dress
fitting. as soon as we arrived in Korea, we were
busy to prepare for our wedding. Thankly my mother-in-law
took care of the hard parts. |
View
of KwangJu from Kate's old room. |
The
other side has a mountain. It was raining most
of the first few days. Very foggy at the top.
|
living
room |
Downtown
of KwangJu. No crowd due to rain. It was my first time
spending outside of Seoul. The dialect of this
southern city intimidated me first. |
Sticker
photo shop |
Plaque
to mark the downtown area |
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Kimbop(aka
sushi/maki) in triangular shape |
A
swanking
new bus terminal. S Korea has one of the best
public transportation system in the world. |
KwangJu
does not have many big buildings. This big structure
stands out. |
MooDeungSan-the birthplace of southern Korean
cuisine, which is best of the whole Korea. |
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i
say 40% Buddist and 40% Christian in Korea. The
foreigners are always amazed seemingly large percentile
of Christians. I invite them to come visit Korea
to count the church in Korea. Many, many churches
in Korea. But of course, the buddist temples do look
better. |
Not
100% sure how it works but names are written on
the paper flower lantern with prayer topics. |
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The
temple was built in 1443. And even this architure
is only designated by the city to be a historical site.
America would put it as national landmark. |
Seen
in the smaller house is a mother who are praying 100days
straight for her child's college entrance exam. In
Korea, getting to a good college mean a good job, which
leads to a good life. |
I
paid my respect. No bowing since I am a Christian. |
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The
wedding hall/banquet building where I got married. |
Greeting
the guests with father-in-law. My parents could
not make it due to illness. :( |
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Kate's
mother |
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Kate's
younger sister |
Kate's
brother and his wife |
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KTX.
bullet train. |
what
you get for $10 |
Inside
the Korea Art Center building |
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Changing
of guards at South Gate of Old Seoul |
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the
"Time Square" of Seoul |
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the
"Time Square" of Seoul. It's 8am. No
wonder, it's deserted. |
Compare
this svelte sparkling clean subway station in Seoul
to NYC. Flat screens, double doors, air-conditioned,
... On second thought I will stop even comparing.
|
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ChunKaeChun
- It was under the asphalt road when I moved to US 18
years ago. It was basically a sewer. This
shows the progress of Korea. |
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Seoul
Tower: yes only the tourist goes there. No right
minded Seoulite goes there. Nothing much to see.
|
But
we enjoyed since we are tourist. :) |
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The
symbol of the divided Korea. This train set idle
ever since railroad route was severed ~50years ago after
the power nations decided to divide Korea. |
Changing
of the times. food and medical supplies to N Korea.
|
Many
old timers who still have relatives or most likely political
activists (since the former are disappearing fast) put
up all of signs. This is the farthest point allowed
to civilian to N Korea. |
DMZ
right in the background. The soldiers are taught
to "shoot first and ask questions later".
The last N Korean infiltrator was shot dead in
1995. |
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DoRa
Rail Station: once N Korea opens up the rail route,
this new station will be the gateway station to N Korea
and beyound. |
A
nice traditional Korea tea serving restaurant in InSaDong.
This cafe is themed as railcar. |
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Korean
"Broadway" |
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The
southern most tip of Korean peninsula. |
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studio
tour for the drama "Sea God". Note this
is a Chinese village, where a famous Korean general/trader
founded on Chinese shore some 700 years ago. |
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path
leading to green tea garden |
BoSung
green tea garden |
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wow...
only 10min ride to the seaside restaurant from the mountain
top BoSung green tea garden. |
Back
to the garden after the topnatch sea food, true green
tea time |
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Beauty
of Nature |
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a
small pond in front of Kate's grand-aunt's house. (the
2nd younger sister of kate's father's grandmother) |
where
Kate's grandfather used to live. It's now abandoned.
The whole village is fast becoming a ghost town.
I think the average age of any Korean farming
village is 70. No young people want to live in
a farm. |
entrance
to Kate's grand-aunt's house. |
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