Flower Festival In Ilsan.

The past week had been arduously long. The days were mostly uneventful filled with idleness and boredom. I can vaguely remember how the days went, except for that one Thursday when I went shopping for some for clothes. That one supposedly fun day brought me a tennis ball-sized bruise on my leg which I got from carrying a big load of groceries and shopping bags. It also sparked an argument between Chris and I - how I should have called him so he could pick me up (thus, I could've avoided the bruise) and how I should NEVER leave home without my phone. But hell I was bruised and tired from rummaging the stores for stuffs with the word "sale" written on it, I thought he should cut me some slack. But he didn't, and I can't stand the part where he's nagging me about things I already know. I especially hate it whenever he wants to talk about every minor details of my mishaps. I got to say I've got more guy hormones in me and Chris has this middle-aged-nagging-wifey syndrome (what gives?). That night his apologies came in a box of hot patch for my leg and a promise to stop being narky and overly obssessed with my safety.

When weekend came, I couldn't be more relieved. I love weekends cause it's the only time where both of us could have some fun and act like kids. The weather was perfectly nice and warm when we drove to Ilsan Lake Park in Goyang City. That day, being the start of the flower festival, the place was jampacked wih people. There was a very long queue at the ticket booth, and Chris had to wait for 25 minutes under the sun just to get them. All the while I was sitting comfortably under a tree eating cotton candy.. Well, I could've stood there with him, but that is what he got for being narky last Thursday...^^

This is the entrance...



There is a huge showroom in there where flowers and plants grown by local and foreign horticulturists are on display. I saw some pretty interesting stuff like "air plants" grown without soil or water, plants grown using LED technology, and amazing bonsais. Here's what the showroom looks like:






The showroom is interesting, but it's even better outdoors.

Koreans are very creative and artistic. I love how they turn a very simple space into a fairy tale-like park. I really had a good time smelling the flowers and reliving my fairy tale fanstasies from childhood. Here are my photos taken just before we left.

*** Ilsan Lake Park is located at Janghang-dong, Ilsan-gu, in Gyeonggi Province. You could find more info here http://www.lake-park.com/. The Flower Festival happens yearly from April 16-30, but because of the cold weather they started it late this year. The Festival runs till next week and tickets cost KRW 6,000 each.