This cable drama depicts the place and time of the story in detail. The background of the television serial is Busan, so most of the conversations between the characters are spoken in Busan dialect. It recreates the lives of Koreans in the late 1990s. Shi-won, the main character, is a huge fan of H.O.T, one of the first generation idol groups. She represents the fan culture of those days. Also, the latest styles and electronic appliances (which are old-fashioned in the eyes of modern-day audiences) of the times are shown to add the sense of reality. Moreover, most pieces of the background music used in the scenes are the popular songs of the 1990s. As a result, viewers got nostalgic feelings and a sense of humor. "Reply 1997" was influential in the rise of retro trend across the whole society.
The sensational attention to the cable drama resulted in average ratings of 7.55% in the last episode. The success led to the production of its spin-off "Reply 1994", which was broadcast from October 18, 2013 on tvN.
Gardens by the Bay
Gardens by the Bay is an horticultural theme park south of Marina Bay in Singapore. Opened in June 2012, Gardens by the Bay is made up of three waterfront gardens: Bay South (54 hectares), Bay East (32 hectares) and Bay Central (15 hectares). It is a part of Singapore's plan to become a "City in a Garden”. Singapore wants to be a leader in Asia in environmental sustainability and landscape architecture.
In January 2006, Gardens by the Bay began an international master plan design competition to get world-class ideas for the Gardens. The competition attracted more than 70 entries sent by 170 firms, from over 24 countries, including 35 from Singapore. Grant Associates and Gustafson Porter, both from UK, were awarded the master plan design for the Bay South and East Gardens in September 2006.
Gardens by the Bay, a 101-hectare horticultural attraction, contains 250 thousand rare plants in domed conservatories. There are two distinctively different conservatories: the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest, designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects. Both are planned for sustainable cycles in energy and water throughout Bay South Garden. The conservatories are the biggest climate-controlled greenhouses in the world and aim at creating cool growing environments in a pair of glasshouses.
Bay South Garden opened to the public on 29 June 2012. It is wide, the largest among the three gardens.
The conservatory complex at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore, is made up of two cooled conservatories – the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. They are situated along the edge of Marina Reservoir. The conservatories, designed by WilkinsonEyre and Grant Associates, are intended to be an energy-efficient showcase of sustainable building technologies and to provide an all-weather edutainment space within the Gardens. Both are very large (around ) and the Flower Dome is the world's largest columnless glasshouse.
The Flower Dome is the largest greenhouse in the world as listed in the 2015 Guinness Book of World Records at and replicates a cool-dry mediterranean climate. It features a changing display, the flower field, and eight other gardens, namely The Baobabs, Succulent Garden, Australian Garden, South African Garden, South American Garden, Olive Grove, California Garden and the Mediterranean Garden. These eight gardens exhibit exotic flowers and plants from the Mediterranean and semi-arid regions from five different continents.
Here is the list of some plants growing in the Flower Dome:
The Cloud Forest is higher but slightly smaller at . It replicates the cool moist conditions found in tropical mountain regions between and above sea level, found in South-East Asia, Central- and South America. The conditions are also simulated by misting which occurs every two hours.
The Cloud Forest features a "Cloud Mountain". It is accessible by elevator and is a structure completely covered in epiphytes such as orchids, ferns, peacock ferns, spike- and clubmosses, bromeliads and anthuriums. The design by Grant Associates was inspired by the Maiden Hair Fungus and consists of a number of levels, each with a different theme, including The Lost World, The Cavern, The Waterfall View, The Crystal Mountain, The Cloud Forest Gallery, The Cloud Forest Theatre and The Secret Garden.
The following is a partial list of plants growing in the Cloud Forest:
Korea Train eXpress
Korea Train eXpress (KTX) is South Korea's high-speed railway system, operated by Korail. According to "the Rules of High-Speed Railway Construction" in South Korea, high-speed railway is defined as a railway train that is traveling at a speed of 200 km/h or more in major section and it is designated and notified by Minister of Construction and Transportation.
The construction of high-speed railway began in June 30, 1992, and KTX services were launched on April 1, 2004, making South Korea the world's fifth country after Japan, France, Germany, Spain, and China to develop a high-speed train running above 300 km/h. The total length of railway is 410 km and it links Seoul and Pusan. The major stations between the two cities are Gwangmyeong, Cheonan, Asan, Daejeon, Daegu, Gyeongju, and Busan.
Top speed for trains in regular service is currently 305 km/h (190 mph), though the infrastructure is designed for 350 km/h (217 mph). The initial rolling stock was based on Alstom's TGV Reseau, and was partly built in Korea. The domestically developed HSR-350x, which achieved 352.4 km/h (219.0 mph) in tests, resulted in a second type of high-speed trains now operated by Korail, the KTX Sancheon. The next generation KTX train, HEMU-430X, achieved 421.4 km/h in 2013, making South Korea the world's fourth country after France, Japan and China to develop a high-speed train running on conventional rail above 420 km/h.
Along with the Seoul-Busan axis in 1970s, more than half of the population and GDP of South Korea were concentrated, and 70% of freight traffic and 66% of passenger traffic were concentrated on this axis either, which cause traffic congestion. So, the government saw the pressing need for solution to this problem. The first proposal for a second Seoul-Busan railway line originated from France and Japan which already joined in Korean metropolitan subway business. After that, the Ministry of Territory and Transportation outsourced it research to KAIST, which was committed from 1978 to 1981. The study came to conclusion that building double track railway on Seoul-Busan line is needed and a high-speed passenger railway is advisable for a new railway. A plan for construction of high-speed railway on Seoul-Daejeon line was adopted in the 5th Korean Five Year Plan.
However, it took 10 years more to initiate the project of construction of high-speed railway. The public opinion was formed that several feasibility studies should be done because the project needed lots of money. Also, because of preparation for the Seoul Olympic in 1988, the government suffered from narrow resources. However, one of candidates for the presidency presented the High-speed railway project as election pledge, and the project began in earnest after he became president. In 1989, the institutions to manage its preparation were established: the Gyeongbu High Speed Electric Railway & New International Airport Committee, and the High Speed Electric Railway Planning Department. In 1991, the law for Korea High-Speed Railway Construction Authority was proclaimed, and the project started to be governed by the corporation.
Hur Jun (TV series)
Hur Jun is a biographical drama about Hur Jun, a doctor and author of "Dongui Bogam". It was produced and broadcast by the South Korean TV channel MBC from 1999 to 2000. It got 63.5% viewer rating in Korea. Thanks to its success, the Korean traditional medicine industry developed. It was aired by Kurdsat in 2012. Thanks to the great success in Iraq, Jun Kwang-ryul, the actor of Hur Jun, visited Iraq.