AFRAM IN KOREA

[South Korea] Nov 30 2007 ---- Yongsoo, Thuy, Hokyong, Jungseon Graduation Celebration Dinner

2007-12-09T03:06:00.001+09:00

[South Korea] Nov 24 2007 ---- Yeosu and Dolsan Tour

2007-12-09T03:02:00.000+09:00

[South Korea] Nov 24 2007 ---- With Wu Liang

2007-12-09T03:01:00.000+09:00

[South Korea] Nov 15 2007 ---- GIST Culture Night

2007-12-09T02:59:00.001+09:00

[South Korea] Nov 11 2007 ---- Dinner with Sarah, Shiba, Jenn, Dallas and Eric in GIST

2007-12-09T02:57:00.000+09:00

[South Korea] Nov 10 2007 ---- SeongAm Camp Members Get Together at Andrea's Place, Gwangju

2007-12-09T02:56:00.002+09:00

[South Korea] Nov 10 2007 ---- Pizza Hut with MJ and Friends, Gwangju Downtown

2007-12-09T02:56:00.001+09:00

[South Korea] Nov 10 2007 ---- Chosun University, Gwangju

2007-12-09T02:54:00.000+09:00

[South Korea] Nov 09 2007 ---- Diwali Celebrations in GIST

2007-12-09T02:53:00.000+09:00

[South Korea] Nov 09 2007 ---- GIST Athletics Day

2007-12-09T02:50:00.000+09:00

[South Korea] Nov 02-04 2007 ---- The 4th SeongAm International Cultural Awareness Youth Camp, Damyang

2007-12-09T02:47:00.000+09:00

[South Korea] Oct 21 2007 ---- Gwangju Kimchi Festival and Gwangju Museum of Art

2007-12-09T01:36:00.000+09:00

Kimchi festival was held in the Jungoe Park infront of Gwangju Folk Museum and Gwangju Art Museum.

I went there using bus 16 from GIST and got off at the Culture and Arts centre stop in Unam Dong. This was the last day of the festival and the attendance was huge. There were many stalls where you can eat the food and also buy Kimchi and try some for free. Inside the Folk Museum a new Kimchi Museum is also established for the event which I think will stay there afterwards. The museum displays a variety of Kimchi as well as the ingredients used to prepare the Kimchi including Kimchi plant, garlic plant and ginger plants. I saw the ginger plant for the first time over there. Many other products besides from the Kimchi were also being sold including rice cake, dry grains of different kinds, sea weed, vegetable shredder, stamps etc. A stall at the festival was making the Korean rice cake in a traditional way. It was fun to watch the procedure of making the rice cake and enjoying the freshly cooked rice cake. After that I went to the Art Museum and bought a very cheap ticket (i think 500 won) and visited the newly constructed multi storey museum having around 8 art galleries. After that I went back to the festival and enjoyed some live performance including walking on rope, circus, traditional drummers, dances etc. In the end of the ceremony the mayor of the Gwangju made a closing speech and everybody danced with the friendship rope around the fire. That was one of the best festivals I have attended in the Korea and very pleasant experience.

Attendance at the festival...

Kimchi jars for sale...

Try some kimchi here...

Inside the Kimchi Museum...

Kimchi jars...

Kimchi Plants...

Chillies...

Radish plants...

Garlic plants...

Ginger plants...

shops...

Griding the grains...

Traditional cloth making...

Rice cake making...
washing the rice...

boilers for the rice...

boiled rice...

removing rice from boiler...

crushing the rice...

Applying powder to the rice...

Cutting the rice...

Making handicrafts...

some finished products...

Learning traditional musical instruments...

Activities for children...

Sea weed seller...

selling sweets...

sauces made from sea food...

making breads...

vegetable shredder salesman...

larvae soup...

Korean pizza...

Pork...

Rice cold drink...

Dry fish...

saltyyyyyyy...

...

...

spherical bread...

seed oil...

dry grains...

dry fish...

jinseng...

...

stamps...

corn and larvae soup...

Pham...

