{"id":32,"date":"2013-04-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yule-tide.generalsemiotics.net\/index.php\/2013\/04\/13\/post-25-a-mini-planetarium-overlooking-a-huge-shrine\/"},"modified":"2013-04-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-13T00:00:00","slug":"post-25-a-mini-planetarium-overlooking-a-huge-shrine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/2013\/04\/13\/post-25-a-mini-planetarium-overlooking-a-huge-shrine\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-25: From a Warlord’s Shrine to Mini-Planetariums in Seoul"},"content":{"rendered":"
I was in Seoul on Saturday. I came upon the following:\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"Picture\"<\/a> <\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
I followed the sign. <\/p>\n

<\/span>Most of the denoted points-of-interest were part of the same complex: <\/span>Nakseongdae Park<\/strong> (\ub099\uc131\ub300\uacf5\uc6d0). It seemed to be a kind of grand shrine that doubles as a kid’s park. The shrine part of it revolves around a Korean general (or warlord) Kan<\/a><\/span>g Gam-Chan<\/a> who fought the Mongols in the 1000s AD.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>\"Picture\"<\/a>Statue of General Kang Gamchan, Southern Seoul<\/b><\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n

A statue of the general is prominent, and there is a well-and-true shrine to him in a secluded rear area. Incense is kept burning.
<\/span>
Most of the park seems, on weekends, to be occupied by kids riding small bicycles or recklessly piloting electric-powered toy cars. Their wild swerving-around in those little cars cannot help but remind one of a certain stereotype…\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/span>\"Picture\"<\/a>Seoul Science Park Entrance<\/b><\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n
In the photo above, you can see a silver building in the distance, on the top right. That is the place I ended up next.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Walking past the above-described park dedicated to the memory of a long-dead general, something calling itself “Seoul Science Park<\/strong>” materializes on the left. It’s a sprawling complex surrounded by some short walking trails in the hills. <\/p>\n

<\/span>Next to this “Seoul Science Park” there also seems to be a farm plucked right out of rural Jeolla and plopped down in Seoul. I conclude that it is an experimental farm (whatever that means). Why else would it be there?<\/p>\n

<\/span>The most interesting feature of this place was its mini-planetariums (or, “planetaria”, if you insist). At the top of the hill overlooking Seoul Science Park, there is an observatory — that silver structure in the above. It is surrounded by little blue spheres (one is below), into which a person can put his head. On the inside of these spheres are compelling re-creations of the night sky. They are soundproof and “lightproof”, so the sensation I got was of being alone on a cloudless, pitch-black night in a very-non-light-polluted area.\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Picture\"<\/a> <\/p>\n
Skygazing Pavilion at Seoul Science Park \/ A “mini-planetarium” is in blue on the right<\/b><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
(I was reminded of my mom, who worked on behalf of saving the Arlington Planetarium a few years ago, when it was under threat of demolition).\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/span>Walking some more in this area, I see some trees that I presume to be cherry-blossom trees. (See post-16<\/a>).\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"Picture\"<\/a> <\/p>\n
Cherry Blossoms in Seoul<\/b><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
I concluded that this area of Seoul is pretty neat.\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was in Seoul on Saturday. I came upon the following: I followed the sign. Most of the denoted points-of-interest were part of the same complex: Nakseongdae Park (\ub099\uc131\ub300\uacf5\uc6d0). It seemed to be a kind of grand shrine that doubles as a kid’s park. The shrine part of it revolves around a Korean general (or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}