We had the good fortune of catching Deerhoof in Seoul. 'Twas a nice show and we had a nice chat with the guitarist and what appeared to be (but wasn't) a one-piece jumpsuit he was wearing.
We went back to Korea for a week to see the old sights, eat our favourite things, bathe in nostalgia and note what has changed. It was a lovely time and of course I took some pictures.
And of course we did a little hiking (at Bukhansan).
And of course we made some fast friends who shared their hiking snacks of goguma and makgeolli, crammed into a taxi with us and took us out to a delicious post-hike lunch of spicy catfish stew.
And of course we gallivanted around Seoul and we were happy...
We went to a club in Hongdae where you can dance ankle-deep in water. The whole place looks like someone realized their fantasy-club without any regard to practicalities or safety standards. The result is awesome if somewhat perilous.
Nevertheless, while I did some careful semi-dancing, a rowdy teenage bunch took to the floor, splashing with abandon and jumping recklessly on each other. No fear.
We finally rented some bikes and biked along the Han River the other Sunday. The skies were stormy! We got very wet and it was very fun.
Went to the Seoul Folk Fleamarket and got myself a shiny old Walkman. The tape feature's kaput but the radio is A-OK.
Wine plus Walkman at the Cheonggyecheon? I highly recommend it.
If I were in town at the time I would probably be going to this thing.
Hear here.
I reckon the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul is worth a visit. The permanent collection admission fee is a touch steep by Seoul standards, but you can expect some celebrity-artist art (Damien Hirst, Matthew Barney, Andy Warhol, and more!) and some celebrity-architect architecture.
And it's close to Itaewon. Score.
I'm still snapping away with the point-and-shoot. The last photo of the lilypads is from the park that Changdeokgung is in. We just wanted to relax in a park, got our locations confused, paid to see this palace only to discover that a 1.5 hour guided tour was mandatory to enter. Eek!
Luckily, we managed to sneak off and enjoy the park without the megaphone commentary. Stealthy!
Big city equals big parade. Buddha's birthday is coming up and this is the warm up party. Lanterns to infinity.
We went to Lotte World, an amusement park in Seoul. Fun times. Jenna has photos over at Harrow Kimchi. Have a look at the couple-look photos too!
Line-ups were short early in the day. I think we packed in five rides within the first hour -- in Korea even the amusements rides are quick and efficient. I was all wobbly-legs and dizzy-brain. Watch it!
On the swing ride, a Korean boy in front of me looked back, got out of his seat, walked over, and buckled me in properly. Thanks kiddo.
