Fouser's Hanok Walk

Looks like the clearane store in the ground floor of KOTE has rebranded. Maybe they did get the message that K-Sports was one of Choi Soon-sil's.

I peeked through the parking lot fence to see there are tents there for whatever reason.

Robert brought us to see a classic example of a city Hanok, only to discover it had been turned into this monstrosity.

Robert gives Lee Jun-seok a little too much credit.

For a few seconds, I hijacked the tour by reciting this passage in front of the group. They quickly figured out I was talking garbage.

I jokingly remarked that the "-seon" in Ikseon-dong comes from the old Ik Train Line, which is admirably preserved here. Hopefully nobody took me seriously.

Robert speaks with his hands which always makes for dynamic pictures, while also meaning you have to keep clicking to get the right poses.

There was a giant purple wall of vending machines for weird balls. I looked at this and remarked, "This is what newtro is all about."

Sometimes I like to torture Luisa by sending her signboard photos like this.

Some sort of building with probably not much history being gutted.

We stopped in Bukchon Culture Center.

The feature that impressed me the most was the nerfing of this arrow sign. Was it based on an actual accident? Inquiring minds want to know.

This might be at the Bukchon Urban Regeneration Center.

Right next door to that is the Bukchon Total Reconstruction Center. I peeked through the blanket and knew I wanted a closer look.

First, a calming view.

And then here's in the construction site.

Click for full size.

No, Robert did not like the two-storey neo-Hanok.

This impressive view is what Robert used to see when he lived in the area. My old home would be a little off-camera to the right. I was more squared with those big school buildings.

One of these was where Robert lived.

And this shows his former home with that view.

Slightly wider. There used to be an uphill entrance, so he would have gotten this view while coming home possibly. I'm sure there was also a downhill entrance.

Picturesque Gahoe-dong was covered in these big banners telling visitors not to piss off the locals.

Likewise.

So Robert had to be a little careful.

I like that a lot of the signs around here have English.

Robert stands in front of David Kilburn's home. We don't know its current state inside or the whereabouts of his widow.

We posed for a group photo (everyone but me) in front of Cheong Wa Dae in the distance.

A pleasing view.

An odd mixing of roofs.

Vines and cables.

Right as everyone started to walk down a set of stairs, I spotted a Hanok undergoing some particularly vigorous "renovation." By the time I confirmed it was easy to view, they had all moved on.

Some of the details.

I noted scraps of some sort of wallpaper clinging to the wood here.

I like how the baby excavator has a blanky.

Two very different finishes.

Look at the skeleton of that ceiling.

The front gate.

Other side of it.

These are the signs I remember being around back when I lived here. Don't disturb ME.

We entered the street in front of Cheong Wa Dae.

A nice peaceful walk through.

And there's the entrance to Cheong Wa Dae.

Robert spoke about it.

I started to admire the traffic cop platform at the far end. I asked some security people nearby if I could enter, and they signaled no and moved to intercept me. Not sure what the big deal is, and it would be a great photo op.

Another Cheong Wa Dae building.

This MKGA dipshit saw some white people walking by, so he asked if we'd be willing to appear in his video, to which point I shouted "NO!" in his face.

Next, Robert took us to a bear cafe, where patrons can sit with heavily drugged and hopefully harmless bears.

Look at that peeling paint.

Unfortunately, there had been a mauling earlier in the day, so we couldn't go all the way in.

An abandoned apartment building in the middle of nowhere.

A sign in their parking garage.

The White House, not too far from the Blue House.

I took this noting the green striped blanket over the awning. Seen in a slightly different context during LGBTR Month -- that R stands for Redevelopment.

Robert was happy this building was still standing.

Whatever was here wasn't.

The hoarding around this construction site was taken from a few sources. I liked how it seemed to say IFAN Heavenly Tastic Fire (ignore a bit of spelling error).

I need to stock up on bad English shirts.

We passed by another Hanok skeleton, right around the corner from Robert's Seochon house.

That black cat seemed pretty content to just hang out, knowing it would take us some effort to burst in there and do to stray cats whatever it is they fear humans will do to them.

How the alley looks.

A small detached house.

Here's Robert in front of the Hanok where he lived, and had renovated.

Peeling letters.

I was briefly amused by their postures.

The windows were etched with birds, on Robert's request, made by an artist from the area, but the last ones had a cat and an owl.

We passed by the Hanok skeleton again, seeing the same black cat.

This cat scooted by us pretty aggressively.

A meeting of RAS After Dark (note that it doesn't have to be literally after dark, just after the event).

Am I the only one who sees a face?