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Trip to Los Angeles and Its Vicinities

Trip to New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia(IV)

Shortly after checking out of the Holiday Inn, located in northwestern part of Manhattan, we took the New York subway down to Penn Station to transfer to the New Jersey Transit there around 10 o'clock in the morning. Though it's not easy for visitors to transfer from the subway to the transit, we were able to make it in a timely manner.

It took approximately an hour to our destination, Edison Station by the transit. And my old friend 'Youngpyo' were there to meet me. Actually he immigrated into the states some five years ago with his wife and a son. The next morning, we left for Philadelphia to meet one of our old friends 'Seunggu' living there. He moved to the state more than 30 years ago shortly after his marrige.

After joining 'Seunggu' we moved to LONGWOOD GARDENS, located on US Route 1, about 3 miles northeast of Kennett Square, Pensylvania, to explore a magical world of orchids and to have lunch together at the Terrace Restaurant in the gardens.

Trip to New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia(III)

A KOREAN HOME (Exhibited on the American Museum of Natural History located in Manhattan Square Central Park, New York)

"In this scene of a 19th-century upper-class Korean home, scholar sits in his studio reading a philosophy text, while his wife manages household affairs from the privacy of her inner room. The two rooms suggest complementary themes in traditional Korea life: Korean successfully adapted Chinese high culture while maintaining older Korean customs. The traditional Korean scholar based his concepts of government, morality, etiquette, rituals and family life on the teachings of Confucius and other Chinese social philosophers. His wife visited Buddhist temples, however, and honored household gods for the well-being of her family. In a crisis, she might visit a shaman who would perform a divination and suggest an appropriate ritual cure.

Hand-made mulberry paper covers the walls and floors of both these rooms. A system of flues under the floor supplies heat during the cold Korean winter. The furniture is designed for life at floor level, trays of food are carried in at mealtime and sleeping mats are rolled out at night.

Many of the furnishings in this exhibit date from the 19th-century; the rest are modern reproductions.

Scholar’s Studio (Sarang pang) at the lefthand side;

The traditional Korean scholar read and wrote in classical Chinese, a language very different from his own. Here he reads the philosopher Mencius in a Korean translation that combines Chinese characters and the Korean alphabet (Hangeul). The low document case at the back of the room holds the scholar’s writing equipment, his brushes and porcelain water dropper. His inkstick and inkstone rest in a special stand beside his desk. A simple but elegant landscape in ink hangs on the wall."

Trip to New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia(II)

Monday, November 28th 2011, we have witnessed the traditional family value is still alive in the heart of New York, Manhattan. The photo shows grandparents taking their grandchildren to school by walk early in the morning in the Upper West, west side of the Central Park, near the 94th Street Broadway. A grandmother is walking hand in hand with her granddaughters, while her husband walking alone beside with the little girls' backpacks in his hand.

Trip to New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia(I)

At eight o'clock in the morning on November 26, 2011, Saturday, my wife and I was in Incheon International Airport waiting for check-in process to be on-board a Korean Air flight to New York. The airplane serving the ICN-JFK route was a brandnew A380 with more spacious legroom and individual video system even in its economy class seats. Thanks to my son Kenny who works for the airlines, my wife and I am entitled to fly the airlines around the world almost free of charge, though limited to its economy class, subject to load i.e. space availability.

Ater a long and tedious 14-hour flight, we arrived at JFK Airport in New York around 10 o'clock in the morning on the same day local time. Since we decided to experience New York's public transportation system, we moved to upstairs to take the Air Train to Jamaica Station to transfer to Manhattan's Penn Station via Metro Line E for our final destination to New York Yankee's Stadium in Bronx.

Lake Park in Ilsan City

Fall has arrived in the Lake Park of Ilsan city, venue for the opening ceremony for the 89th National Athletic Meeting in October 2011.

A Trip to Soya-do Island

According to meteorologists, we had the largest amount of precipitation in this northwestern part of Incheon City during this summer, from June 1 to August 16, 2011, for the past 100 years. The total rainfall in this period was about 1900mm, far exceeding the average 920mm. The frequency was increased probably in its highest level as well, two rainy days (48 days) out of three calendar (77) days i.e. it rains 48 days out of 77 days so far in this summer.

