Longest Volcano Tube in the World

This was an interesting find on the Island of Jeju in South Korea. This is where the largest known volcanic                     tube in the world is found.  The tube was huge compared to the ones I have seen in Hawaii. It was a cool, rainy day and water was dripping from the ceiling above, so after a few minutes of walking this tube, we decided to turn around. We do not know how much longer it was, but we are convinced that they are correct about it being the longest. Yes, we were skeptical before the long walk. You can see the fog inside the tube in the first picture.

Jeju Do Chinese Restaurant's Sweet and Sour Pork

After a day of traveling the western part of Jeju Do, we had the driver take us to a Chinese restaurant. My wife grew up in Korea and wanted some Chinese food that she just cannot get in Hawaii. I on the other hand love the sweet and sour dishes without all of the food coloring and cooked in more of a traditional style. This is the sweet and sour pork dish. Yes, I succumbed to taking pictures of food. Oh well, my mouth is watering just thinking about this dish. The Chinese people living on Jeju Do have had a very rough life. The history is well worth reading about.


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Old truck on Jeju Do

Out in the country part of the island of Jeju, there were these old trucks that caught my attention. It was a rainy day and it was a little hard to get the driver to pull over for photographs. I bet they just love someone like me that wants to shoot everything. Anyway, the driver and my wife had a great time teasing me about taking this photograph of one of the old trucks. I just wish I had of stopped at the truck without the hood since the motor was even more fascinating.

Waterfall on Jeju Do (Largest Korean Island)

Here is a beautiful waterfall found on the Island of Jeju in South Korea. There were more than one waterfall seen along the hike, but this was the largest and prettiest. There is something about waterfalls that will make a long hike worth the effort.

Flowers of Seoul

One Monday in Seoul, we decided to go visit the National Museum of Korea. That was a horrible move on my part since when we arrived after taking the bus and a couple of subway trains we found the museum closed on Mondays. Well, I saw a sign that said that the Family park was a fair walk away. Once again I messed up. I confused it with the Children's Park which is a great place to visit unlike the Family Park. We then dragged ourselves back to the subway wanting the day to get better. We saw signs everywhere pointing to this new venue, so we rode the subway excited about being able to see something in Seoul we have not seen. That was strike three. With all of the advertising, one would not expect the place to be under construction and not even open yet...

I did however get a photograph of the flowers in front of the museum. The grey and rainy skies did provide some nice blooms.

Lonely Boat in Incheon, South Korea

We ate lunch on a little island just outside of Incheon, South Korea. When lunch was over, we got in a fairly long line of vehicles waiting on the ferry ride back to the mainland. This boat was sitting in the mud at low tide, so I jumped out of our Komando Ssangyong jeep like vehicle and shot this photograph. The weather was on the grey side which really made this boat look lonely.

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Korean Airlines at Gimpo Airport, South Korea

Here are a couple of photographs of a Korean Airline's jet getting prepared for flight. These were shot through the glass window at Gimpo Airport as we waited for our flight from Seoul to Jeju Island.

Seoul Fish Market

Here is a view of Seoul's Fish Market from the bridge that led from the subway terminal. You can tell that there are a lot of different fish being sold. Each sign represents the company that is located beneath the sign. I guess this is derived from the saying that you should keep your friends near, and your enemies even closer. That is, the competition here is side by side. You cannot get closer than that. The theory behind this business practice is that people will come from all over to purchase their fish here, therefore there are more customers at this location. In America, the business practice is less common, and leans towards keeping your competition out of a five mile perimeter. We purchased a lot of seafood there for supper that evening.

White Flower

This photograph was taken during the month of April in South Korea. Spring is a beautiful time in Korea with all of the flowers blooming and the time nature comes to life once again.

Ride in Jeju, South Korea

While visiting Jeju, South Korea, we hired a car and driver to take us around the island for a couple of days. This was one of the stops we made. It was a small carnival type of place that had a lot of school age kids. The line to this ride was fairly long, but the ride kept going mostly empty since most kids wanted the seats that gave the most thrill.

