An afternoon walk on the Southside of Hong Kong (Photo-essay)

Today's one of those days that I have things to vent about if I so chose.  But it's also a day when I took advantage of the still relatively cool weather -- which I'm enjoying despite the lack of bright sunshine -- and went out for a walk in a part of Hong Kong I'd not been to since early on during the pandemic (pre-masking mandate but when people were afraid of catching Covid if not masked when outdoors).  And for the record: yes, one reason why I've not been out walking that route for the past few years is because I didn't want to do so while masked!  (So, yes, there are some advantages to the mask mandate having been dropped!) 

 

While walking from Repulse Bay to the area in front of Ocean Park, I not only had a good time but also got reminded once again that there are good reasons why I really f**king love Hong Kong and believe that Hong Kong is really beautiful. And since the number of negative posts on this blog are threatening to out-number the positive ones, here's going ahead and sharing photos that I took earlier today when ; at least a few of which I hope will bring a smile to your face upon viewing them:   

 

Pigeons and people on the beach, and 

boats on the water, at Repulse Bay

 

Looking back on my walk at Repulse Bay, with the Twins 

(of multiple steps infamy!) providing a green background

 

The sky ahead was lighter than the sky behind me as I walked!

 

A more scenic area to learn to crew than, say, over in Sha Tin! :b

 

I was far from the only person who was out walking 

along the path I chose this afternoon -- but it still 

was by no means crowded, thank goodness!

 

At Deep Water Bay, an egret gazed out at humans swimming by :D

 

A nice day to be at the beach if you're not into crowds! :)

 

There are times when Hong Kong can seem idyllic;

I just wish it was the case more often than has been so.. :S

A visit to Ocean Park during the pandemic (Photo-essay)

I went to Ocean Park with two friends today.  One of them has lived in Hong Kong for more than 35 years but this was the first time he had been to the marine mammal cum amusement park!  And I think he chose the right time to do so.  This might seem like a strange thing to say since there currently is a pandemic going on.  But because of the pandemic, there are few (no?) foreign tourists -- including misbehaving Mainland Chinese ones -- in Hong Kong and, as a result, Ocean Park was far less crowded than it would have been most other years!  

 

This is not to say that the park was deserted though.  What with today being a Sunday, there were a number of local visitors to the place, including a good number of families with young 'uns.  By the way, Hong Kong had 3,780 new Covid cases today.  In 2020 or 2021, that news would have freaked me out so much that I would have stayed at home rather than gone out to some place like Ocean Park -- and for the record, Ocean Park was closed to the public for a time in 2020.  Today, however, that statistic didn't faze me much at all.  And, in fact, it was seen as a relatively positive one since it's actually the lowest number of daily Covid cases that Hong Kong has had in months -- to be precise, since July 20th of this year!        

 

For a time, pandas were the major draw at Ocean Park

-- and even now, there still are hints of panda mania there

 

Something I've done every time I've visited Ocean Park:

go on its scenic cable car ride :)

 

One of the arctic foxes at Ocean Park -- the sight of which 

got me making involuntary cooing noises! :D

 

Something I've never seen before in my life, never mind 

at Ocean Park: penguins being fed!

 

Another highlight of today's visit: a ride on the floorless

Hair Raiser roller coaster which has a maximum speed 

is 88 kilometers per hour! :)

 

Looking out to Lamma Island from Ocean Park's Summit area

 

One of the more interesting sea creatures viewed at the park

-- a shark with quite the scary looking snout!

 

They aren't the most popular animals nowadays in Ocean Park

-- I'd give that accolade to the penguins! -- but I do 

still think it's cool to go see the pandas there, especially

though that are doing something besides sleeping! :D

A temporary hiking respite from political gloom during the fifth coronavirus wave (Photo-essay)

Yesterday was one of those days in Hong Kong where there was plenty to be upset about.  Among the lowlights: six people getting arrested on "sedition" charges for having clapped in court (yes, you really did read that right); and John Lee's appointment to the post of Chief Executive being effectively confirmed.  

 

Adding to the gloom: Tom Kellogg, the executive director of the Georgetown Center for Asian Law and the co-author (along with Eric Yan-ho Lai) of a report entitled Arrest Data Show National Security Law Has Dealt a Hard Blow to Free Expression in Hong Kong, producing a Twitter thread about it that included the following lines: "The NSL is a wrecking ball that is swinging wildly through HK civil society, doing immense damage"; and "No end in sight, I'm afraid: 2022 will continue to be a grim year for human rights in [Hong Kong]."

