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Location DB > So Korea > Gyeonggi-do > Suwon > Floating Restaurants > A cautionary tale against taking souvenirs

Story Info
Sat, Feb 21st, 2009
posted by Steed
A cautionary tale against taking souvenirs

I went back here this weekend with five friends, which is a much larger group than I normally explore with. In the mix were a couple other guys who call themselves urban explorers.

We got to Woncheon Lakeland only to see the cops had set a speed trap up out front. Basically it was well within view of the amusement park equipment, so we first went to the floating restaurant. There was talk about a couple of the guys getting into a paddleboat and making for the floating windmill (only accessible right now by boat) but I suggested we do the lower risk stuff first, as the cops were literally a minute away and there were plenty of people wandering by.

So I slipped in through a window and unlocked a door so everyone could get in. The first thing one of them said was "Take whatever you want, boys, this thing's getting demolished!" And there was much discussion about what to take. I cautioned against going too crazy, but really had no moral authority on the matter (as I'm not a moderator in real life).

One of the guys was admiring a neon sign in the front window (fully visible from the shore). He was trying to figure out how to get it down, but I warned him to do that last, right before we leave. I went over to the karaoke area where one guy was making an odd rattle sound with every step; it was pretty obvious he'd loaded a tambourine into his backpack that would rattle as he walked.

A moment later, I happened to look down at the dock, where a Korean guy in a black suit stepped down off the shore and started walking very purposefully toward us. I warned everybody and we all hid, but we couldn't see one guy (the one who'd wanted to take the neon sign). I called out a warning and hoped he heard it before I took to hiding myself.

It turns out he was downstairs looking for something sharp to cut the wire holding the neon sign in place, and was just walking back with a pair of scissors when the Korean guy caught him. It was obvious that guy knew we were all there, considering there was no other way out short of stealing a paddleboat and paddling away. To make matters worse, our friend was calling out to us.

I called my friend on the phone and told him to just say sorry and walk by the guy, banking on the assumption that he wouldn't be physically stopped. He didn't seem to get it, wanting to lie his way out instead by saying he was a Samsung engineer.

I rounded up the other guys and told them we were going to march out. Only one problem: Mr Tambourine Man. I told him to take it out of his bag quickly and leave it behind, because there was no way we were getting past with that. We went down, walked out past this clearly angry Korean guy, and just kept going without looking back.

Later my friend filled me in that this guy seemed to know the owners of the restaurant. I have to give him credit for entering an abandonment alone in pursuit of six much larger, foreign guys.

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