Quail in a Berry Tree

Thanksgiving is past and now thinking ahead to decorating the house for Christmas.  This picture of my Pyracanthus looking out Will's office window just made me think I couldn't do any better than nature does serendipitously.  The berries are bright red this time of year and the Gamble's Quail are gobbling them up!  My version of  "Partridge in a Pear Tree."

Thanksgiving weekend.

Just a low key Thanksgiving weekend.  Spent the big day with friends Skip and Connie who invited us to play 18 holes of golf with them at their Club.  Thought it might be a cold start in the morning so we layered up but turned out to be a beautiful day on the course.  Then we went with them to their golf club's special holiday buffet which meant nobody had to cook, and still had a fantastic turkey dinner with all the trimmings and more.  Friday we stayed home and figured out how to hook my computer up to our television so that we can now stream movies from the web onto our big screen.  Why did this take us so long--its great fun.  Today we spent the afternoon at Catalina State Park and hiked the 6 miles on the Romero Pools Trail.  In between all this we both worked a while in our new studio, I worked on some Christmas decorations and Christmas cards, and managed to fill up the days.  We took special note of all we are thankful for--we are truly blessed.

El Tour de Tucson

The annual El Tour de Tucson was this week.  Will and friends, Kevin and Todd rode the 79 mile leg.  The full Tour is 110 miles, but they decided this was plenty and a good ride.  We had over 8,000 riders in town for the annual charity event and is a big deal for Tucson.  Temps were perfect for biking but the strong, southwest wind turned it into a brutal finish. 

But he was still smiling when I picked him up.  Time was 5 hours, 10 minutes.  Interesting that he actually moved up in the standings from last year but his time was 20 minutes slower.  The wind made it tough for everyone. 

From this. . .

From THIS . . . .

To THIS!!

We've decided we can call our back yard project completed!  Will did the brickwork on extending our patio around the new addition and built a small raised bed for me, extended the sun cover over the new part of the patio and last but not least, got rid of all the "stuff" left over in the back yard.  We love it.  Will put in a lot of sweat hours.

Yahoo! News Story - Welders detained in deadly China high-rise fire - Yahoo! News

Maybe you read about the highrise apartment fire in Shanghai. Doug and Tammy are safe, however, the building is in the JingAn District--infact maybe two blocks from thier apartment. Awful to see but they watched it happen from thier window. Makes me shutter.  Click on this link to read the full story.

Welders detained in deadly China high-rise fire - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_china_fire
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Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/

Home again

Our last view of Seoul on our flight home.

Still working on getting past the jet lag that seems to be so much worse coming home.  Don't quite understand why that is.  Might have something to do with post-holiday depression.  Although always good to be home again.  Came back to fall in Tucson also.  Temperatures have cooled down dramatically, even need a blanket on the bed at night.  No plans to go anywhere for a while, time to enjoy time in Arizona.

pictures of Gyeongju with fall colors

Korea is suppose to be the most wired country in the world so we were surprised at how difficult it was to find access to internet so that I could upload pictures.  It was available at the hotels but extremely expensive--no free wifi here--and on principle we just refused to pay it.  Occasionally found a complimentary computer at the business center but often that was at a price also.  I think most people here have thier own personal devices and smart phones.  I think there is free or low cost at coffee shops, etc but did not want to waste precious time hunting for it--So am sending some pictures late. 

  We are back in Seoul at the airport waiting for our flight home.  We flew in from Jeju Island this morning and now have a 6 hour layover.  This is one place where wireless works wonderfully.  The whole airport is one big hot spot so good way to ding away the time.

 

Holiday is over.  It was a great one.  South Korea is a very pleasant place to visit.  It is lacking the chaos of China and people are very nice to us and try very hard to be helpful.  Now I think I am going to be crabby because I am not looking forward to long flight home.

 

Korean dinner

A traditional Korean meal in Busan.  Our table was spilling over with small dishes.

United Nations Military Cemetary

 

The United Nations Military Cemetary in Busan and the names of the 40,000 American soldiers who died during the Korean conflict.