 

And the flow of disturbing news continued into today.  A case in point: Keith Fong, a former president of Hong Kong Baptist University’s student union, was jailed for nine months for "resisting police and perverting the course of justice, in a case linked to his purchase of 10 laser pointers during the 2019 protests" today.  

 

But I managed to keep the gloom away for a few hours this afternoon when I took a friend (who'll be leaving Hong Kong soon) for a hike in my favorite country park in the Big Lychee.  On my first excursion into the countryside since mask wearing while exercising became required again in Hong Kong (thanks to the fifth coronavirus wave), the sun was out but it was fortunately not super hot and humid.  So our hike today along the Tsz Lo Lan Shan Path from Wong Nai Chung Gap to Stanley turned out to be pretty pleasant (and thus provided a welcome temporary respite to help recharge the batteries)!

The trail head for the Tsz Lo Lan Shan Path is well marked

but it's still a hiking trail that is not super well known

(and thus not very busy, at least on a weekday)

 

Yes, this is a hike with views of super expensive residences

along with the usual greenery and highrises!

 

Repulse Bay on a sunny afternoon -- from a distance,

things look pretty idyllic, don't they?

 

A sail boat and container ship in Repulse Bay

 

Violet flower spotted on the edge of Violet Hill

 

View of Tai Tam Intermediate Reservoir from Tsin Shui Wan Au

 

 

Clear day view past Middle Island over to Ocean Park 

and beyond to Lamma Island in the distance!

 

Looking downhill near hike's end at the Stanley Peninsula and 

beyond to Hong Kong's southernmost islands, including Po Toi

Records broken over the weekend by Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey, and Hong Kong's registered voters! :D

Just a few meters away from a polling station -- but one 

couldn't tell from this photo taken yesterday (unlike with photos

taken on November 24th, 2019 from around the same spot)!

 

Starting with where we left off on Friday: with Hong Kong swimmer Siobhan Haughey, who won a second gold medal at the World Swimming Championships over the weekend -- this time in the 100 meters freestyle race which also saw her break the meet record in this category!  Adding to her achievements was her adding a bronze medal -- this time from the women's 400 metres free style -- to her haul yesterday.

Since Hong Kong does not allow voting from outside Hong Kong (except if you are one of the estimated 110,000 registered voters among the Hong Kong residents living in Mainland China who could get to the one of the three polling stations set up at the border yesterday), one can safely assume that Haughey did not vote at yesterday's Legislative Council "election" (the first to have taken place since China imposed its security law on Hong Kong and implemented sweeping changes to Hong Kong's electoral system).  This puts her among the majority of Hong Kongers who didn't do so -- since only 30 percent of Hong Kong's registered voters elected to do so yesterday (in great contrast to the more than 71 percent who did so for the November 24th, 2019, district council elections)!

 

Put into raw numbers: only "1,350,680 of the 4,472,863 registered voters cast their ballots for city lawmakers in Sunday's poll", making for "the lowest turnout since Hong Kong's first ever direct election of its legislature in 1991".  Consider this: that 1.35 million number is lower than the estimated attendance rate of a number of anti-extradition bill protest marches which took place in 2019 -- not just the June 16th "2 million person" march but also the 1.7 million rally-turned-de facto-march (because there was not enough space in Victoria Park to accomodate everyone!) in the pouring rain on August 18th, 2019 (for which a number of individuals subsequently were sentenced to up to 18 months imprisonment for having organized and/or participated in it).

 

Adding to the records broken yesterday: that for the highest number and percentage of spoilt votes.  More specifically, 2.04 percent of the 1,350,680 votes cast yesterday were declared invalid.  This includes those that were accidentally improperly filled out but the sense one gets is that the likelihood was higher than the ballot papers were either deliberately spoilt or left blank (as per the urging of the likes of former legislative councillor Ted Hui).

 

Truly, though, far more people were more intent on taking advantage of free transportation on the MTR, buses and trams to do such as head over to Ocean Park and Hong Kong Disneyland, or over to the country parks (many of whose trail heads are accessible via public transportation) for some hiking.  Some people even decided to spend much of the day taking (free) public transportation: with the blogger over at The Fragrant Harbour having taken a number of rides over the course of some six hours that would have cost HK$101 if they hadn't been free yesterday!   

