Today I was in Seoul and visited Tapgol Park, Insa-dong, and Jogyesa Temple.  I don’t have time to go through all the pictures tonight or write a longer post, but I wanted to leave you with few photos before going to bed.

This past Saturday, Thomas had a work-in-the-garden and BBQ party on his farm, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend even though I really wanted to. Almost two months earlier Raswan and I had signed up to take part in Kevin’s Sinchon Sportsapalooza: So big, it’s a “palooza.” Kevin did all the organizing and logistics for this all day event.

13 teams of four people (2 boys and 2 girls) competed against each other in various sports and activities in Sinchon. They included:

1. bowling
2. batting cages
3. Mario cart video game
4. air hockey
5. basketball shootout
6. billiards

Our team was called “Lastman Soccer.” The following is the story behind the name. Last summer, when Ras and Kevin were at the Yeoido swimming pool, they met a Korean guy there who was mentally challenged. This didn’t stop him from coming up to the foreigners and asking Ras what his name was. He said, “Raswan.” The guy said, “It’s nice to meet you Lastman! What’s your family name?” Ras answered, “Sockol.” “Lastman Soccer, ok.” Throughout the rest of the day, whenever they saw each other, this Korean guy would yell out, “Hello Lastman Soccer!”

Our team consisted of Ras, me, Jenay, and Ben. We met at Sinchon’s lesbian park (behind Hyudai department store) at noon to get instructions for the day. We received t-shirts, a bag with two bottles of the official sport drink of Sportsapalooza (soju), a map, and directions on where to go and what teams we were competing against for each event. For the 20,000 won fee paid by each person, we received the t-shirts, all events paid for, two pitchers of beer at “Watt’s On Tap” for our team, and a burger and fries for dinner. Not a bad deal at all.

(Above: The girls of CanAM Crushers (who won the entire event!) and Lastman Soccer. L-R: Stef, Gisela, Jenay, & me)

The two events Ras and I liked the most were the batting cages and bowling. I had never gone to a batting cage before, but was able to hit 11 out of 13 balls in the 120km cage. As the day winded down, we had dinner and drinks on the rooftop of “Watt’s On Tap.”

The day was fun - good times had by all. I think Kevin wants to have another Sportsapalooza in June or July, so I’ll post information on this blog as it come up. Thanks again, Kevin!

The entire album can be seen on Flickr.

We all know that Koreans are good at protesting, so the torch’s procession in Seoul will be more chalk-full of suspense and surprises than an episode of Lost.  For those interested in watching the drama unfold, the relay will start at Olympic Park at 2 pm, then end at 7 pm at Seoul City Hall.

There are already four groups scheduled to protest:

1) Press conference by CSW (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)
About planed events, protests and the situation of the refugees

Time : Thu., April 24, 2008 11 am
Place : Olympic Park, Peace Gate,

2) Insadong Street Protest by 444 campaign
Protest and performance, every week and for 444 days at the Chinese Consulate

Time : Sat., April 26,2008, 3 pm
Place : Entrance of Insadong Shopping Street, near Anguk Subway station

3) Protest, Performance, Music, candle light vigil by Christians for Social Responsibility

Time : Sat., April 26, 2008, 7 pm
Place : Olympic Park, Peace Gate

4) Protest before and during the relay by different NK refugee organizations

Time : Sun., April 27,2008, 11 am
Place : Olympic Park, Peace Gate [source]

On Saturday morning, I dragged Raswan to Coex with me to attend the Seoul Photo and Imaging Show at Coex.  I had pre-registered us a month earlier, and didn’t have to pay the 5000 won entrance fee.  This ended up being a good move on my part because once we arrived around 10:50 am, the lines were already long.  There seemed to be a line with 40+ people, and an empty pre-registered line.  I had printed out our online confirmations, and within minutes of handing it to the front staff, we had received our name badges.

Of course, this wasn’t what my badge really said.  It had my name and university on it.  Upon entering the doors, you immediately saw booths for the big boys: Nikon and Canon.  Most of the big vendors gave out bags with their logos on them, stuffed with brochures and catalogs for their products.  Some of them also gave away those “things” that dangle off your cell phone - nothing to get truly excited about.  Still, people were lining up for these bags as if they had free filters, photographic paper, or at least something useful.  To me, it seemed like a game to see who could collect the most junk.

As an prosumer photographer, I found the event to be just “okay.”  Upon entering, you could see what a male dominated hobby this was.  Not only did these men have cameras, they had CAMERAS.  They were big, long, and I had to constantly dodge these lenses as they neared my head.  So, the men were taking pictures while ALL the models were females draping over one thing or another.  This is not the beginning of a feminist rant.  I just found it boring taking these model’s pictures.  They were paid to look pretty, stand relatively still, and look in everyone’s direction at some point.  It’s much more interesting to get a good picture of someone being natural, laughing, or doing something unexpected.  In the beginning, I found that I was pushing into these male crowds to take pictures of these models too.  After awhile, I realized I was only taking their picture because everyone else was clamoring to take their pictures.  This is how I felt after awhile: bored.

What I really wanted to do at the show was try out some lenses, because I’m hoping to make a purchase within the next month.  Of course I can go to Seoul and try out used lenses, but I was hoping to play around with some there.  Bart told me that unlike here, you can try out all kinds of new lenses in Japanese camera shops.

I didn’t take many pictures, but you can view the rest of these photos here.

Every time I take a regional bus and go to my dentist in Gangnam, I pass by Yangjae and all the nurseries in the area.  Yesterday, Ras and I drove to the Yangjae Flower Wholesale Market.  (Directions: By subway, take exit 7 out of Yangjae Station.  Walk south for 10-15 minutes.  It will be on your right at an intersection.)  The market opens by 7am daily, with the wholesale auction house opening at 1am!  Parking is 1000 won per hour.

*The entire photo album can be seen on Flickr.

It was really a fun place to browse.  There were trees, shrubs, plants, and herbs outside:

I really enjoyed the indoor section of the market.  There were orchids everywhere!

The pictures below are from the fresh cut flower section.  Chrysanthemums look so soft and pure.

We also bought three bulbs of lilies for 3000 won each.  They’re the orange looking ones in the middle of this picture, called “Rich.”  Hopefully they’ll bloom with no problems.

Overall, we had a really good time and would have stayed a little longer, but Raswan was getting hungry and we left a little early to get lunch at Costco.  After visiting this place, I wish we had a garden to plant some of the great things we saw.