(Note: When I say KOREA, I mean South Korea)

It's rather hard to find photos when there's over a years' worth of shots to search through chronologically in an application that only displays six shots at a time...at least I found them :D This entry is over a year out of date so I'm going to have to work hard to remember everything that happened and to try catch up to more recent events. To say that this year has been eventful is an understatement, especially considering I am now back in the United Kingdom with my wife XD but here goes!!

After seeing the wonderful summer illuminations in Gifu Park, I packed my bags and made bounding leaps to Korea!! Okay, so not literally - I'd planned this months in advance and it was a few days after the illuminations. Naomi had been in Korea for three weeks. We'd talked every day on the phone, she'd left a collection of small gifts for me to open over the months as I missed her (shame that all I'd given her was a collection of recorded messages from me to watch each day she was away!!! XD) and at last I was going to see her. Not at the airport in Japan but in Korea!! It was my first time to go there; I'd always intended to go as I heard the food was really good and cheap, and seeing Naomi in her element a couple of days earlier was good enoug a reason for me to finally do it. I only wish I'd taken more photos, but the weekend was so well planned that I hardly had time to take out my camera before moving on to the next place. Naomi had planned an AMAZING weekend for the two of us, allowing me to see far more of Seoul than I would have otherwise.

Power points for computer users kept me sane in Nagoya airport as my DS pulled me through the wait to check-in. Flying from Japan to Korea doesn't take long, it's in the same time zone, and it's fairly cheap.

There were a few mixups at the airport in Incheon. Naomi had told me to wait at one gate and didn't meet me there...thankfully she'd left enough change for me to be able to use a pay phone and call her rented mobile phone to meet AT LAST!!! I saw her room mate for the first time, and abruptly departed for Seoul.

 
I watched in awe as Naomi ordered the bus tickets, but was shocked by how similar Korea was to Japan...I'd almost forgotten how cute Naomi was!

The bus ride was okay...just fast!!

 
The hotel room was nice - The Prince - in Myeondong (my spelling of Korean is TERRIBLE, sorry) A nice place, lots of shops and familiar places (e.g. Starbucks) but a LOT of steps to walk up to get to the hotel...hard when carrying a 20kilo suitcase...

 
My first experience of Korean food was less than amazing. The service was not so good, the food was a LIE (turned into miso soup rather than a meat dish as described ><) but the company more than made up for it as my beautiful hostess explained the traditions of Korea to me, and the torture devices known as metal chopsticks...those things REALLY hurt your hands.

 
Avoiding Korean food like a plague, breakfast was a much different story, as we headed to the VERY traditional Dunkin Donuts!!

The first day started with a bang as we headed to...erm...Gyeongbokgung Palace (I think)...

 
The park leading up to the Palace was really nice, and given more time I'd have liked to spend more time exploring it, as well as the museum attached to the park.

 
I was a little surprised at how similar Japanese architecture is. Korean colours are MUCH more vibrant however.

 
Even the local populace were cute...oh wait, that's Naomi again :D

 
The Imperial Palace was nothing short of beautiful. The gardens, the lake, the bridges...all very asthetically pleasing!

 
 
Some sections were closed off, such as the UNDER CONSTRUCTION Pottery Section, so we could only walk around the grounds before entering the main Palace area...

 
Again, we couldn't enter the Palace itself so we walked around the outside, but it was still very beautiful.

 
Doing our service to Korea, we did our part holding up the gateways.

Personally my favourite part of the Palace; I loved the way the water reflected all the pillars...guess that's my artistic side shining through.

 
It's just like the pictures I used to draw in junior school...far too much detail for anyone of sound mind!!

 
Inside was beautiful (a view from a window), outside was beautiful lady!!

 
Together again at last, never to be seperated again! <3 I'm pretty sure I could never live in a place like Gyeongbokgung however...

With the palace tour out of the way, we moved on to the shopping district to do some souvineer shopping. I managed to pick up some Korean designs of bags and toy bears for my family, but nothing much struck my eye...under the sight of grown men beating the behemoth out of each other, or so it seemed...

 
 
What looked like a street fight at first, turned into a street performance from a local Tae-Kwon-do dojo, making funny with the kicking and stuff.

Lunch was a far different story from the night before. Finding a popular restaurant I soon discovered why Naomi was having such a hard time coping with the Korean menu. Spicy for breakfast, spicy for lunch, spicy for dinner, rinse and repeat!

 
Now, we didn't pay very much but both of us were STUFFED after a large pan of...erm...stuff!! and Koren pancakes/pizza. It was at this restaurant I discovered my love for topogi (rice cakes)... So YUP, food is cheap. YUP, food is good. YUP food is SPICY!!!

 
As the day came to a close, we took a taxi (for a long journey it was VERY cheap...cheaper than buses and safer too!!) to a small island for a romantic walk along the river side at night. Photography was hard, it was cold, but that was just another excuse to snuggle closer to my girl. I don't know the name of the place but it's a typical romantic hang-out in Seoul.

