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?

Seoul Lantern Parade 2012

 An annual event to celebrate the birthday of Buddha. Something not to be missed if you happen to be in Seoul. Well, for us who live right here...it is also something not to be missed. Of course, we could easily sit on the couch and turn on TV since it was also aired live.

But I'm sure it would feel the same like being right in and seeing the parade with our own eyes while at the same time being exposed to the sights and sounds and even the smell (in a good sense, though) of the parade. 

Lots of colorful costumes, dances, music, floats, and people (both Korean and of foreign nationalities) were all crammed into the 5-km long parade. What a night, eh?

 

 
Of course, it would not have been complete without the dragon floats or lantern. See that? it was so long that I got to take the picture twice.
Just find the tail of the dragon right on the picture below^^
 

I could not help but keep on taking picture after picture until my hands got numb. The only thing that kept us glued to stand and look out our heads just to sneak and peek into somebody else's elbows, heads, and shoulders was...the fact that the lights emitted from the floats were just beautiful.

See what I meant? 

Free lanterns for us

The night was still young--so some said.
What could be more fun than just staying out late ..a bit late ..
enjoying the night splattered with glittering lights coming out of the lanterns that kept on passing us by...
 

So we did. We were glued to the extravaganza of the lantern parade in downtown Seoul 

right until it is over.

My daughters were so happy to receive a lantern from some participant who turned out to be doing what he wanted to do. I noticed that some participants were giving away the lanterns they were holding to the bystanders or spectators on the streets. 

This was it, then. We took some pictures with our lanterns on our hands as if we were, too, participating in the street parade.

Lantern Festival & Parade @ downtown Seoul

I think elephant-shaped lanterns had become a trademark for the night. Some of them were there to show off their huge+humongous postures! 'Tis a good thing that they were good to look at.

If I'm not mistaken, these were the Shio lantern. I was about to take the whole pictures of each Shio as one passed me by.....alas...the battery of my phone ran out just in time when these lanterns were passing me by.

And..what's that supposed to be? A clock or somethin'? Not quite sure what that was.

This one, however, I did know. A blossoming lotus-lantern with a baby Buddha inside it, to symbolically represent the Buddha's Birthday. (correct me, should I be wrong about it).

the lantern was carried by some people so as to make it move around easily. 

The one I thought to be a clock or something..turned out to be.....*sigh* 

I still could not figure out what that was...

..but that did not dampen our spirit to keep on looking and watching the spectacle.

a rooster? an eagle? Still could not make this out, either. At least, the dazzling lights on the float made it worth-while to be in the very place like this.