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Showing posts from February, 2024

Museums

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In keeping with the idea this was a cultural visit rather than a holiday, wet days offered an opportunity to go and see some museums whilst also exploring other neighbourhoods. This post briefly covers museums visited. I don't try and provided huge detail because that's all available on line for those interested. Rather I touch on some small or other notable points that caught my attention for whatever reason. Palaces Museum Having ventured out in spite of what turned out to be 3 days of pretty constant rain, The Palaces Museum, adjacent to Gyeongbokgung, was my first museum stop.  Sadly an entire floor of permanent exhibits was closed. However, amongst other things, I came across an excellent digital immersive rendition of a very famous exploratory narrative from the 16th Century, captured in a folding screen landscape painting of the 19th Century.  Follow the link to look at the picture more closely. Of interest, although I may be making a connection that doesn't exist, ...
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Korean Drama

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K Drama has been my gateway to thinking about Korea. Its extended history; its national culture and the extraordinary recent history of a nation divided by war and ideology. South Korea's Korean Wave approach to spreading its culture globally has propelled it to first world status in just a few decades, with K drama consumption by a global audience (I am not alone!) regularly placing K dramas in several of the Netflix top 10 streaming spots. And, whilst  I realise that not all K dramas will be to everyone's taste, I'm certain that every taste is catered for.  But first ..... By way of musical provision to play in the background, here's a YouTube playlist of a recent K Drama entitled Castaway Diva, starring Park Eun-Bin. Renowned for her great on screen presence and off screen personality, her singing in this series, telling the tale of a teenager escaping an abusive family life to attend a singing audition, exposed a previously untapped dimension to her talents. So much...
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Planning References

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Is there any such thing, nowadays, as a standard trip abroad? Weekend breakers (perhaps not very long haul), gap year takers and remote workers are just as likely to be one's fellow travel companions as business travellers or couples and happy families grabbing a romantic or frantic (respectively) break for a week or two during their supercharged lives.  When I started considering travelling to Korea I was clear in my mind that it was going to be a visit rather than a holiday experience . In my mind: being able to take in the major attractions but not being perpetually rushed; being able to absorb the experience with more unplanned time to do things on a whim; enjoying researching the possibilities whilst also considering and mitigating the potential difficulties; being self reliant. So, with that in my mind, as well as accepting that not every meme and trope represented in my K Drama bibliography will necessary manifest themselves to me, I started surfing the web and compilin...
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