Hong Kong is NOT just another Chinese city!

A message sent out this past July 1st

May dreams expressed on July 1, 2013 continue 

to be cherished today, tomorrow and a long time to come

Things that show Hong Kong's distinct character... and long may Hong Kongers stay this way!

Hong Kong in turmoil

Occupy Central has begun

The surreal and already tense calm before the storm --

with police and fire services vehicles parked in Admiralty, and

yellow ribbons symbolizing democratic hopes tied to railings

For much of this week, I've been having the time of my life travelling around Japan once more, enjoying hikes and a circa 17 kilometer bicycle ride as well as paying visits to such as a castle on a hill, an art museum and a number of old temples, and -- of course -- consuming great food and eminently quaffable drinks.  Truly, this most recent Japan vacation (which I do intend to write about at some point in the near future, if only to help me recapture some of that bliss) was one that was super wonderfully destressing.

And then I flew back to Hong Kong -- only it's a Hong Kong which reportedly one in five people would like to leave, and one that is more violent and troubled than it's been in a long while, with the police having not only used pepper spray but also tear gas on unarmed protestors in the past 12 hours or so.

Believe it or not, on the bus from the airport back to my apartment earlier today, I didn't see much that looked all that disturbing.  In fact, like I told a couple of friends, I saw more Filipina maids as well as police out in Central on that bus ride than I saw protestors!

But at Admiralty (particularly in the vicinity of Tamar) later in the afternoon, it was clear that there was a sizable number of people - and not just of student age either -- there to show their disatisfaction with the turn of events that have led many Hong Kongers to worry that Hong Kong is well on its way to being made into just another Chinese city.  And my sense was that the general mood was palpably angrier and likely to end in violence, tears and/or worse than when I've been in the crowd at Victoria Park on June 4 or out on the streets on July 1.

At the same time though, there was some strains amidst the turmoil of that almost festive air that sometimes can be discerned on July 1.  And if that was not weird enough, this was further mixed with a sense of the surreal and farcical that comes from there seeming to be so many other people nearby who didn't know what was going on, didn't care, or both -- people doing stuff such as going about shopping at the nearby high end Pacific Place mall, drinking in a bar located inside it, heading into the cinema there to catch a movie, etc.!

Perhaps the strangest -- and definitely the most upsetting -- thing for me is to see how the Hong Kong police have over-reacted to the assembled protestors.  The force that likes to think it's Asia's finest has tarnished its reputation and lost a huge amount of goodwill on this day.  Please don't let them follow the example of the PLA in the summer of 1989 -- because, then, hope as well as innocent people surely will die.

Visiting yet another UNESCO World Heritage-listed site in South Korea

The Worship Road (divided into one for spirits and another 

for the king) leading up to King Jungjong's tomb

Stone figures of a military official and horse are among 

those standing guard at the tomb of Queen Jeonghyeon

 

 Puppet Ponyo at the tomb of King Seongjong,

father of King Jungjong and husband of Queen Jeonghyeon

For the final full day of my recent Korean vacation, my plan involved going to Ganghwado to, among other things, visit its UNESCO World Heritage-listed Dolmen site.  In what turned out to be a fortuituos occurence though, I belatedly discovered that the Seoul bus station that I had planned to take a bus to Ganghwado to had been relocated!  And the result was a new itinerary that ended up including the colorful artistic jewel that's Bongeunsa, the fun COEX Aquarium, and another of South Korea's 11 UNESCO World Heritage-listed sites: the royal tombs of the Joseon Dynasty.

More specifically, with my mother (and Puppet Ponyo) in tow, I ended up having one more South Korean UNESCO World Heritage-listed site to add to the list of those I previously visited (i.e., Suwon's Hwaseong Fortress, and Seoul's Jongmyo Shrine and Changdeokgung palace) by way of our paying a visit to the Royal Tombs of Kings Seongjong and Jungjong, and Queen Jeyonghyeon that are located in a lovely wooded park-like section the Gangnam area of southern Seoul.

