Sunday, September 19, 2010

Blog 28 - 19th September





Our most recent visitors were two Australian sisters, Hannah, who is living in New Zealand and Emily from Canberra. They are the daughters of Ronis, a past guest editor on this esteemed blog and ex-neighbours from Koolaman Street.

We spent ages wandering in the rain around Bukchon Dong and accidentally stumbled across a small workshop making Korean knots and watched the three women chatting and working.



LinkThe Seoul Museum of Chicken Art was a wonderful surprise with hundreds of chickens and artwork of chickens form all over the world including Africa, Australia and Europe. A welcome respite after the pouring rain. Here is the link http://www.kokodac.com/html/about/chicken.htm

Emily and I wandered a bit further to see the World Jewelry Museum however it was closed. here it is anyway for those who are looking for it in Jongro Gu . www.wjmuseum.com


Those who have visited us will be familiar with Hoam House restaurant across the road. Check out the dishes that accompany bibmbap. Something to look forward to for future visitors. Here we are with Stephanie who is living and studying in Beijing and squeezed in to our apartment for a few nights too. She crept in at 3.00am and we woke to a surprises packet of German muesli from China for breakfast.

On 11th September we went on a tour of the Demilitarized Zone. The grey building in the background is in North Korea where North Korean military, equipped with binoculars were watching our every move.

Here our friendly ROK (Republic of Korea) army are protecting us!

The view into North Korea from the armistice site. Our US Army guides had to memorize a 14 page script describing the landmarks of the DMZ and take up to 3 tours a day. This is their job! What fun!

This monument is commemorating the armistice ending the Korean War in 1953. Below is the exact place of the border between North and South Korea. The microphones on the table are monitored 24/7 and the United Nations flag marks the spot. No - the soldier is not a dummy! He is for real. We resisted the temptation to buy a doll like him in the army tourist shop.

On a slightly lighter note, we attended the Korean International Art Fair at COEX. The UK is host this year and Australia will be host next year. This means that instead of four Australian galleries there will be many many more. Here is the date - put it in your diaries for a visit!

Following a visit to Friends meeting house and chocolate cake in the nearby grounds of EWHA Woman's University, we ate a last meal traditional Korean style on the floor with other Quakers. Of course a Korean experience is not complete without a taste of Makoli (rice wine pictured in the green bottle)




Our balcony is looking much more lush after Damien's Fathers Day gift of plants.

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