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Week 68 – 69 – Paul McCartney and Jeju Island

Paul McCartney concert

Very amazing that Sir Paul is able to carry on at 73 with this show – similar to the show we saw in DC with some interesting aspects of it being in Korea:
• It was 95% Korean and a young crowd – and they knew the words to the songs. So it isn’t a hopeless future of K-Pop
• Rain ponchos were issued to the arriving crowd and everyone put them on
• Unlike baseball where food and beer can be brought in – none could be brought in and they had two concession stands for 80,000 people – very surprising
• A major diversion in the set list in the middle – songs from Sgt. Peppers I don’t recall and the crowd was signing Korean words…we were guessing from a kids show that used the melody
• Paul’s Korean is much better than mine
• People didn’t cheer for the encore…they spontaneously started singing Hey Jude again…when they came back on stage it threw Sir Paul off and instead of going to the next song, he went back to Hey Jude again
• And just like DC, struggled to get on the Metro in time…but the taxi ride was much closer. And at least I could walk home.

Live and Let Die and fireworks
Light rain and everyone orderly placed on the rain ponchos
The concert was held at the Olympic Stadium from 1988….this is near the spot where Ben Johnson took off to temporary win the gold medal

JeJu Island

I had planned to go to Jeju Island with some co-workers a couple of weeks ago, but all of us ended up with work conflicts and then I had an unexpected Monday/Tuesday off so I went by myself for a couple of days. Jeju is the “Hawaii of Korea” and it is not a bad comparison – volcanic island with dramatic landscapes.

Last fun for awhile…schedule to work or travel 16 of the next 18 days.

Waterfalls

Upper Cheonjeyeon waterfall
Lower Cheonjeyeon waterfall
Jeongbang Waterfall….directly into the ocean but I could not get a picture of both
Cheonjiyeon waterfall…very nice park

Seongsan Iichulbong Peak

Highlight of the island…a small volcano formed off the coast.
Trails/stairs on the way down
For $9 – got a 10 minute boat ride around the island. The ring around the top is like a castle formed by the lava
Our boat – 1960’s ski boat…in the Pacific Ocean with 3-4 ft swells.

Other sites

Bridge to an island…Mt Hallasan in background. It is the primary volcano and 6,000 ft high. I did not have time to explore or hike it.
Jusangjoolli Cliffs – not a great picture. But note that the rocks are actually hexgonal columns formed by lava
View in a harbor
Nice cliff side walk
Lotte world hotel – $500/night. Not where I stayed.
Jungmun beach and resort area. Similar to some resort areas in Maui

Random stuff

Although a heart attack is a risk…this was posted above a series of waterfalls dropping a couple of hundered feet…so maybe drowning and/or falling to your death is a higher concern
Never seen a warning for a hangover before
My hotel – 80% cheaper than Lotte. But in a different town 30 minutes from the nice resort. It is OK but definitely a couple levels down.
Must have had an incident to warrant a “do not ride the dolphins” sign
Rumor is Seoul to Jeju is the most travelled air route in the world – on the Seoul side the old airport has a domestic terminal and almost all flights are to Jeju – 9 flights in 30 minutes. Some are 747’s and A-350’s and packed with families
Remaining alien spacecraft from Independence Day

From Week 68 and 69 – Paul McCartney and Jeju Island. Posted by JC Travels on 5/05/2015 (24 items)

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