Seoul Day 1 (part 4)

Seodaemun Prison was used by the Japanese during their occupation of Korea to house Korea patriots resiting Japanese rule. These brave men and women fought a guerrilla war against the Japanese for 40 years before gaining their freedom after WWII. The spirit of freedom thrives within the Korean people and despite the cultural differences I see many parallels between these patriots and our own in the US.Korean police on the way to the museum. When the picture was taken they both looked at each other.
The arch in front of the prison.
A wonderful contraption called the 'standing coffin'.
Me trying to fit my fat ass into the 'standing coffin'.
These bricks where made by the prisoners and used to build the prison. Like digging your own grave.
A guard tower on the perimeter wall.

The courtyard between the wings.
One of the men's wings.
The female cells, they where built underground and exhumed for the museum.

At the end of the day we went to the COEX mall. It's a huge, underground mall filled with all sorts of stores.
Sousage=Engrish
Korean McDonalds, pretty much the same except they put BBQ sauce on everything. Kinda like the French-Canadians and the mayo. Good luck trying to order a burger with or without anything, there is an obvious language barrier.

Korean fast food chain.

Seoul Day 1 (part 3)

Next we have the Korean National Folk Museum. Basically a collection of early Korean culture.




The exterior of the museum.

Zodiac statues, evidently I am a horse.

What does this look like?

It gets my approval.

Something for the ladies.

It was hard to take pictures in the museum. These vases where the best lit up things in there.

A totem pole type thing.

Seoul Day 1 (part 2)

Next we have Gyeongbokgung Palace. Here's some exterior shots of the front gate.









As you go through the gate.
The stream that flows through the center of the courtyard.

Looking through the second gate.
Going through the second gate.
I'm usually in the way.

The throne room.


The man-made pond.
Where the crown prince would study and contemplate rule.


Views of the administrative buildings behind the throne room.




Where a Korean princess was murdered by Japanese assassins in 1895.
Really a great little spot, no wonder it was her favorite part of the palace.
Some sort of residence for the King's mother I think.
The stream throughout the palace.

That'll be all for tonight, I'll post some more tomorrow.

Seoul Day 1 (part 1)

This past weekend I took some R & R and went to the capital Seoul. Seoul is near where I am stationed right now and the South Korean rail system makes it easy to get there.

The first day we visited Seodaemun Prison, Deoksugung Palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace, the Korean National Folk Museum and the COEX mall.



this is Deoksugung Palace. The main throne room.

The Fountai in front of the Art Museum. (which we couldn't get into)

Buddist temple bell brought back from Japan.

Early Korean ADA.


An interior room.
The view from the throne room.

Fun in South Korea

Went to an amusement park called Everland today. It's basically Korea's Disney. My boy took pictures and videos and posted them on Youtube. I don't have a camera here yet so this will have to do for an update. I'll post some more pictures soon. Check out his other Korea videos on Youtube as well.

Everland vid.