Sunday, May 06, 2007

Random Festivals Downtown

This afternoon I met up with my friend and former coworker Donna who's in town for a while. We planned to spend the afternoon walking around downtown, window shopping and hunting down a place to dine on some tasty Korean foods. In addition to a yummy stop at a Korean barbecue buffet, and the accidental purchase of a ridiculous lime green konglish t-shirt, we discovered that there were apparently TWO festivals going on in the pedestrian areas of downtown Daegu. One, in the main shopping drag featured free samples of soju and rice wine, in addition to free samples of various make-up products and face-painting for kids. I sampled the free booze and passed on the make-up.

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Free booze in the main downtown pedestrian drag.

We wandered down to the Gukchaebosang Park (or in English, the National Debt Repayment Movement Park) took some photos.

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Approaching Gukchaebosang Park

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Gukchaebosang Park Bell Pavilion


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Gukchaebosang Park Bell Pavilion

We then made our way to the Herbal Medicine Market, where the Yangnyeongsi Herb Medicine Festival was underway, celebrating the 350 year anniversiary of the market. Herb gardens had been literally transplanted into the middle of the street, and they were hopping with rabbits! There were booths of people displaying various traditional herbal medicines and medical procedures and such... and more free samples. I was coaxed into drinking some very strange herbal tea, as all the ajushis and ajummas cheered and clapped. Absurdity!

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Traditional herbal medicine demonstration


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Donna in front of one of the temporary herb gardens


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Rabbit in the herb garden!


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They weren't penned in; I can't imagine why they didn't escape!


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This was the fellow who insisted I drink the strange herbal tea,
and who led the clapping while I drank.


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Me, at the gate to the Herbal Medicine Market

2 comments:

Lloyd Dobbler said...

I don't mean to alarm you but that statue...it's um...it is smelling your hair (and smiling)...

annie said...

Heehee - I know!