Gwangju museum of art (GMA)...

pigeons...

Art gallery inside GMA...

A painting in GMA...

walking on the rope in the Kimchi festival...

people gathered to see the performance...

Kimchi man...

Korean traditional singers...

Gwangju city mayor...

closing ceremony...

Security staff (why he is so sad?)...

...

Give me kimchi performance...

Fire dance...

Lighting the fire...

Traditional drummers and dance...

End of the festival fire...

[South Korea] Oct 20 2007 ---- Inside Kim Dae Jung Convention Centre, Gwangju Design Biennale

2007-12-09T00:32:00.000+09:00

The trip to the Gwangju Design Biennale (GDB) held in Kim Dae Jung Convention Centre (KDJCC) was sponsored by the Korean class organizers at GIST. I reached KDJCC with Shilpa (india), Chau-vee (china), Un-bi (china), Hanh and Twan (vietnam) using bus 16 around 1PM. The teacher came directly to the KDJCC from her place along with her mother. The teacher bought the tickets for all of us. The student concession was available so we paid a little less (maybe 6000 won per person instead of 7000 won, dont remember exactly).

This was a cold day and a strong wind was blowing so not many people were outside the KDJCC.

Teacher buying the tickets...

KDJCC front...

Only few people outside KDJCC...

Inside KDJCC...

The inside of the GDB was divided into five themes L.I.G.H.T (Light, Identity, Green, Human, and Technology)...

Check the emotion inside your voice by speaking into a mike...

Light knitting on the fabric...

Eggs in the Light...

colorful dishes...

vase...

Stylish LCDs...

Drawing Lizard on the back...

Carpet made from the wither clothes...

Paper flowers...

vegetable slippers...

Light to sound. The instrument creates music like piano when touched or rotated...

More light...

Future cars...

Persian...

Inside the Technology...
Apple computer presented by Steve Jobs in 80's...

TV...

Telephone...

Radio...

Sewing machine...

...

Taking picture with the theme and filling the "Design"...

Cell phones, early and modern...

futuristic...

Flying in the clouds...

Burning in fire...

Chinese art gallery...

Art gallery...

On our way back we went to the Mr. Pizza in Cheomdan and had dinner together. Teacher gave us the money for the dinner too. The bill for Pizza was around 80000 won for 6 people and we ordered shrimp (Large), chicken (Large) and vegetable (Medium) pizzas. It was a long trip and we enjoyed a lot. We reached GIST in the night.

[South Korea] Oct 14 2007 ---- Outside Kim Dae Jung Convention Centre, Gwangju Design Biennale

2007-12-09T00:00:00.000+09:00

Gwangju Design Biennale (GDB) held in Kim Dae Jung Convention Centre (KDJCC) Gwangju from Oct 5th to Nov 3rd. KDJCC is located in the Sangmu area and we can take bus 16 from GIST or bus 518 from Gwangju bus terminal to reach there. If you take bus 16, you have to walk 10 minutes to reach the KDJCC and get off at Korea water supply corporation bus stop or alk the driver to tell you when to get off to go to KDJCC. 518 has a stop infront of the KDJCC.

I visited the place with Raheel and Riaz on Oct 14th. The day was very sunny and there was a big attendance at the event. The entrance ticket for GDB was around 7000 won per person. We did not go inside on that day and enjoyed the good weather with ice cream while sitting on the stairs and watching the people, playing kids with pressure firing rockets and fountains. Later next week I visited the place again with my Korean class students and teacher from the inside. We met with a nice Korean family and a presidential candidate Lee In Jae while sitting there. A Korean woman gave us a very delicious freshly made rice cake which we enjoyed very much. Its taste was similar to the Pakistani Halwa and we enjoyed it a lot. In the evening we came back using the bus 16 again. That was a good day and left beautiful memories.

Entrance to the KDJCC on GDB ...

Flowers used for dacoration infront of KDJCC on GDB...

Latest cars from KIA Motors...

Inside KDJCC....

People at the GDB...

Fountains infront of KDJCC...

