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thetourist

54 Blog Entries
3 Trips
203 Photos

Trips:

No news, Good news! in Peru & Argentina
No news, Good news! in New Zealand (RWC 2011) & Fiji
No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong

Shorthand link:

http://blogabond.com/thetourist


Didier


Arrived in Auckland

Auckland, New Zealand

In case you all wonder, we arrived safely in New Zealand after a small stop in Seoul. The trip was fine. Everything is fine except the internet access here in New Zealand. I will probably update this blog only when I will be back home.
So, do not forget, no news = good news.

permalink written by  thetourist on September 15, 2011 from Auckland, New Zealand
from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in New Zealand (RWC 2011) & Fiji
tagged NZ
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Signs everywhere....

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Another thing that strikes me, probably because I was just coming back from South Korea where everything is spotless clean and people are naturally respecting everything without beeing forced to, is the quantity of prohibition signs.
They are everywhere and for everything. Sometimes I found up to 6 or 7 signs on a rubbish bin saying:
do not throw outside bin
do not smoke (fine 5000 HK$)
please put the cigarettes ends in ashtray
do not throw lit cigarettes ends in bin (fine 1500 HK$)
do not sit on bin
please put waste newspaper in litter bin
and the best one
for complaints or suggestions please phone xxxx or hotline xxxx

Some examples of signs I found



I was not really expecting finding a sign here, but, here it is.

Please don't climb up

Last one in the bus. At the end, it is difficult to make the difference between what is forbidden and what is recomended to do. The "mind your head" sign should placed in a different place or be more explicit... maybe I'll phone the hotline for my suggestion. Why am I saying this? because I hit my head while taking the picture :-)
I suggest a sign saying "mind your head while taking pictures" or "Do not take picture (we decline any responsabilty in case you hit your head doing this!)"

To recover from this, I tried some Dim Sum. These are kinds of dumplings filled with different things. They are cooked on a steaming basket.

Dim Sum

permalink written by  thetourist on September 4, 2010 from Hong Kong, Hong Kong
from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong
tagged HongKong
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Aberdeen fish market

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

South of the island, in aberdeen, there is a fish market where probably all the fishes sold in any restaurant in Hong Kong are coming from. Clearly not a place for tourists but that's not the kind of things that stops me. If you decide to go, be prepared. Best thing is to have plastic boots. They didn't like me to take pictures but here are some


This area looks really poor/real compared to the expensive/fake Hong Kong picture I had on the island. This alignment of boats attached one to the other reminds me some James Bond pursuits in a floating fish market

permalink written by  thetourist on September 2, 2010 from Hong Kong, Hong Kong
from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong
tagged HongKong
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Hong Kong

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

The first thing that strikes you when you arrive in Hong Kong is the humidity. I compare this climat to the one of Rio de Janeiro with the difference that, here, you have a very heavy city smog. Saying this explains already why this city is not for me. The fact that 7 millions people are living on 1100 km2 does not help. This is one of the most densely populated area in the world. That will be difficult to take some pictures without humans on it :-)
Hong Kong island view from the top (The peak)

This city is full of lights and it looks like it never sleeps

The island viewed from the mainland

permalink written by  thetourist on September 1, 2010 from Hong Kong, Hong Kong
from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong
tagged HongKong
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Last lunch in Korea

Seoul, South Korea

Close to the Incheon airport (the airport is on a island) and on the seaside, it was time to try another barbecue. This time with sea shells, clams. To be honest, I don't know almost any of them. As always, you can choose what you want from the tank.

And the lady is preparing everything for you. She gives you a glove to hold the "burning" shell with your left hand. The right hand concentrates on fighting with the sticks as usual.


Very tasty and fun again.
That concludes the trip to South Korea. It was an interesting experience. One thing I'd like to mention. Everybody we met there was very friendly and there was always someone to help (without asking for it) in case.

permalink written by  thetourist on August 31, 2010 from Seoul, South Korea
from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong
tagged Seoul and SouthKorea
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Fish

Andong, South Korea

On the way south east of Daegu, before visiting Gyeongju, the former capital of Korea, a stop in Gampo on the seaside for some raw fish restaurant.
It' s very easy, ..., just choose from the menu here

The procedure is the same I explained before for other dishes. You will put the fish in a leave, adding some spicy korean red sauce. No need to explain that everything is fresh (you can chose the fish you want from a tank outside) and excellent

permalink written by  thetourist on August 30, 2010 from Andong, South Korea
from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong
tagged SouthKorea and Gyeongju
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Bulguksa temple & Royal Tomb (Chunmacheong)

Andong, South Korea

The Bulguksa temple is said to be the nicest temple of Korea. It really is. Specially when you think that it has been built in 751 and destroyed 2 times during japanese invasions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulguksa_Temple

Some prayers are attached to those red globes on the ceiling of the temples.

Here, some "details" I liked during my visit.

Then a small visit to the royal tombs (Chunmacheong). The small hill you see here is where the tomb is. One has been opened to show to the public. This is the one of an unknown king from the Silla Kingdom. You can see replicas of golden jewels, weapons found there with the king.
I was told that servants and the whole family were buried alive with the king to assist him during his journey. That has changed afterwards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheonmachong

Chunmacheong (Royal tombs)

Before going back to Daegu and before the next storm, I enjoyed the view of this beautiful Field of lotus flowers.

permalink written by  thetourist on August 30, 2010 from Andong, South Korea
from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong
tagged SouthKorea and Gyeongju
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Out of the city

Andong, South Korea


After having taken the fast train at 300 km/h from Seoul to Daegu, I'm ready to enjoy another 2,5 days more in the south. That will allow me to see more traditional side of Korea.
The visit of the Byeongsan seowon (seowon means private school) was a first stept to understand Korean traditions. This confucian school is the leading one for the memorial of masters and education (respect of the older, respect of the parents, ...). Students were coming here since 1572.

Alcohol was not allowed in (not good for concentration). Women were not allowed for the same reason.

permalink written by  thetourist on August 29, 2010 from Andong, South Korea
from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong
tagged SouthKorea and Andong
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Korean barbecue

Andong, South Korea


Time to eat... again. This time trying the local version of barbecue. Like the shabu shabu, it is a fun way to do it. The fire is in the middle of the LOW table (the copper tube you are seeing is a heat extractor) and you cook everything yourself. You may wonder how you cut the meat? No, not with the sticks. A very friendly and helpful woman is taking care of that for you with ... scissors.
Then you put a leave (can be sesame or lettuce) in your left hand, catch the meat using the sticks with your right hand, dip it in a salt crystals, put it on the leave, add a slice of garlic, spicy korean red sauce, roll the leave and eat it. Doing this without spilling anything on your clothes get you 10 extra points...

permalink written by  thetourist on August 29, 2010 from Andong, South Korea
from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong
tagged SouthKorea and Andong
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Ahoe village

Andong, South Korea

The visit to Hahoe Village (translating to “Village Enveloped by Water”) was promising. The fact that it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List under the category of “Historic Villages in Korea” recently (July 31, 2010) is maybe a sign. In fact you have there the opportunity to see a traditional village and also the Hahoe Byeolsingut Tallori (Korean traditional masked-dance Drama)

Unfortunately, someone opened the water and it started raining non-stop like in the Forrest Gump movie, so the masked dance was cancelled. That's a good reason to come back!

permalink written by  thetourist on August 29, 2010 from Andong, South Korea
from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong
tagged SouthKorea and Andong
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