seoul is for little ones

children's musuem, lotus flower
Originally uploaded by deniro and mango

we are back from our korea trip and had an awesome time visiting jeju island, busan and all around seoul. the capital of korea has to be one of the most cosmopolitan, stylish, energetic, soulful, modern yet ancient cities i've ever visited. the people and the city move at the speed of light---seoul is hyperkinetic---in the best sense.

see more korea photos and of dylan's ice cream tour here.

you've got futuristic highrises rising above plastic covered pojang macha street carts selling spicy tteokboki--everyone's videophoning and blogging and texting and milling about the seoul subways--while the oldtimers haul junk and recyclables in rickety old wagons. seoul is a blend of the 'old korea' and the new---though my relatives tell me that the korea of old is getting harder and harder to find these days---as traditional korea is now being waylayed to its museums, UNESCO heritage sites, to remote temples in the mountains and in far-flung villages to the south of the peninsula.

for a taste of old korea, we had to visit recreated sets, like this real working village called min sok chon in yongin, just south of seoul, that still produces hand-made goods and crafts. 

new shiny buildings and the noise of construction dominate, edging out the more traditional dwellings with blue tiled roofs, making way for new H&Ms, starbucks and coffee bean and tea leafs with wi-fi---in the name of redevelopment and progress. i found that the real korea that i had always imagined and dreamed about just didn't exist anymore. at mealtimes though, people still ate traditionally, the old way; meals mostly of fish and rice, seaweed and soybean stews and blood sausage and rice cakes and pojang machas selling dried squid--such a contrast with the multitude of dunkin' donuts, mcdonalds, burger kings on offer on the streets. yet, even at these multi-national chain places--even these western experiences somehow intrinsically become korean in the end, sort of turned up on its side, and get knocked off its feet--east somehow meets west, but it's still very, very korean.

and that's what made the trip so fascinating to me.

dylan fends off the paparazzi of cellphone shutterbugs at the shilla hotel, jeju island. 

for dylan---i found that seoul was also a wonderful place for kids---lots of amusement parks, cultural places, museums, kid-focused play areas--dyl was like a little rock star wherever he went--hoards of schoolgirls, guys, grannies, and tourists took cellphone pics of him at the most random places--and everybody commented on how cute he was. but for dyl--korea was special as it meant having loads of relatives spoiling and playing with you all day, letting you get away with everything and, the best part: having them treat you to ice cream whenever you wanted.

what made seoul fun were these wacky and wonderful moments:

like when dylan got pulled over by the lady cop. i'm still not sure what happened here, at the tight-security area that was the presidential palace grounds.

and when dylan got to indulge his love of trains near the dmz. he got to ride this one, the freedom express, at the imjingak peace park, about 7 km from the demilitarized zone.  

now that's a vacation.

we can't wait for our next trip to seoul!

all the photos from seoul are here.