paper lanterns

A lotus lantern festival is held to celebrate the birth of Buddha over the weekend before the birth date in Korea. Buddha's birthday is on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar. So, the birthday in this year 2007 is May 24. The Buddhists decorated the temple with the handmade lanterns made from rice paper and bamboo. In the evening the Buddhists marched in a parade on the streets. The Lotus flower symbolizes enlightenment in Buddhism, which rises clean and untainted out of muddy waters.

Various forms of Lantern are displayed in front of Daebi(Great Mercy) Buddhist temple near Gyeongsan for this year's parade.

country landscape

Jaeho was born in a small town named Cheongdo, which is located to the south of Gyeongsan. It is about 30 km or 18 miles away. From time to time, he rides a bike to go there from Gyeongsan. It takes about two and a half an hour by bike. A high pass called Namsunghyeon-Jae is located between the two regions, which means village name near it and pass respectively. As the road descends from the peak to Cheongdo, you can enjoy a typical rural atmosphere. The above photo shows the area surrounding Cheongdo.

On the right is a flower on the mountain trail. The seeds fell to the earth, few of them survived and grew into flowers.

warm memory

The typical front view of traditional rural house in Korea. Lattice door, seive made from bamboo, and mud wall can be seen. The mud wall was partly repaired with cement instead of mud. The trditional paper is pasted on the door.

The view under an eave of an old house on the southern outskirts of Gyeongsan reminds a passer-by of time passed.

scenes around temple

A traditional residence attached to a buddhist temple. Buddha images carved into one of the rocks of Mt. Namsan in Gyeongju which is located to the east of Gyeongsan, about 70 km from it. Spring Blossom shows spring is in the air.

mountain cafeteria

This humble mountain restaurant is situated midway up the slope of Mt. Gaji 가지산, near Mt. Eok 억산, an area famous for its magnificent mountain ranges. Many Koreans enjoy hiking here on weekends.

This cafeteria serves simple food and alcoholic beverages. The name of the cafeteria, Rice Rock Refuge, is written on a wooden signboard at the top of the pavilion. A rock that resembles a grain of rice is located nearby. In winter, heavy snow sometimes falls in the mountains, and this pavilion is also used as a refuge for hikers.

The menu is written on the roof and includes, from the far left: soju 소주(a distilled liquor), beer, herbal tea, herbal liquor, dongdongju 동동주(a traditional rice-fermented liquor), coffee, boiled fish cakes, instant noodles, handmade tofu, and arrowroot juice. Several bottles of liquor in plastic containers are placed on the table. The fish cakes are kept simmering in a cauldron, and some instant noodles are stored inside the window.

Mt. Eok 억산

Mt. Eok 억산 lies about 30km(18.6 miles) southeast of Gyeongsan. This photo was taken on the south side of the ridge to the summit of Mt. Eok. This mountain is famous for its impressive peak, which was cleaved. According to the legend, a monster serpent that had wanted and tried to be a dragon for 999 years split the peak by its giant tail, flying to the west after it had failed to become a dragon. It needed a period of 1000 years to become a dragon.

The view from the summit ridge was quite nice. The peak was surrounded by the other mountains, partly covered in snow. The snow on the mountains slowly melts away during the day. We still don't have enough snow this year.

(Photo taken from near the summit of Mt. Eok.)

like the wind and the clouds

View from the Pavilion in Jangyuk Buddhist temple 장육사 in the mid-eastern region of Korea. The temple nestled in the peaceful mountain was established by Seon master Naong 나옹 in the 14'th century, who wrote the following poem.

Blue Mountain teaches me to live silently

Blue sky teaches me to live innocently,
and to live like water and wind and die, 

leaving behind love and hatred

Ripe persimmons on the tree can be seen, which has not been picked yet. It seems like that they are preserved for bird food during winter.

Winter View

Took a short break and a snapshot while hiking around mountains near Gyeongsan. 

encounter 2

Once again I took a break on the mountain pass near Gyeongsan during a bicycle trip. This road was newly paved and opened to public traffic on X-mas Eve. Two middle-aged man and woman got on the minivan. See the blog dated Sep. 20, 06.

autumn reflection

Fallen leaves in a stream, and a tree reflected in it. Autumn paddy field in Gyeongsan shows that harvest is getting close .

encounter

Took a break on the pass during a bicycle journey. Two middle-aged man and woman got on the mini truck.

messenger of autumn

A Dragonfly is sitting on a wire in the vineyard in the rural outskirts of Gyeongsan. As the grapes are ripening. the sky is getting clear and blue. Autumn is just around the corner.

backyard & vineyard on a rainy day

They can get a glimpse of life in the backyard, too. Heavy rain and stormy wind are knocking grapes off the clusters.

samsung station

They have a small railway station around Samsung village, which lies about 5 km north of Gyeongsan. Japanese completed the railway linking Seoul to Busan about 100 years ago when they tried to colonize Korea. Samsung station that began passenger service 85 years ago was only one of the stations along the railway. However, the time has passed and the station was closed last year because of a decrease in commercial passengers so the typical view of the station crowded with morning commuters from the nearby villages will not be seen anymore.

Most villagers who used to take the trains have got older, and buses and private cars which became another popular form of transportation among their young families, have been substituted for the train.

Samsung village and station are not related to Samsung Electronics at all.😸 

on the road

Someone asks a blind man for directions on the road.
The blind man tells him, giving his stick to him, 

"Take this one and go."

wall

Holes for ventilation on the wall of a building along the street in Gyeongju and street number with its name are seen.

moving mind

Juheulgwan 주흘관 is one of three castle gates across Saejae 새재 valley near Mungyeong 문경 located in the southeast of Korea.

Two men were arguing about a flag waving in the wind. The first one said, "The flag is moving." Another one contended "No, it is the wind that is moving."

