Browsing the archives for the photography category
To be honest the Korean urban lifestyle doesn’t really do much for me. Sure, I sometimes miss the art and culture, the night clubs and the convenience. But after living in London, Berlin and Barcelona, there’s really not anything new that I get out of big cities in Korea. All it takes is a walk [...]
In case you missed it the last few dozen times I’ve said it, let me just say again: Buddha’s Birthday is my favorite holiday in Korea. On Buddha’s Birthday, or “Seokgatanshinil” (석가탄신일) as it’s called in Korean, the Buddhist faithful hang lanterns bearing prayers and wishes all around the temples, which serve free vegetarian Bibimbap [...]
Somehow I always forget about the annual Gyeongju Shilla Ceramics Festival. It’s not that I hate Korean pottery or anything. (In fact, I’m a proud owner of several Korean tea sets). Rather, the fine folks over at Gyeongju’s City Hall always double book the Ceramics Festival along side other big events (which actually isn’t as [...]
Last Sunday we decided to brave the yellow sand and head down to Hwangseong Park to check out the first day of the World Teakwondo Championships. The atmosphere was festive and park was packed with locals and visiting athletes. There were hundreds of tents strewn about hawking everything from teakwondo gear, sports jerseys and Nike [...]
For most westerners, New Years Eve means late night parties with friends or family (and usually booze) where we count down the seconds to midnight and ring in the New Year with cheering and fanfare. Korea has a different, if no less alcoholic, way of ringing in the New Year. Every December 31st thousands of [...]
One thing I forgot to mention in my last post on the Gyeongju Cultural Center (경주문화원) is that the Center’s website has a great archive of old, black and white photos of Gyeongju. Unfortunately, the website’s only in Korean, which makes it a little tricky to navigate, plus they’ve disabled hard links. So, to get [...]
With our first blast of brisk weather and leaves starting to turn, fall is finally settling on Gyeongju. In about a week or so all the brilliant red, orange and gold autumn leaves will be at their peak, so I suggest getting out to enjoy their beauty before the dreariness of winter sets in. If [...]
Over the last couple of months I’ve managed to collect a few really killer guidebooks on the Gyeongju, mostly through tips from friends and browsing through the Gyeongju National Museum book store. If you’re visiting Gyeongju, you’d be doing yourself a big favor by picking up at least one of these books and giving it [...]
It’s Thursday morning which means that we’re down to the final day of the Gyeongju Liquor & Ddeok Festival (경주술과떡잔치) in Hwangseong Park. Unfortunately I missed the Festival’s kickoff Saturday, though I hear it was packed with people and the weather was gorgeous. By the time I got down there on Monday, this week-long [...]
Okay, so it looks like my predictions about the cherry blossoms being over this weekend were (thankfully) bogus. The cherries have survived our nasty bout of snow and cold Wednesday night and it looks like they’re still going strong. Barring any freak windstorms or rogue typhoons, the cherry flowers should still be in full bloom [...]
