Gyeongbokgung Palace

In the centre of Seoul, close to the office towers of the CBD, is the Gyeongbokgung Palace, which dates back to the 14th century when the Joseon dynasty was founded and the capital transferred to what is now Seoul. We had an afternoon off at the end of our conference and could choose from a range of tours including the one to the palace I took. This was an inspired choice because the palace buildings and settings were beautiful. Due to damage in the Korean war, the current buildings are largely reconstructions, not the originals, though this barely detracted from the experience. The following images convey some of the palace's appeal. Indeed the original palace was destroyed by the Japanese invasion at the end of the 16th century and not rebuilt until 1873.

Hyangwon-Jeong: a leisure pavillion in the palace grounds surrounded by a reflecting pond.

Jagyeong-Jeong

Gyeonghoe-ru Pavillion - reserved for the royal family and high officials

Entrance to Geungjeong-jeon (throne room area)

Throne room exterior and interior

Do you see anything linking these photos? The answer is the mountain in the background, Mt Baegak, which frames the buildings and has some mystical meaning.

AS

Daily Commute

For the last 4 days I have commuted roughly 1 hour in each direction between where I am staying in Itaewon to COEX in part of the downtown area alongside the Hangang river. COX is the exhibition / convention centre and Itaewon is a raunchy night-club district, and Hangang = Han River.  I used the convenient and extensive subway system serving the 10.1 million people who live in Seoul, almost half of Australia's population in a densely packed few square km.

This daily commute brought me into contact with the average man or woman in the street, which was good, although there were a good few stares following me around the train carriages. Still, the locals were genuinely friendly. The journey started in Itaewon on line 6 travelling NE towards Cheonggu where a change of lines was needed to line 2 going south across the Hangang to Jamsil and COEX at Samseong (Samsung?). After a few iterations of this journey, I rapidly came to the conclusion that Seoul has one of the best rapid transit systems anywhere. The 8-carriage single deck trains were long and spacious and , by my calculation, able to handle maybe 2000 people per journey. The interior shot provided here shows an almost empty carriage today. Each carriage typically has LCD screens carrting information about route, location, exit side, and that kind of thing.

Another great feature of the system is the provision of a barrier to the track aty each platform with a line of doors that correspond exactly to the train's doors - see the second photo. So, people cannot fall accidentally on to the track or be pushed three in some sort of scrum. I suppose, too that the barriers insulate waiting passengers against winter cold.

The line travels above ground in areas close to the Hangang. The next groupd of photos shows something of Korea's dense urban development needed to house 10+ million people in a small area. Housing, workshops and high capacity freeways make up the next few pictures.

The high rise housing blocks are humungously large and densely packed; the roads are jammed much of the time; and buildings are often many different shapes and sizes.

The final pciture taken from the train shows the river almost in flood after exceptionally heavy rain ... well, it is the monsoon seaason. Lines of housing blocks fill the background.

AS

More fun in Seoul

The conference I'm attending is good and we've been catered for well. I've even managed to sort out some of the vagaries of Korean life. For example, I managed to crack the auromatic bottom wiping system without toilet paper! And the subway system is really user friendly when you know how to deal with the automatic ticketing system. The only problem there is the 19 stops and one change that I have endure! The journey to COEX takes 45 minutes on a good day. You'd never believe the number of people on the streeets: thousands, mostly walking fast somewhere or other. And, on the trains, there might be 100 people to a carriage, of whom 35 are text messaging!
The shopping centre at COEX is vast but strangely reminiscent of the Canberra Centre or similar - many of the same stores and a food court. The banquet last night, and today's lunch paid for by the World Bank (!) both featured Australian beef and comments on it were very favourable.
Oh well, it's nearly 9pm and I'm heading out for a meal. I'm grateful for the air conditioning in this hotel room as today was very sticky after torrential rain and I noticed on the return train journey tonight that the Hangang River is almost in flood. I hope we can get to the other side tomorrow when I'm due to present my paper.



Tony

Greetings from Itaewon

I said in my last post that things were about to get interesting and here I am in Itaewon. Where's that you say? Shhh! It's the red light district of Seoul in South Korea! A fried of mine attending the same conference as me suggested coming here because the Hotel D'oro where I'm staying is inexpensive and comfortable and was recommended by a UN official.

It's less convenient for my daily destination - COEX - which is about 18 stops away on the subway, but the system is fast, efficient and cheap from what we've seen of it. Itaewon is very cosmopolitan and Michael and I have jsut had breakfast in a French Patisserie. Just at the entrance to the hotel is a Saudi Arabian restaurant and, across the road, is Dubai cuisine. Have you ever had one of those? Sheep's eyeballs were not on the menu I looked at. Abd on the hill-side opposite, rising above a jumble of old buildings, is a very large mosque. Funny that! About 1/3rd of the population here is Christian and most of the rest are Buddhist. As I write this, Michael has returned to be with his wife and son while we wait until we leave for conference registration and a banquet at about 3.30 this afternoon (8 hourse in front of the UK and 8 hours (less a day) behind California.