Big sofa...

Teddy bear...

Raheel, I and Riaz

People infront of KDJCC on GDB...

And we met the presidential candidate Lee In Jae...
The presidential election will take place on Dec 18th...

With a Korean family while taking some rest...

The full album...

[South Korea] Oct 13 2007 ---- Jung Hwan Kook Wedding, Hwasun

2007-12-08T23:38:00.000+09:00

Jung Hwan Kook wedding took place in Hwasun, a town close to the Gwangju city. All the lab mates attended the wedding ceremony. We used a van to go there and Ho kyong was driving. The wedding was inside a church. On the first floor its the restaurant and on the second floor its church. We attended the wedding ceremony first and then went for the buffet type lunch. The lunch includes a variety of dishes including many sweets, fruit, fish and pork alongwith Korean traditional drinks made from rice. We stayed there for 2 hours and came back. When we reached GIST, Jungsa was missing. We probably left him behind. But he could come with other people.

The wedding ceremony includes the song sung by groom. Then the bride comes her father on the stage and then a priest makes a speech. The pictures of both bride and groom since their childhood, graduation, parents, dating etc. are projected. After the lunch the photo session starts where all the relatives and friends take pictures with bride and groom. After the photo session every body leaves.

Photo: Bride coming with her father

Photo: Jung-Hwan singing the song

Photo: A view of the church during wedding ceremony

Photo: Getting married

Photo: Projector screen which shows the information about the couple being married and shows their pictures after marriage

Photo: Ajumas at the wedding, all having the same hair style

Photo: Mincheol, Hokyong and me at the wedding

Photo: Group photo preparation with friends

[South Korea] Oct 13 2007 ---- 88th National Sports Festival

2007-12-08T23:32:00.000+09:00

Throughout the Gwangju city the festival is celebrated with different games. GIST provided facilities for Taekwando, Football and Running.

[South Korea] Oct 12 2007 ---- Lab Dinner

2007-12-08T23:23:00.000+09:00

Raw fish with noodles and sweet sauce tastes good.

Mudeungsan, Gwangju -- Sep 24, 2007

2007-10-02T08:52:00.000+09:00

I went to Mudeungsan with Riaz, Raheel, Farrukh and Tallal. It was a rainy day and I thought we were going to Chosun university in downtown, but on the GIST gate they told me that they want to go to Mudeungsan first. I resisted but they were not ready to listen, so we went to Mudeungsan using bus 9. We all had umbrellas and decided to hike the mountain. Initially I thought it was not a good idea as the weather is not good and track would be dangerous apart from my lack of stamina, but again they dragged me up. It was very hard to climb and at each step I was wishing to see the peak as soon as possible. With a lot of resistance and encouragement we hike quite high. From that peak nothing was visible as everything was covered with mist and we decided to descend after taking many pictures there. The downhill was also challenging as the danger of getting slipped increased. Eventually we came down. While in the bus we decided to go back to GIST and postpone the visit to Chosun university on some other day as we all were very tired and Farrukh had to cook. That was a nice day and we talked and joked a lot. My camera was slipped from the hand and hit a hard rock but it survived. It was a nice trip. Thank you all guys.

My 25th Birthday in GIST -- Oct 2, 2007

2007-10-02T08:42:00.000+09:00

Today (Oct 2, 2007) I turned to 25. I have mixed feelings of excitement and sorrow. Cant explain why.

