Building 63

On Wednesday we went to Building 63. It’s a 60 story building (the other 3 are basement levels) that was once the tallest in the region. It houses an observation deck, an Imax theater, an aquarium, and a wax museum. It is now also the site of Sagitta’s missing shoe.

We skipped the observatory because it was an overcast day, and we plan on getting to Seoul Tower observatory on a clear day anyway (and while we are there we will also see the history of South Korea as told by posed, costumed teddy bears. No way am I missing that).

The Imax show was in Korean and our English headsets didn’t work. However, three dimensional dinosaurs coming at you are scary no matter what the language of the narration. I’m pretty sure that’s where we lost the shoe. Lyra and Aquila did not stay to see the end of the movie.

The “Seaworld” aquarium was lovely, but between you and me, the fish market is way more fun. On the other hand, Seaworld had this really neat exhibit where you could shake hands with a sea otter, assuming that it thought you came bearing fish. (And in case you were wondering, we all agree with the other reviewers, the Coex aquarium is far superior).

When we were done with Seaworld, we met up with Cloud Man and we went to the wax museum. The kids had never gone to a wax museum before and did not know what to expect, but they caught on quickly.

I'm not comprehending the hairstyle, either.

The Building 63 Wax Museum has a decidedly Korean flavor. I found myself photographing the name plates of some of the sculptures so I could google the names and find out who we had been posing with.

Kim Gu: Poet, Educator, Freedom Fighter and the first man to rock the Harry Potter look.

This guy is so famous that he doesn’t even have a name plate, and yet I have no idea who he is.

Granted, I didn’t know who Lady Gaga was until less than a year ago, and I still can’t identify any of her music, so I’m not representative. My nieces and nephews think I’m hopeless.

I did find it fascinating that the wax athletes they had were Koreans who made it big in the US, as local baseball is quite popular.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
But I suppose that if an Israeli player made it big in the European leagues, there would not only be a wax statue of the man, there would be streets named after him.

Did you know that wax museums predate point and shoot cameras by over a hundred years? It makes me wonder what attracted people to them in the absense of funny photo opportunities. Is it the fascination of being next to something almost so real? Your mind plays with you for a moment because intellectually you know that you are looking at a large doll, and yet, for a split second, you think you really are in the room with Barack Obama or Mao Tze Tung.

Fortunately, though, we did have a point and shoot camera. So now we have a great new family portrait.

 
I think it will go great over the piano. Or on the Awkward Family Photos blog. It’s hard to decide.