Interesting things to do in Korea

Well team its not long now until I head back to the Land of the Morning Calm !! My visa is in hand, my contract signed and I am just waiting for my ticket to arrive and then its up, up and away !! I just hope that I get to fly Singapore Airlines this time ( I really want to try them - I have tried cathay pacific and Malaysian, so now I have got to travel with Singapore from my home town in Adelaide, Australia.  ) .  I also want to charm Singapre girl hehehe !!

All in all, I am really quite excited to be going back.    I feel that, even though I have already lived in Korea for 3 years, there is still so much for me to see and do.    I really want to open my mind a lot more to this wonderful country and experience more and more of what it has to offer.  

I really want to try and cross Korea a few times and capture all of it.  From the temples, to Apkujeong, to various festivals, to maybe even trying some differing foods; I want to do a lot.   So lets get started on what I want to do yes !!!! Okay ... ready ... set... and here we go !!!!!

Well, lets start off with where I will be staying.   I will be staying in a place called Songpa-gu, a part of Seoul that has been touted as a major economic development hub.    One place that I really want to visit is the Garden 5, one stop shopping distribution hub with over 8,300 shops.   It is widely required as the biggest shopping mall in Asia.   You can see it here




Thanks to 박미례 and wikipedia for this image.    This place looks pretty good in the picture hehe.   It might just even make me like shopping after all hehehe.

Another place I would like to vist in Songpa-gu is the Garak Market.   Garak Market is a major distribution point for maritime and agricultural produce, much of which is completely eco-friendly.   Sounds like somewhere for me to visit yes !!!

Aaaahhh !! I have just seen somewhere else I wish visit in Songpa-gu -- The Seokchon Lake area !! I have just seen a picture of it and I think that it looks really, really good indeed !! And while I am there I really must visit Lotte World amusement park !! Oh I can see it now I will feel happy, excitable, and just like a little kid again running around on all the rides. tides and fun things to do there ! I hope I can see Mickey Mouse there yes !? Oh damn man .. hang on Mickey is in Disney World yes ... Oh poop !!! Hehehe ! Check this out





This is a picture of the Seokchon Lake area in Songpa-gu.   If you look a little closer, in the top half of the lake lol, you can see Lotte World right in the middle of the water.    Check it out here.




Theres nothing like a little indoor theme park to get you in the mood for some fine yes !!! Thanks to Khitai, 박미례, and wikipedia for the above pictures. 

Hmmm this just makes me want to stay in Songpa-gu - BUT ALL SONGPA-GU AND NO WHERE ELSE WILL JUST MAKE JAMES A BORING PERSON LOL !! I think I know just the place to fix this little ill..........

APKUJEONG !!!!!

Seriously team, this place rocks.   I was lucky enough to get to Apkujeong and neighbouring Kangnam when I was living in Seoul, but trust me, my appetite has been seriously whetted and I want to see more !!! Put simply team, Apkujeong is the centre of opulence in Korea.   Period.   If you want to go Lamborghini, celebrity, Louis Vitton, Dolce and Gabbana, Latte, and lots-a-dollar-ama watching, the Apkujeong is your place !!!

Put simply, Apkujeong is known for 2 things - HIGH END SHOPPING AND A HIGH END NIGHTLIFE scene.    It is the home base for exclusive European brands such as Prada, Gucci and D and G, and Rodeo street is the home of Haute Couture fashion in Seoul.    Its nightlife compliments it day life nicely.    Absent are the dingy, dirty, basic clubs you may indeed find in SIncheon and Hongdae, being replaced by cool, suave jazz clubs, exclusive night spots for celebrity spotting, and some really high end stuff indeed.  

Here is a basic picture of Apkujeong team.   



However, if you want a really cool description of Apkujeong along with some great pics, then I seriously recommend you check out this article from Grace Travel.   Its succinct, pleasant, informative and pretty much direct and straight to the point.   Check it out here.

http://english.triptokorea.com/english/viewforum.php?f=352

Another place I really want to visit again is Kangnam.   This is pretty much located next door to Apkujeong, and is often talked about in the same high level of esteem that Apkujeong is.   Kangnam is pretty much the business capital of Korea, and houses many of the noted business houses in Korea, including AMI Korea, Google, and IBM.  

One of the major streets in Kangnam is the Teheranno, or simply Tehran Street.   As I said just prior, Kangnam is the the major business district in Korea, and Tehran Street really does opitimize this.   Teheranno is the home of internet giants such as Daum, Naver and Yahoo; electrical giants Samsung and Hynix, and noteable financial institutions such as POSCO, Standard Chartered and Citibank.   As a little footnote, its believed that somewhere in the vicinity of $200,000,000 in venture capital money has been invested in Teheranno ( You can see this on wikipedia too heheh .. right here...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teheranno

Heres a little visual of Teheranno and Kangnam







Another place I really want to visit is Jogye-Sa, one of the chief Buddhist temples in Korea.    Its located in Jong-no, which pretty much located in the central part of Seoul.   

Jogye-Sa is also probably the most well known of the temples amongst foreigners and it has several attractions to bring people to the temple.    Visitors to the temple can here Buddhist Dharma talks, can take part in retreats, and participate in daily buddhist ceremonies.

You can see a little more on the temple site.

http://en.jogyesa.org

One other thing I also really want to this time around is finally catch some Baseball, Basketball and Soccer whilst here in Korea !!!!I seriously didnt catch any before, even though I lived really close to the home the Samsung Lions Baseball team and the Daegu World Cup soccer stadium !!!!  Mind you being in Seoul will be good in that I will be living right near Jamsil Baseball stadium, and not too far away from Seoul World Cup Stadium.   I am so looking forward to seeing some good old fashioned sports this time around !!! I also really want to try and get to see some K-1 and UFC this time around if possible also, and more so if Remy Bonjarsky and Mirko " Crocop " Filipovic are in the ring pounding the crap out of opponents.   I might even try and get down to Busan and hit up Giants stadium to watch some Lotte Giants baseball in the summer time.   Peek here



Daegu World Cup Stadium

Jamsil baseball stadium



Incheon Munhak stadium



Munhak Baseball Stadium, Incheon

Another place I really want to go to this summer is Haeundae Beach in Busan.   Haeundae Beach is widely regarded as one of, if not the most popular beach in Korea, and has been heavily commercialised in the last few years.   You can have a little look here. 



Thanks to SJ Yang and wikipedia for the above pic.  


Okay !!! Lol its time for me to rest up now hehehe.   This of course is by no means an exhaustive list of where I wish to go this year, but hey - it is a start !!!! I will eventually get around to telling you more about the places I wish to go to, and will soon even tell you in more detail about my favourite city in Korea-DAEGU !! Daegu is a really cool place team and I really do look forward to letting you know about it ! seeya !!!