The photos are taken last weekend from 'Soya-do' Island located 47.6km away from the heart of Incheon and just next to 'Deokjeok-do', 0.5km southeast of the island. The name 'Soya' is reportedly taken from the historic event that a Chinese general 'Soya (蘇爺) i.e. '蘇定方' stationed in this tiny island with his large army before joinging the so-called 'Shilla-Tang Allied Troops' in 660 A.D. to attack 'Backje' in the south and the 'Goguryo' in the north of Korean Peninsula, several years later, together with the local 'Shilla ' Kingdom.

The weather was mostly cloudy, windy and rainy as expected, unabling our team members to go fishing and other outdoor activities. But we were able to walk around the island through a trekking course available.

Foot Prints on the Sands of Time

Last weekend, Korean Memorial Day long weekend June 4-6 which marks the beginning of summer in this part of the world, my wife and I went to 'Muchangpo' Beach to leave our foot prints on the sands of time as we are supposed to do at this time of year.
Of course, I know the foot prints will be scorched only into my brain for a long long time possibly for the rest of my life.

The photo shows our own chalet simply established on the sands of 'Muchangpo' Beach last Sunday, June 5th 2011, around 11 o'clock in the morning. Thanks to the so-called state-of-the-art technology, we were able to communicate with the world in the chalet through our smart phones, as well as making phone calls, from this remote site.

A Trip to Deokjeok-do Island

Last Saturday, May 28th 2010, I was able to onboard an express ferry "SMART" departing Incheon Port on 8:40 in the morning to make a round trip to Deokjeok-do Island, for the second time since October 2000 together with a dozen of my old friends and their wives.

It took just over an hour for the ferry to arrive at the island's 'Jin-ri' wharf. After a short trekking through the top of 'Bijobong' mountain, we had lunch at a seafood restaurant near 'Seopo-ri' beach resort.

Misty Rain

It rains almost every other day here in this part of the world, northwestern part of Incheon City. The photo shows one of my favorite trekking routes up to Mt. Cheolma in my neighborhood shortly after the misty rain stopped last weekend.

I appreciate the rich natural and environmental resources available in my neighborhood since I can enjoy them whenever I want by simply changing my shoes with a bottle of drinking water in my hand if I can take a few hours from my daily routine.

A Trip to Southern California

On April 15th Friday in the evening, I was pretty busy in Incheon International Airport with my wife for preparing a check-in process for a flight to Los Angeles, the first trip to the city since late March 2002.

After a long and tedious 11-hour-flight, we were able to arrive at LAX late in the afternoon local time on the same day. It's sunny and breezy day in the city of angels as usual, and the terminals were standing in the same manner as in 1990's when I worked there. As we came out of the terminal gate, we got into a Dollar rent a car shuttle to their counter located nearby La Cienega Blvd to rent a mid-size Ford Fusion. Half an hour later, we took the famous 405 Long Beach Freeway southbound to exit at Hawthorn Blvd., exactly the same way of my commuter route to and from my place when I lived and worked there with my wife Rosa, my sons Kenny and Andrew and my young daughter Cathleen for five years in 1990's.

After making a right turn at the exit, we proceeded to Days Inn Torrance/Redondo Beach to check in. The photo shown on the top was taken from the patio of the room number 402 as soon as we completed dismantling of our luggages and washing hands. Then I made a phone call to my old friend 'BC' living a nearby townhouse to make an appointment for dinner.

In the morning of April 16th, Saturday, the second day of our trip, we headed to one of the biggest recycling center in greater Los Angeles area, located in Harbor City near Long Beach, to meet Mr. Park, one of my senior officers in the past, who owns and operates the center for more than 15 years to say hello. The center was pretty well organized and the business was booming.

Early in the afternoon, my wife and I were walking through a pier at Redondo Beach under the calm, peaceful and warm southern California sunshine. We could find many swimmers at the beach quite ahead of time from my standard. The photo, second from the top, shows my wife with many people enjoying sunbathing and swimming in the background.

