myretroperspective

This past weekend we headed out of town with some friends to mudfest, about a four hour drive up the west coast of Korea. can i just take a second here to comment on how fast this summer is going? I feel like i was just making our bucket list, and now we have some of the major events crossed off of it. Except my six pack, that may just stay on there. Back to the story. The city of Boryeong is a tiny little town that is known for the health benefits of their mineral rich mud, why else cover yourself from head to toe in it? Actually, the whole idea of mud fest was created in order to promote their mud cosmetics. Now, in the span of nine days, hundreds of thousands of people travel from around the country to pass through this town and roll around in the mud. We were no exception. While we were there we: Saw my first boxing match. I've always wanted to see one and there just so happened to be a match for free between Japan and Korea. I've never seen a guy's head bounce like tha...

last weekend we headed into busan to check out the annual sand castle festival. word to the wise: never head into a big city on a saturday afternoon. we had plans that morning so couldn't leave until 2 and that meant that we were very unfortunately stuck in 3 hours of traffic. thank goodness we had the company of good friends.  they had sand sledding for the wee ones. it was one of the few times that i wish i was a little kid again. one of the of the many sand sculptures at the festival. they were so detailed and intricate. i will admit, i thought that the sand sculptures would be more upright instead of flat against a heap of sand but i'll take what i can get. these girls were so cute while putting the finishing touches on the race car that they obviously did on their own with no help. we ended the trip with a visit to our favorite mexican restaurant, taco señora. always the perfect way to end a trip to the city.

This past weekend we decided to make the hour trip north to the city of Jinhae, on the southern coastline, with our friends Mike and Alissa. The town is best known for the estimated 340,000 cherry blossom trees that bloom for only a few short weeks each spring. At the beginning of those weeks the city holds the annual Jinhae Gunhangjae Festival, this year marking the 49th year. in 1952 a statue of Korea's greatest naval hero was erected in the city's center, and since 1963, the festival has been held annually in honor of him. Each year these trees that are thought to be native to Korea attract over 1 million visitors. I apologize ahead of time for the overwhelming amount of photos that are sure to make you jealous. Our first stop was to romance bridge. It spreads 1.5 km long with cherry blossom trees arching over the stream on both sides. Our good friends Mike and Alissa who we went with Jeremy loves making friends with the locals. The owner of a small snack cart that makes r...