Week of September 6th, 2013

Things have been relatively quiet and routine around here.  I have the first draft for my Taiwan Driving expose down and am fine tuning it for hopeful future publication.  If you've visited this page even a small amount, or have seen me in person over the last year, you've heard me rail on these buttholes.  My diatribe is not pretty and the likelihood that someone would publish it is unlikely, but will still share with you.

Nothing around town has inspired any entries so far, at least nothing new.  All the same nose pickers and hairy moles are out and about.  We did find an Israeli lady that makes Middle Eastern food and treats that have been a nice addition to our food choices.  Babaganoosh, Moroccan lamb egg rolls, etc...the real stuff.  She is the mother of one of Carolyn's friends, and Betty and I met with she and her husband last Saturday so we could ask them about Israel and what we must see and do when we visit in December.  Super nice folk...they told us that they met while serving in the Israeli military.  His brother works for a travel agency in Israel and we're going to work with him in setting up an itinerary and tours.  Fingers crossed that they keep their shit together in that area. 

While I wait for Taipei to inspire some entries, think I'll do a recap of our summer journeys.  I mentioned that our friend Bob from college came to Taiwan for a visit, and then we went off with him to Seoul for a few days bbefore heading to the States (talking early June now).  Always nice to have visitors and hope we showed him a good time.  He is an easy traveler...his idea of fun is to get lost walking or riding a bike around town, so we pointed him in the right direction and he did the rest.  We did have a zen dining experience at Din Tai Fung together and enjoyed it so much, that we all went back again before we left for Seoul, and then searched out the Din Tai Fung in Korea.  Verdict is that the dumplings they make in T-dub are a religious experience and to avoid them outside of Taipei at all costs.  By far the crapiest meal we ate in Korea. 

Seoul was really great.  Honestly...I never thought much of the Koreans before.  Kimchi makes me gag, their products always seem to be missing one little feature that makes the whole thing suck, and then there is this.  But we absolutely loved our time there.  Even though the reason why was horrible, being able to rebuild the city from scratch after the Korean War allowed them to plan it out really well.  The streets are wide, the architecture innovative and interesting, and the subway was increbily extensive and convenient to all parts of the city.  If it wasn't, a short taxi ride got you where you needed to go. 

The day we got in, we went to a baseball game at the big stadium in town called Jamsil.  Had ordered some bleacher seats before we left and we showed up a few minutes before game time thinking we'd just sit in the back for a few innings, but when we got in, the place was draped with fans.  Total sell out and in the bleachers (only ones available), not only were all the seats gone, but people were having massive picnics in every nook and cranny...the aisles and concourses totally jammed with kimchi dipping baseball lovers.  The first pitch we saw seemed normal, but have seen since that they are capable of so much more.  Or how about this...  Pretty hot whatever your predilection.  Was fun to see, but not fun to watch a game and we only lasted a couple of innings, but seeing a culture so in love with baseball already had me reconsidering my prejudices.

Another morning, we took a half day tour of the DMZ with the local version of the USO.  Must have been a slow week as it was just us and our guide and driver on a full sized bus.  As a history buff, I was familiar with the scenario, but being able to see it was special.  At the tourist center, we got to see the weapons and equipment used on both sides and learned that the DMZ itself has turned into an ecological sanctuary as no one goes in to disturb it.  They say that occasionally, some local creature will activate one of the millions of landmines that litter the border, but that they are free to be free otherwise.  Part of the tour was a chance to visit Infiltration Tunnel #3.  The North Koreans dug a series of tunnels under the DMZ for use on the next invasion of the south.  No photograpy allowed, but this YouTube clip gives a decent feel for what it was like.  You get to the tunnel via a very steep underground decline and then traverse the North Korean dug tunnel well under the DMZ.  The tunnels were found after a defector hipped the South to them, and the North claimed they were digging for coal except that no coal is found in that region of the country.  The tunnel was very claustrophobic, but it is said that theycould move 10,000 troops plus tanks and artillery through in an hour.  Malnutrition isn't all bad I suppose.  The morning we drove out to the DMZ coincided with the first meeting between North and South officials regarding the reopening of the Kaesong industrial park that was closed during all the sabre rattling last Spring, and our bus was passed by the South Korean official motorcade, which was being followed by a 1/2 dozen news vans.  It is neat feeling like you are a part of the news (my camera was on some funky setting at the time unfortunately)

 Our tour guide was a pretty little thing, which was lucky for us as a couple of the guards seemed smitten with her and allowed us into some areas usually off limits

 
They do that stupid peace sign when taking a picture thing in Korea too.  A couple of physical characteristics of the Koreans that jumped out at me was that many of them have chubby cheeks and meaty thighs.  I must have gotten used to the stick figures of TPE because I noticed it often.  Not saying it was a bad thing, just sayin'.  Visiting the different Asian countries is really helping me be able to identify the differences between them much better and that they don't al llook alike.

