South Korea

February 16 – April 24, 2018

Our Seoul Apartment.

One of the many shopping areas in our neighborhood.

A beautiful river runs through Seoul.

Pomato Spoon, our go to spot for a quick bite.

Trendy and fashionable…Sarah and I fit right in!

Underground spice mall.

This cafe, overlooking the cool and young neighborhood, helped us feel old and judgmental.

Warehouse turned cafe with drinks served off a truck bed. Thought I was in SF for a minute.

Sarah enjoying her flash-roasted cold press marley-hopped beer.

Gangnam district – lots of malls and lots of business.

Starfield mall installed their very own library right smack in the middle of the concourse. Incredible. Every mall needs this.

Not really sure what’ going on here, maybe a K-Pop band?

Your feet will never be boring in Korea.

Kakao Friends – from the mobile app.

Mobile phone and fashion shopping street.

Lovely weekend market in our neighborhood of Hongdae.

Streetfood aplenty downtown.

Neat mixture of old and new – a Korean theme for us.

A market just down the street from us – seemingly endless.

Beautiful shopping alleys litter the city.

Notebooks with integrated pillow – a must have for the hard-working Korean student.

Kakao Friends graffiti.

Trendy fashion and architecture to match in Hongdae.

Lego cafes. Korea is ahead of the West in so many ways.

Lady putting together sweets at the downtown market.

Busy market near downtown Daegu.

Free mattress.

There is a large U.S. military presence in Daegu.

U.S. Army Base, in case you couldn’t have guessed.

We had a few days of snow before the temperature shot back above 20degC.

We risked it and got some haircuts. The price was under $10USD so we couldn’t complain! I love looking like a K-pop star anyways.

Beautiful Mt. Apsan, as seen from our roof.

These flower vending machines are everywhere in South Korea.

Daegu Tower behind us.

The Audrey Hepburn cafes are a South Korean chain.

Vending machine.

I love these little vans and I’m taking one home.

Restaurant worker taking a smoke break.

Sarah at the lake in our neighborhood. The location of our daily walk.

Airplane restaurant…of course!

Took this neat photo on a long walk around Daegu by myself.

Some sidewalk murals.

Yes, I want my Nuclear Steak!

Our humble apartment.

One is never far from a golf driving range in South Korea.

Our neighborhood’s school zone.

The monorail is driverless, and yet there’s an attendant that sits at the front looking very bored. The windows automatically fog up when approaching an apartment building – for privacy.

The Korean coffee shops are super best. We spent hours.

The ‘veggie dishes’ have cooked beef, the ‘meat dishes’ have raw beef. No idea!

Another absolutely beautifully designed cafe in our neighborhood.

Waiting for my fried treats while sportin’ my K-pop haircut.

A gym halfway to the top of Mt. Apsan. In use on both my visits.

Observation deck at the top of Mt. Apsan overlooking Daegu.

View of Daegu from Apsan Park, looking east. The tram is visible in the hills below.

Every great climb with a staircase begin must.

We were feeling old downtown. So much shopping. Had to drag Sarah out of the stores.

Perhaps a famous K-pop star. He was surrounded by adoring fans.

Matching couple. Extra credit for shoes and shopping bag. 9.0/10.

Rallies are common. Not sure what this one was about.

Fancy looking firetrap restaurant.

We had a couple drinks in the bus-bar.

One of dozens of busy markets in Daegu. This one was a short walk away from our apartment.

View from the Board Game Cafe’s rooftop bar.

People come from all over to see E-world! Let’s get this party started!

And a raccoon!!!

Looking down over E-world and Daegu.

Nighttime photo ops.

The entrance is yet another photo op! Our first matching couple of the day.

Finally had a chance to see a squirrel!

Elves reporting for duty.

Tribute to the website!

Couples or lonely singles may put a lock on this tree to show their devotion to paying $7 for a lock they can never use again.

Tram ride across the theme park at dusk.

More photo opportunities!?!?! Note the two tripods on the right.

Overloaded bookstore.

I walked into this coffee shop and requested a coffee. The coffee was instant and came in a small paper cup, like the one you might get from a water cooler. I thought this was strange but continued reading my book. Eventually, as I took in my surroundings, I realized it isn’t a coffee shop, but rather a multilevel marketing office. This was quite embarrassing but I stuck it out and finished my book anyways. I wasn’t charged for the coffee but if anyone needs cosmetics shoot me an email.

Gas masks are in each subway station. Should we be worried?

Just like in the west, everybody is on their mobile phones while walking about.

Cross a golf cart with a refrigerator and this is what ya get. Perhaps you can summon her with an app.

In S. Korea parking lots are vertical instead of horizontal.

Why is there an aquarium in the train station? I don’t really want to know, I prefer to use my imagination.

A store rents picnic baskets to take into the park. Brilliant idea!

I love this photo because it captures Korea perfectly – old meets new. (And it’s not always pretty).

This is how things are moved out of apartments and it’s kind of genius.

Intestines are a popular lunch item in the markets – if you can stomach it.

Coffee shops and convenience stores near hospitals are always packed with IV-laden patients.

Socks are so popular there’s a sock street!

Dressed up and shaved kitty in one of the coffee shops.

Kakao Friends competitors on the left, Hello Kitty on the right. Scales for children……..

We didn’t recognize all the fruit.

Street markets are the best place to get cheap veggies and fruit.

Ferry sleeping quarters.

Leaving Fukuoka, Japan by ferry. It’s about 130 miles and five hours by sea to South Korea.

Dress up like the captain!

On the ferry, Korean islands in background.

Arriving in Busan as the sun sets.

Sarah chilling in Busan. Reminds us of China in this photo.

The Lotte Castle! (The Lotte Group is South Korea’s 5th largest business conglomerate and consists of over 90 business units and employs 60,000 people in diverse industries such as candy manufacturing, beverages, hotels, fast food, retail, financial services, heavy chemicals, electronics, IT, construction, publishing, and entertainment).