Bukchon Hanok Village (part 5)

Another mesmerizing view of Seoul from atop the village.

mesmerizing? oh, well....

... 

I would say it is...since it's my first time seeing the silhouette of the 'temple-like' building over there... 

okay..back to what I love most about being in this village is that I never know what I would encounter on every twist and turn of the alleys.. 

a simply old vintage door like this... 

or ...wait..these are my kids and their friends playing around the alley at the village. 

or simply decorated wooden stairs with an inviting door that may open up to something new when we go inside. (though..I didn't). 

now, we reached the stone-stairs that would take us to the real world of what Seoul looks like today. 

hmm...not this one.

not this one, either.....

read it in Bukchon Hanok Village (part 6): another different world.

Skiing @ Komjian Resort (part 3)

Just compare these two pictures. The first one above was using the adjusted brightness.

The one below was using the normal one. 

Well, still..both pictures do not do justice to the beauty of snow on this slopes at Konjiam Resort. I guess only DSLR(?) camera would do just right. 

Anyhow..to sum up our tip to Konjiam Resort, I took some shots of the front facade of this resort. This is the ticket booth as well as the entrance to the resort. The second floor was a restaurant and other facilities for the visitors to enjoy after and before skiing.

Well, since it was still in Winter with its Holiday festive still hung on the air...a Xmas tree still stood right in front of the facade. At the back, the condominium where we could just stay to prolong our excitement... 

Waiting for the bus to take us back to Seoul. At about 6 pm....we were so happily tired.... 

just before we were getting on the bus, the Xmas tree was lit up. 

Bye bye Konjiam Resort.

Till we meet again.

What A Year!

2012 has passed us by and the memories that linger on for the kids have been great. We know that we must make the most of our time in Korea while we can. As for the kids, they are experiencing different landscape ranging from life in the city and of course, the different weather they have to encounter. 

But, all in all, they have been able to adapt themselves to the differences they are brought into. Eyra and Freya are experiencing cultural differences in style. What could be more exciting than letting them go and explore their surrounding?

The winter comes and goes. This is the 2nd winter for them. And...despite the fact that it is much colder than the last time's, it's pretty amazing to see how they cope with it. 

Picture below shows their first-ever Hangang-bike ride. Of course it was not during Winter. 

We cannot wait to have more splendid endeavors in 2013.

Vivaldi Park at night

Since it was our last night of staying at the Condominium inside the resort, we might as well spend the night outside---despite its chilling and freezing cold.







So, instead of going straight to bed, we decided to take a stroll along the resort just to enjoy the night skiing. Before that, we went underground to check the mall where all of kinds of rides were available, too. It is a 24-hour underground city in its own.




Then, we came out again...

Well, the night skiing program turned out to be popular among youngsters who wanted to seek thrills.




It was about 11 p.m. and lots of people were still going back and forth at the skiing resort.
Of course we were just looking around.






The fact that the night (a cold one) appended the eerie-ness of the resort (in a positive term, of course) made it more challenging for thrill-seekers to try it out at night
We just took pictures!





Vivaldi park resort was just like a town of itself at night.
It was--as far as I learned--surrounded by the mountains and hills that dotted the area.











So, I kinda imagined it being the bright dot out in the middle of nowhere...somewhere in Chuncheon mountainous area.







I am still wondering as to what those people expected from having to expose themselves in the cold of the night .......wrapped in tights just to go on skiing:) But, I guess...this was just a murmur or a stupid ranting of someone who never had it tried:) ^^







well, still.......just by looking at it....it already made me shiver.
That's why......our night strolling time....did impress us.

Swimming during Winter?

Why Not.!
and..that's what exactly what our family did last February at Vivaldi Resort.

Eyra and Freya were excited!! They were already in their swimming suit...as soon as they woke up.^^

It was at first...too good to be true...but as things got clear...I got the idea as where we could enjoy the comfort of swimming in Winter.
It was an indoor water park with warm water!
Now I remember all of the ads I saw on the subways which depict the two-worlds that Vivaldi Park has to offer. People can do both skiing and swimming at one place.










I guess..the better route would be: just do your skiing first, and then end your day with swimming in hot or warm jacuzzi inside the Ocean World...which lies next to the Skiing resort.
What a nice offer it has!












So, Eyra and Freya could not resist the temptation of having to feel the warm water inside this magnificent indoor water park.

I guess...in summer it would not be this special...but, since it was WINTER...it became so memorable!!!

Here is the main gate of the Ocean World!
See the banner? It's a Ski World + Water World in One place.

A Dinner with Ilya's Parents

I've been wanting to post this entry for quite some time since I did enjoy the time when the parents of my  pal right here in Korea invited me to have dinner with them. So, it was Ilya's parents' special visit to Korea that made it even more meaningful. Ilya--my friend and kind-of-my-younger-brother from Kazakhstan  --had been so busy the week his parents visited him in Korea last December (2011).

