Frozen Han River (part 6): Frozen in Styles

As usual, I made a compilation of pictures taken during today's crazy trip to the the Floating island at Banpo bridge in Han River. Who would've thought that an impromptu short trip would be this cool and cold^^. Going straight after work! Instead of going home, why not satisfy the curiosity of what Han river would look like.....in the stillness of white surface.

Frozen Han River (part 4): Snow-Covered Rocks at the River Bank

After I said "enough" of the island..and kinda forced myself to go home, I had this urge..of keep on exploring the surrounding area at the river bank. hmm....okay..I just let my hunch take me to the places near the floating island.....only to find out that..."wow" indeed, the river was practically frozen....and I could tell from the pillars of the bridge...

They're literally covered in or changed into ice. hmm..I just wondered that it wouldn't melt away soon since the weather was pretty ....cold, still. But, boy..this is nice. It's like seeing something new for me.

Then..without me realizing it...I was strolling along the river bank where I spotted rocks covered in snow. Snow or ice? well, one thing for sure..the river was surely white....

The monotonous white river...., yet...this is way too dangerous to step on.../ On a split second, I was thinking of walking on it..but then..."knock it, off, Ray" wake up!. let's go on...

okay..I kept on walking along the river bank. psst. again...on a particular bright day..in summer ...I think someone would've reprimanded me of not going too close to the river...^^

But, today..was..special. Since..again and again..not a single soul was visible in the vicinity..so much.that it gave me ample freedom to be as close as to the river as I could get...

A special moment..and time I gave myself.

Then...I decided to go back....not to let myself..be frozen...^^

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. 

Frozen Han River (part 1): The Icy Cold Journey Began

Getting off at the Seoul Bus Terminal and headed myself towards exit 8-1.....then...walked for about 1 kilometer before I ended up ...finding myself at the riverbank...

This was what I was deliberately going to see. Yup, I heard from the news about the frozen river for the past few days....but...thanks to the cold snap...I couldn't just go out and check it out for myself...

until it reached about 3.3 degree Celsius as of yesterday. So, I kinda felt warmed up...and dared myself to take the train after work....not going straight back home...but instead....going to this particular corner of Han river where the famous floating island is located.

Seoul Tower was visible from afar...and some apartments were also visible from where I was standing. Right..I was at the Hanvit Floating island....at Banpo Bridge...

...and what I saw was..wow...it's like glasses ...layers of glasses just broke up into pieces on the surface of the river. I mean..wow..that's something beyond ordinary. Maybe it happens every winter...but boy...it's the first time ever that I was crazy enough to be this close to the center of the river...to see it with my own eyes.

I guess...it's about 4.30 pm and not many people..in fact...I was the only one ...strolling along the deck of the island. Yep..a crazy one. No one would want to be here in this terribly cold weather...but anyway..I pushed myself....to be here.

To take some snaps of this river. I was actually thinking of staying there until sunset and would love to take some pictures while the sun's setting ..while the river was full of broken ices. But, then..I decided not to. 

The architectural wonder floating on the surface of the river....with the melting broken ices surrounding it....enough to give it a different feel of the neighborhood.

Thanks to my camera...and sorry for my camera, too...well..since I brought it along during this cold snap...and I got to keep it warm so as to make it dearly good for me during the next one hour self-tour of this floating island.