Tuesday 14 April 2009

Cherry Blossom Festival/대천 Beach





































Ok...well, the cherry blossoms FINALLY arrived like I was anticipating, and so this past weekend I went to Cheonan's Cherry Blossom Festival, and it was really awesome. Actually...I went to 대천 (Daecheon) Beach in the morning and then to the Cherry Blossom Festival in the evening.
We (Dana, Sam, I) left for the beach at around 10 AM. We had planned to leave at 9, but Sam overslept and honestly (even though this hardly ever happens) I did too (I woke up at about 8:50). I hit snooze several times and then then did the "Ok, I'm awake so I'll turn off my alarm, but then I actually fall back asleep" routine. I thought I was going to make us late, and when I called Sam he answered on like the 10th ring and I could tell I woke him up! HA! So, anyway...we took off for the beach. We stopped along the way and you can always tell the areas that don't see many foreigners because they all just stop and stare at you. So, we grabbed some snacks and headed down to the beach. We got there around 11:30. I was hoping to jump into the sea and take a swim...but when I got about ankle deep in the water, I quickly decided that there would be no swimming taking place (at least not on my behalf) as the water was freezing cold. The weather was nice, but the water was cold. So...we bummed around and looked at all kinds of sea creatures, and then strolled up and down the beach. Koreans dress a lot different than Americans at the beach. Very few people were wearing swimming suits...in fact...most people were wearing pants and jackets, and I swear it was mid 70s! I was surprised! Dana's friend lives there and so she met us for lunch, we had 해물탕 (Haemultang) which is seafood soup http://www.flickr.com/photos/misskoco/443445835/ It includes shrimp, octopus, and a whole bunch of other seafood. There were some really good things that I pulled out of shells! HAHA! Sam didn't eat much, I guess I am pretty adventurous when it comes to food. Anyway...I thought it was really good, and actually octopus is very delicious. So...after we ate, we saw a really cool hiking area that had some rocks, so we hiked around there for a while and got some really cool pictures.
We headed back to Cheonan and then went to the Cherry Blossom Festival later in the day. It was at a local high school (Bugil High School) and in the evening there were fireworks. It was a little crazy, I had never been up front for fireworks, but we were like literally in the very front row and the fireworks were exploding right over our heads. So, after they fell...all the little stuff from the fireworks was like falling all on us! HA! It was crazy! It was cool I saw some of the girls from the middle school too...so they said HI and I talked to them for a bit.
So...I had a great weekend...now that spring has finally arrived, I'm hoping for more good times. Good Bye winter!
:)

4 comments:

Deborah said...

I love the pictures!!!

Rebecca said...

Those cherry blossoms are seriously so pretty! I know that's not all of the pictures that you took, and so you know I want all of them! I'm glad you had a nice weekend!

Rebecca said...

And, that octopus soup looks disgusting to me. So, yes, you are adventurous with food!

Tom said...

Ben, I gotta admit, when I read what you are eating, I do a double take. You used to be so picky with food and now look at you. You are growing up so fast.