December 16, 2009
I’ve spent the last two evenings working on touching up some of the more interesting, colourful or artistic photographs I’ve taken of my travels in the Asia-Pacific region over the past six and a half years. Usually I don’t retouch, process or manipulate my photos in any way after taking them, uploading onto the computer and eventually online. Though, since I have Photoshop and it cost a fortune to buy I’ve decided to work some of my old photos taking advantage of some of the nifty features the computer program offers. I’m still a beginner at digital manipulation as previously the only time I’ve ever re-edited photos was to manipulate my crooked teeth into something more appealing!
Working on these photos has brought back memories of all the places I’ve been to over the past few years. It’s a blessing to live in the modern world and be freely able to travel extensively and see new places, and experience new cultures. I hope I can do so for many more years to come.
Here are some samples of the album below, the full collection can be found on my Facebook album.
Enjoy~!
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Architecture, Asia - where the East is the new West, Asia-Pacific, Australia, China, Environment, Japan, Korea, Photos, Sydney, Travel | Tagged: Architecture, Asia, Asia-Pacific, Australia, Photos, The Ben, Travel | 
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Posted by elcanguro76
December 14, 2009
My girlfriend and I took a weekend trip over to Busan, one week before I head back for a two week vacation home to Sydney to take in Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
It was a busy but enjoyable weekend. We left Suncheon mid-afternoon and first went to Seomyeon (서면 – the newer, main downtown district) for dinner with her friend followed by a trip over to Gwangalli Beach to look at Gwangan Bridge (광안대교) and a seafood supper with another friend of hers.
The next morning we traveled to Daebyeon Port (대변항) for a look at the local seafood market, which even sells whale meat – something I definitely wasn’t keen on partaking in! We then went onto nearby Haedong Yonggungsa Buddhist temple (해동 용궁사), the highlight of the trip and where the bulk of the pictures are taken, followed by a delicious Indian meal at Haeundae (해운대) and Christmas shopping at Gukje Markets in Nampo-dong (남포동 – Old downtown). All in all, a great little weekend!
Below are some pics, more are located here.
Enjoy~!
Gwangan Bridge from Gwangalli Beach
Squid drying at Daebyeon port
Green dragon at Yonggungsa Buddhist temple
Golden, happy Buddha at Yonggungsa
Looking down towards the coastline through the pavilions of Yonggungsa
Looking towards Yonggungsa
Looking towards the main pavilion, statue and temple buildings
Leave a Comment » | Architecture, Gyeongsang, Korea, Photos, Travel | Tagged: Buddhist, Buddhist temple, Busan, Gwangalli, Korea, Photos, Pusan, Yonggungsa | Permalink
Posted by elcanguro76
September 21, 2009
I’ve uploaded photos from my trip along the east coast and inland to Andong three weeks back. It was a great little trip and I really enjoyed traveling by myself via rail, bus and foot with no clear plans or itinerary on where to go next.
Andong‘s a cultural treasure somewhat overshadowed by the former Shilla capital, Gyeongju, but is most definitely worth a visit. Like Gyeongju, a lot of the cultural sites are outside the city centre and require wheels of some form or another to get to. Admirably, the local tourist centre has done a great job of producing English language maps and information on what buses and where to take them from to get to all the tourist sites. Andong takes a good two to three to really see, and having only tipped the iceberg in one day, I’ll be sure to get back there before my time is up in Korea.
The east coast is an absolutely beautiful and under-rated part of South Korea, I strongly recommend the train trip between Gangneung, on the east coast, and Andong, in the interior. The train gently glides down the largely desrted beaches of the east coast for about 100 kilometres and then winds into the mountains through rustic villages seemingly unchanged over the past few decades – it is rural Korea at its finest. Below are sample photos of my trip to Sokcho and Seoraksan, and Andong. The full albums are located here and here.
Sokcho and Seoraksan
Sokcho beach vista
Mountain vista inside Seoraksan National Park
Inside the woods of Seoraksan
Soldier on watch - guarding the east coast by potential North Korean incursions - the deserted, fenced off beaches of the east coast are potent reminder of a still fractured peninsula
Andong
Citizens' bell in downtown Andong
Along a winding path in Hahoe folk village
Traditional swings which are somewhat reminiscent of Biblical crufixes
Beautiful flowers blooming along mud brick wall
1 Comment | Gangwon-do, Gyeongsang, Korea, Photos, Travel | Tagged: Andong, Hahoe folk village, Korea, Photos, Seoraksan, Sokcho | Permalink
Posted by elcanguro76
July 25, 2009
A couple of months ago I went to Seoul to attend a friend’s wedding . Whilst there I stayed in the very well-heeded Gangnam financial district south of Seoul and took some photographs of the modern architecture and street scenery whilst there. Many people probably will not like the excess glass and concrete of these modern structures but being a fan of architecture – both modern and traditional – I love taking photographs of interesting buildings and structures when I come across them. Gangnam – being the main financial district of Seoul is criss-crossed with wide, grand boulevards, Western boutiques and coffee shop chains, global headquarters and subway lines. While, it doesn’t have the traditional, gritty, down-to-earth homeliness of most Korean neighbourhoods, it does have plenty of flair and you find yourself thinking you’ve suddenly been flung into any large, affluent, generic modern metropolis – be it Tokyo, Chicago or New York. It’s an interesting place to visit especially if you’re used to living in the Korean boonies like me.
One of the buildings making up the Samsung World Headquarters complex in Gangnam, souther Seoul
Interesting scrap metal art piece outside the POSCO Steel World Headquarters building
Golden frog and children art piece coming from a traditional folk tale of which I forgotten its significance
Interesting form and lines on this modern corporate skyscraper
The architect was obviously given a lot of free rein and went to town on this building. But, it looks great all the same.
More photos of southern Seoul and a more recent trip to northern Seoul – where alas my camera wasn’t working properly - are located here.
Leave a Comment » | Architecture, Photos, Seoul | Tagged: Architecture, 강남, Gangnam, Korean architecture, modern architecture, Photos, Seoul | Permalink
Posted by elcanguro76
July 23, 2009
I was luckly enough to witness yesterday’s solar eclipse at work and brought my camera to help document it. The sun was approximately 85% covered at its peak here in Suncheon and it did dim things a little which was cool. The skies were slightly overcast which normally isn’t a good thing for eclipses but good for me as I was dumb and didn’t prepare looking devices, so the slightly overcast conditions assisted in my not going blind, which is greatly appreciated.
My camera’s been a bit dodgy lately as it got too much moisture over the past month with the viewfinder sometimes working, sometimes not. Yesterday, of course, it wasn’t working so I somewhat aimlessly pointed it at that slightly dimmed disc in the sky all the while trying not to look at said disc. Unsurprisingly, the photos didn’t come out as stellar as a professional like myself would hope! So, I decided to do something with the three passable pictures that I normally don’t do - except on my jagged teeth if I’m feeling self-conscious - I heavily photoshopped them to make them look somewhat decent. You see the whole time I was actually inadvertently taking photos of a bird’s nest in a tree, but thanks to modern technology it comes out looking somewhat like a solar eclipse! Enjoy~!
The solar eclipse as seen from Suncheon
The solar eclipse amongst overcast skies in Suncheon
Solar eclipse (and photoshop)-induced darkness in the middle of the day
Leave a Comment » | Current events, Jeolla, Korea, Photos, Suncheon | Tagged: eclipse, solar eclipse, sun, Suncheon | Permalink
Posted by elcanguro76
