A Photo Safari Halloween Solo Trip for Oct'13: Trip Report Started!

[DaveinFallsChurch]

100 Days Left!!

 

[SAT887]

100 Days Left!!

Woo!!!

 

[teekathepony]

100 Days Left!!

First of all, that's an exciting number!!

I've been MIA for a bit so I'm catching up now. Your Korea TR is absolutely fantastically fascinating, I'm in love with every detail. And of course I am thoroughly enjoying all the pictures! What a beautiful place. I'm adding Korea to my bucket list.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Woo!!!

First of all, that's an exciting number!!

I sort of lost track of the countdown until this morning when I suddenly realized how much closer I was. My iphone has the countdown for our January trip with my family and I've been mostly focused on that since 180 day mark is coming up in two weeks!

I've been MIA for a bit so I'm catching up now. Your Korea TR is absolutely fantastically fascinating, I'm in love with every detail. And of course I am thoroughly enjoying all the pictures! What a beautiful place. I'm adding Korea to my bucket list.

Thanks! I would wholeheartedly recommend Korea as a place to visit but I'm a little biased!

 

[SAT887]

Somehow I missed your update from 7/16! I was reading through the comments and got very confused... Up balloons? Keeping your DS awake? trains? Hehe then I went back and I figured it all out.

The images you take are amazing, and the detail, craftsmanship and history are very profound. Buddhism is something that intrigues me, I fear I would make a horrible buddhist though.... I kill bugs.... However, the temple was breathtaking, and I too enjoyed the photo of the monk and the person with the smartphone... It kinda gives a very comfortable feeling of how different things can be but there are so many things that bring us together. So beautiful, if I ever get the courage to travel overseas, based on all you have been sharing this would be in my top 5

I loved how you kept DS awake.... Hehe reminds me of when my youngest starts falling asleep in the car 10-15 min from home and I'm singing, driving with the windows down.... Maybe hitting the rumble strip here and there..hehe all in the name of staying or keeping a better sleep schedule!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

So beautiful, if I ever get the courage to travel overseas, based on all you have been sharing this would be in my top 5

I loved how you kept DS awake.... Hehe reminds me of when my youngest starts falling asleep in the car 10-15 min from home and I'm singing, driving with the windows down.... Maybe hitting the rumble strip here and there..hehe all in the name of staying or keeping a better sleep schedule!

I can relate with the anxieties of traveling overseas from what I've experience with this trip. In my past visits to Korea, I was solo and without kids so I didn't worry much about it. Plus when it was just me I didn't have to worry about language barriers, "culture shock", or food-intestinal incompatibilities. Before the trip, I was very very stressed out with the planning. But everything turned out great! It's definitely an adventure but I think that's what makes it fun when you force yourself to move out of your comfort zones and experience new things. And believe me, I'm not a very adventurous person. DW is and she was at ease with everything during the trip! Anyway, now that I've got this trip under my belt, planning for a Hawaiian vacation (next year I think for my dad's 70th birthday) and maybe a European vacation (2-3 years from now) should be a cinch, right?

I laughed reading how you keep your youngest awake in the car because I used to do that ALL the time with our kids when they were younger. Because, if they fall asleep in the car, they without fail wake up when you try to move them out of the car at home. And when they wake up, they never go back to sleep in their bed for a real nap because they feel that 10 minutes of dozing in the car was enough. And when they don't take a nap, they get extremely volatile say around 5pm! So, I would constantly sing songs, tell jokes, ask them questions while driving if I saw their eyelids getting heavy!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Friday June 28th

Although we were feeling a little sluggish from returning home late the previous night, we set out again at 8am. The kids stayed behind with my mom once again for the morning. DFIL had checked into the Intercontinental Hotel the previous night so we picked him up on the way to Gyeongbokgung Palace in downtown Seoul.

