So I just got back from Korea and it was great, as usual. Here are some of the pictures I took, hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them! maybe learn something about korea too~
This is near the center of seoul (north of the Han river). The line running on the right is the Cheongge River (청계천). The river used to be pretty much nonexistent until they recently renovated so that there actually is a river. Now its a pretty green natury place that you can go if you get sick of all the steel in seoul. The line running on the left I believe is Jongno, which is a famous road that runs through pretty much the center of the older part of seoul.
This is Namdaemun Market (남대문시장), which is a very popular shopping district, especially for foreigners, and especially for japanese people. I don't know why so many japanese people come here but pretty much all of the stores had captions in japanese and probably half of the merchants could speak japanese. Namdaemun Market has been around for at least 500 years.
This is Bundang, a city close to seoul. You can see all the apartment buildings in construction. The construction industry is still pretty vibrant in Korea (unlike the states
)
What you often see in Korean neighborhoods;;
Buses are an essential part of korean life. Motorcycles and taxis are of course popular too.
I went to a live starcraft progaming match. Of course starcraft is very popular in korea and the progaming industry is very big, with lots of sponsorships. All professional teams are sponsored by large corporations. There are two arenas, both in or near seoul. All games are televised and entrance is free. The match I went to that day I believe was SKT1 (SK Telecom is a Korean telecommunications company) versus KT (also a telecom company). Companies like samsung and CJ also sponsor progaming teams.
shortly before the match started
Inside a korean subway. There used to be only one line (line 1). Now there are 8 and 3 additional city lines and still more being constructed. Its fcking crazy like a spider web but so so so convenient.
Look a Joseon dynasty ghillie suit! just kidding they used it as a rain coat. Joseon dynasty (1300s to 1910) is the dynasty that existed before korea got colonized by Japan in 1910.
This is the american embassy, near the Admiral Yi statue. This area is almost near the center of Seoul. It is a very old but very symbolic building. You can see the riot police bus and armored vehicle in the bottom right.
This view of this road is near the center of seoul. The admiral yi statue is in the distance
There is the savior himself..little children pay some respect to the man!! you guys wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him. Admiral Yi is probably the most underrated hero in the world. He fought 23 naval battles and won all 23. And in almost every single battle he never lost more than maybe 10 men because of his superior strategy and technique. Korea wouldn't exist today if it wasn't for him.
another view
This is on a mountain I sometimes go up near home. Korea is like 70% mountain and mountain climbing is popular (and healthy too)
There are often stacks of rocks built like these on or near mountains. Supposedly the bigger you make them the more luck you will get.
A subway station..when it is empty
This is a joseon dynasty era communications system where they used torches as signal.
Lighting 1 torch = nothing wrong
2 torches = enemy has appeared
3 torches = enemy has approached border
4 torches = enemy has crossed the border
5 torches = war has begun
..and by enemy, 99% of the time its china or japan..
btw I took these historical photos at the national museum of korea. This is a kite used by Admiral Yi during the Seven Years War (1592-1598) when Japan invaded Korea.
Admiral Yi used kites as communication devices. This kite means "load and prepare all weapons (like cannons, arrows)
This kite means "engage and fight the enemy"
These are pretty much joseon era grenades
This is myeongdong, another popular and very cool shopping district in seoul, especially at night.
I took this photo from the apartment of a relative's house. Apartments..apartments..and more apartments..korea is so small there is no other way to go but up.
This is the war memorial building of Korea. It is a museum that details every single war korea has been in and also honors all those who died for korea.
This is a memorial for everyone who died for Korea in recent wars, this includes foreign soldiers who died during the Korean War.
Various figures of heroes during the Korean War.
This is the turtle ship, invented by Admiral Yi and purported to be the first ironclad ship in the world. the iron didn't really serve as cannon defense, merely against boarding by japanese soldiers so calling it "ironclad" in the traditional sense doesn't make total sense. The spikes are to prevent boarding and sulfur was produced from the dragon's mouth as psychological warfare. This is about a 3/4 replica in the war memorial.
This is the hwacha, the first mass rocket cart in history. Every single arrow is attached to gunpowder and individual fuse that all join together in one big bundle. It takes an incredible amount of time to prepare but probably killed 100 people every time someone lit the fuse. The hwacha was also popularized because of the Seven Years War.
This is a joseon era cannon. Joseon was unusually advanced in gunpowder weapons such as cannons but ironically behind in terms of guns and rifles. Cannons were an integral part of Admiral Yi in all his victories against the japanese.
That is a famous painting of Admiral Yi
This is his sword, which seemed to be about 2 meters long.
Joseon dynasty armor for generals. Admiral Yi would have worn this
More armor
Various artifacts found from the Korean war.
Bullets used by the current korean army
This is a picture of a picture. The war memorial had a special showcase going on when I went there because its the 60th anniversary of the Korean war. This picture shows the lights attached to the fences on the 38th parallel, which are obviously used to see if anyone tries to get over.
Another picture of a picture. These are south korean soldiers on patrol near the border.
I can't remember but I'm pretty sure this is the memorial statue placed on White Horse Hill, which is a famous hill that was the site of probably the most fiercest fighting during the Korean war. Basically when North korea attacked, they tried to overrun this hill while south korean forces held their ground. Both sides regained and then lost control multiple times. My grandfather tells me that if you go to the hill today is very eerie because of the meaning it has.
This is near the main entrance of the war memorial. They were doing some kind of performances that day due to the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, which is why its set up like that.
This is in Insadong, another popular shopping district in seoul
I went to an ice rink with friends. The ice rink is directly below Lotte World, which you can see at the top of the picture.
Another angle. Notice those 5 year olds practicing short track and speedskating wtf..
I also went to COEX with friends. COEX is a supermall with underground stores and movie theaters. This is right outside the COEX entrance.
This is what COEX looks like from the subway entrance
The current main Korean battle tank
The total number of characters (that make sense and do not make sense) that you can make using the Korean alphabet is..11,172
And last but not least some nice cold beer
Found a few more photos..I took this picture when I visited a buddhist temple. Koreans are generally either nonreligious, buddhist, or catholic/christian.
Took this while on the road
NEW PICTURESThe guy in the picture is Kim Taek-yong, one of the best progamers and im his fan! I didn't get to talk to him though, but got like 3 feet close to him, cause there were like 20 girls surrounding him lol.
This was at everland, which happened to be my first time there. this ride is called t-express and I have to say it was the scariest roller coaster ive ridden in my life. fricken 85 degree drop I swear.
took this picture while waiting with my friends. it wasn't too bad..maybe 45 min wait
they had this parade going while we were walking towards the t-express.
this is the underground subway mall near lotte world. We didn't go into it though. Lotte the company seemed to have pretty much monopolized the whole mall..like 80% of the stores were run by the company Lotte (which by the way is a korean company..)
another view of the ice rink and lotte world above it
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| Tarnished Coast