 
Huge jets of water by a local restaurant were the only thing that I could capture, but the view of the apartment blocks by the river side (and YES there are MANY in Seoul!!!) was simply beautiful. Again, something I would never have thought of seeing if I was on my own.

 
Dinner became something much more typical, with a VERY spicy Korean soup for me, and something NOT-spicy for Naomi in a shopping tower on the island, each server with the obligatory kim-chi...of course, being spicy!!

Well, it was only two days, but it was a VERY memory two days, and it kinda made up for being apart for so long. I watched in pride at my Naomi using the Korean she had learnt (something I've come to regret as she now uses it constantly with me and I can't understand a WORD!) and had thoroughly enjoyed my first experience in Korea. I only wish it could've been for longer.

Thankfully the hotel provided us with a car ride to the bus stop, to avoid those annoying steps, and thus we travelled together to the airport. Both had arrived alone, but left as one (thanks to some AWESOME planning) never to be seperated again (for very long at least ^^) PEACE OUT ALL!! v(^-^)v

I'd originally wanted to go to COMIKE 74 on my birthday itself for a 3 day weekend, but considering how tired I was after the two days I DID go, I'm very happy that the conference had come in the way. After a curry at the small restaurant near the hotel, both Jeff and I crashed for the night. Probably from being tired after a long but fun-filled day, I slept fairly well, and after sweating through two sets of clothes, the large bag of clothes I'd brought with me came in handy. As usual, more photos are in the album.

 
The hotel was...about...THIS BIG!!

The desire to take a red pen to these hotel maps is overwhelming...okay, so I play Silent Hill too much, SO-RRY! After checking out of the hotel, we headed across to Akihabara to hand in our bags to Jeff's hotel (he stayed a night longer than me) before heading back to the convention for another day of photography and otaku-ing.

 
I hadn't noticed the giant saw stuck in the ground outside the convention hall before...there must've been a huge mech battle there before we arrived. Dang, I missed it...first off we headed to the cosplay square again to catch the early morning batch.

 
I think the quality on Sunday morning was much better than Saturday afternoon. We were happily greeted by a great Naruto trio. The advantage of going early was being the first person to photograph the great work these people put into their costumes. I wish I could've brought my Chouji costume to this convention...

 
 
Hmm, I was hoping there'd be some more maids *ahem* I mean, Ikkitousen characters. I love that anime series, even if they didn't fight with each other...

 
I know I should rememebr that anime....but at least the bunny-girl wasn't from anything, only advertising her adult comics with naked business cards o_O;;

 
This Bleach group was AMAZING! They'd put so much effort into their work as a group, including a mini shinsengumi xD I wish I'd brought my Kyouraku Shunsui costume for this...*cough* Okay, I like cosplaying.

 
To say that this Rei cosplayer was popular is an understatement of EPIC proportions. Crowds of sweaty men with cameras circled around like vultures as she ran through a series of pre-practiced poses, before being moved away to prevent congestion in the central square.

 
Hmm, these girls actually made Sailor Saturn and Chibi-Moon look...cute? ^_^;; I loved the cosplayers who had obviously worked together - I wish I had someone to share my costume skills with >< Mario and Luigi is a memory I will never forget (thanks Andy!)

 
A variety of ages dressed up, but thankfully nothing too old xD Sexy? Check! Slinky? Check!

 
What is more amazing than a group of Pretty Cure cosplayers? Why, me joining them of course xD As we asked for photos, the bubble-headed cuties beckoned for the foreigners to join them. I'm sure my photo must be floating around with Jeff's somewhere on the web...definitely a good memory of the day!

 
I feel like I'm going to hell for these pictures, but as a Ghost in the Shell fan, I have to say that this girl did a fairly good job of replicating Motoko's outfit from Stand Alone Complex.

 
Some people I didn't recognise but had very nicely made costumes...

 
Others I think were just there to look cute xD

Again, not sure if some were characters, or just girls looking cute/sexy...either way, it works xD

 
EPIC WIN!!! The GREATEST cosplayers of the century with the original KAMEN RIDERS!!!

 
Tsunade....cute. Walter....please don't kill me!!

 
My students went insane over the "Sengoku Basara" cosplayers - Yukimura and Sasuke. These girls were awesome and held their pose for ages - great sports!!

After a good couple of hours photoing underaged, underdressed girls, we perverted old men took a trip into an even more perverted ground known as...the comic market!! Yup, the actual reason for coming, rather than for cosplay, is to ACTUALLY buy comics (O.O!!!) SHOCK!!! We saw at least two large halls PACKED with tables demonstrating books and goods from a variety of amateur and professional comic artists. There was no way to see it all, even if you came for each of the three days!! I guess this is why people buy the catalogue in advance...Some of the art was *cough* very interesting, and after a long time of pushing through crowds, suffering from panic attacks due to being in a very crowded place, and eventually buying a few books (a bag of good for my likkle sister, a Suzumiya Haruhi" fan artbook, and a *cough* comic for a friend in the States) we eventually decided to call it a day and head out before the insane crowds blocked the trains...again.