At the Royal Tombs History Centre, we met a man who beamed with pride and pleasure to discover that foreigners had come to visit the royal tombs.  While I've met many of his friendly equivalents in Japan, I have to say that he was the first Korean man my mother and I encountered who honestly appeared to be full of enthusiasm about his country's cultural heritage, and the fact that we wanted to know more about it.

In contrast, most of the other people my mother and I saw in the area seemed to treasure this UNESCO World Heritage site more for its being a green oasis in the middle of super built-up Seoul -- with a number of people there looking to be there do some exercise (by way of walking or jogging mixed with stretching) or for romance (with quite a few pairs of lovers seated on benches whispering sweet nothings to each other)!

For my part, I did find the tombs to be interesting -- if less accessible than I would like, with the tomb of King Jungjong, in particular, being only viewable from a distance.  Still, it's not just the green mounds and the stone figures that were erected near them that make up the tomb complex but also the surrounding woodland -- and the Worship Roads, with their fascinating division into sections designed for spirits (which humans continue to be discouraged from walking along) and royalty (which now are accessible to commoners)!

    

From the free pamphlet provided, it was interesting to learn that none of the 42 Joseon royal tombs -- two of which are located in what's now North Korea -- have been damaged or destroyed in the years since they were built -- years that included the Korean War years that saw fierce fighting in much of the Korean Peninsula.  Beyond luck, it appears to be a sign of the respect accorded royal members of the Joseon Dynasty, one that ruled over the Korea Peninsula for an impressive 519 years.

Yummy and Contrasts (This week's Photo Hunt themes)

The contrasts are clear - between the street food experiences my mother and I had on my recent South Korea vacation and the one before (in 2009), and also between that on this recent trip and what we had in Vietnam last year.  

For a start, while we saw some interesting food being sold on the streets of Hanoi, we ended up feasting on them only with our eyes.  It wasn't that the food didn't look yummy -- but, rather, that the dining conditions didn't come across as all that ideal to us. 

Specifically, Vietnamese street food tends to be consumed while seated on low stools (as opposed to chairs) and using other stools like tables; and thereby resulting in both the food and the diner being much closer to the frequently super dusty ground than I'd like. Also, consider this as a quirk of mine but I like to drink (not necessarily something alcoholic but definitely cool and liquid!) when I eat while the Vietnamese seem to look upon eating and drinking as separate affairs!

On the Korean front: for some reason, my mother and I didn't spot as many street food stalls on our previous visit to the country as we did this time around!  So whereas I can only recall buying and eating street food on one occasion in 2009, it pretty much became an evening ritual on this recent vacation to wander around the streets near our hotel and sample some of the wide variety of food being hawked on the streets!

As I think the photos at the top of this week's entry for Sandi's and Gattina's Photo Hunts show, Koreans sure do love their fried food, seafood (especially squid and octopus) and Tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) -- and after finding out for myself how yummy these street snacks are, I definitely understand why that's so!

Among the offerings I tried from the stall in the top-most photo was that which consisted of a large Western-style sausage with a fish cake and dark green-colored nori (seaweed) wrapping!  While I've eaten all three of those things before, I never had them in the same bite before -- and while the taste contrasts in my mouth were initially quite disconcerting, once I got used to it, I decided that this was one yummy savory snack and would not be averse to having it again! ;b

Pupper Ponyo and friends at the COEX Aquarium!

It's amazing what one can come across in

Asia's largest underground shopping mall

Do you get the impression too that the fish in the picture

wanted to befriend Puppet Ponyo?

 

 I wonder ... are they related?! ;b

I get the feeling reactions to this fish will be split 

between those who think it's super ugly and 

others who think its lips would be great to eat! ;D

More than once on my recent South Korean vacation, I found myself in an underground shopping mall.  But while the Myeongdong undergound mall near the hotel my mother and I stayed at, and the Incheon underground mall that linked to the closest subway station to Sinpo International Market (where we had had the awesome Korean fried chicken) came across as unattractively low end, the COEX Mall located a stone's throw away from the impressive Bongeunsa was an entirely different proposition.