Fahad's Farewell on 22 September 2007

2007-10-02T08:26:00.002+09:00

On september 22, 2007 We held an iftar party in the GIST kitchen for bid farewell to Fahad bhai who was leaving for U.S to start a job there. His work place is located in California and he went there on H1 visa. He had already completed his two years in PhD at GIST. He froze his PhD and went for US aiming to come back after one year, though it is uncertain. Lets see what happens as I will be here more than one more year. Many kinds of food was available. Tallal made Pakoray, Dr. Nasar brought some dumplings filled with minced meat, Fahad made some sharbat, Dr. Asif brought Biryani, we contributed in Juice, Pizza, Fruit and the rest. The food was very delicious. After the dinner we made some tea using the 'Earl Gray Tea' which had expired 2 years ago. We were joking about the harmful effects of expired tea while quoting about the people died in these days because of poisonous liquor in Karachi, Pakistan. But thank God, nothing happened to us. It was a beautiful evening. Tariq bhai and Umer were missing during the event. Later Umer told me that he had gone to the GIC. I dont know why Tariq bhai did not come. The food was more than enough and most of the Pizza was not consumed. We saved it in the fridge and used it in the Seher on next day. Fahad bhai left for U.S on 29th September. I met them on the sehri on that day. We really had a very good time with him and he was liked by everybody in GIST. Fahad bhai we wish you best of luck towards your future endeavours.

GIC Day -- Sep 16 2007

2007-09-18T06:14:00.000+09:00

The typhoon hit the south Korea on the same day as GIC day was planned on. The whole event was ruined by the rain and strong winds. In the afternoon at 2:10 PM, a bus picked us up from infront of the GIST admin building. We arrived at city hall where the event was planned at 2:30. After getting off from the bus we took shelter under the tents erected by the organizers. They provided us with the free raincoat and raffle ticket. I tried food from India, Nepal and Mexico. The food from Nepal was better than all which also got the first prize. The talent contest presented some dancing and singing events. Before that there was arm wrestling for men and women and yogurt drinking competition. Balu won the yogurt drinking competition. Another game of standing on a newspaper with a female partner and removing stockings using your foot muscles while picking your partner on the back. I qualified for the final round and lost there. After the contest there was the announcement of results for the raffle. I heard that no. 16 (my raffle ticket no.) was also called but I did not notice and lost a precious prize like digital camera or mp3 player while I was waiting in cue for the Mexican food. The event finished at 6:30 PM. The bus dropped us back at GIST. That was a terrible day and my back was aching because of unavailability of sitting place and standing 4 hours straight.

Ramzan 2007 in GIST

2007-09-18T06:06:00.001+09:00

This year Ramazan comes on Sep 13 in South Korea.
We have a nice gathering of Pakistani students in GIST. We all make Seher and Iftar together.
On Saturday 15th, we cooked a lot of food and invited people from all over Gwangju on Iftar. We cooked 8 chickens, boiled rice, chaat and lots of Pakoray.
On Monday 17th, Tariq bhai invited all of our mess members including Raheel, Favzihan, Aslam bhai, Fahad bhai, Fevzihan, Farrukh, Tallal, Hussain and Indonesian guy (I dont know his name) on Iftar. The food included Pakoray, chaat, apple, grapes, biryani and meethi sawaiyan. That was delicious. Thanks Tariq bhai.

ITISF, Daegu -- Aug 23-25 2007

2007-09-18T05:54:00.000+09:00

At Kyungbook National University (KNU), Daegu, IT International Student Fair (ITISF) was held from Aug 23 to Aug 25. Many students from all over the Korea joined the fair. In the morning at 9, the buses picked us up from GIST and took us to KNU. After getting there we were assigned a room in the dormitory. My room mate was Umer. In the afternoon we went to the opening ceremony where traditional Korean singing performance was presented along with the speeches from eminent persons from Ministry of Science, IT Scholarship and KNU. The other events include job fair, presentations by companies, talent contest, martial arts performance, POSCO visit and Gyeongju visit.

Gwangju International Performing Arts Festival

2007-08-22T01:15:00.000+09:00

On Aug 18 and 21 I went to Gwangju International Performing Arts Festival held in Gwangju Culture and Art Centre in Unam Dong area. Aug 18 Russian dance performance was spectacular. Bus 16 goes directly there from GIST. The ticket price for russian dance performance was 10000 won. On Aug 18 I went alone but on Aug 21 I went there with Umer. On Aug 21 two performances were held. First performance was by an American company called Brian Brooks Company and the second performance was from a Korean company called Soon Dance company. The ticket price was 5000 won for both performances. Since there were many seats available so we sat on the front seats even though we bought the cheapest ticket for the rear seats.

