Korea in Winter Day 4: Lotte Aquarium

It's barely been four days, and we're tired! So today, we slept in and woke up in time for lunch. We found a really interesting lakefront cafe and decided to head there once we were ready, before visiting the Lotte Aquarium in the afternoon. Opening hours on weekdays (Mon-Thurs) are 10am to 8pm and the opening hours on weekends (Fri-Sun) are 10am-10pm,

The days are short in winter, and the sun is already low in the mid afternoon.

Lotte World's Magic Island in the middle of Seokchon Lake.

Enjoying the ducks and large fish from the walkway.

The view of Lotte Tower from across the lake.

GoGos cafe by Seokchon lake houses a unique collection of superhero and toy memorabilia that will wow any fan. Even though we are not big fans, Daddy is easily excited by well curated collections in general. The visit was a sight to behold and had many opportunities for photographs.

Playing with the angel wings outside the entrance to GoGos Cafe.

What awaits inside?

Time to say 'wow'!

The cafe is an interesting blend of real and unreal, of nature and supernatural. The large glass windows reveal a serene view of the lake and its lush winter surroundings whilst the collection  is stark contrast indeed.

Iron-Patriot watches over us as we sip our coffee...

The cafe is well known for its red-bean porridge, with pine-nuts, walnuts and rice cake mixed into a thick porridge of red bean paste served hot. Yum! 

Another must-try were hot-dogs in a bed of cabbage and mustard.

A decent cup of coffee and a grilled chicken salad.

Another special of this cafe is the red-bean mochi. Customers left the cafe with boxes. 

After our late lunch, we walked in cool 'evening' sun to Lotte Aquarium across the lake. Lotte Aquarium is well known for their adorable Belugas. We were surprised by a number of other exhibits that we did not expect especially for an aquarium housed completely indoors!

It was a typical cold winter day...

It was nice to get out of the cold and into the mall on our way to the aquarium.

Adult admission is 29,000 won and children above three pay 25,000 won. As guests in Lotte World hotel, we were able to each pass at 20,000 won. Our leisure stroll through the aquarium began with the Amazon River exhibit, where we came face to face with many Amazonian fresh water species.

This crocodile was the first thing that caught our kiddos' attention.

The piranhas have a fearsome reputation. 

This tunnel brings us up close to some of the larger fish found in the Amazon.

Salamanders!

In the next exhibit, there were Californian Sea Lions and Harbour Seals. It generated a discussion on how Sea Lions differ from Seals. Do you know how to tell them apart? The easiest way to do so is to watch them interact with their keepers. Seals drag themselves around on their bellies, whereas Sea Lions bounce around on all fours, barking loudly with energy and enthusiasm.

Harbour Seals are calm and slide around on their bellies.

The keepers took the opportunity to let the mammals show off a few tricks!

The energy of the Sea Lions was through the roof! They are a boisterous bunch indeed.

These fellas are lucky enough to enjoy life in an aquarium instead of their less fortunate friends who we get to meet at Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market a couple of days later.

The octopus is a master of camouflage. Here, we see its ability to not only change its colour to match the surroundings, but also the texture of its skin!

The interactive children's zone had some innovative interactive exhibits, the favourite being the chance to bottle feed fish for a small fee. 

Another hit was the touch pool where kids got a chance to handle seastars, sea cucumbers, molluscs such as scallops and whelks, and even small sharks.

There were some interactive structures such as crawl-through tanks.

There were some children activity corners but we did not have time to stick around.

The Jellyfish Club is where children can engage in the some simple creation such as soaps and fragrances . The staff were enthusiastically explaining the concept to us and exciting the kids with their creations. Each session lasts about 10 minutes and cost 5000 won per child. 

Jellyfish

A giant artificial aquarium.

All gathered and ready to watch the stars of the aquarium...

The Belugas were such a joy to observe. They played with little balls and literally passed the balls from one to another.

Watching the whales had a calming effect. We sat there and observed them for quite a while.

Sardines!

Hawksbill turtle.

The dorcile Nurse Shark.

These penguins were so inquisitive and came up close to investigate our presence. I wonder who's watching who?

By the time we were done with the aquarium it was time for dinner (wait, didn't we just have lunch?). We hopped over to the Food Court from two nights ago and had some quick Korean sets before heading back to the hotel to wash up. It was a short but fruitful day, and perhaps tomorrow we'll get a chance to travel out of the Lotte complex a bit.