23 Jan 2015

4D movies in Korea

A few weeks ago when we visted Seoul for a winter weekend, we checked out a 4Dx movie. This was something completely new to me as we don't have these in South Africa. We watched The Hobbit at CGV in Sinchon and it really was a mind blowing experience. 


We had to go to the morning show as the seats were all sold out in the evening and I definitely would not be able to stay awake for a 1am show. Seeing a movie in the morning feels kind of strange but we weren't complaining as tickets are much cheaper and we paid 12000won each. Booking movies is surprisingly easy for foreigners with the use of CineKorea and it worked perfectly for us. 

We have seen a couple of movies in Jeonju and one thing that is different from the movies in South Africa, are the snacks. Popcorn flavours generally come in caramel or onion and other snacks like dried squid are sold. In Sinchon however, they sold 'gourmet popcorn' including popcorn covered in chocolate and white berry popcorn. I tried the white berry popcorn and it was delicious!!


The 4Dx movie experience was literally amazing!! On top of the 3D graphics, the seats move and shake, water and wind blow in your face and you even experience different smells. The Hobbit was a good choice to check out in 4D as the scenes are dynamic and there is so much opportunity for 4D. I mean you really feel like you are in a fight scene when you are getting punched in the back. 


Watching a 4Dx movie was really worthwhile and I was captivated the whole time. You definitely aren't going to fall asleep in a 4D movie. I definitely wan't to check out a couple more 4D movies before leaving Korea. 

12 Jan 2015

Gochangeupseong Fortress


Now that we are in the heart of winter, it is often difficult to get motivated to leave the house to explore new places. But, we are always looking for easy day trips from Jeonju and so we started off the new year with a trip to the small town of Gochang. We were eager to check out the Gochangeupseong Fortress. Gochang is about an 80 minute bus ride from Jeonju. 

Dean and I both love being outdoors and in nature so Gochang has definitely been one of our favourite outings. It is not often in Korea that you can escape the thousands of people, but the Gochang fortress was surprisingly quiet and peaceful. There were only a few families around having fun in the snow.




We arrived in Gochang to thick snow which made the fortress look particularly beautiful and gave it a different feel to what typical pictures showed. We were dressed really warmly (Nowadays I wear 2 jackets!!) but there were blue skies, the sun was out and the weather was actually rather pleasant. The entrance fee to the fortress is 1000won. 





The fortress is just behind the town and was built in 1453. It was used to defend against Japanese invasions. You can walk along the wall which is 1.6km. We walked around the whole fortress and didn't see anybody, it was great!


Inside the fortress there are many different paths and there is a bamboo forest which is an interesting contrast to the surrounding pine trees. 


I would definitely recommend a visit to Gochang fortress. It was nice to have a change from some of the typical Korean sites, especially since it was so quiet.

Directions. 

The available directions online were a bit vague but the fortress is actually easy to get to. When you leave the Gochang bus terminal, walk left at the main road. After about 500m, turn right at an intersection just before a school. Walk for about 150m, cross a bridge. and the fortress entrance is straight ahead. 

5 Jan 2015

Christmas in Korea

Christmas is not a very celebrated holiday in Korea and for some reason it is thought of as a 'couple holiday'. This didn't deter us and so we had a big Christmas celebration with a group of our foreigner friends in Jeonju.

We got into the Christmas spirit and decorated our apartment and it felt nice and cozy with the cold weather outside.


Our friends came over for an afternoon of good food and company as well as some games. There was so much yummy food, Christmas jumpers, and even gluwein and champagne too.


We organized a secret Santa and there were some interesting gifts including a BB gun.


It was a lovely day and definitely a memorable Christmas in Korea.


1 Jan 2015

Winter weekend in Seoul

In a last attempt to check out any Christmas spirit in Korea, myself, Dean and our friend Marcel, headed to Seoul the weekend before Christmas. We were hoping, that like most major cities, we would see a substantial "Christmasy" atmosphere with lots of lights and high spirits. Unfortunately we were a bit dissapointed as there was not too much. We still made the most of our time and had some good food and experience some freezing weather. 

We started off our weekend with a stroll along the Cheonggyecheon Stream. The weather was icy but it was really peaceful to walk alongside the river.


We had lunch at Richard Copycat in Itaewon. The restaurant is at the end of the Itaewon "strip" near the High Street Market. It is quite a chic restaurant and kind of reminds me of places in Camps Bay in Cape Town. In summer the restaurant is open air so I can imagine it would be a cool place to hang out. They serve some good food, bottomless drinks, and we enjoyed great sandwiches and burgers. Since visiting I have read some terrible reviews about Richard Copycat on Trip Advisor but I have to disagree with them as our experience there was pleasant. 


In the evening, we checked out the giant Christmas tree near the Seoul City Hall. Just near the tree was some outdoor ice skating. We were really enthusiastic to try it out so we queued up. We stood in the freezing cold for 30 minutes, only to find out we had been in the wrong queue and were actually meant to book a session. The next session was sold out and as we didn't want to hang around for the next 2 hours, we ended up giving the ice skating a miss. The winter weather in Seoul can definitely be mean. The winds were icy and the evening temperature (not including the wind chill) was -10 degrees! 


We ended off our weekend with a 4Dx movie (more on this soon) which was amazing and definitely the highlight of my weekend. 

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