Not that my mother and I did any shopping there, mind!  Instead, we headed there after our Bongeunsa visit for lunch -- at a restaurant serving Korean food (my mother had more naengmyun while I had a plate of spicy squid and rice) where we were mistaken for Japanese people and thus had the server speaking Japanese to us, thereby giving me the surreal experience of hearing naengmyun referred to as soba and my dish referred as as ikadon!

After our satisfying lunch, my mother and I decided we might as well check out the mall's aquarium since we were already in the complex.  If truth be told, we didn't have particularly high expectations for the COEX Aquarium -- and our first impressions of the facility was that it was on the amateurish side.

The deeper we ventured into the aquarium though, the more we (and Puppet Ponyo, who popped out every once in a while from my backpack, too!) liked it -- finding some of the designs of the displays to be pretty innovative.  (I especially liked the part where they made it look like fish were swimming in such as a telephone box and drinks vending machine, and the section where one could have one's hands cleaned by "doctor fish".)

Also of interest was the aquatic life on display -- with some scary creatures, other fascinating ones, and still others that I frankly found super cute!  The usual suspects, such as crocodiles, whales and penguins were there -- but so too were such as manatees, a greater variety of eels than I knew existed, and a whole bunch of fish which eyes I found beautiful and also disconcertingly human-like!

And yes, I have to admit it: whereas I used to laugh at those Japanese I heard uttering "oishii!" (delicious) exclamations in aquariums (like those in Osaka and Okinawa), I go to thinking that too about certain of the creatures I caught sight of at this Seoul facility!  In particular, I was moved to imagine how tasty the thick lips of certain fish would be and how fantastic a meal certain Japanese crabs' super long legs would have made and, when looking at the eels, wonder how something that was so delicous could look so horrifying! ;D

Artistic beauty abounds at Bongeunsa! (Photo-essay)

According to statistics on religion in South Korea that I've seen: close to half the population of the country don't adhere to any religion; there are more Christians than Buddhists in the country; and Seoul is the part of South Korea that has the most people who formally belong to a religious group.  

Interestingly, this fits with my impressions of the country in that: a) it wasn't until my third visit to South Korea that I thought to think of visiting a religious establishment there; b) I spotted more Christian churches about than Buddhist temples; and c) when I did finally visit a couple of religious establishments in Seoul, I found them frequented by more devout devotees than I had expected would be the case.

And while I found Myeongdeong Cathedral pretty visually impressive, especially inside, I have to say that the Buddhist templex complex of Bongeunsa was far more picturesque to my mind -- with the result that I took far more photos in its grounds that at the Roman Catholic cathedral and it's with the greatest difficulty that I narrowed my choices down to just eight photos to share in this photo-essay:-

Two of the four door Guardians that are part of

the 1,200-year-old temple's Jinyeo-mun (Gate of Suchness)

Within Bongeunsa's halls can be found religious art like this

The Seonbul-dang (Building for Selecting Buddhas) 

must be one of the most elaborately decorated buildings 

used to host examaminations that I've ever seen!

I was surprised to see the Taoist god of longevity pictured 

up in the clouds with others, and being brought a giant peach 

at this Buddhist temple 

 There were times at Bongeunsa where I felt like I was

at a large art museum complex! :O

Of course Puppet Ponyo had to be pictured 

amidst these beautiful surroundings :)

A close-up view of the central upper section of the building

behind Puppet Ponyo in the previous photo

Badly damaged during the Korean War, the great bulk of 

what's to be seen at Bongeunsa was built or refurbished after it

-- but some older, more faded but still precious sections also exist

The Bubble Man (and devout Christians) on an Insadong street corner

Ain't this a cool sight?!

