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Published: October 8th 2006
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Palace Colours
This just gives you an idea of how colourful these Palaces look. From what I've been told they used to get painted every 100 years. Now they need to be touched up every 20 years because of the smog. I'd hate to be the painter! Today we went into Seoul to an area called Insa-dong. This area is full of art - both modern and old - and known as an art & culture area. The streets are lined with booths selling arts & crafts, art galleries, antique shops, traditional restaurants and tea shops. On the way there we briefly stopped by a small Palace (I believe it was Unhyeongung Palace, but I'm not 100% sure). We visited an art gallery that had very modern art. The exhibits varied greatly, all using a creative way to display their image. Some used mirrors, others were life-size martini glasses, and then there were traditional paintings. The pieces most memorable to me were made from something similar to a cloth shower curtain. The artist used a tool like a lit match to make little burn marks on the fabric. The finished product was a large piece of cloth with thousands of burn holes that created an image...very creative.
Our stomachs were starting to rumble so instead of eating at a regular Korean place, or even a Western fast food place we decided to try a traditional Korean restaurant. It was located at the end of a tiny, clean
Unhyeongung Palace
I'm not sure what the symbol stands for at the top of the roof, but it's not what many may first think of (from what I've been told). alley. How we stumbled upon it, I still don't know. It had the traditional low tables where you sit on the ground (there are actually special chairs without legs that you can sit on to support your back). We had ordered a set menu, so we could see it would be a reasonable size meal. But actually, we had no idea what lay ahead of us. Two of the ladies that worked there began to bring out Korean side dishes which consisted of kimchi, salad and tofu. They then proceeded to bring out kimchi pizza, clear noodles, and scrambled/cooked eggs (in a round bowl). We started eating and were commenting on how much food we had on our table. Before we could finish any of the dishes, the two ladies appeared again bringing more plates to our table. This time they brought crab, more kimchi, a soup that tasted like tomato soup, a spicy kimchi soup, greens, two types of fish, squid, meatballs (these were REALLY good) and cucumber kimchi (a personal favourite). By this time our table was full of dishes, and so were our stomachs. All in all, it was an enjoyable experience and we were all glad
Weird Statue
This caught my attention in Insa-dong, so I took a picture of it. we ventured off the beaten track.
After our lunch we went back onto the main street in Insa-dong and continued to walk around. Most of the shops were similar, but the odd one would have some type of artwork or craft that was original. I wasn't looking to buy anything this trip, but it was nice to be able to see what kind of things that the area had to offer. While walking we heard someone speaking over a microphone and decided to check it out. When we got there, there was some type of ceremonial dance from about 10 women. It was neat to see them dancing and in their dresses playing the drums. After they were finished playing, two tables were brought out and 5 audience members were selected. At first we didn't know what was going on, but then they brought out bottles of rice wine and big bowls. Apparently it was some type of chugging competition with old men. It was pretty funny because the guy on the far left got drenched by not finishing his drink and putting the bowl over his head. Surprisingly, the little old man at the far right won the
Rooftop View
On the roof of the art gallery that we went to in Insa-dong. contest.
Once we got bored of watching this, we turned around to yet another voice coming from a microphone. This time it was some sort of sparring contest (I think between two different schools or clubs). I found this interesting because we got to see some live fighting, which I/we thought was pretty cool. I didn't fully understand the rules when we first started watching, but I think I picked them up as it went along. Each team had 5 fighters and a coach. The coaches would determine where each fighter would sit, from 1-5. Prior to the fighting began, both teams would warm up by stretching and doing some fancy kicks (that I don't know the names for). This was meant for stretching as much as it was intended to intimidate your opponents with your skills. In the first fight, it would be fighter 1 from the Blue Team vs. fighter 1 from the Red Team. The object was to either get a clean kick to your opponents head, or throw him out of the ring. The Blue fighter won the first fight so he stayed in the ring, while the Red Teams 2nd fighter entered. The Blue
Traditional Korean Meal
Here is what they initially brought out to us... fighter won again, thus staying in the ring and awaiting the 3rd fighter from the Red Team. Finally the Blue Teams 1st fighter was taken out (not because of hit to the head or thrown out, he actually got hit in the eye and couldn't see). So the 3rd Red fighter stayed in the ring and the 2nd Blue fighter entered. The Red fighter lost again, and then the conveners said that there would be a 20 minute break. We had a strong feeling that the Blue Team was going to win, so we just left because we had already been standing there for about 45 minutes. I uploaded a video of the two teams fighting for people to see, but it's not nearly the same quality as I had on my camera.
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