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Here are a few final shots from my walkabout last weekend at the Expo site. Enjoy.
This is the “backside” of the International Pavilion area, facing the train station.
And another shot of the same area.
It appears that most of the outside work is finished on the apartment buildings of Expo Town.
And a couple of shots of the hotel, where more of the exterior covering is being put on.
Here’s a site that I hadn’t taken a shot of until last weekend. It’s the Fisheries Experience Zone. It’s the blue pylons down the breakwater near Odong Island.
Finally, here’s a general overview of the site. If you click on it a couple of times, you’ll get a very large photo of the area to browse. Might take a while to load.
I’ll be on vacation in Thailand and Laos soon and I won’t return until the first week in January, so I won’t be taking any more strolls around the area until then. More later.
Geez, it seems like I’ve been insanely busy lately, though I know it hasn’t been all that hectic; it just feels like it. Anyway, here are the other shots of the Expo site that I promised in my previous post.
First up is another shot of the International Pavilion area. In the lower right is the beginning construction of the Big O, which will be the centerpiece of the Expo.
Next, the Korea Pavilion from a different viewpoint, just to the right of the previous photo.
There are a lot of things I like about the Expo construction so far, but I think my favorite is this little bit of whimsy on the roof of the Expo Organizing Committee building. The forward looking lady is gazing out to sea with her spyglass. Definitely click on the photo a few times to get the largest view and to get a good look at her face. Love it!
Here, Expo Town is still under construction just behind The Spyglass Lady.
Finally, this was the busiest construction going on at the time, in the area of The Big O and the Thematic Pavilion, if I’m not mistaken.
We’ve had some great weather lately, and today was no exception–clear blue skies and a moderately warm afternoon. So, I took another walk in the Expo area and got some more shots. I’ll get ‘em up quickly, I hope. More later.
I promised some more photos of the Expo 2012 construction site, so here are some of the ones that I took a few weekends ago, on November 5th. I was going to get them up a few days ago, but last week, for whatever reasons, seemed quite busy, and yesterday I spent most of the time on our field trip that was postponed from that previous Saturday. Anyway, here are some of the photos, and I’ll try to get several more posted later this week.
I did a lot of cropping on most of these shots, since almost all of the site is surrounded by fairly high (7 to 10 feet) sheet metal fences and casual visitors, of course, aren’t allowed inside the area. There’s also a lot of clutter, cars, power lines, etc. to exclude in the attempt to get a “clean” view. Despite that, I think you’ll see that a lot of progress has been made since my previous visit on August 24th. Most of the visible changes can be seen at the International Pavilion area. For reference, here’s the Expo map that I posted earlier.
First, here’s a view of the area from the visitors’ center, showing about 2/3rds of the site, excluding the area near the hotel. (As always, click on the thumbnails to get a larger, more detailed view.)
Here are a couple shots taken in the area of the International Pavilion, with the Korea Pavilion on the right in both shots.
This one’s looking toward the apartment buildings of Expo Town.
This looks down a walkway toward what will be the Waterfront Plaza. On the left is the Korea Pavilion, the Expo Multipurpose Hall and the Sky Tower in the distance. Across from the Korea Pavilion is the Climate and Environment Pavilion.
Here’s a closer view of the Climate and Env. Pavilion, taken from the International Pavilion area through an opening in the sheet metal.
A closer view of the Sky Tower.
These were formerly used as silos and were a different color (blue, I believe). So, how did they become white?
Looks like fun! The guy was pushing himself from side to side with his feet and using a power paint sprayer.
Finally, for this post, here are a couple shots of the Marine Life Pavilion (Aquarium) and the hotel. There’s not much change to the exteriors (the base of the hotel shows the most progress), but most of the work is going on inside the structures. I’ll try to get some more photos of the area posted later in the week. Stay tuned.
These photos were taken on August 24th, so they’re only about 3 weeks old. I’m sure of the names of some of the venues, but for others, the names on the map that I refer to don’t match up with the names on the official website, so there’s a bit of confusion. At any rate, things seem to be progressing well, and I haven’t heard any reports that anything was behind schedule.
First is a shot of the Korean Pavilion, which I’m reasonably sure is the correct name for the building.
Next up is the Marine City and Conservation Pavilion (not sure about this one).
Here’s the aquarium, with the hotel under construction in the background. (100% sure)
Here’s the aquarium by itself from a bit closer.
And a closer view of the hotel.
