Yep, it’s the Yuletide season, which means the City Hall area is decked out in lights.
The skating rink in City Hall Plaza is open now, too.
PS: You’ll get to see much more in the January issue of SEOUL magazine.
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13 Comments
Wondering… Did the KTO people have a big debate with the HiSeoul people over whether the Plaza would be “Soul of Asia” or “Korea Sparkling?”, and the HiSeoulers won? And if the Sparklers can’t put their brand on Seoul, where can they stick it?
To my knowledge, “Korea, Sparkling” is not meant for domestic consumption. So the answer to your final question is: outside the country, where the marketing campaign is targeted.
That looks absolutely beautiful. Over here, Arizonans enjoy their holiday season visually by going to the local Mormon central temple, where they put up absolutely amazing Christmas decorations.
Sounds like that might be worth checking out, bumfromkorea. Where is the Mormon central temple located?
http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/mesa/
A local Catholic church also does a good job on Christmas decorations.
That ice rink was assembled by foreign workers, who seemed to speak Portuguese. I passed them during my last stay in Seoul — I was staying at the Seoul Plaza — and there was quite a few of them.
Great pics. The last one looks amazing especially when viewed in its original size. Did you use a tripod for these pictures?
Soul of Asia? Sounds like a bad slogan in light of the hostage situation of a few months ago.
PS. Where’s the snow?! Lights are a lousy substitute for snow.
Thanks, ZZOOzzoo. And yep, I use a tripod.
The structure itself was planned and built by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on property owned by the SMG. So it’s pretty much obvious why the “Soul of Asia” motto is up there instead of “Korea Sparkling.”
That huge carnival-looking display seems devoid of any Christmas symbols and maybe the tree looks better to the eye than it does to the camera. American yard displays have really taken an ugly and unimaginative turn with these plastic-vinyl blowup revolving Santa-in-a-bubble things and wire figurines. For a beautiful Christmas display, think KISS. All one needs are some trees, lights, bulbs, candles, and if available, seasonal plants like winterberry or holly. While doing my shopping this morning, I drove past some winterberry bushes at a highway intersection. The festively red little berries stood out so brightly against a brown and white backdrop of nearly naked shrubs and dead grass dusted with the remains of an Alberta Clipper snowfall.
Soul of Asia, haha! More like Loudmouth Fingerpointing Morons of Asia.