Olympic Changes!

Much as the scenery of Beijing changes daily, so to does the attitude of the people. As far as we can tell, everyone here is thrilled to be a part of the Olympics. The official merchandise stores are rammed, people are sightseeing, talking about the Games, and generally abuzz with excitement. We aren't here to comment on much else about the Games, but from a street's eye view, it is infectious. We are having a great time! In addition to new street signs, and a fresh coat of paint, Beijing has asked for volunteers to man every corner in the city to help visitors find their way. Its really sweet -- generally retired persons sitting umbrellas! There are also armies of interpreters able to help you find a metro station, sight seeing destination, or just simple directions. Its very helpful, and frankly, really amusing seeing tons of people running around in "I speak XXX language" t-shirts!

Airport Greetings! (Beijing)

We flew on Korean Airlines from Seoul to Beijing. We thought it was entirely too cool that we were flying with the logistic support for the Korean Nation Team (as well as some athletes)! We were also flying with the Australian football team and a number of the Mexican team athletes. As we were photographed exiting the airplane and caught in the middle of all the excitement of the athletes arrivals we were thrilled! It wasn't until baggage claim that we realised how much logistical support is required for the athletes and the Olympics!

Cameras greeting everyone!

Mascots and cameras!

Here is where we realised just how much effort the Olympics requires! Looking dow the baggage carousel is all the Korean supplies. Box and after box! In fact we waited nearly an hour until after all the boxes had been collected to even begin to see passenger luggage come off the plane! Still -- it was an incredible sight!

Tian'an Men Square

So -- you've seen the video! Here are the pics!

Firstly, Tian'an Men Square is enormous. You can't imagine how large it is. Even more interesting is that a large portion of the Square is taken over by Olympic statues, banners and flower arrangements -- and its still the largest plaza I have ever seen! In fact in this picture I am standing across the street from what I (and everyone else) would recognize as the Square from television.

Here is Jason standing in front of one of the large arrangements welcoming the Olympics.

These next statues are also throughout the square. And the statues below are on opposite sides of the entrance to the Mao mausoleum.

Markets.

Of course, there are many markets in Beijing. Two of our favourites have to do with local street food. Interestingly, in order to bring the regional cuisine to Beijing, and in the sense of novelty, right by our hotel are two street markets offering unique regional Chinese foods. Okay -- I say food, meaning something to eat -- however in these markets, food means something else. As you can see in this picture food is essentially anything you want it to be. The best part is that sometimes the food need not be cooked or dead -- in fact the scorpions in the market are skewered, but not dead. *shudder*

So, in light of all these interesting delicacies -- I'm going to eat grapes. Simple, vegetarian and dead. Classic Beijing snack -- fruit on a stick covered in simple syrup (sugar)!

The Demilitarized Zone (The Border -- North and South)

No trip to South Korea would be complete with a trip to the Demilitarized Zone. Its the most interesting area on earth. Its a contrast -- in everything really -- its a tourist trap (with gift shops), its a war zone, its guarded (on South Korea's side) by the free world, you stand 50 yards from the enemy. Its bold and scary and yet surreal and amusing. It was the strangest day of my life and yet one of the most interesting.


Our intro-briefing.

Our guide / main protector. Every move a civilian makes in the DMZ is protected by the Americans, the UN and the South Korean military. We felt free, uninhibited and yet safe and protected.

The actual current border is the cement strip, between the two buildings, running across this picture (just in front of the guards). Here's how the DMZ works -- in this area we are standing in the JSA (joint security area). Its a carved out area with the border running through the middle that is jointly patrolled by both nations. Its also the where the monthly communications meetings between the two sides are held. In reality, its much simpler. For every South Korean building, there is a North Korean one. They are differentiated by the colours. Blue is the UN and gray is the North Koreans.

In this picture the South Koreans guards are staring at the North Korean guard. The SK guard standing half-protected by the buildings in case of gunfire. The SK guards also are standing in a defensive position, designed to create an intimidating stance for the North Korean soldiers.

Here's the odd part. Everyone was taking photos. We felt odd smiling, even taking photos, but o the other hand it seemed like any other tourist destination
and completely normal to take photos!

More on the stance. Its a modified Tae Kwon Do position. Designed to create fear and intimidation in the person it is directed at. The sunglasses and the helmet are also wore to do the same. In all fairness, the hostility wasn't directed at us and we still felt slightly intimated! :)

This is my head in the picture. We are standing at one of the check points on the border. At this particular space we are standing surrounded by the NK border on three sides.

This is the NK checkpoint directly across from us. My video camera has an incredible zoom lens so as I zoomed in on the tower, I caught -- big and bold -- in my screen a NK guard with binoculars zoomed in on me! It was so surreal!

The SK's have a village in the DMZ and it has a very large flag pole. It is entirely visible from the border so the flag is there as a reminder of SK. The NK's (not ones to be out done) doubled the height of the flag pole in the NK village on the border and constructed one of the largest flags in the world to fly from it. It is easily the most visible sight for miles upon miles. The flag weighs 600 pounds dry and the flag pole is 160m tall!

This is the bridge of no return. At the end of the Korean War, the POW were returned to their home country -- the terms of the agreement were that the soldiers were allowed to select the country they wished to return to -- however once they crossed the bridge to that country they would never be allowed to return.

The second stop on the tour was another observation tower. It was raining when we arrived so the sights weren't that great, but the view was still incredible!

