Seoul, Final Episode

While in South Korea, we were able to attend the temple. It really feels like this one is on top of a mountain. Can you tell that it was yellow day?

I decided that I wanted to get my haircut in Seoul and asked at an information desk at one of the malls and they gave us a map and marked the spot. Sadly we didn't think to look up at the signs to find it on the third floor. And even if we had looked up, there were no scissors or other pictures to help us find it. We had to go to a second information desk to find it.

I got the best haircut ever: shampoo, cut, & style for 18000 won ($15.43). I had brought a picture so that she could replicate the style of some superstar. Ryan came up looking for me with the girls when I wasn't done at the scheduled time (it takes awhile to cut each hair on my head 3 times). When they came in the hairdressers grabbed Alice and Jane and took pictures with them and chit-chatted with Helen. 

Ryan got a new pair of glasses and the optometrist gave the girls a pair of sunglasses each in their favorite colors. As if they couldn't get more popular with the locals...

Seoul, Part 2

We got to watch the changing of the guards at Gyeongbokgung Palace with many of our closest friends. Please note the conchs in the third row. Somehow they are able to make sounds like bagpipes without said instruments.

Here we have a snapshot of how we passed our time at this palace. People talking to us in Korean and taking our pictures. Ryan says that he couldn't resist taking this picture.

Our next palace stop was much more enjoyable. We went on an English tour of the Secret Garden of Changdeokgung. It was hard to believe that we were in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world when hiking in these woods. The large gate that Helen and I are standing in was the gate the emperor would go to after he was done fishing in his pond.

We are trying to decide if any of these pictures are worthy to go on our wall of beautiful pictures.

Suwon, South Korea

Last week we took the hop over to South Korea for a week of fun and adventure. We started out at the Hwaseong Haenggung palace. Luckily Ryan and the girls were cute enough to get past the guards. In fact, our kids were cute enough that all the ladies riding public transportation with us chit-chatted with the girls the whole time. They were even willing to hold the youngest two and take pictures of us using all their electronic devices.

 Looking at the undersides of these roofs, one realizes that standard American homes are pretty mono-chromatic. 

 Helen did a good job pretending to open the gate for us. 

While the girls and I took a lunch break, Ryan tackled the stairs leading up to the high fortress wall circling the city. In retrospect, that might not have been the best division of labor, as Ryan is not the biggest fan of heights. 

 I consider this to be a serious bell. For 1000 won Ryan could have even rung in the cavalry with it. 

 Pavilion rooftop in all my favorite colors. 

Here is the command post Seojangdae which overlooks the city of Suwon and doesn't bear any resemblance to the command posts I've seen in our military. 

 After the fortress we went to the Korean Folk Village. We were lucky enough to arrive in time for the traditional Korean farmer dance show. Our girls liked the pom-pom hats the best, but Ryan and I preferred the hats with the twirling streamers. 

 Here are the girls demonstrating how the early Korean totem poles keep their mouths open. 

 Ryan bought a little wooden "helicopter" from this gentleman. Nothing like buying one of something to teach sharing in a public location. Parenting is not for the faint of heart.