With a fairly long but uneventful journey back to Akihabara, the Otaku central of Japan, Jeff completed my birthday with his gift to me...our first visit to a Maid Cafe in Japan. I'd done my research and knew EXACLTY which one I wanted to visit xD It took a LITTLE time to find it, due to the lack of street signs and the stupid way Japan follows the American block system....LABEL YOUR ROADS YOU SILLY PEOPLE!!! but we eventually found this cute little cafe called Mai:lish <-- not a typo. we couldn't take photos inside, but it was REALLY nice. I don't know why maid cafe's have such a bad reputation - most of the customers were women looking for a nice place to eat drink and chat.

There was a time limit on how long we could stay so we timed our arrival to see the maids cosplay in the evening...not much different but it was an experience. Jeff fell in love with our maid - I don't blame him, she was really friendly and spoke to us like realy people xD After a VERY nice (and reasonably priced meal) we spend FAR too much on souvineers and gifts, and departed...into rain!! A torrential downpour!! Leaving me running to a convenience store to buy a very big umbrella (which I left on the bus later ><)

Alone I headed back to Gifu, allowing Jeff to go visit his friends in Tokyo - but I have to say I was MORE than satisfied with my 25th birthday celebrations. For a big birthday that I had to organise myself, I think it turned out very well. I don't think I'll ever forget this birthday, and I really hope I can go back to COMIKE another year. I saw the adverts for COMIKE 76 this year...I don't think I'll make it though, unfortunately. Oh well. I highly recommend going to anyone who enjoys anime or manga. I'm looking forward to what future birthdays might bring. Happy Birthday everyone!

...and as they rose, deep TAIKO DRUMS rolled, around the shores (of the Nagara River); indignant, burning with the fires of Orc (more commonly known as the Gifu Fire Festival).

With Naomi in Korea for three weeks, I had to work extra hard to keep my mind occupied; wind interesting things to do to stop my mind from thinking about how much I missed spending every free minute with that wonderful woman. It wasn't long after she left that I heard about the Gifu Fire Festival at the Nagara River. Andy's Taiko group were performing, so I was invited to go watch. I'd never actually heard of it before, so it sounded like it had a lot of potential. The walk down to the river was good, I met Jeff there, and despite my camera dying (stupid me forgot to charge my battery!!!!) and a bunch of STUPID OLD MEN!!! it was a really good evening.

 
 
I managed to say "Hi" to Andy before the performance, brought him a nice, clean, new shirt to wear for the performance (after dragging around drums in the hot summer afternoon).

 
Literally thousands of people were there to see this...why did I not know about this??

 
Huge triangles of lanterns were already set up, donated by various shrines in gifu (I think) ready to be burned as the night went on.

 
 
 
The taiko playing went of as the light started to fade - it kept everyone entertained who'd been waiting for the past few HOURS just so they could have a decent seat.

 
 
I wish I'd noticed how bad my battery was...as the light faded, fireworks lit up the sky...

 
Now, I mentioned the annoying old men before....

I had a really good place to stand - not reat but enough to see everything and have a clear shot to take photos of Andy. An old man pushed in front of me while I was taking photos, forced his way in front of me then called all his family over saying "there's room here!". I WAS STANDING AGAINST THE BARRIER WHEN HE PUSHED ME!!!! I can't believe how angry I was, that's one of the things I REALLY HATE about Japan - the older generations believe that the world owes them everything and they can do what they want....GRRR!!! I lost my viewing spot (that I'd saved by arriving early) and then my battery died....what a sucky part of the night ><

The festival itself was really cool - the lanterns were set on fire, half naked men carried miniature floats around then set off fireworks. I guess they must have been drunk (or crazy); to walk around mostly naked while fire is raining down on you, burning your flesh...of your own free will?? I have to say, it looked VERY cool but there's no way I'd do that - my body hair would turn me into a human torch!!

The whole thing lasted a couple of hours, with lots of fire (so wasn't disappointed by the name at least). Jeff had fun photographing several young women, sporting interesting t-shirts ^^; (I'm sure it was nothing to do with the VERY short shorts and VERY long legs!) We also met a guy who travels around Japan JUST to visit the various festivals - that sounded amazing. I wish I had the time and money to be able to do that!!! All in all, a very worthwhile experience, and a great way to take my mind off being apart from Naomi, if but for a few hours until I moped about wishing she could've seen it XD Oh well!! If you're ever in Gifu around the start of August, it's worth checking out.  Peace Out (^-^)b