Are you ready for lots of pictures???
Okay, it all started when Lindie and I got to the bus stop planning on going to downtown Samsan and I decided that the bus that pulled up at that moment would get us there. Instead of going into the rotary we went into a tunnel...which has never happened. Whoops.
There just wasn't a bus stop anywhere, but we kept pointing to things trying to find out where we were going, and the bus just stopped and let us out. (we also had a map with us. . .we couldn't have looked more lost.) So, off we got in the middle of no where and just started walking. (It was ten thousand degrees, by the way :-) so we were walking and being dramatic about it) And do you know what we found???
ULSAN GRAND PARK! :-) Yay!! :-)
Lindie had been there once before but she got in on the Okdong side and didn't know that you could in on this side! Ulsan Grand Park is amazing, and even in our already exhausted and sweaty state we were elated to be there.
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| These lovely little guys greeted us :-) |
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| I can't really make out what he's doing. Lindie, do you think you could clear it up for me? |
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| That's it exactly! Thanks! :-) |
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| Cute little kids park right on the inside. Also, more importantly, our first drink machine was right behind us. |
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| Pretty sure that if all that stuff wasn't nearly on fire from the heat, we would have stayed here the rest of the day pretending we were seven :-) |
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| "Now, you kids stay away from those two crazy foreigners over there!" the mother dolphin. . .seemed to say. . . |
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| I'm not totally sure what this is. . .I think it's a pool that's been covered, but on the map it looked like those silver domes are still there...so I'm not sure. But I know what the rules are: |
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| Absolutely no shoes! But pretty much anything else is perfectly fine :-) |
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| Fun times! :-) |
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| We were expecting a fierce panda to break through the bamboo! And then, he appeared! The ferocious Mini Gomini! (do you see him??) |
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| Just a beautiful day at a beautiful park!! |
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| I just love these guys! |
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| Isn't this beautiful? Apparently it's fantastic at night, so we're coming back sometime. Lindie saw it and she said it looks like Christmas :-) |
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| There are new surprises around every corner! Although, I couldn't help feeling like we were the first ones in to a very large (and empty) amusement park. Does everyone else just have more sense than to be out on blacktop in this heat!? :-) |
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| Beautiful :-) |
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| Isn't this peaceful? :-) |
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| This. . .is the footpath of pain. It's a reflexology sort of path, and there are all sorts of different stones and surfaces along it, and when you walk on it. . . it kills you instantly and completely :-) Let's take a look! |
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| Here's the idea. :-) |
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| Here's the beginning. Also, you have to remember, these rocks were extremely hot. |
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| More variety. . . :-) Don't those look friendly?? :-) |
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| As you can see. . .Lindie is braver than I. She had been on this before. She said "I'm glad we found it! I really wanted to show you this!" What a mean friend?!! :-) |
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| It takes the utmost concentration. . . |
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| This is how it's done, ladies and gentlemen. |
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| Like this? Ouch, ouch, ouch! |
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| At the end they give you options for your torture :-) |
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| WE MADE IT!! |
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| At the end you get to wash your feet with cold, cold, lovely water. It was the best thing ever. |
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| You know what, though? My angry feet felt fantastic after that crazy walk! I could have stayed in the water all day long, but they actually felt really good! |
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| Isn't that pretty?? |
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| The beautiful other side :-) |
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| Gorgeous :-) |
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| There are two dolphins out there. Not real ones, of course, but they were out there and I wanted to get them, but I don't think I was successful. . . |
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| Here are all the people!! At the pool!! :-) |
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| We made it. We look a little funny. . .but we made it :-) |
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| We got slushies as we were leaving the park. This was the cup they came in. It says "Good friends" and they were so cute. :-) |
So, after we left the park we decided to actually go to Samsan and ride the Ferris Wheel. It's on top of a seven story department store in the downtown area, a lot of my students told me they wouldn't ride it because it's too scary, so we decided it had to be done!
We rode the elevator to the seventh floor and when we got out there was a small rooftop midway. Awesome! :-)
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| YAY!! :-) Midway on a roof! |
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| Getting ready to cross something else off of our list! :-) |
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| They gave us binoculars, music, and AIR CONDITIONING! :-) And off we went! |
It's important to point out that only some of this Ferris Wheel is actually over the building. . .most of it hangs off and looks down on the seven+ stories below. . .
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| At this point, we're still far below this hotel. . . |
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| But still way above the ground. . . |
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| Getting pretty high up here. . . |
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| But, Lindie's not worried. |
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| Getting rather high now! |
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| Still, Lindie remains cool. |
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| While I on the other hand.... |
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| Getting pretty near the top, now, this is Samsan and beyond. |
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| I think I can almost see America |
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| I can see everything :-) |
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| At the top now! The air is a little thin up here! :-) |
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| The way back down was a little scary. . .because we started swinging a bit. But that didn't stop up from standing almost the whole time. |
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| Coming down now. |
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| Busy streets :-) |
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| Do you see those silver cars all along the sidewalk? Those are all cabs. All. Cabs. |
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| Whoops. Shouldn't have been standing. . .How did I not see the rules until we were about to get off? |
In our book about Ulsan it said that on one of the floors of this building there was a market that sold 400 different kinds of food, so we thought we needed to go there for lunch. This was so much more than a market. It was Papa Joe's on steroids. We were so overwhelmed by the amazing stuff to look at it wasn't even funny. First thing was first, though, we needed lunch. And there were choices galore. So, we just had to choose something.
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| So, this is what I chose. Roasted pumpkin and sweet potato in an acorn squash with cranberry, banana, and sunflower seeds on top :-) All in a delicious sugary glaze. Fantastic! |
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| Lindie and Mini chose a lovely looking baked spaghetti :-) |
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| After lunch we went exploring. Look at these cakes?! There were cakes everywhere! |
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| Aren't these yummy looking??? |
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| There was a counter covered in cream puff pastries. And a machine that filled them. They took one of the pastries, stabbed it onto the machine and you could see the cream drain out into the cream puff. After watching this a couple of times, we had to have one. So, here it is. :-) |
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| And, boy, was it delicious! |
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| Ridiculous. :-) But we weren't done yet, we found something else we absolutely had to have: |
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| Chocolate waffle sandwich, with heavy cream and chocolate shavings. Amazing. |
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| Doesn't it look great?? |
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| Yum. :-) |
So, after that we were obviously stuff, and it was time to go home :-)
Pretty fantastic weekend all around :-)
And now, it's time for bed! :-)
