Amcham Ball

On Saturday night Brad and I attended the American Chamber of Commerce Ball held at the Grand Hyatt. Citibank had invited us. The theme was New Orleans so everything had a jazz or Mardi Gras theme.

The tables had mannequins standing on them in Mardi Gras outfits, there were also beads and masks on the tables for everyone to wear.

There was a jazz band, lots of wine and great food. The first course was a seafood salad( Brad had to fish the prawns out of it), the second course was a Pumkin, blackbean and prawn soup (Brad didn't dare eat it but it was delicious), next came a peppered steak with polenta and vegetables and finally we had chocolate mousse with rasberry sauce. All the money raised at the ball goes to charity, so there were lots of raffles, a silent auction and a live auction. We put in a bid for the silent auction but we didn't win (we bid for a trip to Jeju). We also bought some raffle tickets but unfortunately didn't win anything with those either. We danced, drank and chatted the night away and before we knew it, it was time to go home. As we were leaving, Brad said he felt the need for McDonalds (even after all that food) and as we stepped out of the ballroom we saw a whole lot of food laid out on various tables. There was a hotdog stand, a table full of salmon sandwiches and a dessert table. So we stopped to snack with all the other people who had the munchies and then we finally went on our way. It was a great night, we had lots of fun.

Heating

This last week has been unbelievably cold, with lows around -12c and highs about -5c (excluding wind chill which adds a good few degrees lower) for most of the week. The whole winter our heating in the house has been perfect, a comfortable 24c inside, but this week our heating decided to give us a few problems, so in the coldest week of winter, it has stopped working.

I've played with all the buttons on the control pannel, hoping to figure something out but so far no luck, so it's extra clothing to bed and heavy jackets inside until we can figure out what is wrong.

Mountain Climbing

Today is Lunar New Year. We thought it would be a good day to take Storm and go for a hike up the mountain near Songbukdong. Usually there are lots of people hiking and we wouldn't be able to let Storm off her leash but today it was quiet and Storm was able to bolt up the mountain freely. We packed a lunch - some tuna sandwiches, ramen (like two-minute noodles), Pringles, Powerade and coffee - and off we all went. The walk up the mountain was shorter than expected and we really didn't need all the food that we'd taken but it was nice to stand at the viewpoint and look out over the city. There was an icy breeze blowing and we were glad to have gloves and beanies to keep us warm.

We decided to have lunch once we'd walked back down the mountain so we found a spot and had our picnic.

Storm had a marvellous time and exhausted herself. I think she was glad to get back into the warm car and she slept most of the way home.

Ice Skating

It's Lunar New Year and we both have a few days off work. Seoul is nice and quiet because everyone leaves Seoul to visit their relatives over the New Year. Since it's so quiet we thought it would be a good idea to go ice-skating at the outdoor ice rink by City Hall. It's so cheap (W1000) for an hour (so normally it's packed). We had fun, I thought I'd be the only one who can't ice skate but there were so many people who couldn't skate and lots of people were there teaching their little children to skate. I had to grip Brad's hand and I managed to get around without falling but we did witness lots of falls. Here are some pics of our day out.

Bau House video

Here is a short video of our Bau House visit.

Bau House (Dog Cafe)

Today we decided to go to the Dog Cafe in Hongdae. Just as the name implies, it's a cafe that you may take your dogs to. Of course, we couldn't take Storm due to her natural dislike of other dogs so we just took ourselves. There are some resident dogs at the cafe so you are guaranteed to have some four-legged friends to keep you company while you drink your coffee. It was really cute, there were all sorts of dogs, both big and small, and they get an enourmous amount of attention from all the visitors. It was really busy when we arrived and we had to wait about half an hour to get a seat but it wasn't a problem because it is a very entertaining wait. We watched all the dogs wander around freely, some climbed on the tables to beg for some treats. Others were happy to sit on the leather sofas and receive some love from the person next to them. Talk about spoilt pooches. Brad ran around the cafe taking photos, as did all the other patrons.