Put another way: I think one can safely surmize that, to cite a Tweet by @Baakfanmouyan, "Hong Kongers resoundingly demonstrate[d] their contempt for the CCP-puppet government's sham elections with a historically low poll turnout".  Ahead of this weekend, a friend told me she hoped to see voter turnout percentages that were in the 30s.  In turn, and in part because I didn't want to be disappointed, I told her that even a 50 percent turnout would be enough to show that pro-Beijingers were/are not the majority in Hong Kong and show that a healthy number of Hong Kongers refused to have wool pulled over their eyes and believe that this "patriots only election" signified electoral "improvement" (rather than regression).

 

I should not have underestimated the Hong Kong people.  And the following Niao Collective's Tweet should be read in this context: "Yes, you don't see pictures of the frontline dodging the [government's] tear gas anymore, but [Hong Kongers] not lending the regime any legitimacy in this sham of an election is in itself an act of resistance. The people haven't stopped protesting, they just have to do it a bit differently."   

 

More than by the way, one other notable Hong Konger (besides Siobhan Haughey) who we know didn't vote yesterday: the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's first Chief Executive, Tung Chee-hwa!  And for the record: unlike Siobhan Haughey, he was in Hong Kong yesterday.  So it's not like he's got that excuse for not doing so!  At the same time, his spokesman was quoted as stating the following: "as always, Mr. Tung hoped that people will vote enthusiastically in the Legislative Council election, and Hong Kong will continue to be prosperous and stable"; and, in so doing, provided yet one more great example of Hong Kong's "leaders" tending towards the philosophy of "do as I say, not as I do"!

Confirmation that Hong Kong's third Wuhan coronavirus wave has subsided the day after its mega costly mass testing scheme concluded

Wuhan coronavirus fight advice 

"Made in Hong Kong" surgical face masks 

for sale at vending machines now

For the first time in quite some while (since July 4th, 73 days ago, to be exact), Hong Kong had no -- yes: nada, zero, zilch! -- new local daily Wuhan coronavirus cases today; with all four new reported cases having been imports (one each from India, Japan, the Philippines, and Rwanda).  Sadly, there's one additional death today to report; bring the total number of deaths from the coronavirus in the territory thus far to 103.  On the bright side though is it pretty much having been confirmed that the third -- and most deadly -- Wuhan coronavirus wave that hit Hong Kong has now subsided.     

Even before today's news, things were looking pretty good on the coronavirus front for Hong Kong when compared to the likes of Singapore and Tokyo as well as London, New York and Los Angeles.  In recognition of this, the Hong Kong government has announced the relaxation of several social distancing restrictions beginning this Friday.  These include the reopening of bars, swimming pools, karaoke lounges and even Hong Kong's two major theme parks (Ocean Park, which I've been to a few times over the years; and Hong Kong Disneyland, which I've still never set foot in, and don't ever intend to).  Also, restaurant dining hours will be extended until midnight.  (But -- surprise, surprice (Not!) -- the ban on public gatherings of more than four people will stay.) 

The powers that be also probably realized that it wouldn't do to further extend its Beijing-backed "Universal Community Testing Programme" beyond yesterday (after having extended it twice already) which has been revealed to have cost HK$530 million to run!  And with just 42 positive results having been made, that effectively means that each of those positive cases cost HK$12,619,048 to discover (less than the HK$40 million amount estimated earlier by Apple Daily but a ridiculously hefty sum nonetheless)!

I'm sure that the government would say that if the 4-5 million people (from Hong Kong's 7.5 milillion population) that Health Secretary Sophia Chan estimated would take the tests had done so, more positive cases would have been found and this mass testing scheme would have been more worth its cost.  As things stand though, the total number of tests taken by yesterday was officially estimated as "around 1,783,000" -- and it's worth noting, even then, that there are reports of some people having gone and taken the tests more than once! 

Re those people who took the tests more than once: it's their right, I guess, since these tests are meant to be voluntary. But one still wonders why they decided to do so.  To help inflate the embarassingly low numbers? Sadly, that's quite likely as these tests have effectively turned into a referendum on how much the Hong Kong people trust the government (to actually be doing something for sound medical rather than political reasons, to not collect their DNA for something nefarious, etc.) -- and the answer is pretty clear: not much at all.

