Dog Eaters

Incheon and Seoul

Posted on 04.01.16 under dongdaemun, incheon, korea, korean wedding, seoul, Uncategorized

A quick two-nighter to Korea for Jonah and Hanna’s wedding. It’s only a 2+ hour flight and an hour and half from Tokyo to Narita, but it’s still a trip to another country.

narita

And a bus ride from the terminal to the plane.

narita3

It was a late flight, got in at midnight…

grandhyatt

reception

viewfromhyatt2

Incheon is an island, the infrastructure is new, neat, clean. Construction from the room window.

toilet2

bathroom2

bathroom

You may hear stories about the toilets in Korea, but as you can see, this hotel has great toilets!

whale on egg

Took the shuttle bus back to the airport.

incheong airport

All the architecture is new, so there is a cohesive but sterile feel to it all.

airportrailroad

This is the Airport Railroad to Seoul. It is twice as expensive as the “All Stop” train and not that much faster but the seats are reserved and nicer.

eau de toilette

Like an airline, they had a magazine in the back of the seat. It was fun to see this Eau de Toilette in a kitchen spray bottle.

near incheong

Strange seascape-like terrain, it looked like they were draining the water or something.

don'tstep

yeongcheongpromo

dongdaemun station

Train stations and trains reminded me of Singapore. Japan is noted for it transport, and rightly so. There are more trains and they run more often, but the infrastructure is older than Korea’s. Korea just looks more slick. They speak more English than the Japanese as well. However, they are aggressive on foot, always trying to cut in front of you.

wallart

Got out at Dongdaemun, a big wholesale shopping area. We went there to buy accessories for Blythe.

grevin

dongdaemun2

touristpolice

I guess the tourists need policing. Actually, it was like an information center. We found out that the wholesale market was closed on weekends (it was Saturday) and they were open from night til morning.

dongdaemun river

We followed this river to the market that was open. Typical Asian market that had 7 floors filled with booth-stores.

shopping

marriothotel

Next time, the shopper should stay at this Marriot Hotel.

The next day was the wedding. We would return to Tokyo right after.

train2sea

Had a better look at the window and realized that this was the maglev train from the airport to the coast, mostly for tourists.

jasminehall

The wedding venue was like a drive-through restaurant.

weddingplanner,kathy

The indispensable wedding planner with Jonah’s mother, Kathy.

jordan2

Jonah’s older brother, Jordan.

weddingsign

The sign. There’s a wedding and photos every hour.

hannaparents

Hanna’s parents.

kim

Jordan’s girlfriend.

weddinghallattendants2

This haircut is very trendy in Incheon and Seoul. Must be inspired by the Beatles or the Three Stooges.

jonah2

Jonah, the groom, gets his funk on.

wedding_2

The mothers prepare to proceed to the altar.

wedding_9

Floor was as reflective as water.

hannasinging_3

I was pleasantly surprised when Hanna came out on her father’s arm belting a K-Pop song.

hannasinging_6

What a strong voice with a great range!wedding_36

wedding_37

A pretty long speech in Korean, a bow…

cake

wedding_44

wedding_51

They had a slide show and played a video in both English and Korean with subtitles thanking their families.

wedding_61

Hanna’s mom got a kick out of Jonah’s kowtow. I think that was his idea.

wedding_64

He did the same to his family and they got had to laugh.

room

There was an additional shoot in the Korean Room.

room_3

The attendants, cameraman, and videographer had it wired. The whole thing went like clockwork.

room_9

There was a series of rituals which included the parents throwing chestnuts to see how many children they would have and then —

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A piggyback ride, which I was not sure what the symbolism was. Maybe that the husband would support the wife?

room_15

A lot was packed into that hour and a half.