November ArchivesMain page is here. |
November 29 2006
On Top of the Dresser It's not quite as exciting as climbing a mountain, but to the cats it is pretty high up. They put on a show for me last night on top of Jung's dresser. |
November 25 2006
The Peak of Gwanaksan We had a good time on the peak of Gwanaksan once we got to the flat part. It turned out they sold beer and mokoli up there, so we proceeded to drink. It was a good time. The trip down was quick and we made it back just in time for dark. Plus I took this badass picture of Chosun Blade. |
November 25 2006
The Peak of Gwanaksan Time to take out another peak on the list. So far we'd been climbing up a pretty standard path for the past three or so hours. Suddenly we found ourselves on a narrow ridge of jagged rocks and terrifying heights, surrounded by Korean ajommas and children. Some of the pictures show how terrifying this was. |
November 25 2006
Gwanaksan Temple This thing is so metal it doesn't even need a song named after it. Part chainsaw part rollercoaster, it would have been awesome to ride. This gallery documents our adventures at the temple of Gwanaksan, and our ascent up toward the peak. |
November 25 2006
Gwanaksan On Saturday we met up with Sean O'Leary and some of his friends to conquer Gwanaksan. Sean brought along four of his friends, only one who I'd met before. They introduced me to adventure metal, which is what they do whenever they climb. Or, I suspect, whenever they open their mouths. Basically they make up heavy metal songs as they go along. I wrote as many of the song names as I could down and they're included in these galleries when relevant. Some of them aren't in order, and there's one I can't even read. |
November 24 2006
Blinky Oronzo took us to a bar in Apgujeong where there was a big elaborate party for a ski hill that's opening (probably just for the season) soon. The good news was there was an open bar. The bad news? Budweiser only. I drank about three before it was closed down at midnight. At exactly 11:57 I went to the bar for a final round. It took a couple minutes for the waitress to get me the beers, and then they tried charging me 8000 won for them, as it was a couple seconds after midnight. I turned and ran. Luckily they didn't chase after me. Then the larger mystery arrived: 8000 won for three beers? How? |
November 23 2006
The Fridge We need to get rid of this fridge, but I think it would break Millie's heart more than the time Jung moved her bike downstairs out of the apartment. |
November 22 2006
Blinky Recently I announced on this site, "If I get photos of the same stray cat on two different days, it will receive a name." I have finally taken a second picture of a stray cat. When I announced this promise, I posted a photo of this guy hiding under a car. I've caught him again, and because of his intensely glaring eyes, he will now be named Blinky. Today I heard two cats howling in the alley, so I went to look. I discovered a black cat disputing over some prime real estate under a car with a lighter coloured cat I assume was Blinky. I managed to take pictures of the black cat, so next time I see you, you're getting a name too. |
November 19 2006
Birthday Dinner My birthday (and Millie's) lines up fairly closely to both of Jung's parents' birthdays. We had a small celebration all at the same time. We went out to an expensive Italian restaurant with small portions, then back to the parents' place for wine and cake. Jung's mom and dad are going to North Korea next weekend, for a literary/peace conference at Geumgangsan. The North Korean delegation had to withdraw though because of the political climate. But the really sad part is I could've gone with them. Maybe next time. |
November 19 2006
Umyunsan Let's take a look at the list. Umyunsan is the next to be marked down. It was more hard work for less payoff compared to the other mountains, but it's a good place to go for exercise. That's where Jung's parents spend their mornings sometimes. We couldn't reach the true peak of this mountain, because there was razor wire in the way. On one part of the well marked path, we saw a sign warning of land mines. There is an active air force base at the top so I had to be careful what I photographed. It still didn't stop Koreans from climbing the hell out of the mountain. |
November 18 2006
Buster Most of the pictures here are of Buster. He was starting to get very obnoxious, and scratched both me and Jung. I threw him under a blanket and cut his claws. He's just lucky he's cute. |
November 15 2006
Millie's First Birthday Millie turned one year old on Wednesday. We had movie tickets that expired the next day, so we didn't really celebrate much together. Millie and Buster got a cake made out of cat food that they finished completely. There are lots of eating pictures here. |
November 15 2006
Millie's First Birthday Millie is one year old. To celebrate her birthday, I've restored some old pictures of her early life so I could make a series of galleries depicting her life up to this point.
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November 14 2006
Dead Pumpkin We finally got rid of the pumpkin. Also, Millie's birthday is approaching and I have a surprise planned for her. |
November 12 2006
Samseongsan Our climb of Samseongsan took us down to the bottom just in time for dark. It was close and the last hundred meters were in darkness. Then we went to Sillim nearby and found a very good chicken restaurant. |
November 12 2006
Samseongsan We returned to the mountain we'd climbed a few months ago and failed to reach the top. This time I wanted to get all the way up so I could cross it off my list. Unfortunately it's not there, so I guess it's not technically in Seoul. If it were, it would be west of Gwanaksan. |
November 12 2006
Cats I got a few very good cat photos on Sunday, capturing Millie and Buster both at their cutest. Here's one of the three of us together, which looks like some band promo photos I've seen. |
November 10 2006
Drinking with Brendan I went out drinking with Brendan, the publisher of Fouren Publishing. He's an expert drinker. |
November 11 2006
Pepero Week Have a happy Pepero Week. While you're busy eating chocolate-coated cookie sticks, think about the wars of our past. I have two new missions to report. First, I'm planning to climb every mountain in Seoul to the peak. You can track my progress here. As you can see, there are quite a few. Obviously Namsan is down, and now Guryongsan, but I crapped out when I climbed Gwanaksan with Jung and didn't reach the top. This will provide a lot more interesting photos for this site, and more exercise for me. The second mission is something I've been doing already: taking photos of stray cats at every opportunity. If I get photos of the same stray cat on two different days, it will receive a name. This will increase the catness of this site. |
November 7 2006
Mountaineering Remember that mountain I mentioned yesterday? Think I can make it to the top? I ran, I jumped, I pulled myself over jagged rocks, I looked back and realised it would be impossible to climb down. What did I find up there? You'll see. Anyway, it was a climb and a christ. |
November 6 2006
Mountain This morning it was raining and cold. I wanted to get some pictures of this mountain down the street from my work. Tomorrow I'm thinking of climbing it, but it depends on the conditions. |
November 5 2006
Sunday Another lazy day with the cats. There aren't as many pictures this time. |
November 4 2006
Saturday I spent Saturday with the cats and got a whole bunch of funny pictures. Oddly enough Buster finally decided he liked catnip, which didn't amuse Millie. |
November 3 2006
Walking to Bangidong On Friday night I was supposed to drink with my friends Dorian and Oronzo. Dorian was off work at 6 and I was off at 7, but we'd have to wait a couple hours for Oronzo. So I decided to walk from Yangjae to Bangidong. I'd seen it on a map before and it was a straight line between the two. So I went to the road and set off. After an hour and a half I was getting close, but was running low on time, so I took a taxi the rest of the way. It probably would've been another 20 minutes of walking if I'd kept at it. |
CONTACT
Jon underscore Dunbar at Hotmail
010-3212-2812
Please remember that these photos are all copyrighted to me. If you want to use them in any way, there's a 90 per cent chance I'll give you my permission, and be able to give you a copy with a higher DPI.Copyright Jon Dunbar 2004
Photos taken by
Nikon CoolPix 950
digital camera.