Up, up and away

Well we are off..... Well not quite, actually sitting here in the departure lounge. I stuffed up a it by listening to my mother. Yes I know, what child ever listens to their mother beyond 3 years old?

On her trip, there were crowds around passport control and it took an age to get through security checks and passport checks. Well that was a Saturday afternoon, we arrived on Friday evening and were so early that we breezed through security etc and then had nearly 4 hours to stare at the shutters of closed duty free shops. Even the bars have refused to sell us a beer saying they can't serve beyond 9 pm, but it was 8:45. I was confused.

Luckily once we ventured over to our departure lounge, we have discovered free wireless that actually works! Even amelie can't YouTube for an hour and a half, so we will simply have to wait.

Our day involved the usual final frenzy of shopping. Amelie and Liz wanted to get some cute little kimchi pots and soju cups/ bottles and teapots. Liz wanted to make a cute display. Amelie made up a cute little tea set.

Liz finally visited the Namsang Music building. She found it as overwhelming as I did at first. It definately is if you are not looking to purchase anything. As I had obtained my beautiful Córdoba Uke at the UKEFAFE festival, big ticket items were out of the question. Attention switched to kazoos. Amelie has spirited away my other kazoo, so I sought to obtain a new one for WUG or Warrnambool Ukulele Club. Amelie spied a recorder, so we purchased one as it was only $15 for a good quality German brand, the good old basic Yamaha was under $10.

Next task of the day was to return to a restaurant we found before the Bibap performances. It served the most wonderful pork spare ribs. Not what some may think of in the American bbq sense, more the traditional korean version where the strip of meat extends from the bone in a curtain of carnivorous delight. Let us say the return did not disappoint.

Our last taste of Seoul was to wander home along cheongyecheong stream experiencing some of the acts and atmosphere of the Hi Seoul Festival. Late September into October has proved to be a great time to visit Korea. There seems to have been a festival of some sort ever day of our visit. There have been sights, shows and excitement to entertain.

The only disappointment has been the weather. Apart from a couple of days of rain it has been ideal balmy autumn weather. We had been expecting it to become colder with the impending winter snows. However autumn is later than ever. Weather tended to like home into May. Fine sunny, calm days with temps in mid 20's. We've had to wander everywhere in short sleeves. Not once did we need jumpers, let alone the down vests packed in anticipation of enjoying watching the leaves change... It didn't happen. There were a few leaves trying to turn, only a few.

Next post will be back in Aus and will include a few last minute photos. After that we begin to plan our next visit to Korea.

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Last Orders Please!

Isn't it always the way. There weeks in a country and still the last full day is spent at a frenetic pace trying to fit in last minute shopping and activities you Lways thought there was plenty of time for.

The big difference this time we have done this twice over. Once for mother before she left last week and now for,us.

Today was basically shopping. pretty wise really as it was raining on and off all day. We also have finally convinced ourselves that with three of us many of the short hauls trips by underground railcost as much as taxis, so we took a few luxurious taxi trips which save so much aggravation.

First visit was to an auto teller to fuel up. then by KNTO to thank the Staff at the 'half Tix' booth. They have become our surrogate family in Seoul as we have seen so many shows.

Next to Namdamun Market to buy all those last minute gifts we thought we had covered but had really been indulging ourselves instead. The market is celebrating 600 years, so it has both a commercial and festive feel.

Whilst there we bumped into Han Ho people yet again. this time It was the Salloum clan. It was fun to chat. But I am getting tired of being watched so closely..... Guys we won't. Do that much to embarrass you.... I think.

Next we flew over to Insadong for Liz to buy a special tea set. It was not that she had one particular in mind, but options around insadong and towards the Buddhist shrine nearby held the best chance for something special. Yep she found something special and more. the same store offered up a tray and a few more family gifts. Amelie even managed to find some miniatures to get her own tea set.

however don't think we shopped till we dropped. No soirée. yet another festival has started. this one is called Hello Seoul. We've heard all kind of horror stories about the weekend activities are so popular that the crowds are epic, bordering on dangerous. This is but the second day and a weeknight, so crowds are much less numerative and overwhelming.