Uchi Park

2007-08-20T01:37:00.001+09:00

Today me and Khisa went to Uchi Park from GIST on bicycles. This park is located in the north east of Gwangju city. It takes around half an hour and the entrance ticket is 1500 won. Kumho Family Land is also located besides the Uchi Park whose entrance ticket is 5000 won. Inside the family land you can enjoy many rides like roller coaster, swinging boat. There is also a maritime museum or aquarim inside whose entrance ticket is also 5000 won. Roller coaster ride costs 4000 won.

GIST Commencement Ceremony Fall 2007

2007-08-17T11:38:00.000+09:00

Yesterday (16 Aug) commencement ceremony was held in the GIST main auditorium inside administration building. A total of 92 students including 64 Masters and 28 Ph.D were awarded with degrees. Many of my friends including Mincheol (Ph.D), Wonki, Umer, Khisa, Mijan, Ishwor (M.S) graduated in this ceremony. After the ceremony Professor Jedol brought some wine and Mincheol and Wonki tossed the wine. In the evening we went to a restaurant to have dinner. After that many we went to Kukuba.

Aug 14 2007 Independence Day Dinner in Mr. Pizza

2007-08-14T22:31:00.000+09:00

Today me, Tallal, Hussain, Dr. Asif, Fahad bhai, Tariq bhai, Aamir bhai and Aslam bhai went to Mr. Pizza to have a dinner together on the occasion of Pakistan's independence day. We ordered two large size vegetable pizzas and a pitcher of sprite. The salad refills are free as much as you can. We went there around 6:30 PM and came back around 8:30 PM. It is a very nice family place located inside the Cheomdan Area near the LC Tower. The cost was around 60000 won for eight people.
Before coming back we visited the garments shop called 'So Basic' near the LC tower which had a big 'SALE' banner. Hussain bought a shirt in 7000 won and Fahad bhai purchased shorts and shirt for 19000 and 8000 won respectively.

Mudeungsan Gwangju

2007-08-12T21:27:00.000+09:00

Today I went to Mudeungsan in Gwangju with Umer. Its a mountain in the east of the city which has several temples and Uijae art museum. It was a rainy day and we took bus no. 9 infront of the GIST and got off at the last stop Jungsimsa Temple. It takes an hour to reach there. The view of the mountain in this season is very nice as there is a lot of greenery all around. To hike the mountain needs a lot of stamina which we did not have so we did not go to the top, instead returned from the mid. But on the way there is a temple from which the view of the top of mountain is marvellous.

Photo: View of the top from a temple

The Jungsimsa temple is near the base of the mountain and is a big temple.

Photo: Jungsimsa Temple

Further down is the Uijae Korean art museum which displays the work of Uijae including chinese calligraphy and oriental paintings.

Photo: Uijae's Photograph

Photo: Chinese calligraphy by Uijae

Photo: Oriental Painting by Uijae

This is a very nice gallery and close to this is Uijae's residence.

Photo: Uijae's Residence

On the way back we took bus 51 and got off at GIST after an hour. It was raining heavily.

Meeting and Dinner with MJ and Friends

2007-08-12T10:43:00.000+09:00

Last night I was invited by MJ for dinner. He works in samsung insurance company whose office is on the 6th floor of the KT building besides Dong-gu chung (city hall) building in downtown area of Gwangju. He is a korean and runs an English language class every saturday from 4 to 6 PM. I was supposed to go there using the bus no. 51 infront of the GIST but while leaving I met Jung Hwan Kook who was going to his home in his car. He gave me lift to KT building. I met MJ and his Korean friends at his office and we had an introduction session. Around 6 o'clock we went for dinner. They invited me to come to the class every saturday. Mr. Sungtae Lee lives in Cheomdan area and attends the class regularly. He told me he can pick me up every saturday if I want. After the dinner he dropped me at the GIST. He told me he makes oil paintings on every Sunday. I had a nice time and hope to attend again.