 

 Let's hear it for the Bubble Man of Insadong! :)

On both of our two most recent vacation trips taken together, my mother and I have gone to see a cool show.  When we visited Hanoi, we took in a fun as well as creative show at the Thang Long Water Puppetry Theatre.  And on the second evening of our recent Seoul vacation, we took in a performance of the super enjoyable Nanta show at the Myeongdong theater that shared the show's name.

 

On day three of this most recent vacation, I had been hoping to take in street performances at the Wolmido waterfront but that was not to be. Instead, it wasn't until the next day that my mother and I came across some outdoor entertainment -- but when we did, quite a bit of  fun was to be had!

 

The fellow I've come to think of as the Bubble Man of Insadong did (does) his entertaining on an Insadong street corner -- and while part of me reckons that he deserves a better stage, it's also true that he seemed to be very much in his element, roping in the interest of passers-by like my mother and myself whose plans to stroll about the neighborhood he caused to temporarily put on hold.

Male and female, young and old, were mesmerized by his bubble act.  While he went about creating the beautiful -- and at times amazingly big -- bubbles, he also unleashed a patter that many of his fellow Korean speakers found pretty amusing.  

 

For myself, what amused along with the Bubble Man's bubbles was the presence nearby of a group of devout Christians who were alternately singing hymns loudly and stentorianly proclaiming what appeared to be the same message that had been written (in English as well as Korean) on banners they had put up: that people needed to repent and believe in Jesus Christ, or be condemned to a fiery Hell!

 

There are some who might think that society's in a bad way when a Bubble Man attracts more attention and appreciation than a bunch of people concerned about the afterlives of others.  For my part though, I reckon it's a pretty healthy state of affairs -- culturally and otherwise! ;b

A picturesque part of Seoul

There's no doubt about it - Bukchon Hanok Village 

is one of Seoul's top tourist attractions

I did -- at least temporarily -- find some quiet

and solitude though inside a gallery dedicated to

kokdu - Korean funerary figures! :O

 

 A hanok (Korean traditional house) with more 

elaborate designs on its outer walls than most others

In the past year, I've visited Kyoto (for the second time in my life), Hanoi, Kanazawa, Seoul and also been back to Penang for a short vacation.  In each of these places, I've taken some time to stroll about an old section of the town or city that's particularly famed for its architecture and cultural heritage.

In Kyoto, it was Gion; in Hanoi, the Old Quarter; in Kanazawa a couple of its small geisha and samurai districts; in Penang, it was its UNESCO World Heritage-listed capital, George Town.  And in Seoul, it was Bukchon Hanok Village.   

 

Flanked by two royal palaces (Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung), Bukchon used to be an upscale residential area for aristocrats and court officials.  These days, it's still home to many residences but also is where a number of interesting looking cafes and restaurants, art galleries, boutiques and craft shops can be found.

If truth be told, I wish the neighborhood's most picturesque were not so crowded with tourists.  I also wish I could have spent more time strolling about its streets and alleys.  However, I didn't bargain for Bukchon to be as hilly an area as it was and, unfortunately, my mother found some of the streets too steep for her liking.

Should I return to Seoul once more for a visit, Bukchon would top my list of places I'd like to go back to stroll about, leisurely taking in the sights.  For now though, I'll just say that what I saw was often very lovely and also surprisingly expansive.  And it's good to learn that, like with the Cheong Gye Cheong Stream, it's a part of Seoul that after a period of not being appreiated, has latterly come to see its existence treasured by Koreans as well as visitors to the country. :)

By and on the Seoul section of the Han River

A view across the Han River (aka Hangang) 

 from southern section of Seoul

Puppet Ponyo was happy to see swan-shaped 

paddle boats on the Han River! :)

 

 A more stately sight spotted while on a Han River cruise 

came in the form of South Korea's National Assembly Building

When my mother and I visited South Korea five years ago, the number one attraction for both of us was Seoul's wonderfully rejuvenated Cheong Gye Cheong Stream.  This time around, we set our sights on a cruise along another reuvenated body of water: the Hangang (i.e., Han River).