Throw in other factors like groups of people being pressured by the pro-Beijing/Communist Chinese-owned companies they work for to take the tests, and the number of true volunteers taking the test goes down further. In a seemingly last ditch attempt to drum up more support, Mainland Chinese medical workers administering the tests gave statements to reporters about the sacrifices they had made: like work up to 12 hours per day, with the heavy workload even causing hand and shoulder injuries to some.  Details also were shared about some having even been working eight hours straight without a break, and resorting to wearing adult diapers to avoid going to the toilet!

I guess this kind of thing impresses people in Mainland China. In Hong Kong, however, the reaction has been quite different.  As local lawyer Kevin Yam Tweeted on the matter: "Wearing diapers to minimise breaks in #coronavirus testing exercise: What might genuinely be considered in Mainland China as a heroic commitment to get the job done would instead be considered in #HongKong as unhygienic, inhumane and/or simply contrived and needless"!  And "Saikung Reader" was moved to Tweet that "Someone in Gov needs to read the Labour Dept’s Guide on Rest Breaks"!

In short, it really can feel like "One country: two different worldviews".  And even while people keep on bemoaning the death of "One country, two systems", there's still obviously enough differences between Hong Kong and Mainland China for such as the relatives of the 12 Hong Kongers currently detained in Mainland China to want to see their return to Hong Kong.  At the same time though, it's true enough that crucial differences really can feel like they are being chipped away; prompting the American and British governments to update their travel advisories for Hong Kong in recent days to warn of "abitrary arrests" now being a real possibility in this part of the world as well as Mainland China as a result of China's imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong.

Still fighting against the incursions of the Wuhan coronavirus and Communist Chinese regime into Hong Kong

Together, we fight the virus...

...this even while we longer how much longer it will be before 

the axe falls on Hong Kong and a significant percentage 

of the populace will end up behind bars :(

After several days of single digit and even zero new Wuhan coronavirus cases reported daily, Hong Kong suddenly had a whopping 30 new confirmed cases today.  Unlike back in March and early April, however, there's little panic this time around -- at least for now -- about the onset of a second (or would it be third now?) wave because all today's new confirmed coronavirus cases are imports rather than local transmissions.  

I do hope though that those individuals who decided that it was safe to stop wearing masks last week are going to start wearing them again.  Granted that they are in the minority (indeed, I'd estimate that non-mask wearer are, at most, 20 percent of Hong Kong's population) but I still do find it irritating that there still are people who don't realize -- or, maybe, it's more a case of don't care -- to help protect others as well as themselves by wearing masks while out in public   After all this time, surely we should know what's the score with regards to the Wuhan coronavirus and go about fighting it together?

Also, much as I hate to point it out, some of the most reluctant mask wearers in Hong Kong continue to be expats; particularly those who tend to prefer to stick to their own kind and tend to stay in the more international sections of the territory.  Last Thursday, I went to Central for the first time in ages and was quite shocked to see a discernibly higher number of mask-less people walking about as well as hanging around in the vicinity of bars; and a friend who works in Central but lives in Wan Chai told me that she reckons that the area around Lockhart Road has the lowest percentage of people wearing masks of all.     

Of course, not all expats go mask-less in Hong Kong.  And there are expats who are very angry with those of their fellows who didn't wear masks back in March, particularly those barflys who undermined the incredible community response to the Wuhan coronavirus and effectively gave the authorities the excuse to impose gathering bans that continue to be in effect to stop political protests from taking place -- and worse -- even after it was deemed to be medically safe enough for Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park to reopen! 

Thus it was that there were no large protests on June 9th, 12th and 16th -- and even while a significant amount of people turned out to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4th and the death of Marco Leung on June 15th, they were nothing like what surely would have been the case if Hong Kongers were safe to freely assemble and exercise their other supposedly guaranteed (under several Articles of the Basic Law) freedoms.   Furthermore, not only does it look unlikely that the annual July 1st protest march will be allowed to take place this year but it is increasingly looking likely that China will bring into effect the national security legislation it plans for Hong Kong by then.    

