Category Archives: Travel

In May, 2012 I went to Asia on the “Three-Countries-Three-Weeks-Three-Kids” tour. The first stop on this once-in-a-lifetime trip was Shanghai, followed by Seoul. On our first day in Seoul, we’ve made our way to the Gyeongokgung Palace museum, the restored Imperial Palace. Starting at the Gwanghwamun Gate (the main entrance) we’ve walked to the back of the grounds, to the Sajeongjeon, Cheonchujeon, and Manchunjeon buildings.

Side note — Last time I mentioned there’s a “lot of walking.” For reference, I love to get someplace while travelling and walk, taking pictures, seeing things, meeting people. I will take the subway or bus or a taxi to get from place to place, but once I’m at a given area it’s not unusual for me to walk two or three miles or more, for a total of maybe six to eight miles in a good day. This is not “Bataan Death March” walking, it’s taking your time, seeing the sights, taking LOTS of pictures (I do that, you know) walking. In this particular case, if you took a bus, taxi, or subway to the Gwanghwamum Gate (when we left we took the subway, the station’s about two blocks away) and strolled around and see everything in some detail, it might take three or four hours (or more) and you might walk a mile or two. On the other hand, you could do a quick 45-minute tour, see pretty much everything quickly, and walk 3/4 a mile or less. Long story short (TOO LATE!), that’s what I mean by “a lot of walking.”

I did love the architecture and the brightly-colored and incredibly intricate and ornate paintings! Note also along the walls are a whole slew of very modern and anachronistic fire extinguishers. With all of these buildings constructed of very old and dry wood, plus rice paper interior walls, it wouldn’t take much to have them all go up. In the middle of the main beam coming straight out at the top, you can also see a video camera for security.

An ancient sundial is an indicator that astronomy and the sciences were well advanced for the day.

I never did quite figure out what this was. It seemed to be off to the one side of the grounds and may not have been a part of the museum. There seemed to be touristy crowds around it, but for all I know it could have been decorative at a shopping mall or something located next to the official palace museum grounds. But it was tall and colorful and pretty and fun to look at, so I took a picture of it. (Let’s see a show of hands from anyone who is surprised by that…Anyone?)

At the very back of the grounds (Zone 9) is the Hyangwonjeong (shown, out on its island and surrounded by lily pads and lotus blossoms), the Jangandang, the Gonnyeonghap, and the Boksudang.

In Zone 10, the Jibokjae is flanked by the Parujeong on the left and the Hyeopgildang on the right. These buildings housed the royal private library. The architecture on these buildings include many Chinese influences.

The Geoncheonggung Residence was built as a private residence and used in the late 1800’s, until the king’s wife was assassinated here. (Again, many fire extinguishers and security cameras. The Koreans have been attacked many times over the centuries and still have a rather rabid enemy only a few miles away, so they take their security very seriously.)

The Janggo is a site where food was stored in earthenware jars. Much of the food was fermented (such as soy sauce) and large quantities of food were stored here, both for royal banquets, and to allow the residents to withstand protracted siege conditions. The pots shown are all original, each individually decorated to show different religious sects, social groups, or food types, and collected from museums all over the country and brought here.

Gyeonghoeru was the Royal Banquet Hall. It also sits isolated in a lake (Zone 12), in part for the ambiance, in part to allow boating by the royal family and guests, and in part for safety.

Sajeongjeon was used as by the king for offices and executive functions. It is built next to the lake surrounding  Gyeonghoeru.

This brings you back to the front of the grounds, where the primary entrance is, the Gwanghwamun Gate. (You can see the modern skyscrapers are nearby in the background of the final picture above.) There are exits other than the Gwanghwamum Gate, so we headed off to one side to find the exit nearest to the closest subway station. It had been a very long day, but also one that had been very interesting and very exciting.

In May, 2012 I went to Asia on the “Three-Countries-Three-Weeks-Three-Kids” tour. The first stop on this once-in-a-lifetime trip was Shanghai, followed by Seoul. On our first day in Seoul, we’ve made our way to the Gyeongokgung Palace museum, the restored Imperial Palace.

The Gwanghwamun Gate of the Gyeongbokgung Palace grounds. The grounds contain five separate palaces from different eras,  all of which have been rebuilt after being burned to the ground multiple times during various wars and invasions. The grounds began restoration in 1860’s before being destroyed again during World War Two. They’ve now been restored again in all their glory.

