Everland

Last weekend (and by that I mean 2 weekends ago) I went to see Jeff. He just got back from the States and I had Monday off for Korean liberation day. I got up super early and made it to the bus station at 6:01 for the 6:10 bus. Unfortunately, the bus left at 6:00 and I had to wait until the 7:00 bus. That sucked. Luckily I had an Ipod and my Nook.

When Jeff picked me up it started to rain. We decided to run back by his house and drop off my stuff. Then we went to look at some furniture in a warehouse because Jeff wanted to buy a really nice marble topped bar. We had to follow this really nice couple to their warehouse in the middle of nowhere. We walked around and looked at some of the other furniture which was cool, but Jeff didn't really want an entire Asian theme for his future house. They did have a lovely rocking chair, but it seemed expensive. They also had some really cool stackable shelf things. He bought the bar and they are fixing it and restaining a part of the top, so he should get it next week I think. It's fun driving around with Jeff usually, but when it rains in the summer it kind of sucks because the Galloper doesn't have a/c so you either sweat or get rained on.

After picking out the bar, we decided to go to Everland. It's a large amusement park in Suwon (about 45 minutes from Jeff's house). A co-worker of Jeff's had just been there and was telling him about the animal park part of it, so that's what made us excited about the trip. When we got there it took us a bit to figure out where to park, then we took a shuttle bus to the main entrance. We got there around 4 and the park closed at 11 I think.

Every few months they change the "theme" of the park. In summer it's "Summer Splash". We opted not to go on the ride that could get us wet. This is also weird since they have a sister park next door that's a water park called Caribean Bay.

I was the only person over the age of 5 to wait in line to have my picture taken with this bear. Worth it.

We headed to the animal section first. To get there, we took a ski lift/cable car called "Human Sky". Then we walked around the animal section and saw a bunch of different ones. First, you get to 2 polar bears who were swimming in a pool. I had never seen polar bears swim before, so it was pretty neat. Also one of them just walked along the bottom of the pond.

Here's the human sky. The Korean safety standards on this made us a bit nervous about future rides, although not enough to prevent us from going on them.

Then we saw some lions and a tiger just lounging. Next we went to a small anmals section with kangaroos and squirrels and other random animals. Then we went on a safari ride. This was the ride Jeff's co-worker was telling us about. You get in a big bus and they drive you through some different "African" animal areas. First, you drive through lions. I think they said there were around 12 lions. They just chill on the side of the road as you drive past. Then you see giraffes, camels, zebras and one elephant who was doing a crazy dance thing (it wasn't told to do it, it was just acting weird). Then you go back out through white tigers and a liger. Last you drive through some different kinds of bears. There were lots of bears. The bears are slightly trained and when the bus stops, they stand up and wave or clap or something and get cookies thrown at them. We were in the back of the bus, so we couldn't see that very well, but you could still see it ok. There was an optional ride where you can take a jeep through that same area, but you get out to feed the giraffes and you get closer to all the animals and can feed the lions with tongs (maybe). It cost and extra $150 dollars though, so we decided not to do it.

Lions just chilling

The buses looked like tigers. Ours was orange, but they also had some white ones.

Giraffes eating. One of their giraffes is on its way to breaking a world record. Not sure what's the record is for, but they asked us to support him in his endeavor.

White tigers

Bear standing and waiting for treats. I never really noticed until this year that bears' feet are flat when they stand. They couldn't join the army unless they got a waiver.

For some reason, as you keep walking though the animal "land" it randomly turns into a German/Alpine theme. There are some cafes and an arcade in this area, then you get to the T-express - a wooden rollercoaster. It was a pretty decent ride and one of the best rollercoasters I've been on - lots of bumps and steep parts. Then we walked back out through the animal area again and went to Monkey Valley.

It was a whole monkey village with all kinds of different monkeys. Jeff and I probably spent close to an hour there looking at all of them and laughing. There were swimming moneys from Japan (I think) which were awesome. And these orange monkeys that did flips for treats. They also had an orangutan mom and baby which were super cute - how people can't believe in evolution after watching them baffles me. Then we saw a chimp, who made friends with Jeff. It was actually pretty amazing. The big male chimp saw Jeff walk over, he got up from his little hammock and walked right in front of him and sat down on a stump. Then Jeff made faces at him and he made faces back.

Baby orangutan. Cutest thing. He (she?) just kept grabbing its mom's hand/foot and trying to climb on her

Jeff testing his strength. This was one of the few times he let me take his picture. I've mentioned this before, but this was a time I wish Holly was with us because they had all kinds of weird statues around the park for photo oppurtunities and Holly would have sat on everyone. Jeff, on the other hand? None. He let me take his picture with a picture of a monkey.

Golden monkeys. The "dad" is the big one. I think the "mom" is the one facing us and look how cute that baby is! There were 5 in the pen and one of the others did flips for treats. The mom here stood on a log for some bananas, but no flips.

Jeff's bff making faces

We left the animals and went over to the rides section. For some reason, only the T-express is in a seperate area. You have to walk a little ways to get to all the other rides, but they are basically in the same spot. They had some pretty decent rides, inlcuding the Hurricane, which is like a pirate ship ride that swings back and forth, but also spins in a circle and a big swing thing that flips upside down and rotates so it feels like you might crash into the ground. Their upside rollercoaster was a bit of a disappointment though. We rode all the rides except for the ferris wheel and merry-go-round. Then we tried to find something to eat for dinner, but there weren't any good places (they had like 7 restaurants) open, so I got a hot dog and we decided to go to a place near Jeff's house for dinner.

I forgot to mention that a seperate "goal" of Jeff's was to stop at just about every snack stand and order something. He wanted to "eat his way through the park". He had churros (actually pretty decent, I had one too), a chicken kebab thing, an ice cream cone (which was weird because he usually doesn't eat those), a pizza roll and a drink. I had bites of all but the chicken which annoyed Jeff because he told me to just get my own. But I only wanted a bite (so he let me).

The place we had dinner was a combo Korean and Italian restaurant. It wasn't "fusion" because they didn't do any combo things, they just had Korean food and Italian food. The place also has a giant hockey player in front of it. In case you weren't sure what the store was, they put him out there to clear up the confusion. Because nothing says "Italian food" like a hockey player.

Then we got home and skyped Holly, Ann and Stacey (and sort of my mom - she had issues with skype and her phone, although it has worked in the past). They wanted to be online with me while I opened a scrapbook they made from the beach. It was really sweet of them and I liked looking at all pictures.

Then Jeff and I watched/listened to stories and went to sleep. We really didn't do anything on Sunday except Jeff made baked ziti and I did laundry. Jeff had to go to Seoul on Sunday night, so I stayed at his place alone and cleaned a bit and took a bath - first one in 6 months! I had to walk for like 20 minutes dragging my bag on Monday to find a cab to take me to the bus station, but I eventually found one. The trip home was easy and I'm getting the hang of how to get to Jeff's place just in time for him to leave.