Myla in South Korea : Meet my Korean friend :) (Part 2)

3. Hanwha aqua planet Ilsan

On one of my weekends at the end of July, Yerim and her dad came to Yonsei and picked me up for a whole Saturday trip with her family. In the morning, we went to Hanwha aqua planet Ilsan. This place initially was not on my “to go list” because Gyeonggi-do, the place where this aquarium is located is outside of Seoul. If I were to take the subway and bus there, I for sure would have gotten lost so it was a big no. Luckily, Yerim’s dad knows my deep passions for sea animals so he decided to offer me a ride there. After we found a parking spot for the longest time (since lots of families took their kids there on the weekend), I was so excited after realizing that one of the scenes from a popular Korean drama at that time called “The girl who sees smells” was filmed in this aquarium earlier this summer. The movie’s poster was still hung on the main entrance for advertising purposes that I think was super smart because it could catch attention from foreigners who don’t speak Korean language but had been watching the drama (like me haha). This aquarium was huge that all kinds of sea animals were featured in each and every corner that I ran into.

Speaking of a new experience, I literally was given a free ticket to watch a 15-minute mermaid show (obviously not real mermaids lol). I don’t swim so these mermaid ladies impressed me to the max. Their excellent swimming and dancing movements that perfectly aligned with the music gave me goose bump. I promised to myself that after getting back to the states, I would learn to swim no matter what. After the show, Yerim’s family and I had a walk along the aisle with different sizes of fish tanks. Of all the fishes and animals that I observed that day, I hadn’t seen more than 50% of them. I learned so many new things about sea creatures because of the detailed notes stick on the wall. I also recorded too many videos and took so many pictures that my phone’s storage got full a while later (my bad for forgetting to bring my spare camera). Below are some of the pictures that I took while on the discovery.

Say cheese :)

Doesn't it look scary?

The most pretty jellyfish I've ever seen

A sign with both Korean and English descriptions (Each type of creatures has its own)

I'm in loveeeee <3

Looks at its color!! Isn't it amazing?

It swam to me when my fingers touched the tank glass... So cute!!

Sexy body ;)

No words could be used to describe how pretty these fishes are.

Another picture!

Mermaids were about to appear.

After exploring the aquarium, we took a break in the aquarium cafeteria. Of course, we didn’t forget to get some Korean popular street food like Sundae (Korean blood sausage) and Dduknokgi (spicy rice cake). I had to say that this treat boosted up my energy and made me even more excited to explore something else.

4. Lake Park - Ilsan

Our next stop was Ilsan park. Ilsan park was located in the same area as the aquarium so it did not take Yerim’s dad too long to get there. The park is large and divides into different areas such as those for jogging, biking, and for families to have a weekend picnic together. I was in love with the environment and the fresh air of this park in the middle of the city. I wished my hometown had a park this big so I wouldn’t get bored. I honestly couldn’t explore the entire park just by walking. The first thing we did when entering the park was renting a couple bike. Yerim and I had so much fun biking around the park. We talked a lot and especially I got to watch the sun set from the park. It was the most beautiful thing ever.