One afternoon, we visited the North Seoul Tower, which is situated on a hill in the middle of the city and gave a commanding 360 degree view.  It was at this cite that one can apprecieate how big Seoul really is with 25 million people, and how well laid out it is so that it never feels crowded. 

 

 Hard to get a good feeling of how far it extends in a simple photo, but a definite must visit for a tourist.  They had these chimneys from the old days on the hill where they would light fires to warn the population and military of approaching armies, and were told these chimneys are spread across the hills all over the country.  Now they provide a photo-op

 

And they have these "trees" set-up on the tower where lovers put locks on them to certify their bond.  Saw the same deal on the Accademia bridge in Venice last winter...such a delightful tradition.

On another day, we visited the Gyeong bok gung Palace, which is the huge home of past dynasties.  More expansive than you'd imagine, and the buildings have been restored lovingly, but most of the treasures were stolen long ago.  They did have an exhibit of the kimchi pots that were used to ferment that horrible concoction...gross

  Definitely worth a visit, but be prepared to walk a lot.  It was a hot day and the kids an my favorite spot was a water fountain where we could spray each other down.  And then there were these guys.

I think the site that ultimately turned me into a Korean lover was the Cheong-gye-cheon stream.  It is a stream that runs through the heart of Seoul and used to be a place where merchants would set-up shop.  After the war, it was capped and covered up by an expressway, but a dozen or so years ago, the road was taken down and was transformed back into an open stream where the citizens can come and enjoy.  Even though it is literally right smack in the middle of the busiest part of downtown, as it is below street level, the bustle of the city is removed and you get this peaceful park that is 5 kilometers long.  You can drop down and walk from neighborhood to neighborhood in peace, or just find a spot under a bridge (they are all different and cool) and sit in the shade while dipping your feet into the cool water.  Was such a perfect spot to catch our breath on a hot day...we visited it often on our stay.

 

 

Probably the strangest thing we did was to having our feet exfoliated by fish.  I had heard about this before and remembered a place in Seattle that did it, but was shut down due to some issue with the spreading of infection, but we walked past a sign advertising it and as curious travelers, decided that we had to give it a go.  Pretty simple really...you stick your feet in this tub of water filled with flesh eating carp, and they go to town.  Carolyn freaked at the sensation so pulled hers out, but the rest of us were down...felt like a combination of a light pinch and gentle tickle.  Due to my Fred Flinstonesque feet, I got the most attention from our little friends.

Other than the worst Din Tai Fung experience, we found some yummy food, especially chicken.  We stumbled into some random chicken shop in a cruddy neighborhood one day when we were tired and hungry and desperate for food, and had some amazing chicken sausages of various spices and aromas.  And in front of the palace, there was a street fair going on and we found these guys stir frying the bird to perfection.  We went back three times...Koreans do chicken right.
 
Unlike Taiwan, there is little left of the Japanese influence.  Taiwan has a lot of Japanese cars, department stores, etc., probably due to their more benevolent treatment of the population here.  Learning more about their history on this trip, the Japanese were awful to the Korean with forced changes of language, destruction of culture, and what they now call genocide of the population.  We saw only a handful of Japanese cars the entire time (almost exclusively Kia's and Hyundai's) and would guess it is probably one of the few places on earth where that is so. 

Another notable difference between the Chinese and Koreans is the use of face masks.  The Chinese love 'em and wear them everywhere all the time.  The fear of disease is omnipresent with the masks, the swim caps in the pool and so on.  No only did we not see a single mask worn in our four days there, but sneezing without covering the mouth is not only socially acceptable, but close to a national pastime.  Am a believer in the what doesn't kill you makes you stronger philosophy of medicine and that the fascination with Purel that has swept the planet might just be the death of the human race.  The flip side is that  the Chinese may know that what doesn't kill you, may still maim and disfigure you.

Sometimes it is the little things that speak volumes about a society, and that thing for me were the use of these little foam blocks we saw on the door edges of most of the cars.  We kept seeing these blue things on the cars and thought how ugly they were, but finally figured out they are situated on the door so when you open it, they protect both your car, but more importantly, the car parked along side's door from getting dinged.  Simple, ingenious, and more beneficial to you neighbor than it is for you.  South Korea's national motto is "Benefit Broadly The Human World."  I'm sold.