This one could be the Marine Industrial and Technology Pavilion or the Climate and Environment Pavilion or the previously mentioned Marine City and Civilization Pavilion. Which one is it? I guess I’ll have to make a trip to the Expo Visitor Center and look at their 3-D model to find out.
Next, the Expo Town–pretty sure of this one.
The Local Government Pavilion (reasonably sure).
A general view of part of the construction area. The two cylindrical buildings to the right will comprise the sky tower.
Finally, there’s a new addition to the visitor center. I’ve no idea if it has a name other than, perhaps, “Crabby.”
That’s it for now. I’ll keep checking the site every once in a while and post more photos as progress dictates. Hope to see you at the Expo in 2012!
Finally, we’re getting some gorgeous weather. For the last week and a half or so, clear blue skies have banished the overcast conditions that we were experiencing, though it’s still quite humid at times. I got sunburned riding my bicycle last Sunday and while walking around town in the middle of last week. Marvelous!
Before the great weather, I went down to the Expo 2012 site to see how things had progressed since May, the last time I’d been down there. I got a lot of shots of the ongoing construction, but I also took some more photos of the wall murals that I mentioned in a previous post.
Here are a half dozen or so of the paintings. Peruse at your pleasure and, as always, click on ‘em for a larger version.
Sadly, some of the paintings that I photographed in May are no longer there. In this area of town, crews are widening the road in preparation for the Expo. Walking a bit down the hill, I saw that the mural wall came to an abrupt end where it had been demolished by the “improvement.” Here’s what I saw at the end of the wall.
Yikes! Well, I suppose it’ll look better once they finish the construction. This area will lead into the international village where all the foreign workers at their various pavilions will be living while they’re in Yeosu.
Construction is ongoing at the Expo site; here’s a brief preview of the new hotel being put up. I’ll have more Expo photos in a few days.
It’s another oppressive, humid gray day here, just like yesterday and the day before and . . . Yesterday was a bit exciting, I guess–after my 3 p.m. class, I walked down to one of the local markets to buy a few groceries. Although it was overcast, as usual, there was no rain in the forecast, so I didn’t take an umbrella. Well, on the way back, the skies opened up and I got thoroughly drenched in what was quite a gully washer. It only lasted about 20 minutes, but I was soaked from head to toe.
In lieu of any recent photos, here are a few more shots of the Expo 2012 site under construction. These are from May, so they’re a bit old. Starting Saturday, we have a 12-day break until the fall semester begins, so I hope to get down to the construction area and get some updated shots.
This first one is a shot of a portion of the site, from Dolsan Island. There’s more construction off to the left, including the new hotel, which I featured here. As usual, click on the photo a couple of times to get a large version.
In the middle of the above shot, you can kind of make out the buildings of Expo Town going up. One of my adult students told me he had entered a lottery drawing for one of the apartments. Apparently, after the Expo, these buildings will be used as apartments for Yeosu citizens. Potential renters got in the lottery to draw for specific apartments, which they can either reserve or turn down, depending on the location. This student told me that he had drawn a 10th floor residence, thus assuring him and his family a great view of the harbor. He was, of course, quite happy. He said if he had drawn anything below the sixth floor, he would have turned it down. The following shot is a close-up of that area, taken from the train station.
Oh, heck, might as well throw in a shot of the station, while I’m at it.
Also from Dolsan Island is a shot of the new red lighthouse, right across from the new white lighthouse. The two strange-looking ovals in the upper right are highway tunnels.
Finally, here’s one of the new tourist hotels, just down from the big hotel on the Expo site. I don’t know about this one–it’s located right by the new highway, so I kinda wonder about how quiet it’s gonna be.
That’s it for today; I’ll get some more photos up soon that I took on one of my bicycle rides earlier in the year.
The weather has been a real downer lately, with usually overcast skies, rain or mist and high humidity. Just walking around campus leaves me drenched in sweat. If we have had any sunny days, they’ve been on work days, so I just haven’t been out and about to take any photos lately. This seems to be the normal scene lately.
However, I have a backlog of photos I took earlier in May that I’ve been meaning to show, so, until I decide to do some wandering around to take some new shots, I’ll post these older ones over the next few days.
Progress continues to be made on next year’s big event, the 2012 Yeosu World Expo, and, in addition to the construction at the Expo site, roads are being widened, new hotels are being built, and a general sprucing up around the city is being undertaken. There’s a long section of wall, about head-high, near the Expo site. Previously, it was just a dull gray block of concrete, but last May, high school and university students set about painting some murals on it. Here are some of the results.
