

After taking Eyra to school, usually I took a subway to Youido. But, that day..I decided to give it a try..going to KBS by bus. I passed lots of different streets along the way. More importantly was that..I could see how some parts of Seoul looked like in the morning around 9 and 10 in the morning. 

I passed by the office district in Jeongno. Some office workers were seen getting off the bus..right in front of their office. 

now let's see what I saw during my bus ride: some of the them were...

One intersection @ Jeongno. One busy lane, one...empty one.  

In front of Lotte Department Store, headquarter at Jeongno. 

The Namdaemun fashion outlet.... 

Bank of Korea... 

Bank of Korea, near Namdaemun. 

Korea's No. 1 Heritage: Namdaemun (South Gate) after being renovated, rebuilt, reconstructed. Well, most people knew the shocking disaster when an arsonist set it ablaze in 2008. 

A national loss has been reborn.

Near Mapo...or Gongdeok...I am not quite sure..:( 

A stack of colorful blocks in all shapes imaginable. 

Approaching the Mapo bridge... 

on the bridge..over Han river.. 

A serene yet bright morning...and blue sky over Seoul.  

Safely got off near Youido Park from where I got to walk straight towards KBS. 

Then...I was strolling along the park with some nice view over the park: office buildings that looked like they were spurting^-^ out of the park... 

One of my favorite places to hang out: IFC Mall in Youido. 

The strings of office buildings... 

another one...take a look at the five huge coins coined together!

Seoul Lantern Parade 2013 (part 2)

One monk approached a bystander and asked for a light for his (as I suspected) un-lighted lantern. 

Me, too. Me, to, Me, too.^^ 

Eyra got one tiny purple lantern filled with candies from one of the parade participants.  

An elephant float just floated us by.

Got no idea of what these were.... but neat, though.

Some (I supposed) fairies(?)....correct me if I am wrong....were on the float. 

Butterfly-shape ladies..I mean the ... 

Finally..I got a chance to capture the moment with the kids during the lantern parade. 

Oh, wait...is that another lantern on my hand? Yup, someone gave us a lantern, this one..was bigger than the one Eyra got earlier. 

On our way home....waiting for the subway.it's about 9 pm and the parade was not over actually..but since we got to be home by 10...oh well...let's go home, kiddos.

Got a nice time, eh?

Tapgol Park @ Seoul

Tapgol Park or Pagoda Park or ....Independence Park...or so I read in other brochure...that's how this park got its name.










 First thing first, I got the impression that...lots of senior citizens were flocking, roaming around, chatting with others, meeting their friends, walking around, sitting around, or just enjoying the park. Barely youngsters went there (that's what I saw though). then....a whole bunch of kindergarten or first year of elementary school students were seen walking through the park with their students.

Good.
Why is that?
Because I learned that this is the first modern park ever built in Seoul. Not only that, it turned out that it was the first venue where Independence proclamation protest or movement was ever being held--back then in March 1, 1919. (March 1 is now one of the national holidays in Korea)...just like last Thursday^^



I also learned that this park also conserves Wongaksa sipcheungsoktap or that's how I remember it. It is a ten-storied stone pagoda---what's more interesting is that.....this pagoda is secured or kept within the high glassed wall as tall as the pagoda itself. I think because this is one of the most important treasures for Korea, I think so.
Apart from that, something enticed us more--especially because I was going there with my kids.


The parks had lots of birds ( I was not so sure as to whether they were doves, pigeons, or any other kinds of birds). They looked like pigeons but they were somewhat little bigger than the averaged pigeons). Anyway, they did attract my kids that we were luring them in such a way so as to make them get nearer nearer and .......play with us. And...it worked.^^
That was how one-hour afternoon was well spent in the park, Tapgol park ...right in the heart of Seoul, Jeongno area.