Pics of Jeju Island

A glimpse of Jeju Island

Jeju Island

Street food has been fun in Korea. Every city has food stalls everywhere and locals are lined up for their favorites. A local specialty is boong-uh bbang—goldfish shaped fried bread with red bean paste filling served hot. Sometimes you see it with pumpkin and its good too. We’ve passed up the boiled silk worm casings for the Hoddeok which is like a fried donut with cinnamon and sugar inside. Lots of chili-laden items and here in the south you see lots of seafood. There are tons of “raw fish restaurants.” Not to worry, you aren’t served raw fish, rather you pick your seafood live from tanks and they cook it for you to order. You can, however, find plenty of places to enjoy raw fish in Korea’s version of sashimi. Tammy had suggested we look for Korean tea houses to try some of the traditional teas. They are quite different from Chinese or Japanese teas. I did find yaja cha which is citron tea. Just as interesting as the tea are the tea cups that it is served in. I have found some wonderful contemporary Korean pottery.


I feel like I am spending a lot of money because the local currency, the Won is something like 1,000 to one US dollar. So when I hand them a 10,000 Won note it is really only around 10 dollars. Makes us feel like big spenders anyway.

Our last 2 days were spent on the island of Jeju. It was a pleasant hour flight from Busan. The entire volcanic island is maybe 40 miles by 60 miles in size and its main industries are tourism and mandarin oranges. Orchards everywhere and they are in season right now. Its expansive beaches, rocky cliffs and dramatic waterfalls makes it an outdoor tropical destination. We picked two perfectly clear days and managed clear views of Mt Halla which is the volcano at the center of the island.

Busan

Our first glitch of the tour happened here in Buson.  When our driver left us at our hotel he said he'd pick us up to take us to the airport for our flight to Jeju Island at 5:30am!  We didn't question that--although we groaned--until later in the evening when we checked our airline ticket and realized our flight wasn't until 1pm.  Luckily we were able to scramble and find a contact phone number and talk to him.  His itinerary differed from ours--ours was right.  We would have been upset if we'd spent the morning sitting in the airport because this hotel is the nicest yet.  We are overlooking the ocean and the sunrise is not to be missed.

   Busan is a very nice city--we're impressed.  We had a luxury coach bus ride for an hour from Geyongju and then we were picked up by personal guide with a car.  Most interesting was time spent at the United Nations Military Cemetery.  Its quite sobering to see the memorial to the 16 nations and thousands of soldiers that gave their lives for South Korea during the was in the 1950's.  We learned a lot that we should have known but didn't.  36 Americans are still buried here but over 40,000 Americans died in Korea and every single name is engraved on a wall, categorized by state of origin.  It is reminiscent of our Vietnam memorial in Washington DC.  Each of 16 countries is similarly honored.  The garden grounds are beautifully maintained as a tribute and remembrance.

  We also took a harbor cruise to see the rocky shoreline and the huge international seaport and shipbuilding facilities in Busan.  A walk through a shopping street, up to top of a tower to view the city, a stop at Asia's largest fish market.  I always thought Tokyo had the largest but our guide said this one was biggest.  There was some pretty scary stuff for sale.  We had another Korean BBQ for lunch--we're getting to recognize some of the dishes now that they all have--jellyfish in a mustard dressing, "kumchee water", onion pancake--all these little side dishes accompany the cook-at-your-table beef.

  Busan also has beaches on the ocean that draw big crowds during the summer.  Little cool to enjoy a swim or sunbath but still pretty enough for a nice stroll.  Our hotel looks down over one of them and out across the ocean.