One of my most distinct memories of my first visit to South Korea back in 1982 involved driving along this very long -- and, to my mind, wide -- river.  Back then, however, I doubt that there were cruises taking place along it -- as, among other things, the Han River had a reputation for being pretty polluted for the first decades of South Korea's existence.

These days, however, the area around the now ecological jewel appears really pleasant -- with parks, bike and walking paths located along it that quite a few people appear to make much use of. And while the river's water wasn't as clear as I thought it should be, the cruise that my mother and I (and Puppet Ponyo too) went on was pretty nice -- with my only complaint being that its one hour length was too short since I'd have been happy to relaxed on deck, catching the breeze and enjoy watching the sights pass by for at least one more hour that sunny afternoon!

 

On a pop cultural note: I have to admit to thinking of Bong Joon-Ho's The Host while on the cruise, especially whenever we passed under and/or by one of the several bridges over the river. Also, while checking out Psy's Gangnam Style music video once more last week, I was amused to recognize a number of sights in it -- including the swan paddle boats! -- that we had caught sight of "in the flesh" less than two weeks ago now! ;b

Off the beaten path on Hong Kong Island

View of Tseung Kwan O (bay and town), Lohas Park  and beyond, 

across Victoria Harbour from Hong Kong Island

 View from, and of, a trail that apparently doesn't exist

if the Countryside Series' 2013 Hong Kong Island map

is to be believed! :O

What with the Hong Kong Observatory reporting visibility of up to 40 kilometers today, there was no question that I'd be taking advantage of these uncommon conditions and be out hiking!  Originally, the plan was to go along the Hong Pak Country Trail and after climbing up Mount Parker Road to connect with the western end of this trail, my hike buddy for the day and I did indeed trek along this path that's pleasantly level but also predominantly unpaved for at least a couple of kilometers. 

But shortly after we passed marker C4304, we spied what appeared to be a fairly newly laid out section of trail leading upwards to higher ground.  And despite there being no signs indicating where it'd lead to, it looked too tempting to not go along -- whereby I found myself in interesting parts of Hong Kong Island I previously had never been to. 

Almost needless to say, there were some scenic views to be had along this way. In the hilly area that my hike buddy and I first passed through, we also came across several spots with Chinese characters written on them, including an area that almost looked like a makeshift learning area, complete with a keyboard with both Romanized script as well as Chinese characters drawn on the face of a large rock!  

In addition, we came across at least one spot that looked like it could be a cool swimming hole -- except that I couldn't help but feel that certain wild creatures may like it quite a bit too.  (Years ago, when I was in Sarawak's Gunung Mulu National Park, I went swimming in a part of a river with wonderful clear and cool water.  Shortly after I had got out and was drying myself, my party spotted a snake swimming in the very spot that I had previously been paddling about.  I've been much more wary of going into enticing looking natural watering holes since!)

Shortly after this particular section of trail joined up again with the Hong Pak Country Trail, we spied another path diverting off it -- and decided to venture into the unknown once more.  Although this other less traversed trail also yielded up a number of scenic views, I must admit that if I had known earlier on how overgrown -- and hairy with regards to some of the bits that crossed over and by hill streams -- it was, I may not have been as keen to go along it.

As it was, my friend and I ended up having a more adventurous excursion than had been planned for today -- this not least because we apparently failed to locate what was listed as a dotted (i.e., overgrown and/or difficult) trail on the map that would get us down to where we would be able to catch a bus back home.  On the other hand, thanks to "signage"in the form of ribbons tied on trees and such, and chalked arrows on the ground left by other hikers, we managed to scramble downhill along a path that, according to the same map we'd been relying on, doesn't actually exist!

