seoul tower

we met up with miss vicky today and all headed for namsan. today we'd be tourist. while trying to figure out where we were going some nice korean man stopped to help us. instead of showing us on the map he basically walked us to where we need to go. he was a fast walker too. of course most of them crawl but the one who decides to help is a power walker. go figure. anyway he lead us to a sign that said namsan park and pointed up the stairs. we said thank you and began our ascent up the stairs. little did we know that stairs would be a very intergral part of our day. after climbing yet another round of stairs we got to the base of the park. out came our cameras. we passed by some toilets which had glass walls. lets just say that you could see completely into the mens room. don't think i'll be using that one. we found a little store where this toothless woman was saying howdy to us and wishing us a happy chusuk. we got drinks and sat a bit.

once rested we decided to attempt the next flight of stairs. this lead to another little park with various statues. there was one little girl blowing a whistle non-stop. i thought horace was going to rip it out of her mouth. from this park we ascended even more stairs that lead to a museum. in the front of the museum were these giant rock structures with writing. very cool. you could also see seoul tower pretty well from here. seoul tower was our destination. by the way seoul tower was on top of a mountain. we played tourist for awhile shooting pictures then made our way up yet some more stairs where we stumbled upon a zoo. i say zoo but it was a very sad looking zoo. tiny cages for these animals. it actually made me depressed walking through it. vicky decided to wait for us at a table. smart move.

from the sad zoo we came across a botanical gardens. after debating for several minutes we decided to skip this. instead we decided to take the cable car [which is an air lift] up to seoul tower. first we had to find it. we headed down and eventually came to the building for lift. we bought oneway tickets figuring we'd walk down the mountain. we were definitely a site. all three of us basically don't like heights. this was going to be fun. we were crammed into the cable car. if the sign says 38 people max, they definitely try to squeeze in 5 more. didn't have a great view from inside although it was really cool watching it approach the tower. it kept looking like we were going to go right into the trees when we were actually going on top of them. i liked it.

at seoul tower we bought tickets to take the elevator up to the observation decks. it was pretty cool to view all of seoul from that height. we also realized that fairy land was in the building. how exciting is that. after leaving the observation deck the elevator takes you to the basement floor where, yes fairy land is. we bought tickets for fairy land, $3. it was funny cuz the ticket guy was telling us its scary with ghosts and all. we entered fairy land which was all dayglow. it was basically like entering a cheesy haunted house. the first glass window had snow princess and the dwarves. then there was the master and servant window and from there on out it turned into a haunted house. it was so rad. they had everything from the rickety bridge to the moving tunnel. we did the moving dayglow tunnel three times. so far that's been the best thing ever.

on our descent down there was a woman walking her three white dogs who all have bright pink ears and tails. i tried to get a picture however it doesn't do it justice. i'll post it anyway. someway we managed to find our way to danguk university or something like that. it was pretty cool walking around the campus. there were actually students studying during the holiday. i don't think they know how to have fun. in one part of the campus we stumpled upon some wild elephant statues and a statue of buddha. we saw some kids at basketball practice too. there was a really cool poster on the bulletin board that i wanted to take but the guard was facing my direction so i thought i'd better not attempt it. by this time we were starving and of course no nothing was openned and if it was they didn't have menus we could read. so we walked. and walked. and walked. along our journey we came upon two giant bowling pins. i stopped to have my picture taken by them for misty. and then like a mirage an outback steakhouse was infront of us. of course the first resturant is a chain one. we were all so hungry we went there. i order a chopped steak which tasted like hamburger meat marniated in soy sauce. i was so hungry i didn't even care. the fries were awesome. i also ordered an iced tea thinking i was going to get this unsweetened tea. hello ethan, your in korea. it was a giant glass of instant nestle tea. you know the kind you always begged your parents to get when you were younger. its not until your much older that you realize its really brown sugar water. needless to say that didn't stop me from having two glasses. the things you do. all i know is i want to go back to korea food. its cheaper and better. good thing with have thanksgiving tomorrow. i can't wait for that. horace and i bought two bottles of rice wine to give as a gift.

that pretty much sums up my day. until next time. stay tuned for more ketv…

i leave you with the smiths singing handsome devil

p.s. my parents anniversary was on the 24. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM + DAD. love you