I briefly mentioned this history of Gyeongbokgung earlier when talking about Changdukgung. Gyeongbokgung was originally built in 1395 as the first royal palace but the subsequent kings preferred Changdukgung where they conducted their rule. Gyeongbokgung was burnt down in 1592 during the Japanese invasion. It took another 250 years before it was rebuilt in contrast to Changdukgung which was rebuilt right away so you can see where the kings’ preferences were. It was rebuilt in 1868 during the last throes of the Joseon Dynasty and a period when the rulers heightened its isolationist policies in response to the increasing presence and influences of US, Europe, and Japan in the region. The reconstruction of Gyeongbokgung was meant to be symbolize the sovereignty of Joseon both to its people and outsiders and therefore it was rebuilt at a very grand scale. You will probably notice a difference in the scale from Changdukgung. The way it felt to me was that Changdukgung was more practical and in tune with its surroundings while Gyeongbokgung offered more impressive and imposing buildings.

Gyeongbokgung was mostly demolished by the occupation of Imperial Japan in the early 20th century. Since the palace was meant to represent the sovereignty of Korea, it’s probably not surprising that Gyeongbokgung got the brunt of the demolition compared to Changdukgung as the Japanese tried to establish their own symbolism of their occupation. Imperial Japan also built a massive government building for its general assigned to Korea right in front of the throne hall. Surprisingly, a handful of buildings and structures survived this and the Korean War in 1950 – 7 out of 330 including the throne hall and Gyeonghoeru which you will see below.

Restoration efforts of the palace by the modern Korean government really took off in the 1990s culminating in the demolition of the Japanese government building (after much debate but I think it was the right decision) and restoration of key buildings. Most of this happened after I moved back to the US for college and I had not visited Gyeongbokgung until this trip, so I really appreciated the differences and results of the restoration project which is still on going.

We drove through the tail end of rush hour which was still pretty brutal. We were pleasantly surprised when we pulled into the underground parking garage by the palace and found the place nearly empty almost to the point that we questioned whether the palace was open.

We picked up some English audio guides at the entrance and headed over to the meeting place for a 40 minute tour of Gyeonghaeru which is a pavilion that survived the Japanese occupation and the Korean War and is beautifully situated in the middle of a pond and connected to the rest of the palace by three stone bridges.


IMG_3348-2 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The bridge reserved only for the King to the pavilion because it was bigger and closer to the throne hall

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The bridge for the servants on the far side which is also smaller.

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The only way to actually set foot in this building is to reserve a spot on one of the tours.

From the first floor

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This is the obligatory "na-na-na-boo-boo" picture that we made it IN here by reserving a spot on the tour months ahead instead of watching from across the pond.

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One of the stairs upstairs

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The tour itself was done in Korean so I did my best to translate for DW and DFIL quietly in the back. The guide told several interesting stories about how the kings used the building – some used it for official business while some used it for parties. The one king that overused it for parties ironically got dethroned. The second floor of the building where the king and his subjects spent their time was made of wooden floors and we all got to sit down in the center part. I could see how this became a popular spot for the kings to spend their summer days since it was well shaded with natural breezes blowing through the openings and you had good views in all four directions of the palace from where you sat. The guide gave us another 10 minutes of free time to roam around the building before ending the tour.

Views from the second floor. This pictures is another one that I really like. Just happened to catch this moment of four kids getting their picture taken by their teacher on her cell phone.

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After the tour, we headed to the back of the palace and made our way to the front.


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One of our favorite spots was Hyangwonjeong Pavilion located in the middle of the pond. This pavilion also survived in its original form. This is one of the most photographed structures in Korea and considering how many times I snapped pictures I would have to agree. I still have memories of a few school field trips to the palace where we set up our easels in front of this pavilion and painted the pavilion.


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[DaveinFallsChurch]

Continued from Previous Post

Just like Disney in January, the palace had MANY international tour groups roaming the grounds. While some of them were pleasant, others were very loud and completely oblivious to their surroundings. I saw many people cross over roped off areas to try to get better pictures while others would shove their way through viewing areas where other people had been patiently waiting their turn to move up to the front. Unlike Disney, we really didn’t have an option of moving away from the tour groups as they pretty much blanketed the entire property.

We walked through the main section of the palace from the back to the front, passing through the Queen and King’s sleeping quarters to the King’s office and finally the King’s ceremonial throne hall. Compared to Changdukgung, this palace had a more grandeur feel to it.