 We had this special dinner at a Chinese restaurant just around the block near our campus.
I remembered vividly that it was a chilly and windy night of December. But, the warmth of the dinner and especially Ilya's parents and auntie made it worthwhile for me to remember the occasion.
One thing I treasured: they even ordered just a special food for me since they'd known (thanks to Ilya) that I happened to be a vegetarian.
.....
Some of our friends were also invited in the dinner: Aigerim, Yelena, Aizhan (three of them from Kazakhstan), and Taekcho (from China).
The best part: it was such a wonderful occasion since it was (surprise...surprise) a customary (is it?) in Kazakhstan to bring along some present to their guests. Wow what a treat.









I mean...I got this whole bunch of candies and fruits from Kazakhstan...that I would not have tasted, had I not known these friends of mine. Amazing, right?
(more pictures and stories of these colorful candies later on^^ my other entry).

Another thing that I want to keep in mind was the fact that both of Ilya's parents did invite us to their homeland should we have a chance of going there. Why not. It would be such a great trip should I be able to realize this dream of going to Ilya's country--someday. Fingers crossed? ^^. Some say dreams do come true, right?

In front of the house

On our way out from the frontyard of our home sweet home in Imundong, Korea. The 30-minute preparation every time we go out is hinted on the thick jackets with its pheriperal outfits that go along with them. It is Winter: the simplest reason as to why we dress up like this.

The house visage does indicate one of the major characteristics of Korean houses; especially the one for rents. The red bricks dotted the houses’ visage.  We love the house since it has a relatively wide open frontyard where our daughters can play or ride on their bikes in Summer ( a long time to wait, eh).

Being home for the first time...: house warming

Our family was greet by our friends who have been so helpful and dear to us. Wawan, Min Seonhee, and Cha Heeran or our Yuliana sonsaengnim were the first friends to greeted us at home.

It was a relived feeling to have such lovely friends like them. Wawan helped us by managing the first dinner for us.

Once again...we did not have time or better yet...we had not dared ourselves to try any Korean food since it was our first time (at least to my wife and the kids).

So, Wawan ordered Seoul Cheeze Pizza..^^ (another Koreanized western food). It is the pizza near our campus . We eat a lot—to be truthful. ^^. It is relatively inexpensive and delicious. ^^. And...they have veggie pizza and cheeze pizza and potato pizza that we love.

 

Anyway...the first house-warming was held on Dec. 10, 2011...simply because our friends were ready to help us there. Good, eh?
Then, after our friends bid goodbyes for our first night in Seoul.....my kids continued their night-time snacking  before going to bedJ ^^...well, another left-over pizza, then......

I still vividly remembered the first time they enjoyed their time with their Daddy in Korea....^^.
And what’s more: Eyra just loved meeting with her new friends.....lots of dolls that I had prepared for them. She just loves them.

Family Reunion in Korea

The topic of today is the arrival of my family that I had been waiting for. Finally, it was December 10, 2011: the day when my family came to Korea.

I just could not wait to meet the angels: Eyra and Freya: my daughters who (I’m sure) missed me as well.

I prepared for the day with lots of preparations. One thing for sure: the two-room house that we rent was ready right before they came. In fact, I moved into the new home the night before they came to Korea.

OK...shortly speaking: I woke up early to go to Incheon International Airport (IAA) by AREX (Airport Express) from Seoul Station. I thought it was one of the best highlights that Seoul has to offer for all of the world travellers.

From Seoul station, it took only 50 minutes or so to the IAA. In the wee early hour, I managed to arrive at the airport just in time to meet my family. I was happy as well as nervous for having to wait for their arrival. It was like a feeling of having to meet them for the first time.
Anyhow...the information board at the arrival hall finally showed that the Garuda Flight from Jakarta had just landed safely. I was ecstatic. Could not wait to meet my family. After for about 45 minutes of waiting.....after their landing....I finally managed to see and meet them again after 3 months. ^^

I could see the surprised and can-not-believe look on my daughters’ faces as they were running towards me. Their expressions were like....”So, it  IS true that Daddy is IN Korea just like Mommy told us.” Funny, eh? Well, I mean...for the past three months...the only way we connected to each other was through phone, internet, or Skype-ing.

So, it was like too-good-to-be-true kind of feeling.
Being united again....was so deliberately .....freshly ....indescribably....soothing.
Ok...then..came the hugging and kisses moment.....ignoring the fact that we were in the midst of others. But.....it was unplanned for.
Then...came the time when we had to keep up with one another. My angels never let their hands off me as soon as we met...right until we got ourselves to Seoul by AREX again.

In between, we managed to take some pictures as tokens of memories of their arrival to Korea. At that time, IAA was already decked with the Season’s best greetings and nuance and atmosphere. X-mas was everywhere...or should I say... the Winter festivities were alreay there as if to meet and greet all of the travellers who came to Korea during this Winter.
All in all...it was such a great day....one thing for sure..because I met my family again....^^