Today, however, was a whole other story! M's exercise ended and he finally got a weekend off! Knowing us, biking was a must. This time M and some of his coworkers made an event so others could join in if they wanted to. Only two other guys showed up, but it was as fun as it can be biking with three other much more fit people.
I woke up at 8. I slept in! This is also the first time in over two weeks that M and I have slept in the same bed. I haven't been able to between our different schedules, his early waking hours, snoring, my tossing and turning keeping him awake, and general comfort. I prefer the guest room bed for comfort, while he likes the firmness of the master bed.
It took a while for M and the guys to get their plans finalized and to figure out a general meeting area so it was 10 before we left. We rode to post and picked up T, one of M's friends, and rode with him to the Han river, where we met up with C, someone I had yet to meet. From there we went North to the bridge that crosses to Yongsan and stopped at some floating buildings that C said were used in the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. I'm not sure how accurate that is and frankly I'm too lazy to look it up so I'll just take his word for it. Since M and I hadn't seen these buildings yet we walked around and saw what there was to offer.
Are you ready for picture galore? No? Too bad! :)
This yellow building ended up having a free art exhibit going on. You bet we checked it out!
Another one of the buildings was a cuisine center.
Our view of the bridge that takes you to Yongsan. The lower level is how we would bike to and from Yongsan if we wanted to.
Can you see the air? We came back slightly darker than when we left, and that wasn't because of a tan. The pollution index in this area was over 100 today, and we probably shouldn't have gone as fast as we did. At least I shouldn't have. This was faster than any other bike ride I've gone on.
On to the art exhibit! This was an exhibit by artist Hong Nyun Kim. There are several indoor and outdoor pieces displayed across these three buildings, all with the intent of evoking and maximizing imagination.
When we entered the exhibit we had someone greet us, tell us that pictures were allowed (yes!!), and we could take a pamphlet for ourselves that was in English.
The upper floor wasn't as brightly lit, so some of these pictures might not be the best.
The reasoning for the lack of light is the use of lights in some of the paintings and sculptures. I wanted to dawdle and examine each piece. Sadly, my companions were more of the 'walk quickly through and just glance at everything' type. Sigh.
Information on the wall that I wasn't allowed to read because we were moving so fast. Now you and I can read this together! Except the rightmost column. Sorry about that.
I didn't get a chance to grab the individual names of each piece. The pamphlet has names but no descriptions or pictures to put each to, so I'm sorry about that! You can still appreciate the pretty nature of these, can't you??
From the other side. Amazing how the different angle affects the brightness!
In case you didn't get the physical theme here, it's butterflies :)
I want this to hang on my wall. If I had more money I would plaster all of our walls with artists' works.
Red butterflies. If you're thinking anything about that left butterfly, you'd better get your mind out of the gutter because my companions already made all of those jokes LOL. It doesn't help that That maroon fibered part was made of some sort of string.
A better view of an earlier piece I already showed and the lights. The lights flashed at random points and changed colors. It was really pretty!
There were also plenty of pictures of other visitors printed out and taped to the walls. I liked seeing all of the different people and how they chose to pose with each piece.
More gorgeous artwork. I like the abstract butterfly in the middle.
Oh no, where'd M go??? XD
After that we went to the third building that supposedly has a roof garden.
Since Spring has just barely poked its head out, everything is pretty dead. Except for the evergreens!
Our view from the roof garden. That netting is part of the art exhibit. It's called Rise, Soar, Ascend.
The bridge again.
A better view of the art piece.
A view of the city skyline. I already feel a buildup of gunk in my throat after today.
The walkway we came in on. Someone (M) didn't pay attention to the several obvious no bike riding signs as we came in and got himself and C scolded by a security guard. Haha!
Another view of the garden. I can only imagine what it'll look like once everything has a chance to grow and bloom!
I thought the gradient from brown to green was cool on these. :)
M was disgruntled at nothing being in bloom. Poor guy. I don't know what he expected.
This looks like it would be a lovely area to hold a wedding. Or any sort of get together, really.
This is the only picture I took of the cuisine building, as we didn't enter it. M did and wanted to get some gelato, but nobody else was hungry and I was at the end of my rope. M told me that we had expected to do around 20 miles, and the halfway point that we had stopped at was already 11.5 miles. I didn't like being the limiting factor to their bike ride, but I knew I couldn't keep up with their pace if we'd gone to the other places they wanted to go. The end result would've been close to 40 miles. Double the furthest I had ever gone on a bike ride. Sorry, but no. If I'd known this beforehand I wouldn't have gone.
We rode home and ate some leftover pizza. Then crashed for a nap. Then finally showered when I couldn't sleep because of how icky I felt. After our shower, we went on post and picked up some cleaning supplies I had been needing and some groceries that couldn't wait another day. Or could, but we wouldn't be happy campers.
The rest of our day has been spent playing video games, watching movies and YouTube, and just spending time together. It's been wonderful. I don't know what our plans are tomorrow. I think I want to go to the Garden 5 and find that Japanese restaurant T took me to on our first biking trip. I've been getting insane cravings for that spicy beef rice bowl.
Oh yeah. Our final distance: 22.25 miles. Top speed: 25 mph. Our average was 18, not including our side adventure. Phew. I have a headache and both M and I have a raised temperature while our body works through the yellow dust's affects on our lungs, our sun exposure, and the general toughness of the workout. I'm off for the night, but please tell me how your week has been going!
Side note: dem thighs though. Seriously, I can't believe how big they've gotten in such a short time!
What s great day! An invigorating bike ride, art, quality time. Glad he is off. Crazy about the pollution. I didn't realize how bad it was there. I had heard China was bad in areas but didn't imagine Korea to be.
ReplyDeleteI got a sunburn from our bike ride. @.@ I had to use some cocoa & shea butter to sooth my skin.
DeleteA big reason our pollution is so bad is because it's swept in on the winds from China. It's not so bad in the immediate area we live in, but if we ever go into Yongsan it's one of the more polluted areas so we have to be careful.