For the record: this is hardly the first time the person(s) hiking with me and I were unable to spot a trail whose existence had been noted down on a map. Indeed, the first time I ended up at Sha Lo Tung was because the three pairs of eyes (including my own) had been unable to spy not one but three different trails that were supposed to have taken us to the west of the area we had been hiking in rather than south to Sha Lo Tung! 

Put another way: I've learnt from experience that some trails are far less maintained and even visible than others in Hong Kong.  At the same time, I also have learnt that Hong Kong Island in particular has a number of hiking trails that crisscross one another.  So I was confident that at some point, we'd (eventually) find a trail that would connect to a paved road with public transport passing along it -- and there thus was never a serious possibility that we'd have to desperately resort to doing such as calling for a helicopter to come over and rescue us! ;b 

Rose and Jug (This week's Photo Hunt themes)

For those who wondered about my absence from last week's Photo Hunt: it's because this time last week, I was in the Land of the Morning Calm!  And South Korea is indeed where all the shots in my entry for both Sandi's and Gattina's photo memes were taken!

More specifically, the photo of the statue of the Virgin Mary (whose floral offerings I'm figuring includes a rose or more!) is located in the space just behind Seoul's Myeongdong Cathedral.  And since the more eagle-eyed among you may have noted that in my recent "what I ate on my vacation" blog post, I did mention that I didn't eat any barbecue on this recent Korea trip, I'll 'fess up and state that the middle photo in this Photo Hunt entry actually was taken on my 2009 -- rather than most recent -- visit to the country!

The funny thing is that since I took so many photos of barbecues on that 2009 trip, I don't think I ever have shared that snap on this blog until now.  But looking back now at it, that was one impressive repast, don't you think?

The thing is, as those who are unfamiliar with Korean food probably will not realize, the only part of that feast that my mother and I specifically ordered was the barbecue dish at the center of the table.  Oh, and her glass of soft drink and my beer.  Everything else (i.e., the banchan (side dishes), bowls of rice and jug of water) was included gratis -- or at least assumed to be part of the order!

More than incidentally, I'd like to record my appreciation for it frequently being the case in Korean restaurants -- and, for that matter, Japan's too -- that water is still provided free with one's meal as a matter of coursel; with Korea trumping Japan in that almost invariably, the water dispensed is refreshingly cold (something I particularly appreciate on hot days like the ones that were the order of the day on my recent visit!).  And considering Psy of Gangnam Style's mega fame, I guess it was inevitable that at least one jug (or container) of water handed out this past week in Seoul would have his face on it! ;b

Impressions of South Korean Christianity gained via movies and my recent visit to the country

Myeongdong Cathedral looks more unusual in this photo 

than in real life, thanks to perspectival distortion!

This interior shot of the cathedral looks like it could have been

taken somewhere in Europe rather than Asia, right?

 

 A visit to the cathedral after dark the next day yielded

more photographs whose looks I do like :)

On my previous two visits to South Korea, I had not thought to visit any religious building, Buddhist, Christian or otherwise.  This time around though, I figured I should go check out Myeongdong Cathedral at the very least, in large part because I was staying in the area (at the excellent Ibis Ambassador Myeongdong) -- and was so impressed by how the first ever Gothic style building erected in the country looked that I ended up visiting the place not once but twice.

Constructed in 1898 on the site where members of the Catholic faith had congregated as early as 1784, the cathedral was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1984 and Pope Francis last month. The largest building in Seoul at the time of its construction, it remains a popular place to pray in as well as visit as a tourist, to judge from what I saw on my own two visits to it.

Although South Korea may not be a country that most people tend to associate with Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular, Catholics actually constitute a significant part of the South Korean population.  So it stands to reason that early into my exploration into South Korean cinema, I'd come across a historical drama in which Christianity featured. 

 

I have to confess though to having found The Uprising (1999) more puzzling than illuminating. And to judge from the reviews I've seen of this film (such as this one), the general consensus is indeed that it's not a particularly great film despite its subject matter being an intriguing one.  

