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Winter Vacation Part 1 – Seoul

Over the next few days/weeks we’ll be posting pictures and stories from our Winter 2010 Vacation.  This is the first installment about the first stop on our adventure – Seoul.

Kate’s sister, Molly, came to visit us in Korea in late December.  She stayed for about 10 days and we had a great time with her.  It was wonderful to actually get to share this place with someone from home.  The last 4 days that she was here we were off work and we all went to Seoul.  The trip was mainly a whirlwind tour of the city’s hot spots.  Here are some pictures from Seoul.   There are more in the gallery to the left.  As always – click for a larger image.

January 6, 2010 04:23 PM

We stopped at a KimBap Restaurant (Korean Fast Food) for a cheap snack before heading off for the afternoon.  This is Ram-bokki a combination of Ramen Noodles and Dakbokki – spicy sauce and rice cake.  In the background you can see Kim Bap (Korean sushi rolls without the sushi) and Mandu (Korean Dumplings).  Molly had a pretty good amount of Korean food while she was here… its definitely an experience.  Kate and I love this stuff now :)

January 6, 2010 06:59 PM

There was an Andy Warhol Portraits exhibit at the Seoul Museum of Art, so naturally we checked it out.  It was a coooold night but we ventured out.  The exhibit was fantastic!  A really wide range of his work and a lot of historical information and artifacts about his life.  The English translations of the commentary were also really entertaining.

January 6, 2010 07:26 PM

We got a little lost walking back to the subway which wasn’t good because it was about 1 degree outside…but we made it!

January 7, 2010 01:59 PM

The next day we went to Bongeun-sa Temple near the Coex Mall.  Every Thursday they have a “Temple Life” program where foreigners can get a tour of the temple, learn some basic meditation practices, participate in the Tea Ceremony and make lotus flowers.  It was about 2 hours and a really great way to experience Korean Buddhism up close.  We had hoped to do an overnight Temple Stay the weekend before, but Kate was sick and it didn’t seem like a good idea.  This was a nice way to still get at least some of the experience.

January 7, 2010 02:27 PM

Lanterns are hung at the temples for a period of time before and after the four major Buddhist holidays.  I think these were up for the New Year.

January 7, 2010 02:53 PM

This is one of the tallest Buddha Statues in Korea.  The picture doesn’t really do it justice but it was huge!

January 7, 2010 03:15 PM

Tea ceremony!

January 7, 2010 04:26 PM

Kate and Molly making Lotus Flowers

January 7, 2010 04:41 PM

The Temple is right in the middle of the city – providing an interesting contrast between the skyscrapers and apartment buildings all around it.

January 7, 2010 05:28 PM

Kate and Molly on the Subway.  Seoul has one of the best subways I’ve ever been on.  It’s quiet, clean, and fast… amazing!

January 8, 2010 05:53 PM

The last day we took a bus tour around the city.  This was the easiest and cheapest way to see all the highlights of the city.  It was a fun way to spend the day.

January 8, 2010 06:11 PM

I think this is Namdaemoon, or Dongdaemoon …  From the bus.

We also went to see Avatar in 3D one afternoon, and ate some Mexican food in Itaewon.  On Saturday we took Molly to the airport for her early morning flight, then we waited there for our 9:30pm flight.  Stuck in the airport for 13 hours… not too fun.  Incheon is kind of the most amazing airport in the world though, so it was not a problem… more on that in the next post… Manila!

February 4, 2010   1 Comment

Cameron Highlands and Kuala Lumpur

It’s been almost 3 months since our Winter trip began and we still haven’t posted everything about it.  If you’ve poked around the site you’ve probably already seen these photos but hopefully this will give them a little more context.  Our posts have been a bit out of order from our trip – starting near the end (Penang) back to the beginning (Bangkok) then the middle (Koh Tao).  In that tradition I present to you the last leg of our Journey.  The only place left is Langkawi (somewhere in the middle :) ).   So here we go… The Cameron Highlands to Kuala Lumpur.

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While on Penang we rented a car (from Hertz) and drove our way [Read more →]

March 27, 2009   2 Comments

Koh Tao Tour!

Following up on the Koh Tao Pictures, here is a quick video tour of the island.  It’s only about 5 miles long and this is pretty much the only road – In it’s entirety ..in about 160 seconds.  :)

Enjoy…

March 14, 2009   1 Comment