Gwangju Art Museum and Gwangju Folk Museum Tour

2007-08-11T22:11:00.000+09:00

Today I went to Gwangju Art Museum and Gwangju Folk Museum with Khisa. Gwangju Art musem is located near the Biennale park and bus no. 16 goes there directly from GIST. Its a small Museum similar to an Art Gallery displaying various paintings. In total it has two floors containing three galleries. Gwangju Folk Museum is located on a fifteen minutes walk from Gwangju Art Museum. This museum is very nice and displays the folk culture of Korea and many photographs from the past and present of Korea. There is no entry ticket for art museum and 500 won for folk museum.

While using bus no. 16 you need to get off at culture and arts centre bus stop. The art museum is inside the culture and arts centre. The new gwangju museum of art is close to the gwangju folk museum inside the biennale/jungoe park and is much better with multiple storey art galleries and much more paintings.

Jeju Tour in Summer Vacations Aug 04-09, 2007

2007-08-10T16:02:00.001+09:00

In summer vacations I went to Jeju island. Jeju is the biggest island of South Korea and is also a self governing province. The best season to visit the Jeju island is considered to be the summer season in the months of July and August. So my timing was perfect but during this season everything is more expensive because the tourists from all over the Korea come to Jeju.
Through the Global Freeloaders website I was able to find a place free of cost to live in the Jeju. There are other websites also available to request a free accomodation like Hospitality Club and Couch Surfing. My host was Richard in Jeju. He is an American teaching English on the island and has a flat in one of the apartments in Jeju city near the Airport. I used to cook my own food and he was kind enough to allow me to use his scooter to visit around the places. Without his help this visit would not be possible for me. Thanks Rich.

Photo: Richard's Scooter

The weather of Jeju is very capricious and everything can happen from scorching sunlight to rain storm within minutes. Strong winds blow on the island and the extinct volcano Mount Hallasan control the weather of the island.
I left the Gwangju on the morning of Aug 04, 2007 and returned back on the evening of Aug 09. The details of my trip are as follows:

Day 1: Aug 04, 2007

Last night I completed my packing and slept early. In the morning I woke up early and took my breakfast. After that I took a bus from GIST to Gwangju bus terminal. I purchased a direct bus ticket to Wando for 13200 won and waited for half an hour for the bus. The bus leaves every half an hour from the Gwangju bus terminal and reaches Wando in 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Photo: Gwangju to Wando bus ticket

Around 2 PM i was in Wando. I took a taxi from the wando bus terminal to Wando ferry terminal which costs 2000 won. I bought a ticket for ferry which costs 21650 won. The ferry leaves at 3:30 PM. The weather was pretty nice and I enjoyed the ferry ride. Most of the time I was on the deck and looking into the sea for small islands and ships.

Photo: Wando to Jeju Ferry "Hanil Express"

After three hours of beautiful journey ferry was at the Jeju port. Distance between Wando and Jeju is around 65 km but the speed of the ferry is around 20 km/hr I guess thats why it takes 3 hours. On the ferry the first floor is for the cars and second and third floors are for passenger rooms, rest room, tuck shop, information desk and Lobby. At 6:30 I got off the ferry at Jeju port and took a taxi to the Richard's Apartment for 9000 won.

Photo: Passengers getting off at Jeju Ferry terminal

I met Richard and he showed me his apartment and we went to the top of the 11 storey apartment building to have a view of the island. The island contains concentrated population in the Jeju city area and the other places are much calm and contain cultivated lands and green hills and Mount Halla. In the night thousands of squid catching boats dotted all the sea around the island with their bright light to attract the squids. Richard told me that he had a plan to go pick the psychedelic mushrooms in the mountain with his friend and we went together. Although we did not find any mushrooms but what we saw was spectacular. We saw some deers in the wild and tried to take their pictures. But the pictures were not very good as the night was too dark and the camera flash could not illuminate the whole place. But in some pictures we captures glowing eyes of the deers.

After that we went to the mysterious road. The things roll uphill on this road.

