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One of Gwangju’s many high-rise residential living spaces
Most of the 1.5 million people in Gwangju live in one of these places. There are hundreds of them throughout the city, most in the 15-20 story height range. They aren’t very pretty up close (this is one of the better looking ones), but from a distance, the city looks pretty cool because they are spread out a bit.
Panorama of Gwangju from the side of Mudeungsan
I did the “six hour” hike on Mt. Mudeung (무등산) a couple days ago. Today’s photo is from about an hour in. Believe it or not, after taking this photo I made it to the top of the mountain and then all the way back down into the city pictured below where I took the Gwangju Subway for the first time to get back to my bike. The hike actually took me about eight hours, but I took lots of photos along the way and got slightly lost once as well. Note if you ever plan to do this hike (especially in summer when it’s in the 80s or 90s and humid) that you can fill up your water bottles at Jangbuljae Pass. My guidebook (2010 edition of Lonely Planet Korea) says restaurant shacks can be found along the way, but they have all been cleared out since this became a National Park. In other words, bring your own food. Also note that if you ask the ranger at Jangbuljae how much farther it is to the Hakdong-Jeungsimsa Subway Station (학동·증심사입구역) and he tells you two hours, don’t believe him. Even on fresh, running legs I couldn’t have made it that far in two hours. As it was, my legs were already spent, and the last few hours were rather difficult even though it was all downhill.
Panorama of Gwangju
This time of year in South Korea, good weather moments are few and far between. When this bit of sky looked like this last week, instead of its normal rainy-season gray, I decided I needed to find a way to the roof of my 7-story building. The doors at the top of the stairs were locked so I ended up climbing out a window and up a 20-rung-or-so ladder to reach the roof. This photo is a photomerge of many photos and covers more than 180 degrees of my view at the time. I haven’t seen more than a few minutes of blue patches in the sky since.
Photomerge of Dragon Lotus Pond (용지) @ CNU in Gwangju, Korea
My office on the Chonnam National University (전남대학교) campus is in the Yongji Building which is right across the road from this lovely lotus pond with the same name. The pond is actually larger than this photo makes it look. This is a photomerge of about six images so it includes about 180 degrees of view. During the current rainy season seeing the pond looking like this is rare as the more typical gray sky usually makes it look rather drab. I grabbed the chance to take this photo when a rare bit of sun and blue sky came poking through the clouds one day.
Koba in Hiroshima, Japan
While cruising through Fukuoka and Hiroshima a couple weeks back, I tried to find a club with some live acts playing some kind of heavy metal. I couldn’t find anything so then I looked for a bar similar to Godz or Rock Bar Mother in Tokyo. No luck. The night I was in Hiroshima I planned to go to a Carp baseball game, but it got rained out. I then remembered that I had a Facebook friend from Hiroshima who is into hard rock and heavy metal so I sent him a quick message before heading out. He responded immediately that I should check out a place called Koba. I googled it, got an address, marked it on my map, and got on a nearby streetcar.
When I got to the spot on my map I couldn’t find Koba. I started walking in circles around the spot on my map, asking anyone who looked local if they knew of the place. No one did. I had gone down every street in the neighborhood at least twice. Finally, as I was about to give up, I walked into G.O.D Sports Bar. If they didn’t know where it was, I was going to just hang out there. The employee was so helpful that he looked it up on the internet for me and then walked me to Koba, making sure that I found it. Now that’s service! And from a competing bar no less.
Anyway, Koba (or コバ) is very hard to find, even with the address, as the only sign is about an inch high so I’ll help you with directions and maps below. I walked right past it several times in my search.
The guy sitting in the top photo is Mac from Macbar or MAC Bar (not sure how to spell it), another Hiroshima Bar that I’d like to visit on my next time through.
Koba is very close to the Hondori (本通) Shopping Arcade. If you aren’t there already, take a streetcar to the Fukuromachi or Tatemachi stops.
Above is a closer view and also shows you how to get there from Heiwa Odori.
When you approach the A on the maps, look for something like the above. It will probably be dark and not this clear. However, if you go up really close to the sign you will see this:
広島 Koba is upstairs. Head on in and up. The food is great. The company is great. The atmosphere is excellent. Everyone is very foreigner friendly in this place.
As I walked in Michael Schenker’s “Rock My Nights Away” was playing. The words were very fitting.
“When I’m sad and lonely
Far from home
Who’s gonna rock my nights away”
I recorded that song off the radio and onto a cassette tape in 1983, but probably hadn’t heard it since 1986 or so. Hearing it in Koba on this evening in 2013 sounded like it was written just for me at that moment. Koba was clearly going to rock my night away.
The place isn’t really Heavy Heavy Metal like Godz and Rock Bar Mother can be. Instead, it’s more 80s hard rock. I can’t remember all of the other albums played on this evening but one was Ozzy Osbourne’s “Diary of a Madman” (or was it Blizzard of Oz?). Anyway, Koba is a fun place so be sure to check it out the next time you are in Hiroshima.
The address is
１-４ Funairi Nakamachi
Naka Ward, Hiroshima, 730-0037
Tel: 082-249-6556
広島県広島市中区中町1-4
Koba is usually closed on Wednesdays.
Gwangju’s new baseball stadium
Let me introduce you to my bike while in Gwangju. This is Squeaky. I call my bike Squeaky because it squeaks, a lot. Squeaky isn’t a comfortable bike to ride. Nor does it do well on even mild inclines. But I’m still glad to have Squeaky as it allows me the opportunity to see much more of Gwangju than I otherwise would.
The big stadium behind the river is still under construction. It is scheduled to open for the next baseball season in 2014. They haven’t named it yet. At the KIA Tigers game I went to fans were given stickers to place on the name of the stadium they preferred. Since I can’t read or understand Korean, I’m not sure what name I voted for, but I was thanked for voting.