With regards to that national security law: It's been excruciating -- like Chinese water torture? -- to be presnted with dribs and drabs of information and speculation as to what it actually will entail, including by local government officials who actually haven't been seen any drafts of it, never mind been involved in its drafting.  And this despite my having tried to spare myself from reading detailed analyses of it (or, rather, what it's speculated that it will be) since I agree with lawyer-political commentator Kevin Yam that: "There’s nothing to analyse. It’s just whatever they say it is. And if they cannot make it whatever they say it is when they want something, they will just change it in whatever way they like. End of story."

At the end of the day, to quote a Tweet by Hong Kong Democratic Party vice chair Lo Kin-lei, "The sadness is real... The more you love Hong Kong, the stronger the pain you have." And here's another relatable Tweet from Kevin Yam: "The evolving feelings of helplessness, then hopelessless, then uselessness, then pointlessness, then worthlessness are really hard even to begin to describe."

In the thread of the latter Tweet though, you have others serving up reminders that "We didn’t fight becoz there’s hope; we fought hard so that there can be hope"and, also, that the "CCP is really good at using helplessness... to control ppl.  Don't fall into the trap. Keep fighting".  And even while there are people mulling leaving Hong Kong and urging others to do so too, you also get the stubborn, defiant folks who ask: "Why should we be the ones forced to leave and not those bastards[?] fuck them so much".  In summary: many of us are hurting but we also aren't prepared to go (down or away) without a fight -- precisely because we love Hong Kong so.

Repression in Hong Kong even before the enactment of China's national security law for it

 

Graph by Leung Kai-chi showing the results of the latest survey 

by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI)

China's national security law for Hong Kong has yet to be enacted -- or, for that matter, drafted.  But it already is feeling very much like a police state in Hong Kong (or, at the very least, one where justice is not on the side of the just and innocent).  

Some of the news in recent days that make me think this way: the arrest of organizers of the June Fourth candlelight vigil last week (and media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who reportedly had only been at Victoria Park for 15 minutes before going to attend a church service thatevening!); the shock resignation of a senior official of under pressure Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK); and a number of crazy decisions made by judges in Hong Kong's courts (including one involving a teacher who accused the police of abuse, only to end up being sent to a psychiatric center by a disbelieving judge, and a man found guilty of public disorder after he swore at police because he was tear gassed by them).  

And, sorry, Ocean Park reopening its doors again today is not going to make me feel better!  (In fact, it makes me even more upset about the maximum-eight-people gathering ban still being in place for protests!)

More than incidentally, yesterday was the day the controversial national anthem law (passed last Friday) came into effect.  And it, of course, also was one year to the day that I got to wondering whether we'd see the end of HongKong as we know it, thanks to the police going nuts and attacking the crowd of 100,000 that had assembled at Admiralty to protest and block the hated (China) extradition bill. 

As expected, the first annivesary of this key date in the anti-extradition bill protests was filled with protests.  In the morning, a human chain protest formed outside a school in solidarity with a teacher sacked for allowing them to sing Glory to Hong Kong.  (More than incidentally, just the day before, Hong Kong's education secretary old school principals that schoolchildren who chant political slogans, sing political songs or form human chains should be punished.)  

And in the evening, there were protests all over town (including in the New Territories, Kowloon and Hong Kong Island) -- which, despite largely being of the peaceful "Sing with You" variety, still attracted the attention of the riot police (who, once again, provided more evidence of their brutality and disrespect for regular Hong Kongers along with vengefulness against pro-democracy lawmakers) and also one deranged pro-Beijinger who pulled out a knife and tried to slash pro-democracy protestors. 

It's not just that the protestors were out to mark a protest anniversary.  Rather, they still have so many reasons to protests.  For one thing, only one of the five demands that people have been making for close to a year now have been met.  Then there's also the added problem and grievance that comes with the destruction of "one country, two systems", most notably by way of the Communist Chinese regime openly wading into, and seeking to dictate from on high and afar, Hong Kong affairs. 

Even while some are wont to maintain that "one country, two systems" is not actually dead yet, others are already pointing fingers as to who is responsible for its demise.  In a recent Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) poll, it was interesting to see that while the pro-democracy and pro-Beijing camps think the other has had a role in most people losing trust in (the continued existence and implementation of) this peculiar arrangement that, nonetheless, was supposed to be in effect until 2047, the majority of people in Hong Kong are united in knowing who the chief culprits are: i.e., the Hong Kong government/officials/disciplinary forces and the Chinese Central Government/China itself/its people!

