Aiin's World/Where I would like to be buried when my time comes...

This was a great weekend. It was a rainy day on Saturday so everyone stayed in for the most part. I laid in bed all day watching movies and catching up on my shows. It feels so nice to have a computer again. I felt really guilty at first, wasting a whole day in my PJs and laying around in bed listening to the rain outside and then I realized that I actually was loving my day of nothing and I think it's the first time since I've been here that I've felt a home-y vibe in my apartment. It was a much needed day of nothing <3 (...that I could only allow myself to have since it was raining).

I really didn't want to waste my whole weekend and since Sunday was supposed to be much nicer, I decided it would be a good day to go to Aiin's World in Bucheon. As it got later, I texted Mimi to see if she was interested in going to Aiin's World with me the next morning. She said yes, and I began to get myself pumped for the adventure of a lifetime (sarcasm, except not really because Aiin's World is amazing).

If you haven't taken a moment to minimize my blog window and google Aiin's World, let me explain. It's a theme park with miniature landmarks from all over the world. You can walk through the park and take pictures from certain angles to look like you are at all of these places. I had learned about this place from my friend Angela who posted a picture of her and her boyfriend in front of the Eiffel Tower and I remember thinking "Wait.... is Angela in Paris? What a terrible idea! This is not a long weekend. How long was that flight? Wait, does Angela have a holiday that I don't have? How much does it cost to go to Paris from Korea?" Soon, I realized she had tagged the location as Aiin's World and after some googling, I knew that I had to see this place. Ben and Caitlyn said they were interested in coming with us so the 4 of us met for brunch in Bucheon and then walked to the park.

I use the term "theme park" very loosely when referring to Aiin's world. It's more like a carnival. A small carnival. A parking lot with 5 rides. But it was awesome nonetheless! We didn't go on any rides that day so it only cost W10,000 (>$8.75) for entry to the landmarks part. Not bad for an afternoon outing.

 It took us a while to find the entrance because it was not well marked at all. We ended up walking the entire parameter of the park before realizing where to enter. But we finally made it!

Yay!!!!

"Enjoy a new world in a day"

There was lots to be seen when we walked in. It was cool to see all of the world's landmarks in the same "skyline". I was stumped by a few, but I think we all knew most of them.

Mimi, Caitlyn & Ben walking into the park. You can see that some of the landmarks had painted backgrounds behind them to make your pictures really look like you were actually there.

Hey look! I'm in London!

Little mini baby Stonehenge

Some of the "countries" had rock speakers that played music to really give you the feel of each city and the ground in front of each landmark was marked with footprints that showed where the photographer and person getting their picture taken should stand to get the perfect perspective for each picture.

Photographer

Model

Jk. Now I'm in Paris.

With the right angles it really does look like you're actually at these places.

Auuuuuuuux Champs Elysees

Le Louvre was AMAZING! I kept thinking about how much work that must have taken to glue each and every little figurine to the base.

Fake Notre Dame...

Real Notre Dame! (2010). Same same

Versailles. I mean come on! Look at all of that detail! How long did that take?!

I love a well-done Versailles moment.

Oh heeeeey, I'm in Rome now.

The Colosseum was cool because you could climb inside and have someone take your picture from above.

I am a very ferocious gladiator and Caitlyn never stood a chance.

And now I'm in Barcelona! The cathedral had a mini crane and everything!

Nevermind, back in Italy, murdering the Pisa pose.

"Look like you're really pushing!"

Nailed it.

And now I'm in Greece.

And now I'm in Moscow, where the sun is awkward and messes up my pictures.

Sidenote: When I was little, I used to think that St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow was awesome and I really wanted to go and see it. "Kristen, that's such a weird and random thought for a child." I know. Geez. Let me finish. The first time I saw a picture of the cathedral was some time shortly after visiting Disney World for the first time in 1996, during which they were celebrating their 25 year anniversary. See if you can guess why Kristen the small child would think there was a magical adventure waiting for me inside this cathedral after coming back from Disney World.

And if you're still struggling, here's what Cinderella's castle looked like that year.

(From Google Image search) It's probably best that 7 year old Kristen never made it to Moscow. I don't think I could have emotionally handled the disappointment.

I love fake Egypt this time of year. Note the rock speaker.

 

Trying to get a realistic angle here was impossible, as I am pretty sure ancient Egyptians did not live in high-rise apartments that overlooked the Pyramids. I could be wrong, please let me know if you have any details on this.

Committing to my art.

Mt. Kilimanjaro

The plaques beneath each landmark were super helpful sometimes if we were confused about where we were.

Although I could never be confused about Morocco because I belong there.

They had 6 of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World!

Just another day, hangin out in Mexico.

Did I say Mexico? Because I meant Australia...

Mimi: "Someone ordered the wrong color tiles"

This is what pictures look like when you are in the middle of talking and therefore unaware that a moment is about to be captured.

Vegas.

So much to talk about. First of all, everything in this park was so realistic except for the obnoxious King Kong swinging from the Empire State Building which made it impossible to get a serious picture of the skyline lol. I also thought it was interesting that the World Trade Center was included in the park because I think Aiin's World is post- 9/11 and I don't know why they would include it in the NY skyline if it was designed after 9/11. Seems like a touchy subject that would have just been thrown out in the designing process. I'm totally over analyzing Aiin's World.

On a lighter note, Absolut Vanilia is my favorite flavor.

I'm really here!!!!

I totally need to look into what kind of demand there is for miniature landmark photographers because I was AMAZING at it.

Japan

India

Cambodia

You might not know this, but this particular battle between Korea and the Japanese was fought in New York so that neither country would have the home-field advantage.

Saw from the plaque that this was in Korea. Totally didn't realize it was an Ancient Wonder of the World and was super disappointed when I read it doesn't exist anymore and I, therefore, cannot visit it.

"It was believed that this Pagoda could defend Korea against the invaders. It was utterly destroyed by the fire in 1238..."

I know this palace and I want to visit it! I've seen it from the outside and its HUGE! Definitely a potential blog post!

Goodbye amazing place that I want to come back to everyday!

Then we wandered into the gift shop.

I loved this little puzzle globe with the Korean names for the countries.

Almost bought a ton of these for people at home but I figure I can find cheaper ones at street markets.

I'm going to buy a figurine in traditional Korean clothing before I come home but I don't want to store it for 10 months. Loved this one though.

You could also buy a poster of all of the landmarks that you can see at Aiin's World.

A lot of the items in the gift shop were from the places that the landmarks were from. I loved this tapestry but I figure I can find a more authentic one in India than in a gift shop in Korea.

We headed back to the metro station so that Mimi and I could get going to Gangnam for dinner. We said our goodbyes to Caitlyn and Ben and were on our way to Garobee which is an amazing vegan buffet with amazing food and literally as I'm typing this my mouth is watering.

I should have taken a picture of Mimi's plate because it was much more impressive. Next to my spoon we have pumpkin, kimchi, kidney beans, breaded mushrooms that were fried (I think), my favorite thing: brown squares that I also think are fried which I have no idea what they are but I love them, and I think the top is some sort of spinach maybe? I really don't know what I'm eating half of the time during a meal anymore. These are just my best guesses lol. Oh, and plum tea.

Pineapple, oranges & mangosteen.

Garobee has this wall of famous vegetarian/vegan celebrities. However, it is not a very accurate wall.

We did a little shopping in Gangnam before heading home. It was an amazing day and I had a great weekend. I got to lay around on Saturday and get out and do things on Sunday. Perfect. I can't wait to get back into the habit of blogging again and posting pictures of what I'm doing. Thanks for reading!