Photo: Football rolling uphill on the mysterious road

Day 2: Aug 05, 2007
Close to the Apartments there are two marts to buy the food and other stuff. I went there in the morning and purchased milk, mango juice, tuna fish, eggs, soap, tommatoes, onions, rice, bread etc. and did my breakfast. I had purchased enough food for 4 days for 25000 won. Richard and I went to the Gwakji beach in the morning. The sea was pretty turbulent due to a storm hit the Japan but it was a good experience. Gwakji is a nice beach with white sand. There is a fresh water bath on the beach. I took some swimming lessons from Richard and did some snorkling.

Photo: Gwakji Beach

In the evening we came back and were hit by a rain storm. After getting back to Appartment I prepared my dinner and slept.

Day 3: Aug 06, 2007
Richard had to go to his job so I was alone to visit around. I went to Soingook/Miniature theme park. Entrance ticket costs 6000 won. It contains many sclaed models and is a nice place to visit.

Photo: Taj Mahal Model in Soingook/Miniature Theme Park

After that I went to Jungmun area and visited teddy bear musem. Entrance ticket costs 6000 won.

Photo: Teddy mimics Mahatama Gandhi

Photo: Teddy for sale

After that did a quick visit of the Jungmun area seeing ICC Jeju, Africa Museum and Yakcheonsa temple from outside.

Photo: Windmill in Jungmun Area

Photo: Jungmun Area Seaside

Photo: International Convention Centre (ICC), Jeju

Photo: Africa Museum

Photo: Yakcheonsa Temple

In the night I returned back and was hit by a rain storm.

Day 4: Aug 07, 2007
Decided to go towards the East of the island and visited some temples in Samyang Area. These temples are located on a small hill.

Photo: Temple in Samyang

A track leads up to the top of the hill. The Jeju city view from the top of the hill is very beautiful. On one side you can see the city life, on the other side you can see the cultivated and green area and on the temples side you can see the ships in the sea. Very nice view.

Photo: Jeju city view from the top of a hill in Samyang Area

Photo: Jeju island Greenery

Photo: Jeju Seaside view from a hill in Samyang Area

After that I went to Samyang beach. The beach has black sand and looks dirty because of it. The attendance at this beach was very low.

Photo: Samyang Beach

Further east is the Manjangul Lava Tube cave. The entrance to the cave costs 2000 won. The cave is very big and very cold from inside. The inside temperature of the cave is around 15 celcius while the outside temperature was around 28 celcius. The water was dripping at many places from the ceiling of the cave.

Photo: Manjanggul Lava Tube cave

While coming back from the cave I stopped at Gimnyeong and Hamdeok beach. Hamdeok beach had the second highest attendance level.

Photo: Gimnyeong beach

Photo: Hamdeok beach

Day 5: Aug 08, 2007
Biyangdo island is a small island located in the north west of the Jeju island. The ferry for Biyangdo leaves at Hallim port at 1200 noon and takes 10 minutes to reach Biyangdo. I went there in time and purchased a return ticket of ferry for 3000 won. The island is small and the circumference is less than 3 km. But its very beautiful. There is a track around the island. On one side of the track is the Mountain and on the other side is the sea shore full of black rocks. The ferry to go back to Jeju comes around 3 PM.

Photo: Ferry to Biyangdo Island

Photo: Biyangdo Island

Photo: Biyangdo Island Track

After that I went to Hyeopjae Beach and did some swimming. The weather was hot today and no rain storm hit today. The beach is the most beautiful among Gwakgi, Samyang, Gimnyeong and Hamdeok beach and the attendance was highest.

Photo: Hyeopjae Beach

After that I went to the last place that I visited in Jeju, Hallim Park. Hallim park contains many sections including botanical garden, hyeopjae cave, ssangyong cave, stone and bonsai garden, folk village, bird garden, water garden and flower garden. The entry ticket is 7000 won for Hallim Park. The park closes at 7 PM.