A Seon master that chanced to be passing by overheard the debate and told them "Not the wind, not the flag, it is your mind that is moving."

pacific saury drying

Pacific sauries are being dried on the 2nd floor of an old Japanese house in Guryongpo 구룡포 九龍浦 harbor near Pohang on the eastern coast. Guryongpo used to be just a port town but it is getting famous for dried pacific sauries. Many tourists visit this town to enjoy them during the winter. Winter is the best season to dry and taste pacific sauries.

It is also easy to find old Japanese houses in Guryongpo because many Japanese lived here during the Japanese rule in Korea. Dried pacific saury becomes Koreans' favorite winter food. It is well known that Pacific saury is so nutritious. It is called Gwamegi 과메기 in Korean.

Nostalgia

An old rural house around Gyeongsan. Two kinds of traditional sieves used to clean grain and to separate insects from the grain are seen on the left. Two pumpkins are being dried on the right. Winter is the ideal time to enjoy pumpkin. It's especially good in soups. An old retired farmer seems to have this house.

Al-Fatah Masjid

As-salaam alaikum !

There is a Mosque in the northwest of Busan, the second biggest city of Korea as well as the major port of southern coast. An Islamic missionary association of Libya helped it set up in 1980. Islam was first introduced to Koreans by Turkish soldiers who had joined the Korean War to assist South Korea.

Muslims in Korea consist of few Koreans and Muslim foreigners, and their brotherhood and solidarity are very strong. They have a halal food restaurant named Kebap house just behind this Masjid.

Monk's residence & a vent

Traditional tile-roofed monk's residence attached to a small temple around Gyeongsan.

Neither coming nor going.

Neither staying nor leaving. What is this?

mini factory

A super-mini factory where they make popped corn and rice by traditional method in Korea. Popped corn and rice are sold in front of it as seen. They have two popping machines inside.

Traditional popped corn differs from western popcorn in that the difference between high and low pressure in the closed steel cylinder is used to pop rice or corn. The ingredients under the high air pressure controlled by heat in the tightly closed cylinder are swelled several times immediately with a loud popping sound and heavy smoke just after the cylinder's cap is opened.

I used to stop my ears everytime I had rice popped when I was a child. The appearance and performance of popping machine have been improved and modernized to pop more for a short time.

Happy New Year "2006"

I am wishing you the best for the New Year and hope all your dreams and wishes come true.

PS: The eastern coast of South Korea, and East Sea, 동해(Donghae), 東海.

Seogyeongsa 서경사 西慶寺

An exotic building is downtown in Gyeongju 경주, the 1000-year old capital city of the Shilla Kingdom. During the Japanese colonial period, lots of Japanese shrines and Buddhist temples were built across the nation. They were not only for the Japanese in Joseon, the previous name of Korea, but for the colonial people, who were forced to worship the Japanese God in the shrines. Back then, Joseon was thought to be their permanent colony and they didn't hesitate to spend money on constructing splendid buildings to symbolize and boast of their power in Joseon.

The Japanese temple named Seogyeongsa 서경사 西慶寺 was built in Gyeongju in 1932, which was intended to propagate Japanese Buddhism in this area. It belongs to Soto school of Japanese Buddhism 조동종 曹洞宗. This temple was built out of materials like woods imported from abroad. The roof is decorated luxuriously and its tiles are tightly connected by copper wires. It has been known that Japanese turned this place into a police post afterward. It has a gloomy basement for examining and torturing anti-Japan activists for national independence.

After independence, this building was abandoned like a ghost house and became an office of fire prevention and control. But the discussion over its future has not reached any conclusion so far. Some people wished to pull down it to utilize the land, while others expect it to be conserved well because it is a historical symbol of the colonial age. Minor repair work has been done to maintain this old wooden building. Now it is used as the regional headquarter for marine corps veteran. Once in a while Japanese tourists visit and look around.

(*Updated January 18, 2010) *The top old photo shows the original image of the temple during the colonial era and the below ones the recent images back when regional headquarter for marine corps veteran used the building. After the local government had decided to conserve it as a culture property, the regional headquarter for marine corps veteran left it empty and moved. The restoration and conservation work has been completed recently.

around a Buddhist temple

When a Buddhist monk is dead, his corpse is commonly cremated instead of being buried and his ashes are sometimes kept in Budo 부도, a tomb made of stone.

Before drying persimmons in winter, they peel the persimmons and loop a piece of string around the base attached to the stem and then tie the persimmons to a long string. They should be ready to eat in four to six weeks.

A scene behind monks' residence, built in a traditional Korean style. Winter is the best season for drying persimmons and peppers in Korea. The red ones tied to the long strings are persimmons. Before drying, ripened persimmons should be peeled. Some peppers turn red, drying on a sack. 

Traditional soy sauce, soy bean paste and pepper paste are usually stored in the large clay jars because they are well fermented there.

첫눈 初雪 first snowfall

Yesterday, we had the first snowfall of the season, about 20 days earlier than in previous years. When I woke up in the morning, I saw that it had finally arrived during the night. However, the sun was quickly melting the snow. I hiked the nearby mountains and enjoyed the snowy landscape. Children always look forward to the first snow of winter. Two little children were building a snowman at the foot of the mountain. The first snow was as pure as the innocence of a child.

meju & radish leaves

Meju 메주 is made from fermented soybeans, dried in the sunlight and is also used to make Doenjang, fermented soybean paste. Soybean paste soup along with Kimchi 김치 is one of Koreans' favorite fermented food. Doenjang has a unique smell like cheese because it has the fermenting process.

Soybean paste soup with dried radish leaves is enjoyed in Korea during the winter. For radish, the leaves are known to be more nutritious than the root.