Baseball - Kia Tigers vs LG Twins

Hello all!!! Let's play ball!! It's a beautiful day for a ballgame. We met up with some of our friends to check out a Korean professional baseball game in Seoul.


Here's Rachel trying her hardest to convince some die-hard Kia Tigers' fans to switch to the LG Twins. . .

. . .Cassie, evidently, could not be swayed . . .

We bought our tickets well in advance and got there an hour ahead of the game. We had to choose a team to cheer for and go off in search of seats in the appropriate section. Impossible!! The game was oversold so our 'general admission' seats were promptly turned to 'standing room only'. Before completely giving up on sitting we decided to 'chance it' by visiting the reserved seating section (it was sold out but still relatively empty - you can see the red and blue seats compared with the upper level seats in the photo below).

Busted!! - Here's what Shawna looked like 20 minutes later when we were ousted by the ticket holders. Oh well, at least we got to sit for half an inning.

Beer and snacks were readily available. Just holler to a passing Ajumma and she'll promptly hook you up with some tasty dried squid from the basket on her head.

The games here are quite different from the games back home. There is a real 'electricity' in the stadium. There are cheerleaders and organized chants. Cheap beer and twice as many people as the fire code would recommend. The fans only sit with their own kind - red team on one side and yellow on the other - don't mess with the plan!!

The young man in front of us is about to dive into some fried chicken. Luckily he was provided with some plastic gloves to keep the grease off his fingers. You wouldn't want a fly ball to slip through your hands due to some post-chicken greasiness!

We were forced to find a place to stand but standing room wasn't really easy to find either! Families had set up picnics all around the landings at the top of the stands. The stairs were covered with people, too. There wasn't much left - standing or sitting!!

It was kind of a blessing because we were able to see the entire stadium and get out of the sun for a bit. Plus, we eventually found a sweet spot near a beer tent!!

There were people everywhere!

We had a really nice day - the weather was great - the game was great - the beer was great! But, it was nearing the end of the game and we were all getting tired so we decided to check out a bit early. . .

Being a baseball fan in Korea is hard work - just ask this guy . . .

. . . or this guy . . .

We however, still had the energy for a delicious patio BBQ dinner in Gangnam before heading back to Yeoju for the night.


What a nice day!

SPECIAL UPDATE: Chocolate Pizza!!!!!!

First off, let me tell you that we get fliers for restaurants and delivery posted on our apartment door almost every day. Pizza, chicken, noodles, the standard fare - but, when this one came, we knew it was something special so we hung on to it: Pizza Country's FRENCH CACAO PIZZA. Well, one day last week, curiosity got the better of Shawna so she picked up the phone and ordered it. That's not as simple as it sounds . . . we're in Korea, remember? So, she mustered up all of her Hangeul skills and put them to the test. After some slight frustration and nervous laughter (for both ends) the message got through: "The waygookins want some chocolate pizza." Thirty minutes later - it arrived . . .


This is most definitely not the first crazy pizza concoction the Koreans have come up with but it might just be the wackiest!



Well, if it was going to taste horrible, at least it came with some Pepsi, pickles, and hot sauce to perk it up with.


Looks like pizza, smells like pizza, but will it taste like pizza?


Let me give you a breakdown of the ingredients (we had no idea what they would be before we ordered it): mushrooms, green peppers, onions, cheese, crushed-peanuts, honey, almonds, chocolate drizzle, and those big balls are chesnuts . . .


. . . not to mention the crust was stuffed with chocolate, too!!



First bite. . .

. . .thinking. . .

. . . thinking . . .

. . . DELICIOUS - The first few bites of the pizza were the savory dinner and it slowly graduated to a devilishly-sweet dessert as you progressed to the crust. Genious!! Shawna and I give it 2 thumbs up!!!

Everland!!!! - Shawna's birthday continued

Welcome to Everland!!!!!
This is Korea's largest theme park.

We would start off our day at the mini-zoo. Here are some friendly "Jack Ass" penguins. . .


. . . and some not-so-friendly lions!


Hey, where's all the snow, eh?


The Golden Monkeys were the highlight of the zoo - we've never seen these guys before.


Shawna took the chance to arm-wrestle a chimpanzee . . . and lost. He was a good sport though - no show-boating!


We had no idea what was going on in the Korean Mystery House but we had a good time nonetheless.


"Are we seriously gonna ride that?" . . . "Maybe later."










The parade came through after we got off the carousel. I think these captives they had were Russian. They were chained to the floats - their spirits were high, though. Smiles all around and extra waves and winks for us waygookins!



Later, Jon and Shawna got some sweet, bumpy revenge on some annoying little kids. . .


Is Shawna in a Kia or a Hyundai??? No . . . I think its the only Ford in Korea.


A view from the giant Ferris Wheel!


We opted out of the log ride due to the chilly weather (and the sight of some uncomfortably wet Koreans).


Hi Ho Silver! Away!


There was a beautiful rose garden in the middle of the park - so we stopped to smell them.




Getting ready for the "T Express" - The world's steepest wooden roller coaster!!


While in line we had to do stretches, remove all loose items (including my glasses - which adds another perspective to the ride altogether), and watch a safety video akin to an airplane safety demo. The demo was in Korean(obviously) so we made up our own safety rules. #1 Don't fall off. #2 Don't fall off.


It went well - not quite the 'Behemoth' but still pretty scary!


Our final stop at Everland would be the 'Safari'. It consists of a couple souped up tour buses and some indifferent, yet wild, animals.



Looks like a movie but we're pretty sure they were real animals.


We couldn't get any shots of the 'Liger' but they had one!! Finally a lion and a tiger in one body!! (I'm serious - they had one!!) We were able to catch some other creatures on film, though, so all was not lost.




The lions bode us farewell and we took the long trip back to Yeoju - it was an awesome weekend!!