May 2005,Seoul, S.Korea
Seoul is like a drained down version of New York – a city throbbing with life, skyscrapers, busy subways, exotic restaurants serving exotic dishes from almost all over the world, concerts and art shows being held everyday by artists from all parts of the world, world class stadiums, theatres and museums. A very colorful nightlife and city lights. The downtown area with its flea markets, pick pocketeers and street walkers. There is also a place called Itaewon. It’s a residential cum bazaar build around the settlements of the foreigners who have live in Seoul – Americans from the nearby US army base, Indians, Philipinos, Chinese, Mongolians, Bangladeshis, Europeans, North Koreans….
There are quite a few Indian restaurants – 'Chakra' that serves Mughlai, and South Indian. There is also a Nepali restaurant here!
We visited the War Memorial – it depicts the Korean war between N. and S. Korea that took place in the 1940s in all its details and vividness – it also depicts wars in Korea down the ages – real weapons, armaments and ammunition used along with the gear and dress worn, various modes of documentation and communications used. It’s a huge lay out and a lot of resources and research seems to have been put into it. We saw life size models of refugee colonies, people displaced by the war, historical footage. The memorial itself is housed inside a huge complex whose architectural design resembles the colossal Roman structures. ( I will be uploading the photos soon).
Next stop was the Folk Museum and Palace – again very interesting. I could have spent the entire day in this museum. It housed detailed depiction of the culture and history of S.Korea over the years including calligraphy, religion, architecture, house hold and agricultural tools, food and traditional dishes including kimchi – it is actually a spicy side dish consisting largely of pickled Chinese cabbage, spring onion, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, all fermented together in salt water. Kimchi is supposed to contain vitamins and minerals especially certain beneficial bacteria (lactobacilli) that aid digestion. There are over 100 varieties of Kimchi using different vegetables. Another interesting food is a kind of Korean ‘sattu’ it contains a mixture of dehydrated and powdered shrimp, ginseng, algae, herbs, some vegetables, red rice and soyabeans. You just have to add water and sugar to it and drink it. It appears to be a very healthy wholesome food. We also went on top of the Seoul tower, which is supposed to be the second highest structure in Asia. It was built on a 262 meter peak, the tower reaches to 480 meters above sea level. The observation platform of the tower is at 370 meters above sea level; 2 elevators cover 135-meter height in 30 secs to reach observation platform from the base.
Of course the biggest blast especially for the kids was the Lotte world in Seoul, where we spent an entire day – screaming down the roller coasters, giant swings and drops. Danish was scared out of his wits by ‘The Pharaoh’s fury’: it’s a kind of a theme adventure which takes you back to the times when the pyramids and its mysteries and curses were being discovered and suffered. I think that it was very well done. At one point there is this rickety-rackety jeep that takes you down through the underground chambers of some pyramid and at one point all the fires burning along the dark corridors suddenly go out and the jeep plunges into a dark abyss – a bottomless pit, boy, that scared me too!!!
We traveled back to Dae –Jeon from Seoul in RTX train, which again is the second fastest train in Asia with a maximum speed of 300km/hour (I think !!).
Seoul is like a drained down version of New York – a city throbbing with life, skyscrapers, busy subways, exotic restaurants serving exotic dishes from almost all over the world, concerts and art shows being held everyday by artists from all parts of the world, world class stadiums, theatres and museums. A very colorful nightlife and city lights. The downtown area with its flea markets, pick pocketeers and street walkers. There is also a place called Itaewon. It’s a residential cum bazaar build around the settlements of the foreigners who have live in Seoul – Americans from the nearby US army base, Indians, Philipinos, Chinese, Mongolians, Bangladeshis, Europeans, North Koreans….
There are quite a few Indian restaurants – 'Chakra' that serves Mughlai, and South Indian. There is also a Nepali restaurant here!
We visited the War Memorial – it depicts the Korean war between N. and S. Korea that took place in the 1940s in all its details and vividness – it also depicts wars in Korea down the ages – real weapons, armaments and ammunition used along with the gear and dress worn, various modes of documentation and communications used. It’s a huge lay out and a lot of resources and research seems to have been put into it. We saw life size models of refugee colonies, people displaced by the war, historical footage. The memorial itself is housed inside a huge complex whose architectural design resembles the colossal Roman structures. ( I will be uploading the photos soon).
Next stop was the Folk Museum and Palace – again very interesting. I could have spent the entire day in this museum. It housed detailed depiction of the culture and history of S.Korea over the years including calligraphy, religion, architecture, house hold and agricultural tools, food and traditional dishes including kimchi – it is actually a spicy side dish consisting largely of pickled Chinese cabbage, spring onion, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, all fermented together in salt water. Kimchi is supposed to contain vitamins and minerals especially certain beneficial bacteria (lactobacilli) that aid digestion. There are over 100 varieties of Kimchi using different vegetables. Another interesting food is a kind of Korean ‘sattu’ it contains a mixture of dehydrated and powdered shrimp, ginseng, algae, herbs, some vegetables, red rice and soyabeans. You just have to add water and sugar to it and drink it. It appears to be a very healthy wholesome food. We also went on top of the Seoul tower, which is supposed to be the second highest structure in Asia. It was built on a 262 meter peak, the tower reaches to 480 meters above sea level. The observation platform of the tower is at 370 meters above sea level; 2 elevators cover 135-meter height in 30 secs to reach observation platform from the base.
Of course the biggest blast especially for the kids was the Lotte world in Seoul, where we spent an entire day – screaming down the roller coasters, giant swings and drops. Danish was scared out of his wits by ‘The Pharaoh’s fury’: it’s a kind of a theme adventure which takes you back to the times when the pyramids and its mysteries and curses were being discovered and suffered. I think that it was very well done. At one point there is this rickety-rackety jeep that takes you down through the underground chambers of some pyramid and at one point all the fires burning along the dark corridors suddenly go out and the jeep plunges into a dark abyss – a bottomless pit, boy, that scared me too!!!
We traveled back to Dae –Jeon from Seoul in RTX train, which again is the second fastest train in Asia with a maximum speed of 300km/hour (I think !!).
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