4. One year on.. [Part2]

4^C

Fresh, fresh, fresh!!

Note: Blogger is playing up, not letting me put anymore on my previous post; thus the Part one and two. Please read the words here and see the pics below in Part1.

Well it’s been a year since I moved to this remote village somewhere in Korea. I must say that looking back on the past twelve months; it really has flown right by me. I’ve done so much, only a fraction of which I can recall at the moment.. hence this blog. I look forward to looking over these entries in years to come and reminiscing about the people, places, and memories I thought I had long forgotten.

As you would have guessed by now, Momma came over to visit for about two weeks. While she was here we did the touristy thing and went to Seoul. It’s a stunning time of year for anyone wanting to visit Korea. Sure it’s a little chilly, but the colours seen on the mountain tops and the rustling leaves that continually fall to the pavement are a sight to behold. For those reading this and thinking something along the lines of “what’s the big deal, its Fall”; you might want some clarification. In Australia we have two seasons, hot and cool.. so seeing all these colours and how the landscape changes so dramatically can be likened to a child seeing snow falling for the first time and thinking it’s the end of the world. ..and by the way, it’s AUTUMN.

Back to the point, I’ve had a few comments about the lack of pictures I’ve taken of Seoul. So with this in mind I went to Seoul and took a few happy snaps to show you folks back home that cities in Seoul, Moscow, NY or Brisbane all look basically the same. We did see a couple of the more popular tourist attractions so that’s basically all I shot. Truth be told, I don’t get any joy from taking pictures in a jungle of neat, systematically organized buildings - and suits. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that cities aren’t beautiful in their own way, it’s just that personally I haven’t realised their beauty fully enough to capture it satisfactorily on my camera.

The pictures you see first are of Seoul Tower, Myeongdong, Insadong, and Itaewon War Memorial Museum. The food dish was up in the tower, we ordered tofu as the main and that’s what came out. It was alright, but like I told Momma, you don’t go up there for the main dish.. It’s the buffet side dishes up there that really make the mouth water. The padlocks you see symbolize couples’ undying love for each other. They lock two locks together with a message and then throw away the key and their love will forever be bound by each other. How typically over-dramatic. Next we caught a subway to Myeongdong which is Seoul’s city centre. We looked around for a while and then walked through Namdaemun open air markets.

The next bunch of pictures brings us to this weekend just passed. We spent a lazy weekend in Sangdong and really didn’t’ do too much at all. The air is so clean over here and the mountains so picturesque that we decided to go out for a picnic BBQ by the river. By far the best thing about this picnic was the Smore’s!! I had never had smores or even knew what they were until yesterday. We roasted marshmallows over the fire and got two crackers, one with a piece of chocolate on it. When the marshmallow had been roasted and puffed up to twice its size we put it on the cracker with the chocolate on it and then used the other cracker to sandwich them in. That’s what you see in that picture. We came back and I made something I’ve wanted to make for a long, long time! I made Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup and Vietnamese spring rolls. I couldn’t find any Hoisin Sauce in Seoul so I had to improvise and make my own.

The last set of pictures you see are just some random ones that I’ve taken here and there over this past month. The Buddhist Temple near my house, the sushi restaurant with their own fish farm and the landscapes are all quite self-explanatory. I’d like to draw your attention to the truck with the dogs and goats on them. Just like the “fish man” and “garlic man” mentioned previously, this is the local “dog man”. He comes around blaring speakers with “Gheeeeeeeh” (Dog), selling fresh dogs. I believe the customers choose which dog/goat they want and then he comes back a while later with them in a more delectable form.

Finally you’ll see the little gun. I found this in one of those 50c toy vending machines that give toys in little plastic containers. It made me think about why we didn’t have things like that in Australia.

Winter is really coming around again.. it’s sad to see all things here slowly go brown into hibernation. The colours will soon disappear and I’ll have to endure another long winter in Sangdong. I looked forward to the last since it was my first ‘real’ winter, but now I’m not looking forward to it anymore.. even the sun has started to lose its warmth.