The Mildly Exciting Adventures of Paul Richardson

TOPIC: MUSIC/PALACE

Hello there!

Welcome back everyone. Did you miss me? I certainly hope so. I do have an accumulation of photos for everyone - so sit back and enjoy. This first batch is from a free music festival that HJ and I went to a while back now... It really was incredible...just the fact that is was free! I mean, this was no small music festival - three days of all kinds and styles of music - electronica, metal, punk, pop, dance, R&B, and the list goes on...

Anyway, by far and large, the most terrific part was getting to see Straylight Run live. If you don't know, Strayling Run are kind of a small indie band, an offshoot of a somewhat larger band, Taking Back Sunday. Both HJ and I totally dug their disc back in Canada so you can imagine how excited we were to see them for free and in Korea! Regardless to say, the show absolutely rocked! But that's not all - for the very first time in my music going career - I actually went with HJ to meet the band after the show! In all honesty, I was super nervous - what would I say? Eeek! Umm..so..yeah...it wasn't that scary, we got some autographs and I got a few lame words in... Best way to cap off a super cool night though.

A Korean performer before Straylight Run...great stuff!

The anticipation was intense!

There he is - the one and only John Nolan, the lead singer from Straylight Run.

Okay, moving on then. I'm realizing I've actually done more in these past weeks than I thought. A few weeks ago, HJ and I checked out probably the coolest palace I've seen yet in Korea, Changdeokgung. Obviously, this place was huge. But that wasn't the real selling point for me. I was so impressed with its natural beauty. It was designed so that nature fit right into the character of the place, and it totally felt that way. Even though this palace was nestled in downtown, once you stepped inside those palace walls, it was just so easy to forget where you were. It really was a sanctuary. Definitely recommended for anyone coming to Korea for a visit. I know Gyeongbokgung Palace is the favourite as it was the official palace of the king of Seoul, but Changdeokgung's natural beauty is just too stunning to pass up. Nuff said. Here we go...