Photo: Spherical shape cactus in Hallim Park botanical garden

Photo: Hyeopjae Cave in Hallim Park

Photo: Ssangyong Cave in Hallim Park

Photo: A rock in Stone and Bonsai Garden in Hallim Park

Photo: Folk village in Hallim Park

Photo: Ducks in Bird Garden of Hallim Park

Photo: Waterfall and Lotus in the Water Garden, Hallim Park

Photo: Flower in Hallim Park

I came back to the apartment after that. Completed my packing to go back early in the morning. Packing sucks!

Day 6: Aug 09, 2007
Woke up early at 6:40 AM. Richard dropped me at port at 7:40 and I took the Ferry back to Wando. Took a taxi to bus terminal. Took a bus to Gwangju. Took a bus to GIST. Reached the GIST around 3 P.M.

The tour was fun.

May 18 Cemetery, Gwangju

2007-07-29T16:41:00.000+09:00

Today me, Umer and Khisa went to May 18 Cemetery in Gwangju. It is located in the North east side of the city. The place is outside the city and the surrounding is covered by small mountains. We took a taxi from GIST. While going taxi driver took the long way and he entered the Honam Express way from Gwangjsan Interchange located at the west of GIST. It took us half an hour to reach the cemetery and we paid 13000 KRW. We visited the whole cemetery including the museum, photo room and grave yard area. The weather was very hot today. While coming back we again called a taxi with the help of the lady at the information counter of the cemetery. She also gave us booklet titled "A guide to May 18, Revisiting historical places of the May 18 Scenes" and a CD titled "Memento Memory, 10 Days of the memory of the May 18 Democratic uprising". The CD contains a documentry movie in Korean language with English subtitles on the democratic uprising. While coming back taxi driver took the shorter path and we reached in GIST only in 20 minutes and the meter showed 8300 KRW. We paid him 9300 KRW as we had to pay 1000 KRW extra to call a taxi on a remote place. Overall the place is very nice and one should definitely visit that place during his visit in Gwangju.

In Korea on October 26th, 1979, Kim Jae Kyu, the Chief of the Korea Central Intelligence Agency fatally shot President Park Chung Hee and brought the President Park's 4th Republic to an end.

After the Murder of President Park, Chun Doo Hwan seized power by executing 12-12 coup d'etat using his military influence.

However Koreans who have been thirsting for democracy under President Park's dictatorship held violent demonstrations which continued until May, 1980.

In response Chun's military authority declared martial law nationwide effective midnight of May 17th, 1980 and sent out the special airborne troops to Gwangju.

"Operation Nice Vacation" began in this manner.

Jeollanamdo Tour

2007-07-28T22:41:00.001+09:00

Today me, Amit and Iree went on Jeollanamdo tour rally organized by the Provincial Office. The tour included the visit of Mokpo Natural History Museum, National Maritime Museum, Traditional Korean dance and drum performance at Jeollanamdo Provincial office, Muan Lotus Park, and Hampyeong Ecological Park.

The tour was fully supported by a provincial office of Jeollanamdo and included 2 bus tour course. Around 70 people were present at the rally. The bus picked us at the main gate of the GIST.

Photo: Waiting infront of the GIST main gate

Then we headed for the Mokpo.

Photo: On the way to Mokpo

Departure from GIST took place around 9.30 in the morning and we arrived Mokpo at 11 a.m.

Photo: Inside Mokpo

First of all we visited the Mokpo Natural History Museum,

Photos: Mokpo Natural History Museum

Then we went to National Maritime Museum, Mokpo, which is located infront of the Mokpo Natural History Museum.

Photos: National Maritime Museum, Mokpo

After that we were brought to the Jeollanamdo Provincial Office located in Mokpo where we took our lunch.

Photos: Jeollanamdo Provincial Office located in Mokpo

After the lunch Korean Traditional Dancers and Korean Traditional Drummers presented their skills.

Photos: Korean Traditional Dancers and Drumers Performing at Jeollanamdo Provincial Office

Then we went to Muan Lotus Park.

Photos: Muan Lotus Park

In the Last we went to Hampyeong Ecological Park.