Anecdotally, pretty much everyone I've ever spoken to in the past year -- and yes, that includes pro-Beijingers/government individuals and those who will say "I am neutral" before saying things that make me very much doubt this as well as pro-democracy protestors and supporters -- usually end up agreeing on the following point: Carrie Lam is an idiot.

Resistance in the face of political and police pressure

Solidarity in Hong Kong, and from overseas, last Sunday

 

Veteran rally attendees come equipped with portable stools!

 

A rally took place last Sunday that was intended to be a warm-up event for a march planned for this Sunday, January 19th.  Late last night, however, came news that the police had refused to issue a letter of no objection for the planned march: making it the first protest march since November 2nd -- probably the worst day for tear gas for me personally since I ended up inhaling it both on my way to and from protest events (which ended up being prematurely broken up) -- that the police have decided to effectively outright ban; though it also could be said to not have been entirely unexpected since the local constabulary have tried to stop 19 protest events from happening in the past few months.   

 

As a consolation of sorts, the police are allowing the organizers to hold a protest rally on Sunday instead.  Still, make no mistake that this is yet another attempt to clamp down on the pro-democracy/anti-government protests, which now includes arrests of people -- including at least one police officer, his girlfriend and her parents! -- for constructing Lennon Walls as well as continued witch hunts against key figures of the 2014 Occupy phase of the Umbrella Movement's such as lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun (who was informed today by Hong Kong Baptist University that he's been relieved of his teaching duties there) and Benny Tai (who the University of Hong Kong has initiated procedures to fire).       

 

Make no mistake though that people are continuing to resist.  In addition to the public protests (including one this evening in Tai Po, whose attendees included Doraemon!), today's news includes Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui taking the police to court in an attempt to force them to reveal the chemical content of the tear gas they have been firing at protestors and sacked flight attendants union chief Rebecca Sy going to the Labour Tribunal to demand that she get her job back and compensation from her former employers. 

 

Finally, it's lovely to learn that actual, wild dolphins still are willing to visit Hong Kong (with a pod of upwards to 100 of them spotted swimming in Victoria harbour earlier today)!  It's like word spread to them of the announcement earlier this week that Ocean Park will be axeing its dolphin shows after years of pressure from activists and they're not only celebrating but also lending support to help publicize the fact that (persistent) protests do pay off (eventually)!              

Scenic sights at Seopjikoji (Photo-essay)

Years ago when two friends -- one of whom lives in Vermont, the other in Tokyo -- and I met up for an Okinawa rendez-vous, we visited spots that were listed in our English language guidebooks like the fantastic Churaumi Aquarium and expansive Ocean Expo Park but also places we only learnt about after arriving in Okinawa from local tourist brochures such as Okinawa Honto's Manzamo.  And on Jeju, we -- this time supplemented by my mother's presence -- did the same and once again found our visiting "strategy" paying dividends.  

In particular, all four of us really loved our time at Seopjikoji, a narrow peninsula located -- like the far more famous Seongsan Ilchulbong -- on the eastern side of Jeju and are so glad that we found the mention of it in the free guidebook given out by the Jeju Tourism Organization intriguing enough to check it out.  For while it was already really cool that we got to see the haenyeo swimming and diving about in the waters off Seopjikoji, we also then ended up spending a further couple of hours exploring the area that's also home to interesting rock formations, a lighthouse and locations which featured in Korean TV drama All In (which one of our party had viewed before we met up in Jeju)! 

Puppet Ponyo and another of those rock formations

(how come there are so many?!) that resembles a turtle/tortoise

 

View of the Seopjikoji landscape that includes two local landmarks: 

the lighthouse, and the rock formation known as Seondolbawi

 

I wouldn't want to go into the churning sea off Seopjikoji but 

the waters of the rock pools looked enticingly calm as well as clear

 

I think one has to be a bit off the rocker as well as daring

to decide that's a good place to go fishing!

 

View of the surrounding area from the elevated area

of land atop which the lighthouse is located

 

View of Seongsan Ilchulbong and Seongsan town from Seopjikoji

 

A building that I consider to be a blot on the Seopjikoji landscape

which, bizarrely to my mind, happens to house a Zippo Museum!

All told, I way preferred the views of the more 

natural elements of Seopjikoji's landscape