Buddha Celebrates His 2574 Birthday in Style

Over two thousand years ago, Buddha was born and from him came a religion that didn't believe in God and as well as thousands of statues of fat naked men - what a hero! With this in mind, Katie and I would celebrate his birthday (and a day off work :D) in style by visiting one of the many rammed temples across Asia.

We went to Samgwangsa, which is near Seomyeon and involved a bus ride during which we had to stand. Bus drivers in Korea aren’t aware of a constant velocity. They feel the need to accelerate quickly towards stationary cars at red lights before slamming on the brakes and narrowly escaping a collision. This means all regular bus users, together with squat john users, have incredibly strong thigh muscles. Busercise is the new hot yoga!

After the busercise, we arrived at Samgwangsa (courtesy of http://daleskoreantempleadventures.blogspot.com/ - a super website for Korean temple visits) and were immediately greeted by tat sellers. “Tat for sale, get your tat” they chanted in Korean and many obliged by purchasing things to clutter their desks at work.

The temples hang colourful lanterns pretty much everywhere during Buddha’s birthday celebrations and families may pay to do something to the lanterns relating to something to do with Buddhism (I remember when this blog was informative). So this means there are some incredible views so I’m gonna let the pictures do the talking:

Blinking Elephants
Birthday Boy
Birthday Boys
Many Many Birthday Boys
Pagoda
My Personal Sculpture
Lanterns


This temple was a real site to behold and was beautifully decorated. We especially liked these figures of the 12 zodiac animals (I didn’t photograph them all).



Later this guy was fighting Peter Griffin 
They've Taken Over
A few days later we decided to see another temple called Haedong Yonggungsa, which is located in Heundae on a cliff face. After the customary charge past the tat sellers, we made it to the temple and were greeted by this:
Traditional Lampposts Greeting Us
The Hand Chair (Arrested Development Fans)


Another Pagoda!
Entrance to the Temple

Which one is Katie?
Happy Birthday Again Buddhas

Katie and I loved this temple because of the unique positioning on the cliff face. It meant we could take photos like this:



What is My Leg Doing Here!?
As you can see, there were still some lanterns up, which spoiled some photos, but I’m excited about revisiting with Katie’s family when they come to stay in 2 weeks (:D) and I’ll have my new camera - yay! Hope you enjoyed this more photoful, touristy and traditional blog post. Be back soon.

Freebies Part II – The Sequel

This entry is mainly picture filled where I salute some the items that are sello-taped to products at the supermarket in an attempt to entice you.

First off we have the ice pack with noodles.

Summer is a coming and soon ice noodles will be everywhere. Ice noodles are, that’s right, you’ve guessed it, noodles in an icy broth. So this freebie makes some sense.

Try finding sense in this one:

Washing detergent and noodles!? Should you wash your noodles with this before you eat them? Or maybe you are supposed to add noodles to the wash to get that crunchy feel that we all crave for in our fresh clothes.

While we’re on noodles:

Here is some beer and noodles. As a drunken snack, noodles do go pretty well so I sort of see the logic behind this one.

The next photo reveals that there is some stout in Korea, not just chilled urine.

Oh yeah, stout and nuts – what a combo. Maybe these freebies aren’t so stupid.

Sorry what!? Are you suggesting I add some grape juice to my pasta sauce? How are these two items related?

Now there is some innovation for you. Give free disposable dip holders away with your Pepsi. That way you are forced to purchase crisps or nuts. Or you could buy more beer with nuts taped to it.

Hmmmm Guinness