The trip across yesterday on Asiana Airlines (Korean) was more interesting than the averag long-distance (10 hour +) flight. To start with, I was just about to bed myself down in a row 22 seat (in steerage class) when a steward came up to me and said "would you mind transfering to row 3 in business class. I couldn't extract a reason for this outburst of hospitality, but I've never declined such a request. The service was fantastic: silver sutlery, lovely food (I selected an unknown to me Korean dish eaten with chopsticks), I occupied a seat with a dozen diferent controls for comfort, watched videos on a largish TV screen in front; watched a display put on by 6 hostesses wearing ancient to modern Korean outfits; and sipped whiskey, fortified wines and red bordeaux at no cost. No problems with Korean custons over my portfolio of baby-wear, Australian biscuits, and other items.

What can I say about Korean life as I've seen it. Not many people speak English, and even the hotel staff are a little challenged in that direction. 98% of the signage is in Korean, of which I speak not a word. The wrting all looks like a jumble and quite different from Chinese or Japanese script. However, the lift has a quotation from Geothe in it!Fortunately, the subway has nifty ticket machines with an English language option. Last night, my taxi driver was a maniac behind the wheel and we sped from Incheon airport (about 75km out) into town at some fantastic speeds, swapping lanes and zig-zagging behind slower vehicles. The trip cost only 19,000 won because an Australian colleague picked up most of my share on his expense account (sounds a lot but isn't).

One of the joys of my room is the toilet. I haven't used its full capabilities yet, partly because I cannot read the Korean instructions. Let's just say that its fully automated, to the extent doing away with toilet paper. I gather it washes one's nether regions and then blow-dries them! I won't let language diffulties get in the way of that!

Finally, I must say that the Koreans are charming hosts-  very considerate. Pitty I'm here for such a short time.

AS

Not Much to Report

This blog has gone quiet for a few weeks, but that's due to an unusual combination of circumstances. Basically, I haven't done anything my readers would consider exciting because I've been riveted by (i) tracking Ella's progress which is now starting to look very good; (ii) looking after myself after Dot departed for San Francisco (Santa Clara to be more precise), and I don't find sweeping and cleaning exciting; (iii) some dismal weather making for a very wet and windy June (but the last two days have been very nice for winter on 15-16C); and (iv) writing some conference papers and setting up two new externally funded projects.

So it has been all go and I seem to be more tired than usual. Perhaps those two things are linked. Still, watch out for some new posts as things could be turning exciting! Must run and get some tea.

AS

Arrival of Ella Castle

I'm attaching a couple of the first pictures of our grand-daughter Ella, but leaving out for the moment pictures of the proud parents.

I gather that she becomes a US citizen immediately, since she was born in Mountain View, California.  So, technically, she could become the first US female President in due course, assuming that neither Hillary nor Sarah get the gig first!

AS

New Arrival

It is with great pleasure that Dot and I announce the arrival of our second grand-child, Ella Castle, born on 30 May at 8.25 pm Santa Clara (California) time or 31 May at 1.25pm Eastern Standard Time (Australia) or 4.25am UK Summer Time.

I have just talked with Emily and Greg by phone and the baby is doing fine. She was 4lb 9 oz (or 2.055 kg) at birth, 18" long (45.7 cm) and, in Emily's word, beautiful. I believe that she was delivered by Cesarean Section, but that is still to be confirmed. Emily was tired and a little sedated, of course, but still lucid and very happy. Ella required no specialist medical treatment and was sleeping alongside.

More details, including pictures, will come soon. So, we were spared a fourth June birthday celebration! I, Max and Dot's brother, Dick, are the others.

AS

Cosmic Coincidence

At a little after 5am this morning I was outside in -7C temperatures watching Jupiter, Venus and Mercury rise just above the eastern horizon. Twelve hours later, at a little after 5 pm I was in UNE's Madgwick Hall listening to the thunderous end of another celestial work - in more ways than one - and the outside temperature had reached 15C. That's a 22C daily range! What caused the thunder inside? Well, it was the conclusion of Haydn's brilliant oratorio, the Creation, an event that preceded this morning's planetary extravaganza by about 13 billion years.

The Armidale Symphony Orchestra has rarely, if ever, exceeded the quality of this afternoon's concert, performing just the one two hour long work. They fielded amonst 50 musicians, many of whom I've known personally for decades, playing the complete suite of instruments directed by the score, including a harpsichord which had a key continuo role. And the quality of their ensemble and bit-part playing matched Haydn's great score, with its many subtleties such as attempts to portray the entropic chaos before the big bang and the mysteries of the early universe.

The Creation also makes large choral demands and Armidale was up to that task as well, fielding a choir of almost 80 persons, many of whom I also know ... including one of my doctors. Alas, two of the three soloists were imported for the occasion, with only Bethany Shepherd, the soprano, having local connections. The choir and soloists also discharged their roles very creditably under the tutelage of Wendy Huddlestone, the wife or Dot's former, but long retired, boss! Wendy might have retired from her music teaching career at Armidale High School 11 years ago, but she kept the ensemble of nearly 130 musicians under tight control and kept a cracking pace. Indeed she made the choral climaxes truly exciting and vibrant, far from the often flagging tempi of amateur orchestras. No wonder, then, that the applause at the end went on for a long time. The audience of maybe 250 people was thrilled by the classy performance.

