Street Performers

The whole time I was in Korea, I only noticed one street performer, or busker. This was that performer. She (now that I look at the photo, I am not sure, but at the time I thought "she") was one of those stone statues, but with a difference. Well maybe not that different, the trick was, you put money in and they move. They probably always do move, but I thought the idea was to stand still. Maybe she was a stone robot.





She had no money in her box. I should have told her about the trick of putting a little money in, so that people get the idea that they want money.... Though I only thought of it now,as I type this blog entry.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I did put some money in :)

Travel Tip 24 - Free Donuts

When you are in Korea, and you are hungy, and you want a snack between meals.. Look no further than Krispy Kreme Doughnuts..





Here is the trick, and don't feel bad, all Koreans do it.

1) Line up in the queue.
2) Listen to them say (in Korean) Welcome to Krispy Kreme, please try a doughnut.
3) Take your doughnut.
4) Walk out, with your yummy, free doughnut..


Personally I liked Mr Donuts doughnuts in Japan more, but that is another story.

Myeongdong (명동 明洞)

Myeondong 명동, which in Korean means "Men should hide their money" is the shopping mecca of Seoul's trendy, cashed up, women (or women who have someone with them, who has forgotten to leave their wallet at home). Though it seems most women just window shop. (I know why they window shop for so long, there were no shops selling windows, anywhere to be found)

This is the place to go to people watch, or to buy your name brand needs. As this was a trendy place to be, I did not see many people in couple clothes..

Now that I look at the photos, it is probably 75-80% women, on just random photos.

When I was there, it looked like a big storm was coming.















This was actually just up the road from Myeongdong








Oh, and I mentioned the dog seller before, he was back.

Strange Animal

You know, I have no idea what kind of animal this is. Anyone out there know ?



One thing I have noticed when I travel to places around the world. Many have relaxed animal import laws. I know Australia has them to protect the native animals, and I am not complaining. It's just that this animal was so cute.. I can only describe it as a cross between a Ferret and a Squirrel. I do know that it comes from the desert, which desert, I have no idea.

This was one of the many different animals I saw in the pet shops in Korea..

I'll have 2 platters please

Near where I was staying in Seoul is the 63 Building. It has IMAX and many famous restaurants. One is a BBQ style restaurant. It serves Korean beef, as well as Australian beef. Actually there is a big difference between Korean beef and Australian beef, ours is lean, where as Korean is marbeled with fat (yummy).

This particular restaurant is famous for calbe, a cut of beef from the rib, and across the stomach, I believe. They have many "take out" (they don't say "take away" in Korea)platters you can buy. The biggest one is 6kgs.

So how much for this 6 kgs of pure Korean beef ? Only W660,000 with is about $ 910 AUD. That's right, almost 1000 dollars for 6 kgs of meat !!!! And you thought the price of beef in Australia had gone up.. Try paying 151/kg for beef.

Travel Tip 23

If you are in a boat, there is only so much you can get away with as a westener.

Splashing a raft full of wet people, is not one of them ;)



They will get you back!!!

This was on the Hantan River.한탄강

Moving In

In the appartments in Korea, that have small 4 people lifts (no goods lifts). So I often wondered how people moved into their appartments. This is how.



Pretty cool huh :)

Fish Markets

While traveling, I came across many a Fish Market. They pretty much looked all the same. Full of fish, and, well, other things they find in the ocean to eat.

Dragon Flys

Everywhere I went in Korea, there were many dragon flys. The Koreans spent many hours trying to catch these. Some would some wouldn't.

Here are two that were caught.



Later, these two, were seen kissing.

The Parking Ticket

I noticed that in Korea, unlike Australia, when you get a parking ticket, it is not a little reciept type slip under your windscreen wiper blades. It is a big piece of paper stuck to your windscreen, with gule that makes it hard to remove.



Well until you pay it, that is.

Dragon

Above a bell was this dragon.

I think it is pretty cool.

Heain Temple of Mt. Gaya

This was a temple made famous by the wooden books of the Tripitaka Koreana (As seen below)

Stored in this building..


Looking Like this






The scenery was also very nice.

Flintstones In Korea - Bugeun-ri Dolmens

Looking a little like stone henge, I suppose, are Bugeun-ri Dolmens, or translated "Rock that stick out of the ground with a big rock on top" These rocks were actually tombs buil during the bronze age. There were a little more impressive in their day I guess. Not many left now.



And here is the happy guy that made them, kind of looks like Fred Flintstone to me.

Haemi Town Fortress

While out, I went to Haemi. It was basically a town inside a wall to protect it's people from the Japanese pirates who plundered the area. Though now the inside is empty, they are digging around to see what artifacts they can find. So basically it is a wall, with recreations of buildings inside.

Front gate



The wall at the side.



My fav bit was the recreation of the toilet... Complete with the "oh no, don't come in, I am still in here" look.



Oh, and I caught this western guy trying out the old pit toilets, pity he forgot to lift the lid.. (the reason why you women should not complain about guys leaving the toilet seat up...)



For more information, the following website were avaliable at the time.

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/eng/info_db/dest/sight_detail.jsp?seqno=723

Cool changing photo badge thing

Wonder if this works, should be a badge of photos. The site I use for photos has this thing.. I wonder if it works.

www.flickr.com

This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called Korea. Make your own badge here.

Personal observatory

Well some of us have telescopes, and can look at the stars, but who has their own Observatory ????

Back in melbourne

Well I am back in Melbourne now.. After 5 weeks at temps over 30c, it feels cold in Melbourne.....

But don't worry, (you should not start a sentence with but) I will add more pics and stories, as I go through the pictures.

Last Day

Well it is my last day in Korea, and as with most things, it all happens on the last day. I found a university in Korea, that is ideal for me to work at. I think I should apply for a job at this university. So much better than RMIT, just look.



So many things I did not write about, perhaps when I get back to melbourne I can write more then..

For those who do not believe I will work for Bikin University, here is proof..

Traditional Korean Wedding

Visiting a folk village I was lucky to whitness a traditional wedding (along with everyone else who was there on this day)

I was walking past one of the rooms, and saw the bride. She was waiting to walk out.



As this was open to the public, there were a few gate/wedding crashers.



Traditionally the bride hides from everyone (incase she is ugly I guess)







But I managed to get a smile..

Bulguksa - Gyeongju

This was a rather large temple in Gyeongju, it has many pretty photo points.

Gyeongu

Two days in Gyeongu gave me a chance to explore the many burial mounds that were around.

Basically they are a coffin, in a box, under rocks with dirt on top. They are everywhere. The more important the person is, the bigger they are.



This one had a hole in it, but one was not allowed to take photos in it. Just as I was, someone walked in, so I missed the chance.




Other examples of what the area looked like are below

The station

A quick pose

After visiting the War Memorial, I spotted these guys guarding "American Soil", some storage area, with a warning to keep out. Noticing their big sticks, I asked them to pretend to beat me for a photo. They tought it was amusing, and said I could just have a photo with them.