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The Throne Hall and the front courtyard

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One of the many ceiling decorations inside the throne hall

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Looking out towards the courtyard from the throne hall

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Kind of a neat contrast isn't it? Between old and modern Korea

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One of the 12 zodiac animal sculptures in the courtyard

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The gate and bridge leading into the courtyard

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For lunch, we ate at a café in the Palace Museum nearby. The place was packed but we were happy just to get out of the baking heat. I ordered a Coke Zero right off the bat – which tasted nothing like the Coke Zero back home. Clearly, the formula was a lot different here in Korea. Nonetheless, this was my first soda since arriving in Korea so I savored it. While the rest of us ordered Bibimbap, DW ordered Kimchi fried rice which is something she likes to get even back home in DC whenever I pick up Korean take out. It must have been a curious sight for most Koreans as here was this redheaded American finding the Kimchi fried rice too bland for her taste and adding more Kimchi to her plate. In fact, a Korean woman walking by our table had that look of amusement on her face as she watched DW eat her meal. An hour later, we were well rested and fed and ready to hit the tours again. DW and DFIL needed a pitstop at the restrooms. DW went up to one of the servers and asked in Korean where the restrooms were – one of many Korean sentences she had been practicing. Apparently, her Korean must have sounded really good since the server started rattling off her answer in Korean at which point DW had to tell her that her Korean wasn’t really THAT good.

We had to cut through the entrance plaza by the palace again on our way to the National Folk Museum. As we did, a ceremonial changing of the palace guards were taking place. My parents say that the tourism office started doing these “performances” awhile back mostly for the benefit of international tourists and they seriously doubt that this is how the guard changes actually occurred 500 years ago. I tend to agree since the whole process involved procession of dozens of soldiers accompanied by a full size military band. Regardless, it did provide a nice exhibition of the costumes and musical instruments of the Joseon military. We watched for a few minutes before moving on.


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DM had kept the kids at home for the morning and brought them out to the Folk Children’s Museum which is right next to the regular Folk Museum. The two exhibits at the Children’s Museum are highly interactive and they have a controlled admittance policy requiring reservations. By the time we arrived at the Folk Museum, the kids and my mom were already taking part of one of the exhibits. So, the rest of us began abbreviated tour.

Korean totem poles in the outdoor exhibit area

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More sculptures

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Exterior of the Folk Museum

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This exhibit reminded me of my kids. This is a recreation of the "Dol" or the first birthday party for children. It's one of the traditions that's still carried out to this day where kids get a special "Hanbok" or traditional Korean outfit for the party. There's also a small ritual where various objects such as books, money, pen, arrow are lined up in front of the child. Whichever object(s) the child chooses, it's suppose to predict what the child is going to be when they grow up. We did all of this for both of our kids for their first birthdays.

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We regrouped with DM and the kids around 2pm before their second interactive exhibit. This time I tagged along with the kids and my mom, while DW, DFIL and my dad continued on with their tour of the Folk Museum. While the kids immensely enjoyed the first exhibit which was about the evolution and progression of communication and travel, the second one was a little disappointing for them as the language barrier became a major issue. The interactive exhibit contained a lot of spoken elements in Korean and even though I tried to translate them for the kids, it just didn’t work out. One of the staff members tried to help out as he spoke fairly fluent English but by then DD was already in her shy shell.

We finally returned home and had Korean take out for dinner. We were so tired that we adjusted our plans for the following day especially since the weekend weather was being forecasted as the two hottest days so far this summer.

 

[DDuck4Life]

Friday June 28th

Love this shot with the man painting in the foreground. Very nice. Looks like a pretty good job on the painting too.

Completely different look once you zoom out and can see the cityscape in the background. Amazing how the history is still there and the modern city was just built up around it. Can really feel immersed in the culture and history of the time, then step outside and be back in the modern world.

Loving all the updates. Just blown away by the beauty there.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Completely different look once you zoom out and can see the cityscape in the background. Amazing how the history is still there and the modern city was just built up around it. Can really feel immersed in the culture and history of the time, then step outside and be back in the modern world.

When I got home and started going through all of the pictures, I realized I really didn't have much for showing how Seoul and Korea looks outside of these traditional/historical tourist sites. Probably because modern society in Seoul really doesn't look a whole lot different than any major metro area in the US. Ok, there are some noticeable differences culturally but as DW told me near the end of the trip she was surprised how the differences were nearly non-existent when it came to technology and development.