After enjoying some seafoods at a restaurant along the pier, we moved to Torrance to meet my friend 'BC' and his wife at his 3-story townhouse located near Torrance YMCA. (My wife and BC are talking in front of his built-in garrage in a photo, third from the top. He has bought this townhouse at the price of $500,000 several years ago.)

Sunday morning, April 17th, my wife and I went to a nearby Catholic church to attend a mass and to say hello to some acquaintances afterward.

We checked out from the motel on Monday, April 18th, as scheduled to leave for Las Vegas, driving through Anza Avenue north and Sepulveda Blvd. east, turn left to Hawthorn 107 north to Artesia to proceed to 91 FW East to meet Freeway 15 to Las Vegas. It was a long and arduous trip from Torrance, California, to Las Vegas, 480 KM to be exact. Actually it took 6 hours, including 2 stops for lunch and fueling en route, for us to arrive at our destination Las Vegas Hilton, mostly through stony and mountainous desert areas. The photo, 4th from the top, shows a view of the Las Vegas Strip.

Las Vegas is still evolving from the city of gambling into the giant amusement park primarily through the Las Vegas Strip. The first thing we did after checking in our hotel, therefore, was to buy monorail tickets for two-days at the Hilton Station ($12 per person). Besides several famous night shows, there were some educational programs or exhibitions like those learning human bodies, provided by the giant pyramid of the Luxor Hotel, as well.

On Wednesday, April 20th, around 9:30 in the morning we were driving through Las Vegas Strip southbound into the Interstate Freeway 15 to San Diego. It took almost all day long for us to arrive at downtown San Diego from Las Vegas. My wife and I were able to talk a lot about our future, thanks to the time. Around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we changed our mind to go to Sea World Amusement Park and then return to Los Angeles, instead of staying in the city for the night. The photo, 5th from the top, shows the most famous attraction in the Sea World - killer whales "Shamu Show". After the amusement part closed at 6:30 in the evening, we started to drive to Los Angeles.

Getting Back On Track

Last winter was severely cold in this part of the world, breaking the typical 'cycle of three cold days and then four warm days'. Fortunately for all concerns, however, spring is just around the corner.

Personally I was pretty busy for the last 3-4 months, beginning the first part of October last year, for the implementation of the extension and remodelling project of a commercial building complex I own, unabling me to update any post during the period.

Now, I will be able to sit down on my chair in front of my small Netbook computer in my office to look around and take time to update my blog.

Jeondeung-sa Temple

Last Sunday, September 26, 2010, I visited Jeondeungsa Temple, located in southern part of Ganghwa Island, for the first time since last spring with my wife to commemorate the 28th anniversary of our wedding-Day.

Mayor Song's Mission Impossible (미션 임파서블)?

(The above photo was taken from the top of Mt. Cheolma in my neighborhood on Sunday, August 22, 2010 in the late afternoon.)

People wish to be happy. Originally here in Korea, however, there was no Korean alphabet i.e. 'Hangeul' word or diction for happiness before early twentieth-century when the Chinese character word '幸福(행복)' was imported from Japan after Japanese scholars in the 19th century made the word by combining two independant Chinese character '幸(행)', which means a fortune or good luck, and '福(복)', which means a good fortune or wealth, together. (Still East Asian countries share, entirely or partly, Chinese characters in addition to their native languages, though each country, let's say Korea and Japan, pronounces the same Chinese words differently in most cases, and owe much of their cultural heritages to the characters, believe or not.)

The word 'happiness' in English is reportedly one of the words that the Japanese translators had experience a real hardship in translating it into Chinese characters, as well as introducing those western conceptions into the East Asian cultural community. A Korean alphabet word '사회', or '社會' in Chinese character, is another example.

Actually the correct meaning of the word 'happiness' in English, or 'bonheur' in French, is a 'good time allowed by the Lord or God' and, therefore, it's based on the orthodox Christian religion's concept of God. Since there was no conception or thinking of such kind in East Asia at that time, the Japanese translators had no choice but to make the Chinese character word by combining the two independant words '幸' and '福', closely related to the material wealth, with each other.

