Korea
In the Fall of 2003 I had a short visit to Seoul, Korea. Unfortunately, it was just a stopover for a couple of days but I did get to enjoy myself a bit. Right across the street from my hotel was the Bongeun-sa Buddhist Temple situated on the largest grounds that I had ever seen for a temple. When I entered, I felt from the beginning how nice and receptive everyone was. This has not always been my experience with different religions so I was pleasantly surprised. I walked around from building to building and really enjoyed the statues of Buddha in different forms that they had on the property. I found a huge statue of Buddha in one of the courtyards that was in all white and so beautiful. I came upon a room in my exploration that had people kneeling in prayer. It was my first experience watching Buddhists pray and a calm sensation came over me and I felt very peaceful in that moment. It is funny how sometimes an experience affects you many years later in ways you never imagined. I really enjoyed my visit to Bongeun-sa and the experience started an understanding inside of me for a peaceful place. The next day I got a chance to sneak away to the Aquarium. The Coex Aquarium is the largest in Asia and was absolutely amazing. I love zoos but an aquarium brings you in contact with new species that you don’t normally get to see. I really enjoyed the jellyfish exhibit. The lighting was perfect to see the details that made such a simple life form seem not so simple anymore. I don’t believe I have been to a more amazing aquarium to date with such a vast array of species on display. I truly enjoyed it. It would have been nice to have had more time to explore the city in depth but I did enjoy what I did get to see and it was a worthwhile stopover.
Bongeun-sa Buddhist Temple
Temple
Buddha
Buddha
Coex Aquarium
You can find more photos from this trip at www.ariagiovanni.com
Tags: 2003, aquarium, buddhist temple, Korea
September 5th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Sounds like fun. Last time I was in Korea was in 1994. I didn’t tour as much as you did. Just hung out at this bar in Itaewan called Heavy Metal suckin’ down soju kettles. Oh, you shoulda told me you were going, woulda given you some cash to score me a few liters of soju Green. Tas-tay!
September 5th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
osaka has a nice aquarium in japan, korea has a pretty good cinema, i had a thing for korean movies, i think they are better then japenese and chinese, eventhough th eonly movies i really see are japanese martial arts and horror films and well the chinese are martial arts and action films, today at work there was a big fish, i wasnt sure what it was but it got attacked by something most likely a snapping turtle and was missing a chunk from its tail and couldnt swim properly it was hiding in the buckwheat and lilypads, it wasnt a carp or catfish but it was a good 15 inches atleast, it might have been a bass, i seen the carp in the mornings an dthey are a good 18 inches atleast, the snapping turtle is about the size of a dinner plate, and there are some painted turtles that didnt make it as house pets, one is pretty big,, i seen the snapper trying to mate with it, but today a little guy was swimming towards sure, sad enough they wont let me take the canoe out to clean th elake, i ask but they always turn me down, the funny thing is the canoe is by a lake no one knows exists, an dthe lake that everybody goes to doesnt have one
September 8th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Hi Aria.
Have you ever been to the Aquarium in Chicago? I believe it is the largest in the world. It really is worth the trip if you are in town.
http://www.sheddaquarium.org/
November 11th, 2008 at 1:49 am
thx aria for these post. and i love you. please
keep posting. and please mail me if you free.
i m javed from bangladesh.