Life of a yummy baby ... and now there are 2!!!!!

Our tour in Korea wrapped up with going round the Korean Folk Village,
staying in love motels and more kimchi and last-minute shopping!



Morgan was making friends with a Korean girl,









and another ...





and one too many here! .... Some Japanese dancers at the Rice Wine Festival wanted a picture of Morgan on their mobile phones. woo hoo!



We've had an excellent time on the whole except for one instance when we had to order food at a local eatery without our Korean guide. We thought we were going to savour some lovely fried squid which was advertised on the shop poster but this was what we got - a freshly chopped-up dead squid still squirming on the plate! ......



I had to refrain from fainting while asking for the squid to be stir-fried in tomato sauce. This might be hard-core to some people like me but there's plenty of other "tamer" foods when we strolled down the hawker stalls later on.




Welcome to the colourful world of Korean cuisine!

By the power of the enlightened one, the legendary Kungfu Master led us onto a steep and steady cable-car climb up the rocky peaks of Seoraksan, where jagged cliffs and wild alpines abound. Great believers in Buddhism and Zen teachings, mountains are truly sacred to many of the Koreans.









Featuring the lone epic warrior Jenice Pak - a bird's eye view.



The happy hermit Mr Papolopados.





The indigenous peoples of South Korea - perfecting the exceptional move of Kungfu Master's "one leg stand" on the mountain-top, 'bum-up' for special poo-power ......













..... and various moves and motions from the 13th Sacred Scriptures of the Holy Mountain.


The most powerful of all - Kungfu Master's snooze power!

In Gyeongbokgung , we saw the changing of the guards. The whole process was rather impressive with drums rolling and colourful flags waving in the wind. However not all the guards looked very happy though, like this one that we stood next to, to have our picture taken.













Koreans are known for their flair for detail. Nearby, there was also an interesting exhibition on stone-sculpting and woodcuts by various Korean artists like this one. Buddhism is a major religion in Korea and this masterpiece is created by tiny Korean inscriptions to form a Buddhist swastika.



Best of all this is what Morgan thinks of the National Palace, and whatever remains of our only map, haha!

After passing the typhoon in Pusan, we went out day-tripping.
As you can tell, Morgan was trying to impress the Korean girls with his a-ri-rang on board.




Looking for Mr Popalopados and a gentle walk along bumpy hills and vales.



The next day, we travelled to Seoul via tube and train. Compared to the British rail, the KTX is definitely value for money - it is very clean, comfortable and efficient. Morgan can prove the case to you .......


The Metro in Seoul is clean and rather well-organised - although most of the Metro stops are in Korean, they are also well-numbered to facilitate tourists on getting around to and from their destinations. The rather painful thing is there are many many steps that we had to climb up and down with our luggages before getting to most exits and it seems like lifts do not exist within the stations. Perhaps they did but we did not know where to find them!

The Hyundai hotel that we stayed in Seoul is brilliant! It is similiar to living in a service apartment, complete with washing machine, dryer, kitchenette, plus some hi-tech value-addedness such as a CCTV-controlled door, broadband and cable telly of about 200 channels of Korean soap and various programmes.











Some toilet bowls even come with auto-flushing-&-drying facilities ( I like!). Check this out



Though it costs abit - about £50 of stay per night - but it's definitely worth it, with the friendly English-speaking reception staff and room service you'll find in the hotel.

Shopping is great fun that night with Daddy in Insa-don - a popular cultural tourist spot to buy some souvenoirs and gifts. Then it's eating, drinking and late-night shopping in Dong-dae-mun! I must say the late-night shopping in Seoul is quite mad. The shops shut as late as 2 in the morning but I still prefer Thailand's night bazaars. The variety and style of clothes, bags and shoes is comparable or even better than the Great Singapore Sale. The quality is mostly home brands and are quite definitely better than made-in-HK/China ones though prices are not cheap at all.



What a life for this baby 'ay!

Sorry that this is only a post-holiday write-up.
Here are some excerpts from the wedding :



























The Korean-western vs the Korean-traditional costume.









I think both styles look great and our bride Katy is like a princess walking straight out of some fairy-tale story! I also noticed that the Koreans have a practise of putting on white gloves when they are formally attired.

And of course, Morgan getting the cuddles from the ladies; Pomme and Yuki, kisses from Pomme (again!), and mummy doing the feed while he's held by Adrian's little sister from Australia.









... and last but not the least, the happy couple!

Sept 11 2006 - a most auspicious day to fly as we noticed how quiet the airport was when we took off from Birmingham that morning. Nothing unusual on board apart from the fact that there were coincidentally 6 other Chinese babies ranging from age 3.5 months to 1.5 years old on the same connecting flight from Amsterdam to Shanghai. Have babies, will travel!

In Shanghai we had grey skies for the next few days. Funny to think that it was sunny at 28 degrees when we left England!

I have no idea who this statue (with the surname 'Chen' and lived from 1901-1972) is except that he wears a communist party suit and looks rather dignified in the way he stands. Its as though he's standing against the rise of capitalism in fast-developing Shanghai, overlooking the Bund.
















Blind man on the street playing er-hu.











Old streets of Shanghai ...



















& the "newly-restored" tourist park YuYuan Market .....









and ......
Macdonalds in Chinese!!!!!

For some reason Morgan did not look very impressed in the picture.





Our mates - Jon, Etik and Yasmine from the UK - who now live in the greeny suburbs of the industrial part of Shanghai, Pudong. Thanks to Jonny's teaching post as a reception teacher in a British international school, we get our free b&b here -



and I simply love riding Yasmine on their bicycle!