Hourly at this main gate you can see the changing of the guard, a very colorful ceremony. The ceremony can be seen in progress here, with guards in bright blue, orange, and red robes on each side of the three arches.

Inside the Gwanghwamun Gate you’ll find “Zone One” of Gyeongbokgung Palace (look for the directional and informational signs in Korean and English), which served as the primary Imperial Palace until it was destroyed in the 1590’s.

This is the Heungnyemun Gate, the second one you go through. The detail work on the architecture is just stunning.

Inside the Gyeongbokgung Palace gates you’ll find the Imperial Throne Hall (referred to as “Zone Two”). This picture looks back from the steps of the Throne Hall toward the first two gates, with the modern city (where we walked in Part Two) beyond.

This was the area where business was conducted — proclamations read, ambassadors received, reports delivered by officials, and so on. The markers out in the plaza were there for keeping order, with an arrangement for who sat where based on seniority and importance. (They talked about it a lot, but I’ve forgotten some of the details.)

The restored Imperial Throne Room.

Inside the Throne Room, up under the eaves of the ceiling and roof, everything is covered in bright colors and intricate patterns. I just loved seeing this work!

A wide view of the ceilings and walls of the Imperial Throne room.

“Zone Three” is the location of Sajeongjeon, which is actually a collection of several buildings and walled off interior sections. The center Sajeongjeon building was used by the Emperor’s Cabinet and senior government officials, with two large side buildings (Cheonchujeon and Manchunjeon) as well. This entire complex was built by the Joseon Dynasty from the 1390’s to the 1890’s.

One of their innovations was a system of interior heating. The buildings were built above ground, with passages under the floors connected to these outdoor furnaces, allowing the hot air to circulate under the building.

A wider view of  the Sajeongjeon, Cheonchujeon, and Manchunjeon buildings, as well as some of the surrounding walls and other buildings.

Next time, we’ll continue on to the other zones and palaces. It’s really a great place, if you go, plan on walking and plan on spending a few hours. It’s well worth it.

In May, 2012 I went to Asia on the “Three-Countries-Three-Weeks-Three-Kids” tour. The first stop on this once-in-a-lifetime trip was Shanghai, followed by Seoul.

After starting at the Seoul Tower in Namsan Park, we started walking down the hill toward the nearby Jongno-gu business district. (It is to the north of Namsan Park, between the tower and the Gyeongokgung Palace.) Just before we got to the bottom of the mountain, this is the view to the north.

There were lots of extremely interesting skyscrapers and wonderful architecture.

There were many large, public art pieces.

Some were more whimsical than others. On wide streets between towering skyscrapers were all kinds of tiny parks and spaces where people were eating lunch and taking breaks.

The Cheonggyecheon Stream runs down the middle of one of the east-west boulevards. With fountains at the west end, it runs toward the east with the “river bed” accessible to everyone.

There are large sculptures out in the middle of the flowing water, many of them extremely colorful.

At the “head” of the stream, turn north on Sejong-daero toward the Gyeongokgung Palace and museum (in the distance at the bottom of the mountain). There are several prominent monuments along the way, with the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Central Government Complex on the left, the US Embassy on the right.

At Gwanghwamun Square you’ll find this statue of Admiral Yi Sun-Shin, a famed Korean naval commander who died defeating a Japanese fleet in 1598.

Further down Gwanghwamun Square is this huge statue of Sejong the Great, an emperor of the early 15th Century. Beyond, you can see that we’re almost at the Gwanghwamun Gate of the Gyeongokgung Palace grounds.

In May, 2012 I had the thrill of travelling on the “Three-Countries-Three-Weeks-Three-Kids” tour. Imagine how cool that would be, then double it! The first stop on my once-in-a-lifetime trip was to Shanghai, to visit my daughter. Following my visit there, I flew to Seoul, South Korea.

I got into Incheon late at night and was met by my son. We got on the train back to Seoul, then switched to the subway when we got to the main train station. From there it was off to the hotel, which was between two subway stations, so of course we got off at the one on the downhill side and dragged luggage UP the hill in the middle of the night (it might have been raining) rather than getting off at the uphill station and rolling them down. (As a parent, you have to have things to tease your kids about. They’re going to do it to you – ask any of my kids about “the hammer.”)