Which is why I think it's equally impressive that the country has put in that much effort in protecting and restoring the historical treasures preventing modern development from completely engulfing them which is something that was lacking when I was living in Seoul 30 something years ago.

Speaking of technology, while we were in Korea a couple of Korean smartphone companies (Samsung included) launched the new LTE-A network for smartphones which is the next-gen above LTE. The speed of LTE-A is faster than broadband that we have at home! Apparently, pretty much every cell phone right now in Korea operates under LTE - one of the advantages of a small country is that you don't need to spend whole lot of money for infrastructure to update the entire's country's communication network.

 

[teekathepony]

Friday June 28thOne of our favorite spots was Hyangwonjeong Pavilion located in the middle of the pond. This pavilion also survived in its original form. This is one of the most photographed structures in Korea and considering how many times I snapped pictures I would have to agree. I still have memories of a few school field trips to the palace where we set up our easels in front of this pavilion and painted the pavilion.

Oh man, what an experience that would be! I would love to set up in front of that amazing pavilion with a canvas.

The buildings are so amazing, the detail in absolutely everything is just incredible. Especially impressive when shown next to the modern buildings, such a difference!

Continued from Previous Post
This exhibit reminded me of my kids. This is a recreation of the "Dol" or the first birthday party for children. It's one of the traditions that's still carried out to this day where kids get a special "Hanbok" or traditional Korean outfit for the party. There's also a small ritual where various objects such as books, money, pen, arrow are lined up in front of the child. Whichever object(s) the child chooses, it's suppose to predict what the child is going to be when they grow up. We did all of this for both of our kids for their first birthdays.

That's a really interesting tradition, I wonder how often it's accurate?

Thank you so much for sharing all of this amazing culture. I'm enjoying every photo and story!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Oh man, what an experience that would be! I would love to set up in front of that amazing pavilion with a canvas.

The buildings are so amazing, the detail in absolutely everything is just incredible. Especially impressive when shown next to the modern buildings, such a difference!

That's a really interesting tradition, I wonder how often it's accurate?

Thank you so much for sharing all of this amazing culture. I'm enjoying every photo and story!

Probably not that accurate But, it's a fun thing to do and gives the parents an early opportunity to live vicariously through their children! My parents made sure to include a stethoscope as one of the items as a not so subtle hint that they would like our kids to become physicians like DW and myself. The mind of a one year old though is such that they are going to reach for an object that they find new and interesting and since our kids were used to playing with DW and my stethoscopes and pagers ever since they learned to sit up, they went for some of the other items.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Saturday June 29th Part I

Bukchon was our itinerary this morning. This is an old neighborhood wedged between the two palaces where the noblemen of the Joseon dynasty built their homes. The neighborhood still holds a significant number of Hanok (traditional Korean houses), many of them restored. The city government in recent years designated this whole area as a historical district and began efforts in preserving the existing buildings and heavily regulating new construction. Many of the houses also have been converted to museums and workshops for traditional Korean craft masters many of whom have received the National Treasure designations. But what really breathes life into the neighborhood I think is that the majority of the houses continue to function and serve as private residences. While the exteriors and the structures have maintained the traditional look, interiors of these houses are all modernized.

DW, DFIL, and myself spent the morning walking through the hilly allies admiring the architecture and the rows of houses (while the children spent the day with their grandmother).


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We were able to tour the inside of one of these houses (after a small admission fee) led by an English speaking guide.


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The interior of the house was modernized complete with a dishwasher but kept the look of a typical Hanok.


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The view from the house was absolutely stunning minus the construction crane to the side.


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At the end of the tour, the guide served us Korean tea as we sat in the Maroo, sipped our tea while enjoying the view.


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I couldnt resist asking the guide how much a property like this one would cost and she told us that just the land value would be around $4 million. Mind you that the land lot could not have been more than 2500 square feet. I also asked the guide if she had lived in the US as I had noticed her using a lot of English phrases that could have only come from living in the US  example she used literally quite a bit. She said she spent some of her college years in the US.

Once we left the tour, we walked through other parts of the neighborhood stopping at a few spots recommended by Bukchons tourism organization as photo spots.


