Posts in Category: Travel

서울 안녕 / Seoul Annyeong

On March 17, 2025 2 Comments - Korea 2025, Travel

Why do i keep coming back?

I have been to Korea many times and each time I come here, I like it even more. By now, there is nothing really difficult about travel here and it is starting to feel a bit like a second home. I am always happy to arrive and a little sad to leave. Over the years I have gathered up more and more friends with every visit and I always look forward to seeing them. This month long trip was evenly divided between Tokyo and Seoul. My two weeks here felt much too short. There were a few people that I wanted to see that i wasn’t able to connect with this time around. All the more reason to come back soon : )

These are a few images that I like which didn’t really fit anywhere else:

Colourful Buddhist temple in Seoul Korea near Namdaemun
One of my favourite pictures that i took of Seoul. It is a tiny Buddhist Temple (용궁절) on a bridge on Sowol Ro near Sungnyemun (Namdaemun) Gate. The back-turned golden Buddha, the deflated red lantern, the spikey trees and the smiley face on the wall next door, the sunshine on the building and the blue sky above. To me this is perfect.
View of different rooflines stretching across Seoul Korea
The angles and random level changes of a city haphazardly built. Old crushed together with new. Ultra modern and futuristic alongside little islands of ancient wooden gates, stone walls and palaces. 5 star steel and glass hotels with crumbling 100 year old restaurants in the alleys behind them. Seoul is a city that seems to be hiding a secret, a new discovery, around every corner. It is what I like the most about it.
A cute snowman slow down sign walking down from Namsan Tower
천천히: If it rains, or if it snows…slow down, at least to enjoy it for a moment. Good advice.
A flower market in Jongno Seoul Korea
I have walked by here a hundred times and never noticed the Jongno Flower Market. A happy discovery on a sunny weekend morning.
Seoul Station, a major travel hub in Seoul Korea
The massive Seoul Station at night looks like a space colony.
A demonstration on a Saturday night in the streets of Jongno Seoul Korea
This is a photo of a Saturday night demonstration against the impeached President Yoon. I like it because Brad Pitt is chilling with his DeLonghi coffee in the middle of it. He looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world while the shouting protestors march by.
A colourful truck stacked high with boxes at night in Hwanghak-dong Seoul Korea
Sleeping Hwanghak-dong Market late at night
A fruit cart rolling through Hwanghak-dong carrying apples melons and tomatoes
Hwanghak-dong fruit cart passing through the market on a busy Saturday afternoon
An orange cat perched on a temple roof at Beomeosa Temple in Busan Korea
The cutest temple kitten at Beomeosa in Busan
A couple taking photos in Hanbok at Changdeokgung Palace in Seoul Korea.
Couple in hanbok doing a photo shoot at Changdeokgung Palace
Red pine tree next to roof detail in Chandeokgung secret garden Seoul Korea
Red pine tree, one of my favourite trees here. They are very common but, to me, the colour of the wood and the shape of the canopy is beautiful. In Gangneung, these trees line the beaches making it one of my favourite landscapes in Korea: red pine, sand and sea.
Overhead coloured light at dusk in a lower area of Itaewon
Itaewon in the evening. I had never been to Itaewon so I went to have a look and take a few pictures. We passed by the Hamilton Hotel where 160 people were crushed to death in the Halloween crowd surge in 2022. It just looked like any little street on a hill, like nothing remarkable had ever happened there. No more memorials remained but I felt sad seeing it.
Man in Hongdae Seoul Korea selling egg bread from his street stall
계란빵: steamed egg breads, great snack to warm you up when it is chilly outside. I think this is Hongdae.
Pair of carp resting near the sandy bottom of Cheonggyecheon stream in Seoul Korea
Carp in Cheonggyecheon stream
We were on the 19th floor in our building so I was forced to watch this advertisement screen to the point where I actually developed a favourite..this was it. I really don’t like elevators but this stupid ad made me laugh every time.
Woman petting kitten near Naksan Park Seoul Korea
Naksan kitten
Up the old city wall near Dongdaemun

Travelling Partner:

Father and daughter travel together and share a meal with friends in Busan Korea
I normally take these long trips alone. There are very few people that I can think of that i would want to spend a month with in planes trains and tiny hotel rooms. But, traveling together with my adult daughter has made this trip so much easier and so much more fun. I am good at traveling solo but this time having someone along to share all the adventures made the time away even more precious. We probably won’t get this opportunity again in the future so I am so grateful that we had this time to share together. I have learned a lot from her and I hope I have passed along some knowledge about how to get along on the other side of the world. Sumi took this picture of us in Busan.

Our trip here was long and exhausting with many many flight delays and bad weather. So far we are starting our trip back with only a 2 hour delay. Hopefully it won’t get any worse! Wish us good luck.