For the record, Haydn's Creation was inspired by listening to Handel's oratorios, including the Messiah, in Westminster Abbey, and by his meeting with the Astronomer Royal, Herschel, who had recently discovered Uranus. The first public performance was in 1799 and it became an instant hit, but I doubt if it were much more polished than today's Armidale performance. If you ever get the chance, which may be unlikely given the rarity of performance, please try to attend. You'll be charmed and entertained. How can a town of 25,000 people can keep on performing major and demanding works in the classical repertoire - another was Mahler's Resurrection Symphony - based largely on its own home-grown and high quality talents. I'll let you, dear reader, figure that one out!

Planetary Alignment

I have had a frustrating couple of days because one of the great celestial displays has been denied me, despite my best intentions. For the first time in over a century, four planets in the solar system - Jupiter, Venus, Mercury and Mars - have collected in Y-shaped fashion in one small corner of the sky. The southern display over the east coast of Australia has been especially good because it's late Autumn and the nights are long. Since the display occurs just before dawn, the extra period of dark is a great help. So, too, is the generally crystal clear atmosphere.

Well, that's the theory, but Armidale's weather has deteriorated markedly over the last couple of days. We've had the first blast of winter and, although the days are still quite good at 13C, there is a lot of misty cloud hanging around, especially at around dawn. I'm typing this at nearly 7.30 am and the cloud is slowly clearing to a blue sky - but much too late for planet-gazing and I'm in danger of missing my chance. This is a pity, because the next such display is apparently scheduled for 2056 and my chances of seeing it are slim. I'd be about 111 at he time.

So, I attach a couple of images of what I would have seen with a clear sky. The images were posted on the web by Sydney residents. The first shows Jupiter, Venus and Mercury (the small blob) in V formation. The second adds Mars a fair way below. You can see the glow of dawn in the second and can appreciate the limited opportunity to see the display just as it rotates above the horizon. Both yesterday and today I arose shortly after 5am. Yesterday, I jumped in the car and drove around trying unsuccessfully to find a suitable hole on the clouds Today, I went outdoors and surveyed the cloudy skies before giving the game away.

Postscript: 15 May 2011: The sky cleared tonight and I leapt out of bed at 5am to scan the horizon for this celestial display. It was a beautiful sight and crystal clear - very much like the second of the pictures.
AS

Mothers Day 2011

Today is Mothers Day, at least in Australia. Dot received a large van Gogh-like bouquet of flowers from Em and Beck. I use that description purposefully because the tulips were in the artist's favourite colour, yellow and the rest of the bunch were Irises, just as in one of his most famous paintings completed while he was living at the asylum at Saint Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in the last year before his death in 1890. That painting is now supposedly at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, but you could be mistaken for thinking that it's in our dining area!

While we've been talking about illusions, I'll pop a question. I presume most of my readers have visited some of the world's famous art galleries like, for example, the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Pompidou Centre, the Tate Gallery (and the Tate Modern), the Rijksmuseum, the Uffizi, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, or the Hermitage in St Petersburg. I've visited them all. Well, the New England region stages a great art display once year, though perhaps not quite in the same league. Have any of you heard of the Currabubula Art Exhibition, now in its 48th year, which donates receipts to the Red Cross? Well we headed off there today, a round trip of about 280km from Armidale ... about 90 minutes away. Currabubula is hardly a global metropolis! In fact it's a tiny place. The whole district - including farming population - had only 389 residents in 2006. I doubt if the village is home to more than 200 people! The picture shows the main street of the CBD - actually it's just about the only street of any importance.

The exhibition is shown in the small village hall, not ideal conditions. And the artists are probably not household names like Leonardo, Rembrandt, Monet or Picasso, although their works were produced all over eastern Australia. Less convenient still, the organisers managed to hang no less than 667 work on the hall's walls and on temporary display boards placed in the middle of the narrow building. Needless to say, the pictures were crammed in as my own exhibits show below! When we got there in late morning, there must have been upwards of 150 people in the hall - it's a very popular event. So it was difficult to stand (or sit) in any comfort in what resembled a densely packed scrum. Most galleries have abundant space for their displays and some, like the Rijksmuseum's display of Rembrandt's Nightwatch, have rooms housing just one work with tiered seating to view critical works in relaxed comfort.

Most of the works were technically competent, and some showed considerable creativity in design or use of colour. However, the most prominent genres were Australian rural landscapes, animals (horses, sheep and poultry), and Parisian or Venetian street scenes - the former painted on rainy nights! No great blobs of colour here, or deformed women, or anything quasi-scientific like the decaying cat I once saw on video at the Tate Modern. Oh well, it was fun seeing an event we'd long heard about but never visited.

AS