 

Ironically, the other South Korean films I've seen that prominently feature Christians -- including former Culture Minister Lee Chang Dong's heartbreaking Secret Sunshine (2007), Park Chan Wook's vampire movie Thirst (2009) and disaster blockbuster The Tower (2012) -- don't tend to depict them in the best of lights. 

 

At the same time though, it's also notable that Christianity is depicted as very much a part of South Korean society in those films.  And that was indeed my observation too on this recent visit to the country.

A disappointing Incheon day excursion

At Wolmido, the main attraction -- at least on the afternoon that

my mother and I visited -- appeared to be the seagulls!

Visual evidence that there really were a lot of those birds about

-- and that I wasn't the only one taking photos of them! ;b

When the alternatives are dressing like a masked bandit and

dipping one's toes in an area that doesn't look all that safe,

you know there aren't all that many options about the place! :O

When my mother and I visited South Korea in 2009, we had made day trips to Suwon (where, among other things, I had checked out its UNESCO World Heritage-listed Hwaseong Fortress and Korean Folk Village) and also the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ)).  This time around, I had planned a couple of trips to the Incheon area but ended up spending just one day there -- in part because much of that day excursion had been rather underwhelming.

Take our visit to Sinpo International Market, a place which had sounded so very interesting in the article in the copy of the Korean Air Lines inflight magazine that was on the plane that took us from Hong Kong to Seoul.  While the fried chicken we had for lunch there was super delicious, the fact of the matter is that the rest of the market had looked pretty unexciting, and even dead -- especially compared to the bustling traditional markets that I take as a matter of fact in Hong Kong and Japan.  (And it in fact was later confirmed to me that traditional markets in South Korea are dying since many Koreans prefer to shop in modern supermarkets.)

Then, when we visited Wolmido, it felt like a sparsely visited seaside space that was trying to take cues from American seaside towns -- what with its having a boardwalk of sorts in place and also a couple of amusement parks: one with several "Viking"/pirate ship rides that I was loath to ride (for fear that they would make me throw up); and the other with a large ferris wheel that my mother feared would be too hot to ride on under the hot afternoon sun.

And while Wolmido's famous for its hwe (Korean-style raw seafood), our large (by our standards, though only medium by Korean ones) fried chicken lunch made it so that we weren't attracted to check out any of the island's many hwe restaurants.  In addition, it turns out that the day of the week that we visited (Thursday, for those who want to know) just happened to be the very day of the week when the ferries we had hoping to ride on weren't running!

So as far as Wolmido was concerned, my mother and I had to pretty much content ourselves at strolling about along its seafront and doing such as gawp at the seagull feeding frenzy instigated by a couple of tourists offering up such as crackers to those birds! And worse was to come as when I tried to salvage the day by asking the woman manning the Wolmido Tourist Information center for alternative suggestions, we ended up going on a wild goose chase all the way to Yongyudo Island in search of a quay whose stop, most unfortunately, was one of those not announced in English on the bus that we directed to take there!

Granted that the over one hour bus ride from Wolmido to Yongyudo was pretty interesting in that it took us from an area whose architecture made it look like small town America through to a built up city and its factory zone to Incheon International Airport and then to a rural space with overgrown foliage and mudflats rather than actual beaches and surrounding water.  And I do get the feeling that it was more interesting than a visit to Incheon's Chinatown would have been for someone who currently lives in what could be described as one big Chinatown!

Still, when the visual highlight of the day involved seagulls, I have to say that I found our Incheon excursion to be on the disappointing side; this no thanks either to the deceptive publicity photos and tendered tourist information that was much less exemplary than in many other places I've been in recent years, notably neighboring -- and so much more helpful -- Japan.  And it's really only thanks to the to-die-for Dak Gangjeong I had at Sinpo Market's Sinpo Cham Dak Gangjeong restaurant that I don't consider Day 3 of this recent Korean trip to be an outright touristic disaster! ;(