한국-d plAcE I nEvEr knEw I AlwAys wAntEd

Yes, there are a lot of bears in Jeju ... the fake ones that is. These bears make people smile, regardless of age. You can always play with them, hug them when you are happy and even when you are sad. They are quiet, constant companions, always there when you need them. Do you know that these loveable bears were first introduced over a hundred years ago and were named after one of America's presidents, Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt? You can google the rest of the story but suffice to say that he loves bears and cannot shoot them.
It was already late in the afternoon on a sunny spring day, 15 May 2011, when Neel and I reached the Teddy Bear Museum. We just came from an exhausting morning trip to Eorimok, and we have not had lunch. You can read more about our Eorimok escapade on this blog entry (INSERT LINK).
Our plan was to walk around the Seogwipo central area, and the Teddy Bear Museum seemed like a good place to start. I was hungry, and I get cranky when I am hungry. We spotted a food place sign in front of the museum, and we went to inquire. Apparently, we could not go to the food place unless we bought a ticket to the museum, because the food place was inside the museum building. That was odd. Restaurants are almost always separate from museums, or any other building destination for tourists, because sometimes people really do just want to eat, not sightsee. Anyway, I did not want to argue anymore. Besides, we intended to go to the museum anyway, so we paid the entrace fee and went straight to the food place. I called it McDonald’s because the menu was quite similar to a Golden Arches menu, but Neel said it was not McDonald’s. We ordered, we ate, we ordered again, and finally, we were ready to roll.

There were only two levels of exhibitions, but they were pretty good. I tried to take as many photos as I could, but I am still learning how to angle properly, and many of the photos did not turn out great. The first exhibition showcased different historical personalities or events like Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Prestley, Disney, moon landing, et cetera. I took my photos rather quickly; there were a lot of people around, and I had no patience to wait for them to move on so I could get a better angle for my shot. And Neel? She was still patiently taking photos by the time I finished taking mine. When I look at my photos now, I realize again that patience indeed is a virtue. I have spent a lot of time trying to fix the photos I took, but they are still not that great. Anyway, I intend to return to Korea, and hopefully I will get better photos then.
The other exhibit was pretty good as well. What I loved most about it was the most expensive bear, Louis Vuitton… perfect timing because I had my LV bag with me.
After we were done with the two exhibits, we went to the shop where I bought my two baby teddy bears. These guys became my accessories during our photo shoot by the garden. What I love the most is the guy teddy sitting on the bench where people can take photos beside him. If he could talk, he would probably voice his annoyance at the different poses people have done. Here's my cute photo with hubby teddy

All in all I loved the museum ... loved taking photos ... loved Korea ...
If you're interested in Teddy Bear Museum here's the link: http://www.teddybearmuseum.com/Etc/English.asp
If you're curious about my photos here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150233098065559.347623.606685558