so days 3 & 4
We tried to go to the museum on Monday. But it was closed. Great job at planning ahead, that. We were already in Seoul &, trust me, you don’t waste a trip to Seoul. After all that traffic & toll-paying, you durn well find something to do! So we went to the zoo. I haven’t been to a zoo in I don’t know how long! It was great fun but holy walking! The zoo is on the side of a mountain & you have to walk up the mountain to get to the gate. Then you buy your tickets & walk up the mountain some more to see the animals. There were all kinds of school groups there & the little ones were so cute! They were dressed all the same & were very proud to tell us “Hi!”. One little fella kept trying to wander off from his group & join ours. He was pretty cute but I think someone would have missed him at home if we had kept him. I forgot to take a picture but they had these little breastfeeding huts. It was just this little round room (think gazebo) with benches all the way around inside & tinted windows. I’ve noticed that there are quite a few breastfeeding areas everywhere. I’m not sure why this amazes me so much…maybe b/c in the states, the only place I can remember seeing one was in Babies R Us? I was pretty impressed with that. We got to see a seal & dolphin show while we were there & that was pretty neat. The rest of the animals were your regular run of the mill zoo animals. Ntm3 loved them! Our feet were aching by the time we were done so we hopped a trolley to get back down to the parking lot-the parking lot, NOT our vehicle-& headed for another adventure.
group pic: left to right...alan, joanne, my mom & dad & you know the rest!
they have strange snacks here...
looking up the mountain
almost at the gate
buncha crazy americans can't figure out what to do!
no meerkats were harmed...
sure are some strange critters at the zoo!
a very cool slide
big kids acting like they might not kill each other today
my dad & my ntm3
my mom & i
seals & dolphins...or just dolphins
i wanna go home!
Namsan Tower! We went there with my mom when we first got here but our friends & my dad wanted to see it as well. We went at night this time & that was very cool. Last time we walked up the mountain but this time we got smart & took the trolley. I’m a little scared of heights so I made the very awesome decision to stand in the front of the trolley so I could see the ground 20 miles away as we went up the side of the mountain. Sometimes I wonder what I’m thinking! There are many levels to the tower but we went to the observation deck and checked out the view of Seoul at night. It is just huge! And beautiful! We caught the last trolley back down the mountain & came back home in the middle of the night as usual. Poor L did all the driving those first few days & he was just wore out.
the trolley
view from the bottom
group pic
they had a light show at the bottom (of the tower...not the mountain!)
the "guests". all around the observation deck, they have different cities onthe windows & how far away they are. they had been in seattle before coming here & alan is from seattle so they thought it would be cool to have a pic taken at that point. note the fantastic scaffolding outside the window.
seoul from the observation deck. this is just one tiny part of it!
seoul from the bottom of the tower
and the men's bathroom. apparently it is very exciting to be able to tinkle & look out over the city. so exciting that you forget what you are doing & tinkle on yourself. good thing they have sinks. sigh. men.
Tuesday we went to the museum. We got mobbed. No kidding. Again with the field trip groups. Except these were big kids & those middle school girls were obsessed with my boy! We got into the museum & into the first exhibit room & it was like a vacuum…suddenly there were all these giggly girls surrounding us! They were talking to A & wanting to touch his hand & take pictures with him. They liked talking to us too (they loved ntm3) but A got the vast majority of the attention. The museum staff kept coming along & shooing the girls on their way but by the time we’d get to the next room, there’d they’d be again! I swear, they were popping out of the walls! Apparently, though, they were on a time schedule so they finally disappeared & we were able to look at our leisure. Did you know that you aren't supposed to use your flash in the museum while taking pictures? I read 73 signs that said that but apparently it didn't sink in so I took a flash picture & out of nowhere appeared the Korean Secret Museum Service to tell me "No flash! No Flash!" Oops. I apologized profusely & he disappeared. I got to keep my camera. T wanted to go to the children’s museum so I took her & ntm3 over there. (we passed another bf room on the way!) There was all kinds of hands-on stuff to do. T liked it & ntm3 was content to just goof with stuff. We finally got back together again-when the girls & I left the museum, we didn’t have our tickets & my phone was dead so we couldn’t get back in. Same thing happened to my mom & her friend. But all the guys eventually showed up & we headed for the base.
Why the base, you say? We needed some groceries & b/c it has a package store! I told you…my fridge could have doubled for a liquor cabinet that week! I hit the commissary first & the back of the van was full. But we had more important stuff to get! So me, my mom & the 2 friends went in. 1 tremendous case of beer, 2 bottles of wine, 1 box of wine, 2 bags of chips & 3 candy bars later, we were done. Uh oh. Where are we gonna put this stuff? We were sitting on stuff, leaning on stuff & on the floor under ntm3’s car seat (that sounds bad/illegal but I swear it wasn’t) was the beer. Did you know that there is no open container law in Korea? At least that is what we are told. As long as the driver isn’t drinking, party down! So we stopped at a rest area (I had to tinkle! Honest!) and while I was in there, someone put some wine in some water bottles & it was party on wheels! All the way home…where we had a rousing session of Rock Band & then hit the bed(s).
a mob. the cute little girl with the black shirt (holding up a heart sign, no less) touched A & acted as if she had touched the hand of God. she is in a great majority of the pictures that were taken at the museum.
another mob. they really liked talking to us!
my "illegal flash" picture! and it didn't even turn out that good!
ntm3 playing in the children's museum
a parking garage...note how clean & shiny!
rock on!
