Frozen Han River (part 5): Keep On Swimming or Strolling

Han river could be so inviting for some..to plunge themselves into..especially during summer...and that's why..this particular lifebuoy was set up in the designated places...where accidents such as drownings are prone to occur.

Okay..I kept on strolling along the riverbank...and found some dried tall grasses...dancing to the incoming winds..../ It's not much..but at least..this was the vegetation I could see along the road...

See? No one's there. I was a bit ...well...confused myself..as to why I ended up being there. Not that I didn't remember it, it's just that I was thinking of going home instead of wandering further away from the spot where I came from. That means...I had to walk..much farther..to reach the bus stop. But, they..that's a part of the journey...of exploring Han river during winter.

Some apartments are being constructed. I just simply cannot imagine how much they'd cost. I mean..just look at them, they are all facing the river..which according to Fengshui..it's one of the ways to blend harmoniously with nature...to get some luck in return. *oh, well.

again...a self portrait..of my shadow...

...Got enough of freezing myself to the bones...and it's time for me to go home.....by bus. Not by subway..since the latter would require me to walk...and walk...before reaching the station.

So, the only possible way for me to go home faster..was by taking a bus from UNDER the bridge. Yep...the brigde has an elevated road and the one beneath it. It's Banpo bridge....

Saw this read ball....frozen in time...and snow..

Banpo Bridge...reflected onto the surface of the river. Oh, I spotted some ducks live under the bridge..and that's pretty amazing considering the cold weather and freezing water they live at. gee....but, that's the mystery of nature. 

*been a great 2-hour journey to the river bank near Banpo bridge*

Fun time with Friends

Eyra, Freya, Ghania, Ghazi and their Grandmom..Uci.

Winter Vacation...2nd edition. They usually go to Lotte World separately, but today it's the first time ever that they went together.

It's Daddy's day...but thanks to Uci, we did have two more hands to handle the kids.

♡♡♡ the spot ♡♡♡

It's a clear blue day, yet it was darn* cold.....

But...it's the memories that these kids will look upon when they grow up. Memories they cherish...forever, hopefully.

More of the SAME view!!!

..of which we never got bored of. Had we been, we'd stopped pressing the button of the camera and stopped taking pictures of this same (yet, perfect) evening....from within the comfort of our junior suite. 

hmm..what a good view out there. Looked gloomy, yes...., YET...it's just simply...chillingly cool. 

the same picture..over and over again.

but..then...the moon's shining.... 

The night's crawling in....with a moon over the hills...@ Jeongdongjin.. 

It's the same view...indeed, but with a twist.

Bright, Yet...Cold!

 

The bright daylight with clear blue sky did not necessarily mean that I could run about or walk about gaily. Nope. 

It's winter and all of the precautionary peripheral winter outfits were all that mattered. 

Blue as it may be...... colorful sky in a bright day as it turned out to be...

did not go along with the black masker I was wearing...to help me feel warm; to help me breathe in the midst of the chilling wind-blowing afternoon..especially when I got to walk across the park with gust of wind thrusting against your face....

#winter masker that more like a gangster masker!!!

Winter's Coming!!!

겨울이 온다. 드뎌 학교에 가는 날이 제일 행복한 날이 되었다니... 

근데...지금 방학이라서...눈을 보려면 ..학교까지 갈 필요가 없이...집근처에 쌓인 눈이 많아서..그냥 거기서 가서...눈과 놀라 가게 되죠.

참..... 

이렇게 신난 모습을 처음이 아니지만...눈배경속에 신나는 표정이 ..

.참...우리 마음에게 

행복하고 따뜻하게 만들어 주는 순간이다. 

Winter's Coming

Officially, winter's coming when the kids are happily playing with snow.

She just came back from school when the snow's heavily pouring down...and what came next..: predictable. 

She stopped at the nearest park ..and played along with the snow. 

phew....wondered when she'd ever wanted to go home... 

but she did..after she made this LOVE snow....just for me.

I got the picture via Kakao Talk.

고맙다, 프레야.

"what are you looking at, Freya?" 

"Wait, what are you trying to touch?" 

"Da..Da...nothing! just a snow flake...!" 

She's so happy to play with the snow.

학교에 가는 중...집에 가는 중....가다가....눈에 몰입해 있단다. 

즐거운 표정을 갖고 ...신나게 노래 부르기도 하곤한다. 

역시..눈은 강아지와...아이와 참 어울린다니....

ㅋㅋㅋ

Attending A Wedding

It was Saturday, January 4: and it means it was the day my professor, Prof. Cho, got married. Yeaah...all of my friends were all excited to know the happy news last year. And finally the wedding was held on Jan. 4. My friends and I came to attend the ceremony at 소망교회 (Somang Church) in Apgujeong. 

Congratulations, 교수님.

It's the first time for me to attend the wedding at the church in Korea. Well, of course I got lots of pictures of him and his bride, but I would not post more pictures here without his consent. So, instead, I'd just want to post other pictures. 

I attended the wedding along with my wife and kids. Well, it's like a new experience for the kids, too. As for me, I just realized that the ijab kabul or the marriage vow is somewhat similar to that of what Muslims do. Hmm quite an interesting revelation.

Freya, as usual, got excited whenever she saw flowers and ..okay..let's take a pose here!

Cloned Myself Again

We were having a bliss @ Apgujeong, a district in Southern Seoul. Though it's a bit warmer than the previous day, still it's winter. After having a buffet bliss, we thought it'd be cool to sit down at the front yard of the restaurant. But..then we thought that it'd be much cooler if I could just clone myself again. 

Eyra and Freya loved it that I could be twins though for a while.

This has been another 'OMG' moment again for us.

*How's that, kids?*

Did you have a great chat with your Dads?^^

Uci's Birthday (part 2)

Oh, it was a surprise party for her. She knew that we were coming to have a sort-of-new year's fiesta...though we're actually preparing a simple party for her. 

Aci is just two weeks away before she has to go back home to Padang, Indonesia. So, this kind of get-along-together with other friends' families would surely bring a lot of memories for her. 

Now that she had a birthday cake on her hands, I am sure that she must've been very happy. We do hope so.

Mas Chairul's family with my daughters taking part in the picture...:) 

then..along the ladies' chance to take a pic with Aci. 

(oops, abang Ghazy was also there) 

Then, the whole family picture of subway line 6 neighbors.

It has been a splendid evening fiesta to celebrate Aci's birthday.

May Allah give you health and happiness, Aci.

* Thanks for inviting us mas Chairul.

Let's Go To School, Freya!

It's winter and snowing. But, it did not mean that Freya was not going to school. In fact, she'd kind of expected or wait...insisted of going especially when the snow just whitened the whole neighborhood. 

With temperature below 0 degree Celsius, she was still as enthusiastic as she was on any other day;-). In fact, she loved making footsteps on the snow--which she described as making crispy sound on the snow. 

Luckily, we wrapped her in bright colorful outfit so as to give a contrasting picture. Otherwise, she'd be lost in the snow. Being a kid turned out to be having its own advantage of not having to worry of what to wear or  to think of what others might think of what we wear. :-) oh, well... 

It was taken on the deserted rail-track just at the back of our apartment.

So, this is your third winter in Korea, right, Freya?

It is such a memorable winter, right?