Olympic Park (Revisit)

If you check back in my log of posts for 2008 you will find that around this time I went to Olympic Park. That was just about the same time as the sh*t started to hit the fan at the hagwon and I was in a heap of trouble.

Thankfully, since then life has panned out more smoothly with a few rough patches along the way. So it was that I asked JH to take me to Olympic park last Sunday so that I could make some new memories at the park.

Before we went into the park we stopped at an "Asian" themed restaurant in Jamsil called "Oriental Spoon." Ironically enough it was the same restaurant I went to the last time I went to Olympic Park.

We ordered spring rolls as appetizers and noodle dishes as our main meal. But I only got a shot of the rolls.
It was a really hot day Sunday, the kind of hot that is sultry and punishing. Yet we trucked on anyways wanting to spend some good time in the park.

Korea's National Flower: 무궁화 or Hibiscus syriacus
And in doing a google search on this flower I came upon this entry in someone else's blog:

My Korean teacher last night told me, “The spirit of the Korean people is like the national flower…”

“mugung” means “forever/eternity” and “hwa” is the chinese character for flower…

The Korean people have lasted, survived – the flowers survive for a long time, blossoming in early summer and staying in bloom through to almost November.

My Korean teacher also said, “The Japanese national flower is the ’sakura’ – or the ‘cherry blossom’. Every cherry bud blooms in one week, and then all falls to the grown the next. This is the spirit of the Japanese people.”

If you look closely in this picture you can see an older gentlemen asleep on the bench.

Since it was a hot day one needed a cold drink, and thankfully there were some vending machines along the walkway.

Olympic Park is home to many outdoor sculptures, some of which convey a sense of humor and wit although speak to something more serious.

We stopped for a rest in a playground section of the park. It was fun to watch kids run around and see old men playing an Asian version of chess.

We came upon the World Peace Gate and bought some ice-cream at a nearby mini-mart.
After finishing our ice-cream we headed back to the car and decided to come back to the park in the fall, when the weather will be slightly more cool. I would like to come back and walk around the whole park so to get a feel for everything it has to offer.