인천세계도시축전

The picture above says it all. I was at the Global Fair & Festival 2009 at Songdo, Incheon. The picture was taken at Exit 2 of Central Park Station (Incheon line).

A big poster of Girls' Generation at the train platform inside Central Park Station. As you can see, they are the spokespersons for the fair.

The Incheon's Global Fair & Festival is meant to promote Incheon as a global and future city. So everything about the fair revolves around the theme 'global' and 'future'. This sculpture shows a global mix of masks. In the background are buildings under construction. In fact, the whole place around the fair ground is a big construction site.

The admission fee is 18,000won. I don't think I get my money worth since I was only at the fair at about 2pm. If I know there is a lot of things to see and play, I would have been there in the morning. The above picture is the entrance gate and the fair's mascot.

The first exhibition hall which I visited was the "Green Growth Hall". Since Korea is investing heavily in developing its green industry which is expected to fuel its future growth. It only makes sense that this hall is given a place nearest to the entrance. I like this electric car which I saw inside the hall. It is not a prototype. In fact, I saw police driving it around the National Assembly's compound.

The Teddy Bear's Museum is also at the fair. The theme is "Around the World in a Day". They sell Teddy Bear's passport for 2,000won. There are rubber stamp chop at each display for you to chop the 'place' you visited. Above is North Pole.

There are many countries featured in the hall but I am only showing a few like US, Netherlands, Russia and Korea. There are quite a few of this Teddy Bear's museum around Korea like in Jeju, Sokcho and Seoul's Namsan, so this exhibition is not something very new.

Double-decker bus does not ply the streets of Korea although it is quite a common sight in my country. The bus is an open-air exhibit at the World Culture Street. I like this part of the fair because there are many things around the world to see, eat and buy.

I am inside the Hall of City of the Old World. It exhibits mainly artifacts which are dug out from graves of old civilisations. Not many things are exhibited, so I have a quick walk through.

European antiques are exhibited inside the European Culture House. Photography is not allowed, so no picture on the antiques. One whole street is dedicated to European theme. Apart from houses, there are also shops and restaurants running the European theme.

A French Bistro

Copenhagen Bakery

Kathmandu Tandoori Hut

A wall painting at a shop selling Argentinian goods

Bench at the World Culture Street for rest and picture-taking

This Trojan Horse is a landmark at the World Culture Street. Going up is possible but the view from inside the wooden horse is not very fantastic.

The Vietnam's water puppet show is very interesting. Puppet like fish and water fowls look so real. Fire and water-spitting dragon, smoking fisherman and tree-climbing cat are some really amazing puppet tricks that can be seen during the performance.

The puppeteers came out from behind the stage to receive applause from the entertained crowd. The water puppet used to be an entertainment put up during flood, but these days, there is no need to experience flood to watch such performance.

Th African Gate leads to a place which exhibits African culture and sell African handicraft.

Small giraffe wooden carving good for table top

Big giraffe wooden carving which can turn living room into safari

This hall exihibits digital art which is so surreal

A giant astroboy at the entrance to the Hall of Robot and Future Science

Beside robots, there are giant mechanical bugs and creatures to play with. The Korea's space programme is also featured.

A hi-tech looking sculpture with TV screens (at opposite side) at the Hi-tech Plaza. Actually, I am more interested in looking at the sunset sky.

Shed and seats are provided for people who want to enjoy the sunset. Incheon Bridge is part of the view.

The sunset is worth your time. The sun at sunset is big and deep orange in colour. There are also silhouette of ships and planes in the background since Incheon's sea port and airport are nearby.

The fair is still open after sunset but many places are closed. As such, the night ticket is correspondingly cheaper.

The night is best spent at the musical fountain since not many places are open after sunset. The lights from the buildings under construction at Songdo form the backdrop for the musical fountain.

After the musical fountain show, there was a short interval before the multimedia show started. The multimedia show not only includes the musical fountain, there are also pyrotechnics, laser, flame and fireworks to build up the atmosphere of a promising future in Incheon. The show ended at about 9pm and then it was more than an hour train ride back to Seoul.