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My favorite picture from this walking tour. As I was walking through this ally, I saw a boy ringing the doorbell for the house at the end and calling his friend out to go somewhere. I wasn't paying attention too much when I was taking these pictures but by luck caught this nice moment with the two friends walking down.

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This one photo spot was recommended for a pretty cool view of all of the rooftops

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The allies were narrow and barely wide enough for a single car to pass through. I didnt get to see it but could imagine the headache when two cars going in opposite directions meet head to head in one of these hilly allies. Yikes. There were a lot of other tourists walking by.

We also stopped by one of the museums/workshop houses. This particular one was for traditional Korean embroidery.


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We spent a good two hours walking through Bukchon. Overall, it was a great experience. If we had more time and not exhausted, DW would have loved to have participated in some of the hands-on workshops they had for certain Korean crafts. Maybe that will be for our next visit.

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[DaveinFallsChurch]

Continued from Previous Post

All that time we were touring, my dad was camped out a well air conditioned and empty coffee shop nearby. He didn’t think he could handle another day of extensive walking and he was more than happy to enjoy a cup of coffee and a muffin while reading the newspaper.

Meanwhile, back at home my mom had to call a technician to look at their AC unit as it stopped working. On one of the hottest days of the summer so far in Seoul. Fortunately, the guy was able to fix the problem in an hour. On our drive back home, we were joking that if the AC couldn’t be fixed we would all have to cram into DFIL’s hotel room to stay cool.

We drove through one of the main roads that directly feeds into Gyeongbok Palace. Noticed a lot of children enjoying the public water fountain located in the large median of this road that also houses the statue of General Lee Soon Shin, a legendary naval commander from the 16th century.

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A lot of the buildings and high rises in this area were built awhile back. Here's a building that appears to be the victim of its time although I don't know why they have not corrected it. Maybe someone still thinks that lining your building with material that resembles the flooring material of miniature golf course is still a good look.

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The Han River transverses through the middle of Seoul. Both sides of the river are lined with high rise condo buildings like you see here. You have to fit all those people in somehow. My parents' condo is also in a building like one of these.

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This road is memory lane for me. It's the main road that runs two blocks from my parents' condo which is the same condo that I spent my childhood and teenage years in Korea. A lot of the retail has changed along this road but it still looks very familiar to me as I walked or took the bus along this route everyday for middle and high school.

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We came back home for lunch and a much needed break. Felt like we had been going non-stop ever since arriving so we needed a time to unwind and catch up on naps.

In the evening, we had reservations for a performance of traditional Korean dancing and music at Korea House which has made a name for itself for several decades. In addition to the performances, it has a restaurant business that serves "royal” Korean cuisines. They also host weddings and 1st birthday parties (called “Dol”) for kids. Dol has its roots in traditional customs back when infant mortality was high during the Joseon dynasty. An infant had two occasions to celebrate its life – the 100th day of life and the first year of life. Both of which were celebrated by traditional parties. As I mentioned in a previous post, the tradition of Dol still continues on to this day.

There weren’t that many people seated in the audience. They have two show times per evening. With young children, we took the first one at 6:30pm. I’m guessing the latter show is more well attended since it’s well after dinner time. DS was fidgeting a bit in his seat as we waited for the show to start. His fidgeting stopped immediately once he saw the traditional musicians take their seats for the show.


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The first performance was called “Ye ak” consisting of traditional Korean dance choreographed to a traditional song from the Joseon period performed by a soloist and accompanied by the “band”. The dancers were dressed in what appeared to be royal costumes from the Joseon period.

Fortunately, they announced up front that photography was allowed as long as no flashes were used. I did a little dance when I heard this.

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Always tricky when photographing stage performances especially when the lighting is heavily blue or red

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The singer. We'll see her later again but she was really good.

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Next was a performance by four percussionist using a traditional drum called “Jang-gu” which has the unique hourglass appearance. Jang-gu is one of the instruments used in “Samulnori” a multifaceted performance art that included traditional Korean percussion music accompanied by dance and acrobatics. They were mainly performed by farmers as part of rituals wishing for a good harvest or during thanksgiving celebrations.