When we eventually got a table, we realised that the only way to attract the attention of the dogs was to buy some doggie treats for them. We did this, and immediately we were surrounded by some dogs. Brad took a bit too long opening the packet though, and they quickly deserted us in favour of the other tables with better treats. After a while we did attract a few dogs to our table, they just stay for a few treats and some pats and then they wander off to the next table.

The staff are really friendly and they would come rushing over to put dogs between couples so that the couples could get a good photo. We had a labrador plonked between us for our photo.

Overall, it is a unique experience and a clever idea. Lots of people go there with their young children to expose the children to dogs. The staff are ready with the cleaning materials in case there's an 'accident' and the place is kept very clean. When we first arrived I joked with Brad and said we should bring a cat, and lo and behold, just as we were leaving we saw a cat. Not one dog paid it any attention and it didn't seem particulary perturbed by all the canine activity around it. All in all it was an interesting experience.

Bird watching in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ)

Last Saturday we went up to the DMZ on a "bird watching" tour. John, who is a teacher at Carla's school found this tour and a few other teachers and us decided to go and see what it was like.

The DMZ is about a 2 hour drive north from Seoul, where you follow the Han river for about 50km, and then travel along the side of lots of smaller rivers. It really is quite scenic and was strange to see quite a few of these large rivers nearly completely frozen over, or at least a thin layer of ice on top over a large area and then clumps of ice floating in other areas.

We went up on a tour bus, and there is one thing that is amazing, in buses or taxis, during summer the aircon is put on and the car is around 15c making it sometimes uncomfortably cold, in winter, the heat is put on to over 30c. There seems to be no in between setting, either hot or cold. I was sitting in the bus in a short sleeve shirt and was still hot, while the temperature outside was around -6c.

We first had to check in to the DMZ at an area called Goseokjeong, and hand over our passports to be registered. While there we went for a walk down to a river that was frozen over, and had a frozen waterfall. It really was nice. Of course the guys had to try and walk on the ice, but it was really thick so it was no problem.














Statue of Kkok-Cheong Im (Robbin Hood)
Near to where we parked, there is a statue of Mr. Kkok-Cheong Im, who is said to be the Korean version of Robbin Hood. Around the 1560's increased taxation put many of the local working class into absolute poverty and the large landowners took over. Mr. Im organised raids on government warehouses and gave the grain back to the people who needed it. I don't think it lasted long, and Mr. Im was beheaded in 1562.

We went from here to the 2nd Infiltration Tunnel. This tunnel was made by the North Koreans and discovered in 1975. It was discovered when 2 Korean military guys heard some underground blasting in 1972 and then took 3 years to find the tunnel. Now this is over 20 years after the "end" of the Korean war (as they are technically still at war and only on a cease fire).

2nd Infiltration Tunnel
The tunnel was alright, we were not allowed to take any pictures inside or of the guards around. The tunnel is around 3.7 km long, and goes under the DMZ, from the North Korean side, into the mountains on the South Korean side. The DMZ itself is supposed to be 4km wide, 2km's on each side of the actual border line, however the North has not fully followed the 2km rule and at times have pushed their northern fence very close to the actual border.




The DMZ and North Korea
After the tunnel we went to an observation point where you are able to look out over the actual DMZ and into North Korea. I must say, to me the DMZ itself was the best looking part of Korea I have seen. As no one can go into it, it is totally natural. The only problem is that it is littered with mines.

South DMZ fence





Cranes... if you look carefully
Oh, I nearly forgot about the bird watching. While driving between these places, you were able to see two types of cranes that had come over from Mongolia and there were even some vultures in the distance. It was strange, because here Carla and pictures of being able to sit quietly in a hide, and watch the birds or whatever, but we went driving by in a bus at 60km an hour with the guide saying that there is a crane out the left window. Not the best way to bird watch.

White Horse Memorial
We did see some other sites along the way, including a burnt out building which was the North Korean Labour Party building and the White Horse Memorial, which is a hill with a monument where major battles took places during the war.

It was a long drive back to Seoul afterwards as the traffic had set in, but we arrived back at around 19:00. Everyone came back to our place for wine and dinner. It was a really nice day, but as usual not exactly what we had expected. We will still need to go on a different tour with the USO to the DMZ to get a better overview.