Gyeongju

We got tickets to "Nanta" for our last night in Seoul.  What a hoot.  I'm not sure how to explain this show.  It is a cross between New York's "Stomp", Japan's taiko drums and a tepenyaki chef with a big dose of slap stick.  Its a percussion and precision drumming act that tells the story of some inept cooks working in a restaurant.  No translation required--just a good time.    Early morning transport to Seoul train station for a 3 hour fast train to Gyeonju.  We were met by a driver who took us to Korea's most famous temple, Bulguksa.  Originally built in 528 it was rebuilt and repaired in1973 with a UNESCO World Heritage designation.  Then Seokguam Buddist Grotto that dates from the same period.  The trees here are in peak colors and the Korean maples are scarlet red.  It is so picturesque and I took a ton of photos--if I ever get a chance to upload them.   On the way to the hotel we asked our guide for a personal favorite restaurant near our hotel so he actually stopped and went in with us and helped us order.  We came back an hour later and sat down to a traditional Korean meal.  We've learned that anything "red" is going to be spicy hot and we only taste a tiny bit as Korean hot is not for us.  We ate very well and got to try some foods we wouldn't have figured out how to order.  Sitting on the floor on cushions is hard for our old bones and at home we would have complained but here it was fun.   Tomorrow we catch a morning bus to Busan.

Seoul

We're enjoying Seoul.  A little more challenging to navigate, surprisingly enough.  Very few street signs--English or Korean.  Major streets are marked so you have a general idea where you are but Seoul is divided by area's or distinctive neighborhoods which are manageable and walkable and the map from the hotel concierge is good.     This market that is near us, Dongdaemun, is suppose to be one of the major clothing markets in Korea.  It covers blocks and blocks of several storied buildings plus every street is lined with kiosks and stalls.  It is both wholesale and retail and shops open at 8 or 9am and close at 4 or 5AM!!  We didn't stay up to confirm but word is that are busiest at the wee hours of the morning. This is where Korea shops--tons of young people hanging out at the mall, just like home.  Lots of Japanese here shopping so you know there are bargains.   Fall is definatly in the air.  The green areas of the city are showing thier fall colors.  The ginko trees on the boulevards are turning yellow.  The air is crisp and cool.  Air quality seems to be good right now but understand it can get pretty bad when the winds blow from China.  Koreans must think it is cold also because all the public places have the heat on full blast.  Including our hotel room.  Can't seem to control it so we are forced to turn on the air conditioner.  Cabs, buses and restaurants are uncomfortably warm .   We did a half day bus tour that gave us a sample of the highlights of the city including ancient and contemporary temples and the Blue House.  Its Korea's version of our White House.  Lots of activity going on there as Seoul is preparing to host the G20 Summit next week.  We found the National Museum and spent a couple of hours there until our brains could absorb no more and our feet told us it was time to go back to the hotel.  People extremely friendly and helpful even if we can't understand what the other is saying.

we made it to Korea

We made it to Korea with no problems, in fact it was actally a pleasant experince to go through Shanghai Pudong and Seoul Incheon airports.  There is still some dignity in traveling on Asian airlines.  We're on a tour package now and we were met at airport and transfered to our hotel.  We are near a huge wholesale/retail shopping district so plenty to go out on the street to explore.  Our hotel is very "korean" and clean and well appointed.  Today our first day was to tour the DMZ which was pretty interesting.  I really need to do some more reading about the whole thing because we were not always sure of the significance of what we were seeing.  But the border is definately a big deal, the Korea's are still at war and definate military presence every stop we made.  We were able to go into a tunnel that was discovered in 1978 where the North Koreans had dig a wide path all the way under the DMZ through granite with the intention to be prepared to invade Seoul.  Apparently they have discovered at least 5 of these tunnels, the most recent only a year ago or so--if I understood correctly.  I have been reading a book about North Korea that Tammy gave me entitled, "Nothing to Envy" that was published in 2009 and is pretty startling.  How a entire modern country imploded into a starving third world country during the 90's because of a tirant leader.    I have not been able to upload pictures because have been forced to use internet in lobby.  Wireless in our room is something like $20 a day.  Maybe later.   Tomorrow is a city tour of Seoul.  If we can figure out the metro we might try to get to the National Museum in the afternoon.  It is cold in Korea, but sunny so not so bone chilling as China.  By the way we went out on the street last night determined to find Korean BarBQ and succeeded.  We did a lot of pantomining to order what we wanted and then crossed our fingers that we would get what we were hoping for.  It worked.  We did good--we were stuffed.  Tammy would have been proud of us.