Of course, all the animals and mythical creatures do have meanings associated with them. Here’s a sign that explains what they mean. You’ll definitely have to click on the image a time or two to be able to read it.
There are several more paintings that I didn’t get shots of that day, so I’ll have to go back and nab the rest of them. When the weather is nicer.
I’ll get some more shots up later or in the next few days.
We’ve been experiencing some glorious spring-like weather lately, so I decided to step out of my cave a few days ago and head on down to the Expo 2012 site to see what kind of progress is being made in preparation for next summer’s big event. The day started out overcast, but ended in some nice sunshine, so the earlier photos I took that day are a bit drab.
First, here’s a look at what the site is supposed to look like when it’s finished. As always, click on the images to get a larger version, especially this one in order to be able to read the map legend.
So, let’s start walking down the hill toward the site, near Odong Island. The first photo looks down on the site from just below the bizarre “whale” church. You remember the whale church, don’t you? Here’s a shot of it I took last year, in case you forgot what it looks like.
Here’s a photo of the area showing where we’re at in relation to the site.
We’re way up in the left corner, near the white structure with the thumb-like appendage sticking up. So, what does the site look like from there?
You can see Odong Island in the background with all the construction cranes working on the site. I counted a total of 18 cranes in operation, so work is proceeding apace, although only a few buildings are going up right now. The new hotel is at the far right and the green construction area just to the hotel’s left must be the aquarium, according to the map. If you enlarged the map, were standing a ways above number 9. So, let’s walk down to the site and go out to the island, just for the heck of it. We’ll climb up Jasan Park later and get some better shots of the site.
A new extension onto the jetty, with lighthouse, has been constructed, but it’s still being worked on and not yet open to the public. Here’s a couple of shots of it.
The airplane propellers at the top of the poles are wind-driven generators that provide electricity for the lighting. Here’s a closer view of the lighthouse.
Okay, let’s walk back and climb the steps to Jasan Park. On the way, from the causeway, we can see the new hotel going up (number 19 on the map).
Halfway up the steps, we get a better view of the site.
Now at the top of Jasan, here’s another view. Compare it to one taken last year, which follows the first one below.
There are a few noticeable differences–the new road snaking its way farther toward the site, a new building in the foreground, and other spot-the-difference details.
Well, now, as long as we’re here, let’s hike over to the other side of the park and see if the new bridge has been completed. Here’s a map of the park, by the way.
The previous two photos were taken from the path above number 12 on the map, the statue of the legendary Korean Admiral Yi Sun-shin.
Let’s continue along the path . . . whoa, what the heck’s that?
Ahhh, it’s one of the several monuments to Korean and international military veterans of the Korean War. This particular one, seen in silhouette against the sun, is number 5 on the map.
Alright, here’s a somewhat clear shot of the new bridge from Dolsan Island to the mainland. Hurray, it’s finished and the engineers got the two extensions to meet up in the middle!  It’s not open yet, since there’s no sign of a road going anywhere on this side.
Well, I hope you enjoyed our little walk. I’ll continue to post more photos of the ongoing construction of the Expo 2012 site, so stayed tuned for more later.
One more shot, though, to show the potential of HDR photos, about which I posted here. You can get some pretty surreal effects from HDR photography, but the photo below shows a more normal use. It’s of the hotel taken from inside the pagoda, number 13 on the Jasan Park map. If I had exposed optimally for the interior details, the background highlights would have been “blown out (overexposed);” if I had exposed for the highlights, the interior details wouldn’t have been visible (underexposed). My camera’s dynamic range could not take in both the shadow details and the background sky details in the same shot, though my eyes could easily see both. HDR (high dynamic range) to the rescue.
Continuing from the previous post, I walked down out of the park and toward the harbor, to the new Jongpo Ocean Park Walkway, also being built for Expo 2012. At the far end of the walkway stands one of the massive towers of the new Dolsan Bridge.
Here’s another shot of the other part of the bridge under construction, reaching out from Dolsan Island.
Have you ever heard of the 17th century Dutch explorer Hendrick Hamel? Neither had I. In this area is a small red lighthouse named, appropriately, Hamel Light.
Walking a bit further, you can see this statue of Hamel.