Namsan Tower in Seoul

The earlier posted Seoul Tower blog posting raised some questions about the tower. All these years I have known the tower as Namsan Tower. Upon this year's visit, it seems to be called Seoul Tower. I guess it is just easier for the foreigners to call it the latter.  Namsan translates to south mountain, Nam meaning south and san meaning mountain. There is an observatory that provides a view of the surrounding area of Seoul. You can say it is very similar and has the same purpose as the other famous towers around the world. There is a very large park that the tower sits on. We took the gondola to the top of the mountain to reach the tower. For more information, you may check this site out: http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/SI/SI_EN_3_4_4_3.jsp


More photographs from Namsan Park will be posted if a few days.

Seoul Tower photograph of.... Me!

Well here I am on a visit to Seoul Tower on April 14, 2010. This was one of the best weather days that we had during our two week visit to Korea. It seems that I  go to the tower upon every visit to Seoul. I am not sure why, but it just seems to be the place to go. By the way, I am much better looking in person. :-)

This photograph was taken by my wife, so it is probably much better than my photographs (accept for the subject matter).

Side Entrance to Gyeongbok Palace

This is a really cool angle taken from the right side entrance. There is a moat between this gate and the palace seen inside. It almost makes you want to travel back in time to see the palace during the Chosun Dynasty.

More palace pictures where posted on May first.

High School Student from Wonju

It seems everywhere I went, the sound of voices were heard, "Hello, Hello." It seems students were eager to practice their English skills on anyone that looked America or European. This high school student from Wonju wanted me to take his photograph near the top of Sunrise Peak Crater on the island of Jeju in Korea. Sunrise Peak is the "Diamond Head" of Jeju Island. Like Diamondhead Crater on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, you can climb to the top for a dramatic view.

We ran into this student one more time at the Jeju Airport. The world seems so small sometimes. Oh, and yesterday, I met a couple of young ladies that were on the same flight here in Waikiki....

Dear Wonju student,

I gave you the link to the blog at the airport. If you see this, "Hello, Hello!"

Gyeongbok Palace, Seoul Korea

This is a tranquil image of Gyeonbok Palace located in Seoul Korea. The history of this place goes back to 1394 when King Taejo of Chosun built the palace. The buildings on the palace grounds are beautiful and the paint is intricate. It is a must see for anyone visiting Seoul.

The second view shows the cherry blossoms in the early stages of blooming. It is interesting trying to imagine the palace when it was used as the main palace of the Chosun Dynasty.

Sea Birds of Incheon

We visited Inchon, Korea where they filmed the Korean Drama "Stairway to Heaven." (if you click on the title, you will be able to watch this highly recommended drama). More pictures of this area will be posted soon, but for now, you will only get to see a couple of the birds in the area. As I was shooting the birds, they decided to get rid of some of their excess weight. Well, with the utmost skill, they dropped one and hit their target. Splat! That freshly processed food excrement landed on my Nikon and with an exploding type splash that hit my camera buttons and spread out over my jacket and exposed skin. Ha! My wife always tells me when I get pooped on by a bird that it is good luck. That warm wet stuff just doesn't seem lucky to me, but I like her attitude and maybe some of the luck will spread to her someday. I will graciously let her know how lucky she is. :-)

Insadong Seoul, South Korea Wedding Drummers

These young Korean ladies with drums were in a historical reenactment of a traditional wedding ceremony. This section of Seoul is called Insadong and has a lot of art related shops.

Photograph taken on Saturday, April 17th, 2010.

Spring Time in Seoul

Korea has four definite seasons and spring is my favorite. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom by mid April. Here is someone enjoying the warmer weather along the Han River in Seoul Korea. The cotton candy seems to add to the celebration. At Yeouido Hangang Park, people are able to rent boats, take water taxis to other destinations along the river, or rent bicycles.

For more information on this park, visit the official site of Korea Tourism Org.

Jeju Do, Korea on the Eastern Coast

Jeju, sometimes spelled Cheju, is the largest island in Korea. This image is taken on the east coast of Jeju near Odu island. The island is volcanic like the islands of Hawaii, so some of the landscape will have similarities. This image was take as we were climbing a crater. The horses are used for climbing on, in order to have a photo opportunity. The Asian style roof is that of a Buddhist Temple. I really love the old style architecture in Asia and am sad that most of the new buildings lack the historical elements. It is understood that things change, so the changes might as well be embraced. In the meantime, photographs will help preserve history in a strange sort of way.  (See more about Jeju Island here)