We took in fire shows in Gwanamun Square in the grand avenue leading to Gyeonbokgung Palace, Jazz in Cheonggyecheon Stream and a very weird French painting/music show. All the dialogue up was in French and any displayed subtitling was in Korean (where's SBS subtitling service when we need it.... Mr Abbott) so there was ver little hope I understanding everything. still the whole performance piece did have a certain " Je Ne Sais Qlis" ,,,, sorry couldn't resist.

 

 

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The Beginning of the end

Wednesday was supposedly relatively quiet day before the grand rush to the Finnish line of boarding the flight home.

What's odd about this picture of Gyeonbokung Palace? No cars or Tourists.

We began by easing into the day for some, that is Amelie and me. Liz ducked out early to catch the. Owning light and take some pictures. Probably a good idea s two big babies do get a little frustrated with constant pauses in our daily travel (of course our stops are important and necessary).

Actually Amelie needed a sleep in following the excitement of Everland. I needed a little too as writing blogs and transferring photos to backups to transport home took some time into the wee hours of night.

Feeding Der, Seoul Forest

After a leisurely breakfast, we headed over to Seoul Forest. This is an era touted as a forest, an ecological haven within the city. To us 'forest' cunjoured up images of dense trees, multiple species and a haven for wildlife. In reality it was more like our botanical gardens in victoria, covering an area similar to Royal Park.

the layout is similar to A combined Royal Park and Botannical Gardens with areas of picnic grounds, playgrounds, sport grounds, specialist plant zones, water/wetland recreations and displays for animals/insects and plants. .ike our gardens it is an area for learning and recreating.

Athleticism of KUNG hip hop show.

It was worth a visit as some of the public art within in the form of sculptures was quite interesting. The butterfly house and Insect house managed distractions for a while. as did viewing the water treatment plant for the Cheonggyecheon Stream. of note was the bank of Solar panels that purportedly is almost self sustaining.

Dont sit in the Front row Trixie, you never know what may happen.

We did not feel compelled to visit the water works and museum of the Seoul Forest, being happy to take in the grass and trees. It was fun to watch the myriads of kindergarten aged school groups enjoying the opportunity to play and explore nature. We remain fascinated how children so young seem to cope. They walk considerable distances, yet remain largely well behaved and cheerful.

Photos with the cast of KUNG

Child to adult ratios seem much higher that we experience in Australia, maybe 3 adults for groups up to 25 children. Identiy of kids in case of losing one is key. children are all in uniforms, some of which seem especially used for excursions. Names and emergency contact details are usually work on lanyards around the neck, or pinned to shirts and blouses. the most inventive use of emergency contact was one school that had gone to the extent of using special clear transfers stuck on the backs of shirts/blouses. Once home these could be easily removed to wash the clothing.

Ameli began to lag, so we headed for home. Liz gave me the opportunity for a little solos shopping time while they headed home for an arvo siesta. as it turned out this was vital for Amelie into the evening.

We attended our final performance of the trip organised by Charlie, from Han-ho and INKAS. This performance was called KUNG. It was largely hip hop dancing around which a story of high school bully becomes good bloke attempts to ties it all together.

a little cocktail after the Show.. actually a Strawberry-ade

Of course the kids loved the spectacle and athleticism of the performers. All that writhing on the floor, jumps, head spins and handstands had one word coming to my mind..... Neck brace. Certainly there should be a warning to not try this at home! Well not till you have had a lot of training. The kids came out suitable hyped and ready to party.

We finished the evening exploring the streets of Hongik. This area has largely grown around the university of the same name. It has all the energy and vibrancy of youth. Many streets surrounding the university support the client base. Bars, eateries, school supplies and, of course, fashion shops. don't come to this area expecting to buy tweed jackets or golf attire. It is all sportwear and funky fashion.

By repute this area doesn't hit its straps till about 1am, so our foray to just after midnight only proved to be a taster. What was most disturbing was the total lack of Korean food. there were hamburger joints, pizza bars, Italian and of course coffee shops. It seemed the closer you get to the Uni, the less Korean food there is. Mind you the so called Italian we had for supper required quite a bit of imagination to fathom. Curry noodles (udon) is Italian?

Poor Amelie was in party mood until..... THE WALL. she crashed big time, so the only option, gladly for us too was to head home. gotta love Korea, all this night life, wandering the streets with a high confidence of safety. It one aspect of their culture I wish we could duplicate back home.

Mum... I can climb all the way to his Bottom. Seoul Forest

 

 

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