한국 안녕! 다음에 또 만나요

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Namsan and Seolleongtang

On March 16, 2025 0 Comments - Korea 2025, Travel

A day spent travelling up to Namsan Tower by cable car and then having dinner at Seoul’s oldest restaurant, Imun Seolleongtang.

First stop: coffee along the old city wall near our home base. There is a strip of cute tiny coffee shops perched on the hill. You can get a good view of Seoul from here. It seems like a very popular spot for couples at sunset.

Cute takeaway coffees from Horse House coffee near Naksan Park
A woman sips her coffee at Cafe Horse House with Seoul old city wall in the background
Along the old city wall, Naksan park became one of our favourite places for a quiet walk. We spent the morning here cat spotting and drinking coffee at Cafe Horse House.
A wide view of Seoul from Namsan
Later, a trip up Namsan by cablecar let us have a bird’s eye view of Seoul. I tried a panorama picture with my camera. You can see how the city sprawls into the horizon around the mountains.
View of Seoul to the north east from Namsan
This is to the North-east. Over those mountains is North Korea.
east-north-east view of Seoul from Namsan
A little further east looking straight at the part of the city we were living in.
South-west view of Seoul from Namsan
Towards the South-west. You can see the Han river reflecting the afternoon sun.
Namsan Tower with traditional Korean roof detail and blue sky

Namsan Tower at the top of Namsan Park. We didn’t go up inside. The view from the top of the mountain was good enough. If you want to visit click here

seollongtang at Imun Seollongtang in Jongno

I have been to Korea many times and I always have the same last meal: Seolleongtang at Imun Seolleongtang. It is a favourite to strengthen body and spirit for the long road home. Read all about it

In his excellent book “Eating Korea”, Graham Holliday made a joke about Seolleongtang being the perfect meal to say “so long” 👋 to Seoul. I couldn’t agree more. I have read this book at least three times and would recommend it to anyone visiting Korea. Buy local ok?

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Hwanghak-dong / 황학동

On March 15, 2025 3 Comments - Korea 2025, Travel

Sounds of the Market

These sounds of Hwanghak-dong market give the pictures a little more life: look and listen

A wide view of Hwannghak-dong Market with colourful umbrellas

Hwanghak-dong is home to a permanent full time flea market. It is busy everyday with sidewalk and shop vendors selling absolutely everything. I won’t even try to list what is available. Anything you can think of…you can buy it here. It is crowded with people young and old from morning to sundown.

Crowds of people exploring Hwanghak-dong Flea Market
Perfume seller at Hwanghak-dong Market
perfume and aftershave
Miscellaneous pile of stuff spilling out of a store onto the roadway in Hwanghak-dong
clocks, blenders, clothes, rice cookers, shoes…..
Old Korean men looking through record crates on the street in Hwanghak-dong
fellow ajeossi crate diggers
everything really
Power tool seller and repairman at Hwanghak-dong
power tool specialist
Steam rising from a street stall where kwabaegi and steam buns are selling
loads of food: this is steamed buns and kwabaegi, a kind of korean doughnut twist. We almost always get toast here 토스트. It’s a white bread sandwich fried in butter, stuffed with egg and veggie scramble, ham and cheese, cane sugar and ketchup. I like ordering it because I get to say 치즈 (cheese) in Korean.
Gold jewelry on display at Hwanghak-dong Flea Market
gold jewellery
Shoe seller at Hwanghak-dong Flea Market
shoes..this looks like a bargaining standoff
brass animals and mounted rocks (scholar’s rocks?)
Wow Distribution…
miscellaneous…

The Mystery of Old Photos

Personal photos that have become separated from their families are a mystery. There is always a story in the image but it is almost impossible to know what it is.

I found this loose snapshot in a basket in a store at the flea market. Because it is black and white and from the look of the cars in the background, it must be the 60’s. There is a building and statue in the background that look European. I love the kids faces (kids making funny faces in family photos is a phenomenon that knows no cultural boundaries). They look so unhappy in the moment. Maybe they have had to pose for too many photos that day or maybe it’s too hot outside to stand in the sun. The woman is most likely their mom. It is such a good photograph.

Old family photo with writing on the back in Korean

The best part is that there is writing on the back. I have trouble reading handwriting so a friend helped me to read and translate it: It says:

“This is the entrance to the Eiffel Tower where you can get off the bus from our place. The building behind is a military school. The statue behind us is far from where we are standing and the building is across a wide road.”

Korean writing on the back of a photo explaining where they are on the front

I looked up “Eiffel Tower” and “Military School” and found out that the building they are standing in front of is the Ecole Militaire in Paris. It faces the Eiffel Tower. Here is a modern picture of it including the statue she mentioned. I wonder if they were living in Paris and why? Or maybe they were just visiting. How many Koreans travelled to Europe in the 60s? I am sure it was unusual. How hard was it for a foreigner to use French buses back then?

I hope you had as much fun in Paris as I had finding your picture at the flea market. How did you get separated from your photos? Where are you now? Have I seen you on the subway sitting in the blue seats?

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