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!