I just got back from Danyang with my dad. I feel like I got a real taste of the countryside on this trip. My dad's cousin has a Galbi restaurant, so I ate so much on this trip. After today's lunch, I almost felt like throwing up. Painfully wonderful.




One thing that I really love about our Korean culture is its value of sharing meals with familiar family and friends. My dad and I were originally supposed to have dinner with just my distant cousin's husband. When we got to the restaurant, my dad's cousin said that we should also invite his youngest daughter and her husband. After them, he also called up his brother in law whom my dad used to tutor back when he was in college. There are three things that Koreans absolutely love: meat, soju, and coffee. The best part was that it was all free.

No crowds.

No honking.

No subways.

Clean water.

Clean land.

Clean ground.

Terribly different from Seoul.


We went to this place that makes those old school pots that can hold great amounts of 된장 and what have you.




These are the results.

Afterwards, we took a lil boatride down the Southern Han River.


This was my favorite part of the boatride. There was this huge area with frozen plates of ice, but we just went through all of it. It reminded me of Titanic.


My dad was really excited to take me to this cave. At first, I was imagining a dark dark hole that would be super cold. Much to my disappointment, it had all these stairs and lights. At least it was pretty warm inside.


As we were ducking our heads and walking really carefully, my dad happily commented that Zen could probably run around without any problems. He also mentioned that some areas would be difficult for my brother cause he wouldn't be able to fit through some rocks. My dad is a wise man.






Now we have our zenith of the trip (literally). The main reason why we went down to Danyang was to go up Taebaek San, supposedly one of the most natural parts of Korea. My dad's been wanting to go to this mountain for so many years, so he was thrilled when we finally started our hike. The hike up was about 2.6 miles.





I know it doesn't look steep, but that's cause I had to tilt my phone to take the picture. The hill was like Sky Farm steep! <--- Only a few will get that.

Although I'm smiling in this picture, I was quite disappointed to find my phone with low battery when we got to the top of the mountain. That's where all the best scenery was! Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience with the freezing wind. My body never knew it could feel that cold. I took off my gloves for a few seconds to fix my sunglasses, and my whole hand went numb in an instant. I was truly amazed by the cold.

Throughout the whole hike, I couldn't stop praising God for making so many beautiful things. It was worth all the shivering and leg aching. The crappy part was that my phone went back up to one bar when we were half way down. Work just HAD to call me!

At the bottom of the mountain, we were welcomed by the Snow Flower Festival. Everyone thought it wasn't that great, but I was greatly impressed. I mean, they freakin' built huge sculptures out of snow! It's not like you can make a better snowman.





Naked woman. Hehe.


Some of you may recognize this as the monster from 괴물 or "The Host." I was most impressed by this one.

Pooh.


They also had this cafe made out of ice where they were selling coffee for 3,000won. Yikes.

I liked the cupholders.

My dad's cousin was nice (and drunk) enough to pay for our two nights at a condo. This was the view from our room. The best part about the condo was the sauna. My dad and I went both nights.

So, in conclusion, my phone can take some pretty dope pictures. I wish you could've been there with me. God, thank you for Danyang, Taekaek, and everything that was there.

Back to work tomorrow.

Thought of the Day: Car trouble.
Song of the Day: Crying Nut-밤이 깊었네