Halloween fun at Everland

We ventured out to Everland yesterday- enjoying a lull in the crowds on a mild Tuesday afternoon. I was amazed to see so many school groups at the front gates. All the little kiddos were maybe 5-7 years old, in matching Burberry plaid outfits (of course!), being led by a single teacher. The kids were very good about staying in line and following their teacher. I can't imagine that anyone would even think of taking 20 American preschoolers to Disneyland for the day!

And I have to mention the Korean fashion- "What shall I wear for a day walking through an

Amusement Park? hmmm... Something practical, comfortable and cute? No, I think I'll go with the striped shirt, ruched overall capris (with one strap casually tossed aside), my bunny ears, and my favorite 4" vinyl yellow heels with the peep toe. Perfect."
You can't make this stuff up.

We met up with the McEwen's (Colin is Evan's chase partner) and did a few rides, then watched the Halloween parade... wow.

There are no words to express what we saw. The "bat fairy" did his little dance in front of the kids- not sure if they were impressed, or scared out of their minds.

Enjoy the video, which is a clip of the culmination of the parade... a crazy elaborate show with bears dressed like pumpkins chasing each other on Segways. Wild.

Evan thought the music was a bit loud... but enjoyed the show anyway.

We also went to the flower garden- Evan leaned over the edge of the fountain, which was turned off and just smooth water, and no sooner had he stood up these huge jets of water turned on. He was a little startled- but quite happy with himself and his new superpower abilities to turn on fountains.

As the evening drew on, the pumpkin sculptures and big torches in the garden lit up. It was really cool. A cute picture of us, minus Evan, who was too busy chasing Colin to be bothered with our nonsense. So it goes.

Happy Halloween.

Everland, a.k.a. Korea Disneyland

Upon recommendation from other families, we decided to venture to Everland this weekend. The equivalent of Disneyland, created by Samsung. It's located about 25 miles from our apartment- equating to a 1.5 hour drive with minimal traffic. The layout of the park has a "zoo" with a Safari tour, AmericaLand with roller coasters, European Adventure with roller coasters, and a large central area with a season-appropriate theme. This being spring, the parade theme and decor was heavily floral... oh, my was it floral. We arrived around 10am, found a parking lot, took a bus to the main entrance and, after much pantomiming, figured out how to buy an annual pass- breaking even after only 4 regular-price visits... and children under 3 are free. Did I mention that Evan's not having another birthday until 2010? :)
We started our trip in the zoo quadrant of the park. Evan enjoyed the marmosets, gorillas, white tiger, and the swimming polar bears. They also had many vendors selling trinkets- Evan was particularly drawn to the bubble launcher. He ran back and forth through the cloud of bubbles a dozen times!

Matt and I posing with the posies :)

Lovely 70 degree day. Many shops lined the main entrance, filled with as many Anime and cutsie knickknacks as your heart could desire. We both commented on how they haven't quite capitalized on the character aspect of Disneyland. We only saw one costumed adult posing for pictures with kids. Even the trinkets were very generic, and not over commercialized... they have not learned to paste Mickey Mouse on EVERYTHING.

After touring the Animal Kingdom with 10,000 of our Korean friends... we found a somewhat American eatery (our other choices involved variations on rice, fish and kimchi). Evan is savoring his corn dog- made with a brown rice wrapper instead of corn. I ordered the teriyaki chicken which was served as 4 chicken wings, a pile of rice, a pork filled egg thing and... yes, pickled cucumbers, peppers and radishes. Matt tried the "Bulgogi baked spaghetti" which was spaghetti noodles in a tomato sauce with pieces of beef ribs on top. The whole meal only cost 16,000 Won. A deal by Disneyland standards.

Spinnning whirl-a-gig flowers behind us. Evan was pooped out by 1pm. Good enough for us... let's call it a day! We can always come back again... and again, and again.