The third stop was to the tunnels. This particular tunnel was discovered in the 1970's. It was built from the NK side and it would allow 30,000 NK troops to enter SK by the hour. It is an impressive tunnel and on the tour you are allowed to go in it. You walk down a distance of 79m and then you are able to walk about 360m into the tunnel. You can see the dynamite holes through the tunnel and interestingly, the NK government had the tunnel painted with black paint and smeared with coal. When the tunnels were discovered, the NK's declared that they were abandoned mine shafts, even though there is no coal in the region whatsoever!

We are standing at the entrance to the tunnel. Originally we were not going to wear the hard hats, but boy are we glad we did! The tunnels were so short! Jason must have hit his head on the ceiling at least 15 times! So hard hats are a must!!

Beijing.

Okay, so I am logging off now -- but I know that you want to see Beijing and well, I am not one to disappoint my readers! Yesterday we headed over to Tian'an Men Square and joined thousands of our fellow Chinese tourists to see the square and the Olympic celebration.

(Side note -- I have absolutely no idea what I am doing at the beginning of this video! Looking really air-headed and "la la la" is our best guess. Too funny!)

Also you can see from this video that yesterday the smog was under control. This video was taken about 5:00 in the evening so the lighting is a bit off.

More Gyeongbuk Palace Sights!

So we've gone from carvings to paintings! I was totally unfamiliar with Korean architecture. The Koreans have been heavily influenced (in good ways and bad) by the Japanese and the Chinese. This influence shows itself in strange places. I was in love with the colour of Korea. I also really like how simple the palace was (in terms of the carved wood) and yet how bold it became with the paint.

This is the throne and throne hall.

Rice paper is used everywhere in traditional housing. Its part of the "windows" the walls and even the floors. Its effect makes everything look dainty, but cool.

Water is also very important in the palace. There are many "floating" pavilions which were used for eating and entertaining!

More water and a pavilion. Whats so great about this picture is that as I am looking at Jason and the palace and the mountains -- Jason is essentially looking at the skyline of downtown Seoul rising above the walls of the palace!

Gyeongbuk Palace (Seoul)

Gyeongbuk Palace was the official residence of the Chosun dynasty in Korea. The best part about the palace is that it is in the centre of downtown Seoul. You can ride the metro to the palace, walk through air conditioning, and the voila -- a huge palace in the middle of the city!

The day we visited we arrived just in time to catch the changing of the guard ceremony. Though not quite like Buckingham Palace, there is a strict pattern and well, you just can't beat the colours!

(One funny side note -- the guards are wearing fake beards and mustaches. Hilarious! We decided it was because 15th century facial hair is no longer en vogue!)

The ceremony! (Apparently my umbrella is in the way!)

Korea Cuisine

Korean food is delicious. No question. But having come from a number of countries with similar food, spice and cooking style -- we were used to a familiarity with menus. Not in Korea. :) Jason has eaten at Korean restaurants before, but I never had. And so our adventure began.

Koreans eat everything with a flat spoon and chopsticks. The fork is there as a nod to Westerners!

Korean food also always comes with a number of side dishes. In this picture is seaweed soup (warmish) (1), kimchi (or gimchi) (2) and hot sauce (3). This is a mini-version of what we normally served. Add to this a cross between Waldorf salad and coleslaw (4) as well as sesame noodles (5), a spicy green (like kale or bok choi) (6) and a spicy beef side (7) and you have the standard accompaniments to any Korean dish you order.

A note on kimchi. I thought it was good. Spicy. Like nothing I had ever tasted or even heard that it tasted like. The only draw back for me was that its pickled with vinegar. I don't like pickles or any pickled food, so I could only eat a small amount of kimchi at a time. Jason, on the other hand, who loves all pickled foods, thought it was very good.

But back to my lunch. This is a cold rice bowl, with mushrooms, shrimp, courgettes, carrots, and squid. You are supposed to mix the hot sauce with everything in the bowl and enjoy! The soup and kimchi are your sides.

I ate this dish a lot! It was delicious and I noticed that the only variation to it was sometimes it was served with a fried egg on top. Even better!

Greetings from Seoul!

Greetings from Seoul!! This is a quick video from our hotel room when we checked in this morning!

We love how San Francisco-esque Seoul is -- the hills, the fog -- it so reminds us of home!

Our first stop! (Seoul)

A market -- of course!

Namdaemun market is a local market. I thought it would be filled with Korean crafts, but instead it was where the locals shop -- for anything! From food to housewares to clothing -- the market had it all!

A street scene from the entrance to the market!

Cheesy Meghan -- I know. But I love street markets!

I love the subway! (Seoul)

One of the really interesting things about Seoul, is that South Korea is in the process of romanising their alphabet. Practically what this means, is that all signs (everything) is written in characters. There are some English translations of names and places, and we have a good map, but you don't quite realise (or at least I never did) how much you rely on roman lettering!

Regardless, we are having a great time getting around on our own and using the subway! Its a bit like the Tube, only there are many more lines that go farther out to the suburbs. As far as city travel goes though -- its fantastic!

We were trying to get the characters on the sign, but the flash slightly distorted the picture.

So here it is without the flash! Much better!

This is the wall of the station. The arrow points in the direction we are heading in, and Noksapyeong is the station we are at and the other stations on the sign are the station before this one and the station after.

Just because.

Doesn't Jason look nice and relaxed??

Mui Ne Flowers.

Because its my blog and I adore flowers. We spent a half an hour walking the grounds of the resort photographing flowers. The resort gardeners are awesome to say the least!