Engraved on a marble memorial near the statue is Hamel’s story. It reads:
Hamel and Yeosu
In January 1653, a Netherlands merchant ship, De Sperwer, set out from Texel and headed for its final destination of Nagasaki, Japan, after passing Batavia (Jakarta) in July. However, on August 16, 1653, they encountered a storm off Jeju Island and arrived on the shore of Jeju.
There were 36 survivors out of 64 crew members after the storm, and one of them was Hendrick Hamel. In May, 1654, the survivors were sent to Seoul for custody under the royal decree of the king (King HyoJong). In 1656 they were sent to the barracks of Gangjin, Jeonnam Province, and they spent seven years in captivity. Due to a food shortage caused by draught (sic), in February, 1663, 22 survivors were separately placed under custody: 12 people to Yeosu, 5 people to Suncheon, and 5 people to Namwon.
Among the 12 men sent to Yeosu, Hamel was one of the men. And they were given the duty of gate guards for Yeosu Jeolla Fortress. In early 1664, a commanding officer, Lee Do-bin, of the naval forces, was inaugurated, and he was a man of generosity. He allowed Hamel and others to live comfortably with limited freedom, and the survivors earned money by selling wool in the market to buy a ship to escape from Korea. However, in 1666, the successor of Lee, Jeong Yeong, came to command the fortress and he made it hard for the survivors to live, so the survivors decided to escape.
On September 4, 1666, they mingled with the inhabitants as every thing was going as usual. At night, they made their escape by crawling over the wall of the fortress and went to the pier. They gathered drinking water and ran toward the southern tip after passing the military vessel as the low tide started. Around the next evening, the saw the tip of Busan and finally escaped from the territory of Korea.
This is the starting place of Hamel and others for navigating toward their freedom.
An interesting story, and Hamel pops up in other sites in Korea. If you do a Google search, you can find out more about him. Here’s a close up of the light.
Next post: Jongpo Ocean Park Walkway.
Well, maybe Spring is finally here (oops, just jinxed everything again ). Today was very nice, temperature in the 60s F and a light breeze during the morning and early afternoon, which turned into a howling banshee around 4 o’clock this afternoon. I did an early morning jog of 50 minutes and then I took off on a three-hour ride on my bicycle for the first time, riding up and down the hills of Yeosu, down by the ocean, up into the hills again and back to the campus. A bit too much for the first time–I’m totally wiped out. Probably shouldn’t have taken the jog.
As the day progressed, the haze in Yeosu became pretty bad, with some of the mountains obscured by whatever was in the air. At least last weekend was clear. As I mentioned in a previous post, I took some photos in a walkaround down by the Expo 2012 site and elsewhere. Here are a few shots from then.
First, here’s an artist’s depiction of what the site will look like when the Expo opens. Looks pretty nice.
If it actually ends up looking like this, it will be pretty spectacular. Right now, the reality is quite different from the final expectation. There’s a lot of demolition going on at the site, structures being torn down, areas being leveled, new roadways going in.
The next shot, an overview of part of the site, was taken from the top of Jasan Park, which is situated high above the Expo site and Odongdo. Lots of work to do yet, but I’m sure it will all be finished in time.
There’s quite a nice Expo 2012 Visitor’s Center on the site. Here’s a shot of the lobby. There are two floors, a conference room, auditorium, and many exhibits documenting the themes of the Expo, the construction of the site, the importance of the oceans in relation to the environment, and the expectations of the organizers.
Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and other people around the world (but especially here in East Asia, it seems) love to create androgynous, cartoonish characters to represent their special events. Here are the mascots for Expo 2012, YEOny and SUny (my capitals), a play on Yeosu, positioned outside the visitors’ center. You can read more about what the names stand for at the Yeosu city website. Cute and adorable, eh?
Finally, here’s a shot of an eyesore right next door to the visitors’ center, an amusement park. I’m not too amused, and I hope it’s taken down and/or moved, but that’s just my opinion. I imagine it’ll be history soon. I’ve walked in the area more than a few times and this place never seems to be all that busy. Nothing against the owners, but it just doesn’t fit in with the overall look of the area. Perhaps it can be relocated.
I hope I can continue working here until 2012. That’s my desire, and if it comes to pass that I’m still here until then, I’ll try to document the ongoing construction of and subsequent opening of Expo 2012.
I have quite a few more photos to post from last weekend, including one of the most bizarre buildings I’ve ever seen, and there’s an interesting tale of shipwrecked Dutch sailors in Yeosu. Stay tuned for more later.
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