Seoul, South Korea

I didn't have much time to see the city. The photos are from walking to the Royal Palaces or the Buddhist temple. This is City Hall

It's a great place for people to gather and for events because of the large lawn. The area in front of the buildings is called Seoul Plaza. It has been used in the past for protests and public rallies. The juxtaposition of the old and recently completed new City Hall makes for an interesting place to hang out

It is now used for events as you will see later in this posting

Reflection

Behind this bright object is a canal that provides a relaxing walk in the midst of the city. Some photos of that later

This is the statue of Admiral Yi Sunshin in Gwanghwamun Square. Yi Sun-shin was a Korean naval commander, famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war in the Joseon Dynasty

Near the statue of Admiral Yi Sunshin are the 12·23 Fountain and Yeoksamulgil ("Waterway of History"). The fountain’s name commemorates a great victory in 1597, when Admiral Yi defeated 133 Japanese naval ships with only 12 ships of his own

It also recalls how he fought 23 battles without a single defeat

Reflection

The aliens have landed! Looks like it was a tough trip!

Gwanghwamun Square is divided into six sections. At its center stands a statue of King Sejong the Great, the fourth and most respected king of the Joseon Dynasty and creator of Hangeul, Korea's alphabet

The old tram car 381 in front of the Seoul Museum of History.
This historical tram traveled in Seoul from 1930 to 1968

I popped into a lovely tea shop. This lady kindly invited me to stay for tea. The making of the tea was according to a prescribed process. She "woke up" the tea by pouring boiling water over the pot many times

A very interesting wall. You can see me in the bottom right hand corner taking the photo

Again, the old and the new. While I always love the traditional, I like the modern architecture in Korea. There are many interestingly designed buildings

Very tall and imposing!

A bike parked on a wall. Not sure I fancy the saddle!

The old and the new ways, or the poor and the rich

Seoul has many modern shopping centres but there are also more traditional places

Always good to stop for a break. Seoul has a plethora of different coffee outlets. I don't think I've ever seen so many different individually owned ones apart from the usual brand names

Bright and bold signage

An indoor market area selling mostly food

A string of fish

This is obviously a popular item

The canal I mentioned earlier. It is the ChonGae Canal. As you can see it is very clean and I saw a lot of fish including some pretty big ones.

It's  a great place to be on a sunny late afternoon as the sun begins to set. It was originally a naturally formed river that collected mountain streams and channeled water to the open sea.

Night is falling an I'm back at City Hall where things are beginning to happen. I don't know what this large rope was for. Tug o' War?

Suddenly I heard music and went over to find the source

Traditionally and colourfully dressed musicians

They walked/danced around Seoul Plaza

I don't know the significance of these lovely paper flowers but they are a very colourful way to end this post. Next I'll post photos of another Royal Palace

Helix bridge by day and night - Singapore

Hello and welcome to my blog.

It's been a while since I posted some photos of Singapore. So much has changed here even in the short time since I arrived in 2005. The Bay has been transformed with the building of the Singapore Flyer, the Marina Bay Sands complex with a casino and a lovely bridge called the Helix Bridge. Here are some photos of the bridge and the views from the bridge both by day, and night. Click on the title above to see an interactive virtual reality 360 degree tour

There are also some photos of the light festival with exhibits that can be seen as you walk around the Bay.

We are going for a long weekend to Krabi, a tropical island off Thailand. I'll show you photos from that trip in a couple of weeks
Alan


The bridge was originally called
the "Double Helix Bridge" Quite
quickly it was renamed the "Helix
Bridge"
















The shape of the bridge recalls the structure
of DNA which is formed by double strands of
nucleic acid
















Daniela - her trousers bring some light relief
from all the steel and science!















The bridge links Marina Bay with Marina
South in the Marina Bay area






















The bridge was officially opened on
April 24 2010, but only partially. The entire
bridge was opened on July 18 2010
















A view of the Central Business District (CBD)






















With the opening of the bridge
it is now possible to walk around
the entire Bay.
















This is where the National Day Parade takes place
on National Day which is on 9 August
















The bridge is made of steel with fritted glass canopies
that provide shade for pedestrians






















It has five viewing platforms
















This and the next two shots were taken from
one of the platforms. Here you can see the
CBD and the Fullerton Hotel which is the
white building to the right . It is the classic
Singapore skyline of so many postcards
















The Fullerton hotel on the left. To the right
is the City Hall area of Singapore
















The building with the dome is City Hall
















This shot was taken on a more recent visit.
The large building on the right, which is part
of the Marina Bay Sands development is now
finished















For the last month there has been an
ilight Marina Bay festival, Asia's first
sustainable light art festival. You can see the
tigers and jelly fish exhibits. There will be a few
extra photos at the end of some of the other exhibits
















Now some photos as it gets dark
















There are two pairs of coloured letters c and g,
a and t on the bridge which are lit up at night
in red and green. They represent cytosine,
guanine, adenine and thymine, which are the
bases of DNA






















The Singapore Flyer. It is
bigger than the London Eye
















Sunset over the City






















The Marina Bay Sands Resort
with its striking 'ship' rooftop.
I haven't been up there yet. I'll
show you photos when I go
















Final shot of the bridge and the Marina Bay
Sands develoment
















Walking round the Bay to the other side












Exhibit from the festival of light






















I leave you with this shot.
We have strange tropical
plants in Singapore (ahem!)