Catch-up

With the middle schoolers studying hard for their exams, I've had a lot of extracurricular time lately. Last weekend, we went to the zoo and then I wandered around Olympic Park on my Tuesday off.

Resolved to really get the most out of the zoo this time, John and I awoke at the crack of 11, grabbed some street food (this fried cinnamon pancake thing and a bubble tea), and headed back to Seoul Grand Park. I'd like to add that there is more than just the zoo at the Grand Park; there is also a science museum and a large amusement park, but those were for another day. Twas to the zoo we were headed, and having been there once before we wasted no time finding the animals we most wanted to see.

First up were the giraffes who had already gone to bed the last time we went. This bull giraffe was having a special moment with the tree.

Next, we caught feeding time for the hippos. 

You may notice that the one on the right is smaller than the other two. It is not because it is a baby (or calf, as zoo-bies call them), but because it is a pygmy hippo. The poor guy had a whale of a time getting up on that platform.

Next we found ourselves in the Pheasant Pavilion. It wasn't really my favorite pavilion, but I did find my favorite pheasant (I bet you don't even have a favorite pheasant, do you?)

Can you tell why I liked it so much? And who was this Lady Amherst anyway?

Jon and I are huge fans of the big cats and it was really the lions, kings of the savannah, who we were hoping to see. And we did see them, but my pictures are all kind of lame and far away-like. We also saw the tigers feed and watched some rebellious Koreans throw bread at a brown bear.

The animals seemed to be pretty raucous while we were there, which I'm thinking may have something to do with the spring heat. I believe we saw no fewer than four species...ahem...attempt to reproduce, and we also saw some wolves fight (I had forgotten to mention that the scimitar-horned oryx were really going at it last time). Overall, it was an awesome zoo trip. I still can't believe it only cost 3,000 won (about $3).

On Tuesday I headed over to the Jamsil area of Seoul to check out Olympic Park, where the 1988 Summer Olympics were held. It was a beautiful day and the park was really lovely. There's a museum, a fortress of sorts, and of course all the stadia. I walked around for nearly 2 hours and didn't see everything.