This Saturday I wanted to find one of the four US military bases in Daegu, Camp Walker, as I read there was an import goods black market nearby. On the bus there I passed one of the other bases (there are three close to each other). They are actually not far from downtown, I thought they would be out in the suburbs. There is a one story concrete wall with barbed wire all around. But I could clearly see all inside the base from the bus. Later I checked on google maps and you can even see satellite images of all the buildings, hardly secure intelligence. I think these are just residences and services for families like schools, doctors, etc, and any military exercises are done elsewhere.

So I get to Camp Walker a few stops down. Again the concrete wall with barbed wire and warning signs that this is a restricted area and no photography allowed. I didnt see any surveillance cameras though. I try following the wall around as I read the main service road into the base had english speaking businesses. I didnt know till after I was going the wrong way around the perimiter wall. Anyway, I got to see the control tower for the heliport and a dead end road leading to the base wall with murals and artwork like the Berlin Wall.

When I turn around I suddenly see this giant gold buddha statue on a rooftop down the street. I decide to check this out as I hadnt been in this neighbourhood before. A few minutes walk I reach this amazing twin pagoda building with giant stone statues and the gold buddha on the rooftop. They were handing out flowers outside for the people removing their shoes and going in so I decided to check it out. The lady inside the first building on the left I went in spoke some english and explained this building was a kindergarden and that I should go into the adjacent right side building to take pictures.

The right side building was truly amazing. On each floor of the seven storied pagoda building were different activities. The ground floor had a gold walled memorial room with a gold buddha statue and gold boxes on the walls like a bank security vault. This is something to do with dead relatives I guess as an adjacent gold room had flowers on some of the boxes. The higher floors were a mix of prayer halls and classrooms combined. I didnt take many pictures as I thought that would be disrespectful even though nobody was there and there were no warning signs.

In one floor they had a monk leading prayers in one room while the large hall beside had people doing yoga exercises towards a buddha. The next floor had a large hall with people praying towards buddha statues. Another floor was having yoga classes. I took a couple of pics thru the smoked glass. On one of the higher floors there was a walkway connecting it back to the kindergarden building I had first entered.

Here I entered the upper balcony of a childrens performance. First I caught the tail end of a childrens traditional drum performance. Then there was a boy and girl dance performance. These buildings were truly amazing and a complete surprise and make up for the fact that I didnt find the western black market I was looking for originally.

Headed back downtown to get some food. Sad news is Taj Mahal Pakistani restaurant has shut down. They had the best naan fat like a pizza. Tried another indian restaurant around the corner. This is korean/indian run and not halal so I just had the shrimp curry. I've been to a few indo/pakistani restaurants now and I dont know what their aversion is to putting any meat in the curry? Every one has been a big soup curry with a surprise bit of meat floating somewhere. So my only halal choice downtown now is the Uzbekistan restaurant but their menu is different. Also, for a maritime nation they dont seem to eat much fish except raw fish and tend to prefer marine food like clams, crab, squid, octopus, etc.

So I take the bus back to my neighbourhood to watch the Narnia movie at the movie theatre. Good thing about my area is that I miss the downtown crowds but still have a choice of three theatres. So I missed the 4.30 show at one so I crossed the road and watched it in the other theatre at 5.30 instead. They even have posters now for Tron so seems like they are pretty current with English movies even in my neighbourhood. Also I noticed you have your choice of soft drink, popcorn, or beer to take into the theatre with you!

At my gym I've started going to the two trainers have taken a liking to me and wont leave me alone. I havent been to a gym for over six months since before I sold my condo in Toronto so I just want some time to try to get back into a routine before they start pushing me for more intense training. Also I have to be careful with the shoe police coz i'm supposed to change from my outside shoes into my indoor shoes but I just work out in my running shoes instead of taking a spare pair to change into!

I love listening to the music in this commercial for hyundai platinum card
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqKqv0EI c_M&feature=channel
Hyundai and Samsung have their hands in everything its surprising how common their names are. Hyundai has gas stations and even my cable tv bill is made out to them! Another conglomerate is Lotte which has dept stores, also makes biscuits sold everywhere, has a theme park, movie theatres, and owns apartment buildings. Homeplus is a partnership with Samsung and UK Supermarket Tesco. Also, they throw the word "service" around a lot so not sure exactly what it means?

This weeks class we did the steps on how to make your own subway sandwich and the steps in choosing bread, size, cheese, toppings, sauce, etc. One boy insisted he didnt want a subway sandwich and wanted a hamburger instead so it was a wrestling match trying to get him to use the menu! Next week I think i'll try to goto Costo on my quest for good cheese! :)