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This was followed by a “orchestra” performance composed of different traditional instruments playing one of the more famous Korean tunes “Arirang”.


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[DaveinFallsChurch]

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Next was probably my favorite (evident by how many more pictures I took during this performance), “Ogomu”. Each drummer had five drums. There were five drummers and they were perfectly synchronized.


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A performance of Pansori followed. Pansori is probably the most unique of all Korean music genres. It’s really a form of storytelling where the singer sings the story only accompanied by a percussionist.


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Visually you can’t beat a traditional Korean fan dance. The fans usually have paintings of pink peony blossoms and the dancers mimic and represent images of butterflies, birds, and flowers.


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Next up, Salpuri which is a traditional dance performed by mudang (or shamans)meant for a spiritual cleansing ritual.


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[DaveinFallsChurch]

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The show’s grand finale composed of a series of fast paced ensemble drum performances. Think Stomp with Korean drums.


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IMG_3864 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_3874 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_3878 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_3880 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

This is one of the acrobatic components of Samulnori I mentioned before. The full presentation would involve a lot more men like him on stage at the same time and performing in sync. They make great looking patterns in the air with the white ribbon by rotating their heads and neck at very high speeds. It's pretty amazing to watch. I think we only got a taste with one performer because the stage wasn't big enough.

IMG_3889 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

I hate it when someone else's noggin gets in the way of my camera.

IMG_3891 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The show itself was a huge success for all of us. The kids were absolutely riveted. It says a lot when even a 3 year old sat through an hour long show. The mix of drum and percussion performances along with slower dances was perfect in keeping the kids focused. After the show, we asked the kids how they liked it. DD couldn’t stop talking about the fan dances and she elaborated on her master plan of creating her own fan dance troupe when we returned back home with her friends. I asked DS if the drums were his favorite part and he said that while he enjoyed the drums his favorite part was “all of the pretty girls”. Oh boy – we are going to have to watch him close when he grows older!

After the show, dinner was at another Korean restaurant that had a 6 course meal. DFIL by this time had become quite the pro in Korean food and was becoming more adventurous in trying out some of the more exotic items like wok fried octopus and cooked jellyfish salads. Yup, he tried all those.

 

[chattadisser]

I have been lurking on your trip report and just wanted to let you know how wonderful it is to read about Korea. It is now defiantely on my list of places to go. Your pictures are just beautiful!

Have you taken formal photography lessons or did you just learn by doing? I am trying to learn more about photography and what my camera can do but it is going to have to be by trial and error, no time to fit in photography lessons right now!

Christine

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I have been lurking on your trip report and just wanted to let you know how wonderful it is to read about Korea. It is now defiantely on my list of places to go. Your pictures are just beautiful!

Have you taken formal photography lessons or did you just learn by doing? I am trying to learn more about photography and what my camera can do but it is going to have to be by trial and error, no time to fit in photography lessons right now!

Christine

Hi Christine! I'm very happy you came out of lurkdom and I'm always happy to make new friends on DIS! I also see that you're heading to the World in October and that you have children with very similar ages as ours. When will you be there?

I've been like you in that I have not been able to find time for photography classes between work and the kids. I've been learning by trial and error as well as reading materials online and in print when I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong when I'm sitting at home and going through my pictures on the laptop.

I've also made a point of taking the camera with me whenever I take the kids for local outings such as museum visits or playgrounds and trying to get as much practice as possible. I started using the full auto mode at first a little over a year ago, then gradually moved on to using aperture priority or shutter priority modes (semi-automatic), and the past three months I've been been making myself use exclusively manual mode. Taking these steps helped me learn a lot about photography and in gradual steps. Next up on my to-learn list is flash photography (not at Disney of course ).

 

[khertz]

The pictures of the performance are gorgeous. SO many bright & beautiful colors! The part with the drummers sounds really amazing. You're right, it had to be great if DS was riveted for the whole hour!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

The pictures of the performance are gorgeous. SO many bright & beautiful colors! The part with the drummers sounds really amazing. You're right, it had to be great if DS was riveted for the whole hour!

Thanks! There were moments near the end of a slow performance that DS started showing hints of getting bored but I would lean over and whisper to him that another set of drums are about to come out and he would straighten himself up and wait patiently.