Now here in Incheon, unfortunately, the controversy over the construction of a new main stadium in Seo-gu (District) for the 2014 Asian Games still hasn't come to an end, while many of mayor Song's fellow citizens, including his enthusiastic supporters, are keeping their eyes on his final decision. It is my understanding that the most important role and/or mission of any city administrator is to strive to make everybody happy to a large extent during his tenure, notwithstanding any difficulties on the way. Particularly, in this part of the world, 'the greatest happiness (행복) of the greatest number' depends on the material wealth and prosperity.

Hopefully, mayor Song will make a right decision at the right time for all concerns, paving the way to make his mission possible and make his own people happy, as well.

A Trekking Holiday in Jeju-do Island (VI)

It took approximately 20 minutes for our team to arrive at 'Wudo' harbor by the car ferry, which can accommodate more than 240 passengers and a dozen of vehicles. As soon as we arrived at our base camp, namely 'Olle Pension' located at northeastern part of the island, most of our members moved to nearby 'Hagosudong Beach' in swimsuits to cool our hot bodies.

The beach was pretty calm and tranquil under the late afternoon sun with some teenage boys and girls laughing and playing in the emerald green colored water and several camps set up at the seaside surrounding the beach.

As we returned to the base camp, a barbecue party was ready at the front lawn aside of a swimming pool. Night was approaching slowly at our new horizon in a dreamy mood in Wudo Island on August 2, 2010.

A Trekking Holiday in Jeju-do Island (V)

Around 4 o'clock in the afternoon on the same day, August 2, 2010, all of our members, including the MTB hiking team, were on board a car ferry, operating from 'Seongsanpo' to 'Wudo', a small island located east of Jeju-do (Island) for more adventure in this interesting island.

Actually, we had jumped to Seongsanpo directly from Seogwipo City by the mini-van after having lunch together to save time. It's about one and half hour ride without experiencing any traffic congestion as always be the case in Jeju-do Island; an ideal place for rent-a-car, rent-a-bike and rent-a-motor scooter, and therefore a 'blue ocean' for the vehicle rental business, comparing to the main land in South Korea.

A Trekking Holiday in Jeju-do Island (IV)

Around noon on the same day, August 2, 2010, the walking tour team was in Jungmun Beach, walking through Shilla Hotel lobby and various amenities, in the well developed resort - Jungmun Tourism Complex, Seogwipo City, after making a short visit to 'Sanbangsan' resort on the way. It turned out that the beach course was the Olle Trekking Course Number 8, known for one of the best trails among the whole Olle trekking courses.

You are required to exercise caution, however, if you want to swim or surf at the beach because of the extraordinarily turbulent waves.

A Trekking Holiday in Jeju-do Island (III)

Around 9 o'clock in the morning on August 2, the second day of our trekking holiday in Jeju-do Island, the the walking tour team was climbing up the Songak Mountain. The trail turned out to be a part of the Olle trekking course number 10.

In particular, the cliff shown on the photo looked like those in Oahu, Hawaii, in its breathtaking view, scale, taste and features.

A Trekking Holiday in Jeju-do Island (II)

After having a hot Korean style breakfast with bowls of rice and dishes of oarfish stew seasoned with soy sauce at a seafood (raw fish) restaurant near 'Yongduam', we started our journey around the island.

The route for the MTB hiking team was planned to ride bikes through Iho Beach, Shineom-ri, Aeweol Port, Gwakji Beach to Hanlim Port and then have a lunch break there. The itinerary for the walking tour team, however, was planned to get into the mini-van directly to Hyeobjae Beach to enjoy swimming and then move to nearby local villages through Olle trekking courses, not far from the beach. The mini-van returned to support the bike team after giving us a ride to the entrance of the beach. It's a typical hot and humid, but fortunately pretty sunny and breezy day, as well, in Jeju-do Island on August 1, 2010. We were able to swim at the clean, peaceful and emerald or green jadeite-colored Jeju beach for over an hour before visiting a nearby tourist information center to get an idea how to have access to the closest olle route available.

We walked along the Olle trekking course No. 14, surrounded mostly by fishing villages decorated with low whinstone fences until we had a lunch break at a local hamburger restaurant. After lunch, we walked through the road number 1132 westbound to our stopover point near 'Jeolbuam', a part of the Olle trekking course number 12.