Saturday, July 17, 2010

Rick's Roadshow: Seoul, Korea Day 2.5

Rick's Roadshow from Seoul, Korea continues for one last day before I head off to my next destination. Plenty of exciting places yet to come on my Asian World Tour! But for today, I wanted to share some photos of my visit to the National Museum of Korea. Being my last day I had some early meetings and wrapped up my day's work well before lunch. That gave me some free time to check out the museum. Well that plus it had been raining cats and dogs all day. I rarely have time to visit museums when I travel, so this was a real treat for me. The museum is huge, and relatively new, so all the exhibits had the latest and greatest technology, not to mention everything was nice and shiny too. In this photo above left, I'm standing in front of a very old Korean bell from a temple. I love things like that. I only wish they had a recording of it so I could hear the deep sound.
I used the self-guided tour with the headset to learn about each exhibit. It would automatically start playing as you approach a particular item of interest. As I think about it, the tour was pretty cool actually. If something lost my interest I could walk away and the narration would stop. This painting above left caught my eye, both of them actually. Not only due to its huge size but also because it seems so peaceful. I was careful not to use any flash photography in the museum, although regular photos are permitted. So today's final post from Korea is all about things I saw at the museum that I enjoyed for some reason. OK so here goes, come along into the museum for a little visual tour. Although as usual I forgot to take ANY notes so you'll just need to look, click and smile.

above: Gojoseon Eight Article Law: CLICK ON THIS PHOTO ABOVE TO BIGGIFY. Read the laws of Gojoseon, developed in Korea in the 1300's. Only 3 of the 8 survived, the others were lost, but these three rules seem to make sense to me...

Boodahs Galore!
I could post 20 or 30 easily, but I won't. So here are just a few:

above: this Boodah is seated in a mini temple

above: now doesn't that make you feel all relaxed and at peace?


above: Bodhisattva, the most famous and treasured Boodah in Korea.


above: A very old Korean Gong.


above: This outdoor Korean structure is over 1,500 years old and now resides inside the museum.


above: Tea Pot I suppose?


above: Dragon Gong, I liked it so much I bought a mini replica.


above: Ceylon green vase

above: a folding screen

above: a Korean restaurant where I dined for lunch. I just love the ambiance, its so cozy and intimate. Well that's all for today I'm afraid. Please come back again tomorrow, where Rick's Roadshow continues from Taipei, Taiwan!
-Rick Rockhill

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