Korea 2015

A mosaic of photos from our recent trip to Korea.

(mouse over the photos to read a short description, I’ve described most of the photos.

Paris Baguette Cafe in Incheon Airport, a neat little corner, not crowded as compared to anywhere else.

Train station in Gwangju.

Bicycle parking in a Gwangju subway.

Carriage designated for hauling in bicycles, on weekends only.

Bicycle path

Loving the autumn leaves already.

Gateway to a popular touristy temple site, that I’ve forgotten the name though.

Open air carpark before reaching the temple area

The prominent mountain feature for as the temple backdrop.

Tile inscriptions in the temple grounds.

Our bus tickets to Gunsan.

A ground of locals shopping for seaweed outside the temple ground.

Gwangju Art Museum visit.

Innovative plates and bowls as art.

Hello

Shadow warrior

Yes, this is a working bicycle.

Outside the art museum

Look at that foliage

Bicycles for free rentals inside the subway. Just produce your passports or local ID.

A Pochang Macha, a popular local way of gathering

Folks from all over

Our guesthouse owner

And his pretty chef

Gunsan bike rentals also, payment through lcoal transit card

They even took the care to color coordinate the building paints

The famous Gunsan fashion street, though it rained the whole day.

Cafe

Last stop, Seoul, in Unicorn’s Residence, Ponny the lady on the left is the owner of this wonderful guesthouse

Advertisement

Korea – Seoul – Part 2

Another aspect of Korean life has to be its chill out lifestyle, other than the hustle of the daily grind.

We found a quiet spot in the heart of some shopping district. The wife here chilling out over cheesecake and fresh brewed coffee.

A trip to the famous Seoul Tower.

And then the Teddy Museum, located within the tower. This little dude here caught my attention. Apparently vandalising the classroom wall lol.

And of course, the DMZ. The trip was good, although rushed. But we got a good feel of the intensity of the place.

Well wishes from locals and foreigners. Praying for the peace of both Koreas.

Kid you not, the railway in the background is still in service. While we were there, a train went by into the North of the border.

MPs on the guard.

This is our cool looking guard. Over at the backend, the grey building, is the North side of Korea.

We managed to get a glimpse of a few North Korean soldiers as well.

Lotte World – One of Seoul’s theme park. Apparently this is the world’s largest theme park also.

A few of our Seoul companions.

Yes, there is a reason why this is the world’s largest theme park. It was tiring just walking around.

Korea is an ultra modern country with strong roots in its history. Hence you can find a lot of palaces in Seoul.

The palace entrance.

This is supposedly the King’s private quarters.

The back entrance The Secret Garden?

House of Fortune!

A stove, for firewood to provide warmth to the inhabitants during the winter.

This here is a chimney, that was used to exhaust the fumes from the kitchen and heating.

The Gate of Longevity!

The building in the back served as library for the royals of the past.

 

The tablets marked the location of each court official for their daily reports to the king. Ranking at 1st, 2nd, etc.

On a short trip to Bali (Part 1)

The holidays are finally upon us and it is time for another trip. This time we decided to go some place tropical, and Bali came up in our minds.

We spent about a week there and it was very fun. Bali is no doubt very different from the places we have went before, first off: it is much warmer than Australia, all parts of Australia. But that warmth is also translated into its people.

Here’s the wife making funny faces in the departure lounge.

Departing Singapore from with Jetstar airlines on a rainy (and cold) morning didn’t quite prepare us for the sunblast heat in Bali lol.

A view of 2 mountain peaks in the air above Bali.

We touched down at Ngurah Rai International Airport and headed to buy a local SIM card. Yes, being citizens of modern Earth, we didn’t think of getting ourselves some food or drinks first.

Of course after the SIM card purchase we decided to sit down for some refreshments.

Outside the cafe.

Go out from the arrival hall and turn left, you should see the first cafe. The Balinese coffee is good and took away the weariness of the flight.

Tip#1: Buy the SIM card from the cafe, it’s 5000 Rupiah cheaper.

Tip#2: Get bread from the convenient store at the departure hall if your hotel is far away from civilisation like ours was.

Tip#3: Turn right from the arrival hall and purchase a taxi ticket from the taxi counter there.

We arrived at the Hotel Pink CoCo at about 3 pm. First thing I did was to head for the showers, yes it is that hot there.

That is the shower head, neat right?

Our room was on the 2nd storey, facing the sea. And it is huge. Take a look at the photos below.

This is the bathroom. The other half is where the basin is.

Notice the little touches? This here is a soup holder.

And the bedroom, and yes still the other half is where the tv is located with a big couch. Notice how high the ceiling is.

And this shot was taken in the balcony.

Still the photos don’t do justice to the size of the room. You have to see it for yourself.

Located 100m from the beach, also known as “padang” in Balinese, we decided to take a stroll to the beach.

A beautiful rock outcropping that probably used to be a spur.

The water is very clear, evidently this is a newly opened beach as I heard from the locals.

The sand is fine enough for beach volleyball. the dudes are almost here everyday for their game.

The walk at the beach was a pretty short one as the tide was fast coming in. And well it actually got dark fast too. Heading back to the hotel, we noticed alot of businesses along the way were opened by foreigners.

One of the many surf shops. They provide surfing classes for a fee.

Dinner was quickly settled and we retired to enjoy the room facilities. For all you tv addicts, there is cable, not to worry.

Next post, let me guide you through the various tourist spots in Bali.