Korea Diary | Soaked in the Streets (Day 36)
The closest I remember ever getting to any sort of water fight was at the local park, and that was when I was still in the single digits. There were always kids defending and attacking each other with water balloons. But once the weather got warmer, the water features were always the main attractions at the playground. Kids instinctively raced under the sprinklers the moment they reached the park's entrance. My parents wouldn't let me partake in most of the water soaking since they thoroughly believed "you'll get sick" and "(you) can't be in wet clothes while you play."
Imagine their horror if they knew that was exactly what my friends and I did in Seoul during the Sinchon Water Gun Festival. They would have called me crazy.
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The festivities began in the morning with a celebrity sighting. We missed out on seeing Suzy from Miss A the day before but arrived just in time to join the hoards of onlookers and fans to see Henry from Super Junior-M. It was just a brief encounter as the crowds quickly grew and the idol wrapped up his Sprite commercial filming.
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I didn't end up purchasing a water gun of my own. Just the thought of having to deal with it afterward was troublesome. Yet it didn't mean I didn't have a good time. Watching everyone else target unsuspecting strangers and being shot with water myself was fun enough.
The most unexpected part of the whole festival were the firetrucks. When it first rolled up, I thought perhaps it was more of a prop. After the festival goers really began to get heated so did the firemen. How you ask?
With their powerful fire extinguishing hoses! Those water features at the playground at the local park were mere babies compared to the immense pressure from the fire hoses. Even when none of us were being targeted directly, the streams and pellets of water were still very painful. The once friendly rivalry amongst strangers disappeared under the professional soakers.
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Being blasted with water wouldn't make anyone full. Perhaps full with laughter but not with food. Luckily, we stuffed our bellies at a Chinese restaurant called Bok Sung Gak 복성각 before the madness began.
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It was impossible to pass by one of my favorite snacks from the street vendors in Sinchon, waffle ice cream sandwiches.
After a much-needed shower and change of clothes, all my friends and I gathered in the lounge to dined on delicious chicken. I think this particular day we ordered soy sauce chicken with rice cakes and cheese flavored fried chicken. I really loved both of them but the fried version was something else. It was weird at first to have cheese powdered coated chicken but it ultimately really grew on me.
