The Kennedy's Tour Asia - South Korea

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July 28th 2009

Published: July 28th 2009

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griffster

Expo

Once the whirlwind of China was over, we all got on planes and headed to my temporary home. "Home base" was my apartment in Ulsan, but we ended up all over the place. Luckily, and with many thanks to NOV, I have a sufficiently large enough apartment to house those goons. Don't get me wrong, it was great to see them and all, but you could barely walk through the luggage in my place for two weeks! But I still had my own bed, and the couch was big enough for Doug to sprawl on. I must admit, it was nice to have mom and dad around to cook and do laundry. And Doug too, to... do whatever it is that Doug does.

While I was working during the weekdays, they all took off on day trips to Busan, wandered Ulsan, and generally just explored. You'll have to ask mom for her pictures if you want to see their adventures, but I imagine they are pretty similar to pictures I've already posted in the past.

On my part, the most exciting day was when Martin (my good friend/agent from before) took us up to Gyeongju ("Kee-ONG-joo") for the day.

Expo

Art exhibit piece

We saw temples, went to the world expo park, and went to the traditional Korean saunas. These saunas well off the beaten track, and are not tourist attractions by any means. Korean people frequent them for relaxation and rejuvenation. Having Martin around is an excellent perk! They are a series of clay and stone huts that are "igloo-shaped" (for our Canadian readers). Some of the base stones are over 400 years old. They are wood-fired, provide a very dry heat, and have a variety of temperatures ranging from "a hot day" to "LITERALLY hard-boiling eggs". You can eat the eggs afterwards, which take about 2 hours to cook. After the sauna, there is a Korean bbq restaurant right next door to have dinner at. This is a standard meal for me now, but the fam thought it was pretty neat since you cook your own pork right on the table, etc. Mom had her first taste of soju!

Additional photos below

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