Pro tip for traveling in Asia (and Europe) — you can make your life so much easier if you take a few minutes to figure out the train, subway, and bus systems. Unlike many (most?) cities in the US, all cities have very advanced public transportation systems which are cheap, easy, and used by everyone. Even if you don’t speak a word of the language or recognize any of the written characters, you’ll find many (most?) signs in English as well. If all else fails, you can do simple comparisons between the characters on the map and the characters on the signs to know when you’re at this station instead of that station.

The next morning we were off to the Seoul Tower on Namsen Mountain in central Seoul. (Towers for communications and/or observation sites are everywhere in Asia. This is not a bad thing.) Namsan Park is a large, lush park covering a peak in the middle of downtown Seoul. It reminded me of a cross between New York City’s Central Park and Los Angeles’ Griffith Park.

You get up to the tower via a gondola ride. You’ll get great views of the city on your way up, as well as great views of the park below you.

At the top, you have a bit of a walk to get get to the summit. Along the way I saw the first example of Korea’s distinctive architecture and temple design.

Much more functional than the Pearl Tower in Shanghai, the Seoul Tower is utilitarian, concrete and  antennas. “Functional” is not a bad thing in this setting and is easily explained by the heavily armed totalitarian regime just thirty-five miles away.

It was a hazy but sunny day. From the tower you get a fantastic view of the city, with plenty of signs and guides to point out different landmarks, such as the ancient Imperial palace, the current Presidential palace, the skyscrapers of the downtown area, the stadiums and facilities built for the 1988 Summer Olympics, and the Han River running through it all (running left to right in the hazy distance here).

Downtown is on the south side of the Han River, which has bridges across it every half mile or so. Lots of bridges.

Looking toward the north from the Seoul Tower, you can see how densely the high-rise apartments are crammed in as the city gets into the mountains.

This random neighborhood is near the base of Namsen Mountain. It’s typical of the kind of urban density that you see everywhere here. Seoul has an area of 233 square miles with a population of over ten million.

The Han River points in the direction of the US from here, but trust me, you can’t get there from here that way. Things get ugly a few miles up that river.

Looking at the bigger picture, that’s a lot of kilometers between here and home!

In May, 2012 I did the “Three-Countries-Three-Weeks-Three-Kids” tour. It was beyond unbelievable! The first stop on my once-in-a-lifetime trip was to Shanghai, to visit my daughter. I toured the grounds of the school where my daughter teaches, we went off sightseeing, I wandered through the Botanical Gardens and made friends, and we went downtown to see some truly huge skyscrapers and iconic structures.

We saw the Pearl Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center, the Jin Mao Tower, and all of the other world-class skyscrapers in a fairly small area. On the way out of the Pearl Tower they let you out of the elevator at the top of a series of arcades and souvenir shops. They may be Communists, but they still know how to separate tourists from their cash.

By the time we got out of the Pearl Tower, it was getting dark. We were supposed to meet a group of my daughter’s friends for dinner, so we went looking for a ferry that crosses the Zhongshan River to The Bund.

As night fell, The Bund began to light up like a fairy land across the river.

It was a gorgeous sight that I will never forget.

The downtown district on our side of the river also lit up, each of the skyscrapers a light show unto itself, some with graphics and animations five or six stories tall. I felt like I was in “Blade Runner.”

If this was “Blade Runner,” I was hoping to run into Rachael or Pris instead of Decker or Roy Batty.

Yeah, despite the fact that I live in Los Angeles and have traveled the world, I was gawking like an American hayseed tourist who had never been to the big city before. Sue me! It was spectacular.

The Pearl Tower all lit up at night. But we never did find the ferry, finally doubling back to the subway to get over to The Bund.

Once in The Bund, a section of the city full of high-end shopping, restaurants, and entertainment, we had a wonderful rooftop dinner.

After four days of marvelous weather, the next day dawned damp, foggy, and soggy. From my hotel, in the distance you could just see the Ferris wheel a mile or so away.

With some heavy rain cutting down on our tourist options, instead of roaming the city we went back to The Bund. There we had a foot massage, went shopping, and again ate wonderful things.

Finally my all-too-brief time in Shanghai was over. On the fifth day, my daughter escorted me to Pudong International and sent me off to see her brother. We took off just before sunset, heading along the Chinese coast toward South Korea.

I can’t wait to get back to China in general, and Shanghai in particular. I want to see Hong Kong, Beijing, the Great Wall, Harbin, and so many other places in China. But Shanghai will always be my first love there.