Table People

Radio Star, Jeonju.

Radio Star, Jeonju.

Radio Star, Jeonju.

Radio Star, Jeonju.

Radio Star, Jeonju.

Strange Fruit, Seoul.

Strange Fruit, Seoul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table People:
Andy Mac - Drums
Caroline Mahon - Lead Guitar
Eric Davis - Guitar + vocals
Ethan Waddell - Keys + vocals
Jim Stickle- Bass

A brief break in the monsoon when the rains stopped.

So I thought I'd take a break from posting old stuff and get something up to date on here.  So this weekend it looked as if it was going to be another washout. The rain here during monsoon season is incredible. Went out for a couple of drinks on Friday night with my good friend Frank who is leaving in a week unfortunately! Saturday morning it rained into the afternoon and then bang, the sun comes out. So I did what any sun starved Scotsman would do and went to the nearest outdoor swimming pool!

Turned out to be a great idea, even if we (Frank, Jane, Alastair and myself) did look totally out of place. It was a very unusual setting a few swimming pools situated next to a huge motorway and the subway carts hurtling overhead. When we went into the water it was freezing (no doubt from all the rain we'd had) and also the lifeguards all started blowing whistles and pointing at their heads. We eventually got the message, you must wear a swimming cap to go in the water!

The evening sunset was grogeous, so we walked for a bit then grabbed a pizza and some beer. win win.

Alistair and Frank

Climber desperately trying to hang on.

Locals playing catch.

Ttukseom Resort

We tried so many jump photos, at least I got a train in this picture!

Got it!

Seoul - the locale, routines and commutes

Seoul is huge, it's a sprawling metropolis of the like I've only ever briefly visited. So living here has been really interesting and I'm enjoying the buzz of living in such a massive city.
Over 5.5 million use the Subway everyday more than Scotland's population!

I'm living in the Ttukseom (뚝섬) area of seoul, located right on the Han river to the east of the centre. It's a great spot to be. I am wedged between two University areas, so there are lots of good resteraunts and bars close-by. I'm right on line 2 (green) on the subway which is pretty convenient as pretty much everythings on the green line or not far away. Being close to the river is great for running and cycling too.

I usually run/cycle under this bridge a couple of times a week. Just incase your wondering the bridge lighting isn't actually green I fiddled about with the colours on this shot.

This is from Ttukseom subway station, I happened to have my camera with me to get some of the orangey hues. The tower in the background is Namsang.

Crossing the Han on the subway. An everyday occurence but this sunset was pretty special, once again glad I had my camera with me!

On the way to my 5-aside football.

This is Olympic Park - originally built for the olympics back in '88 it's a great place to chill out. It's a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of other parts of the city. Great for sunsets!

This is down on the Han River past Ttukseom resort, check out the air that kite surfer is getting!

Seoraksan National Park

One of the highlights of my time here so far was definitely my day trip to Seoraksan National Park, 2 hours East of Seoul. I was given the Friday off on the 1st of April because it was the anniversary of the building of my school. The hills are incredibly busy at the weekends as thousands of soulites don their dayglo hiking gear and literally march up some of the peaks.

So I got to experience a relatively quiet and peaceful (by Korean standards) outing, the weather was fantastic and I did get a little sun burnt. One of the highlights was having a meal with a Korean hiking group. We had loads of food, some Makgeolli and on the way down one of the guys bought me a tea towel with a map of the park on it as a gift.

The only foreigner I met hiking was a French girl who was on holiday from her job in Shanghai. She had only been in Korea for a couple of days but she couldn't believe how friendly Koreans are! I think it's especially true when you get out of Seoul. This was my first trip outside the city and I'm sure the weather, the scenery and not working on Friday all had something to do with it, but everyone was so friendly...it was a great first trip! Here are some of the photos.

Morning prayers.

Refreshments.

Great view if I was looking the right way.

Looking out towards the East Sea.

One of the many Korean temples.

Plenty of snow in the background.

Ulsan-Bawi.

A lonely tree.

Looking onto the cragged peaks from the temple complex.

The sunset and the last remaining light.