NOTE: Due to my schedule over the last couple of months, I didn’t had the time I’d have liked to post to Ye Olde Photoblog. I have been posting away at my Tumblr photoblog, though. Anyway, will be posting more consistently here from this day forward. MAIN POST: Last weekend, I went with a friend [...]
Lovely skies over Seoul this evening, and I was fortunate to have my camera with me. For the full write-up about Gwanghwamun Gate and its many ups and downs, check out my post written after the gate was restored to its original condition in 2010.
One of the better photo points along the Hangang River is Yongbongjeong Park in Heukseok-dong. Heukseok-dong is an older neiborhood built on a hillside on the south bank of the Hangang River, and if you’ve got time, it’s worth walking about. At the top of the hill is a small park with a wood observation [...]
According to the Chosun Ilbo, the heads of major Korean corporations and their relatives have been purchasing Korean traditional homes, or hanok, in the Bukchon neighborhood, driving up real estate prices. One long-time resident told the paper if you don’t have 1 billion won, you can’t buy a home here. As many of the corporate [...]
In late July, a friend and I went to Mt. Daemosan (293), a prominent hill in Gangnam, to take a couple of evening shots. In the old days, Mt. Daemosan was called Mt. Halmisan (“Grandmother Mountain”) as it was said to resemble an old grandmother. The name was changed to Daemosan on royal order after [...]
If you’ve driven to Buam-dong from downtown Seoul via the Jahamun Tunnel, you may have noticed a small compound of Korean traditional buildings atop the hill on your left just as you come out of the tunnel. Or perhaps not—they were really easy to miss. It didn’t help that the area just in front of [...]
In the old days, Mt. Inwangsan used to mark Seoul’s western limits. The fortress walls that once ringed the city still snake along the mountain’s ridges—to hike the wall, sections of which are still manned by soldiers and police, gives you an extraordinary sense of historical continuity. In addition to its strategic and feng shui [...]
Just another lovely summer evening sky, this time over Deoksugung Palace. Deoksugung is something of an old friend of mine. I just love its many contrasts—old vs. new, Eastern vs. Western, nature vs. manmade. In a way, it’s a microcosm of Seoul itself.
The good weather just keeps on keeping on. After some rain showers yesterday afternoon, the sky really opened up nicely. If I’d had more time, I’d have gone up a mountain as I had the previous two evenings (posts coming soon), but by the time I left the office, there wasn’t much sunlight left, so [...]
Architecturally, the Seogang Bridge is one of the lovelier of the Hangang River bridges. It didn’t go up easily, though. Initial construction began in 1980, but work was eventually suspended due to environmental concerns. The bridge wasn’t completed until 1999. At one time, they used to light the bridge up, but no longer as the [...]