On 4th October 2008 and we witnessed Seoul International Fireworks Festival. We watched the extravaganza sitting at Han River Bank next to Yeouinaru Station.
Here are a few videos I shot from my cam.
Day's proceeding
It was a Saturday and somehow managed to take off from office. Sound's weird no ? But it won't be for people working for Korean customers. By afternoon, I was getting set for the firework festival by charging cameras etc. Then I got a call from an unknown number. The guy other side said I am calling from Indian Embassy and they have received a complain loss of passport from me. It immediately sounded like a prank call to me. I responded with imaginative answers and finally got to know it was none other than my colleague Debadatta who was in Korea working for last one week and was staying at Suwon. He was planning to come to Seoul for firework festival. To keep things simple for him I asked him to come to Yongsan station. I along with Nagaraju met him at the station.
Reaching Yeouinaru Station:
At Tourist Information Center in Yongsan I had a tough time enquiring about the place to witness the fireworks. The lady at the counter didn't had an idea about the phrase 'Fireworks Festival'. She asked me "where did you heard this". She started looking for translation in her workstation. No response for 30 seconds, I decided to draw a sketch of fireworks pattern to convey our query. Then she advised us to go to banks of Han River next to Yeouinaru Station to witness the fireworks.
At Yeouinaru Station:
For going to Yeouinaru we had take transfer at Singil Station. At Singil there was a queue at each entry door to the train. After two trains passed by we got turn get on board the train to our destination. Inside the train also it was full packed. And also getting out of train station at Yeouinaru was an ardous task. It took more than 15 minutes, courtesy people from all over city to witness the fireworks.
Getting set for the experience:
Two hours prior to the show, we settled at a nice location besides the Han River sitting on the carpets which we bought for few thousand wons. Later my colleagues Rollei and Suma(who had been to office on that day) joined us. We had to go back to the station exit to pick them as it was difficult for pinpoint our coordinates amidst so many people.
The actual show
The show started at 7.15 pm and lasted for an hour. First five minutes were good. Later on it became repetitive. In the end there were good moments in grand finale section. One of the bridge spanning across the river was fully illuminated with fireworks. It was the signature moment of the show.
Overall the show was more than effort vasool w.r.t time and energy.
After witnessing the festival I am in deep thoughts why can't we celebrate our festival of lights - Deepavali like this ? Instead of bursting crackers(read explosives) at every street why can't we make people gather at a place and enjoy the fireworks.
Here are a few videos I shot from my cam.
Day's proceeding
It was a Saturday and somehow managed to take off from office. Sound's weird no ? But it won't be for people working for Korean customers. By afternoon, I was getting set for the firework festival by charging cameras etc. Then I got a call from an unknown number. The guy other side said I am calling from Indian Embassy and they have received a complain loss of passport from me. It immediately sounded like a prank call to me. I responded with imaginative answers and finally got to know it was none other than my colleague Debadatta who was in Korea working for last one week and was staying at Suwon. He was planning to come to Seoul for firework festival. To keep things simple for him I asked him to come to Yongsan station. I along with Nagaraju met him at the station.
Reaching Yeouinaru Station:
At Tourist Information Center in Yongsan I had a tough time enquiring about the place to witness the fireworks. The lady at the counter didn't had an idea about the phrase 'Fireworks Festival'. She asked me "where did you heard this". She started looking for translation in her workstation. No response for 30 seconds, I decided to draw a sketch of fireworks pattern to convey our query. Then she advised us to go to banks of Han River next to Yeouinaru Station to witness the fireworks.
At Yeouinaru Station:
For going to Yeouinaru we had take transfer at Singil Station. At Singil there was a queue at each entry door to the train. After two trains passed by we got turn get on board the train to our destination. Inside the train also it was full packed. And also getting out of train station at Yeouinaru was an ardous task. It took more than 15 minutes, courtesy people from all over city to witness the fireworks.
Getting set for the experience:
Two hours prior to the show, we settled at a nice location besides the Han River sitting on the carpets which we bought for few thousand wons. Later my colleagues Rollei and Suma(who had been to office on that day) joined us. We had to go back to the station exit to pick them as it was difficult for pinpoint our coordinates amidst so many people.
The actual show
The show started at 7.15 pm and lasted for an hour. First five minutes were good. Later on it became repetitive. In the end there were good moments in grand finale section. One of the bridge spanning across the river was fully illuminated with fireworks. It was the signature moment of the show.
Overall the show was more than effort vasool w.r.t time and energy.
After witnessing the festival I am in deep thoughts why can't we celebrate our festival of lights - Deepavali like this ? Instead of bursting crackers(read explosives) at every street why can't we make people gather at a place and enjoy the fireworks.
Shande... so back in koria..How are things there.
ReplyDelete- Prashant (Aricent)
yeah in Korea again ...
ReplyDeletelast time it was during Spring-Summer .. this time during Autumn-Winter.