Hello all. More than two months have passed since my last entry. And while I could fill an entire novel with the day-to-day events of my life on Planet Asia during that timeframe, in the interest of time and server space, I’ll spare you the pain and hit the highlights.
In early May, I went to Seoul, South Korea to visit a friend of mine and my sister-in-law’s nephew. (Hey, when you are on the other side of the world, nephews-in-law count!) My friend, Alex, is from Latvia, one of the former Soviet republics. That concludes my knowledge of Latvia, however, I can tell you a little more about Alex. He speaks Russian, lives in Korea, and makes his living as a professional accordion player and part-time actor on Korean television. (No, I’m not making this up.) I met him when he was in Beijing a few months ago, and, due to my intense love of accordion music, we became thick as thieves.
I had the good fortune of visiting Korea during HiSeoulFest 2007, a festival designed to unite traditional Korean music and art with the future. Hey, that’s what the brochure said. The city was alive with parades, concerts, dance recitals and art exhibitions. Everyone seemed to be in Hi spirits.
Never one to say no to a music festival, my friend Alex played at a couple venues on Piano Street, a cool avenue in the heart of the city. Filled with pubs, restaurants and shops, the street actually has an outline of a keyboard in the center of the lane. Pretty cool, huh? Alex also played a very enjoyable set at Salon de Callas, a wine bar named after the late Greek opera star Maria Callas. Picture a Russian-speaking Latvian playing “Lara’s Theme” from Dr. Zhivago in a wine bar named after a Greek opera star. Throw in an audience that includes an English-speaking California native who grew up in Alabama and now lives in China applauding wildly at a corner table while being fêted with some unknown, yet edible cheese, and very tasty glasses of Pinot Grigio poured by a spiky-haired Korean waiter named “Leo”. Yep, this is my life.
I also enjoyed visiting Jay, my nephew-in-law. His real name is Jeongpil, but he went to college at UCLA and adopted the shorter American name to make it easier on his friends, and, most likely, himself. A great guy, Jay is in his early 30s, and works as a risk advisory consultant for Ernst and Young in Seoul. I have no idea what that is, but his business card looked impressive. Jay showed me around downtown and we enjoyed a coffee at Starbucks. (They are everywhere, even INSIDE the Forbidden City in China. I swear!) Later, he took me to lunch at a cool Korean restaurant where we had some type of impossible to pronounce spicy chicken and noodle dish. Very tasty! After lunch it was off to N Seoul Tower, which stands at the top of Mt. Namsan and provides the highest viewpoint of the city. Built in 1969, it served as Korea’s first integrated communication tower, transmitting TV and FM radio signals for the Seoul metropolitan area. In 1980, it was refashioned as a recreational and cultural complex and is now the city’s most recognizable landmark and tourist attraction.
I also went on an enjoyable boat ride down some river I forget the name of, bought some cool mother of pearl jewelry boxes for family and friends while shopping on Insa-Dong Street, and was offered a “happy ending” while getting a massage at my hotel spa. I declined, preferring to keep the end of my relaxation story to myself. All in all, I had a very good time in Seoul and highly recommend it as a travel destination. There's a photo album of my trip on the left hand menu. Check it out.
Upon returning to Beijing, I threw myself into a fast and furious few weeks of preparations for a communications conference I hosted the first week of June. I had 20 folks here from five countries – the U.S., China, Australia, India and Singapore. It went very well; we learned a lot and had a great time together. A group of us visited the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, and the Forbidden City in Beijing. I’ve talked about the Great Wall in previous entries, but here’s my take on the other two historical sites:
Summer Palace: Big, beautiful, amazing, lots of steps, great views of a nearby lake. Here are the basics from TourGuideChina.com: The Summer Palace (Yiheyuan in Chinese) is the largest imperial garden in the world. Initial construction began in 1750, commissioned by Emperor Qinglong as a gift for his mother's birthday. It took 15 years to complete. The plundering of foreign troops in 1860 destroyed most of the buildings, but they were renovated in 1888 by Empress Dowager Cixi. (She, by the way, was quite a piece of work. She diverted 30 million taels of silver originally designated for the Chinese navy into the reconstruction and enlargement of the palatial grounds. (Hey, give peace a chance!)
Forbidden City: Big, beautiful, amazing, lots of steps. No view of a nearby lake, but very interesting stories of concubines and eunuchs kept the ball rolling. The Forbidden City was the Chinese Imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. (I forget the dates. But, trust me, it’s OLD. Look it up!) It was named the Forbidden City because no one could enter or leave the walled complex without the emperor’s permission. What a control freak! The “city” consists of 800 buildings with 8,886 rooms and covers 720,000 square meters. It was hot as Hades the day we visited, but we still managed to cover quite a bit of ground. I want to go back in the fall when it is cooler. There are a couple of eunuch stories I want to follow up on. They really left me hanging.
Just yesterday, I got back from a six-day vacation in Thailand with my friend, Alex. (I know it sounds like I vacation a lot, but it is really very stressful here. Honest!) Anyway…we spent three days in Bangkok and three days in Koh Samet, an island about three hours away from the capital. How to describe Bangkok? Hmm. Think Buddhist temples mixed with seedy bars, skyscrapers next to slums, sweltering heat and humidity, nice people and great food.
The Grand Palace was amazing! The official residence of the king of Thailand from the 18th century to the mid-20th century, the palace complex sits on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River and comprises an area of 218,400 square meters. Very impressive architecture like nothing I’ve ever seen! I also enjoyed a boat ride through canals filled with vendors trying to sell you everything from food for jumping fish to local brands of beer.
Koh Samet was a gem of an island. We stayed in a beachfront cottage only 10 steps from the water…literally! Thank God tsunami season is over! While we spent a lot of time laying by the ocean and pool, I also went parasailing…you know, you get hooked to a parachute and then a speed boat pulls you 150 feet into the air. I was FLYING! That's me in the photo at the top of this entry. I also went four-wheeling through the island’s jungle roads on a motorbike. Very fun, though my back is still reeling from the adventure! Check out my photo albums from Bangkok and Koh Samet on the left hand menu.
Well, I’m back in Beijing and it’s time to get back to reality. You’ve heard from me; let me hear from you!
