Guess Where We Are?

It's that time again, we're going on our last Asian vacation and it's up to you to figure out where in the world we are.  The first one with the correct answer will receive an authentic gift from a country that:

courtesy of www.infoplease.com

• eats rice with almost every meal
• has at least some part bordering an ocean
• is in Asia
• allows smoking in restaurants and bars :(
• is not North Korea

We know these facts are a bit vague, but don't worry, there's more to come soon :)

National Museum of Korea

Where can you go to see the best art, sculptures, and historic relics of Korea? Why the National Museum of Korea of course! We couldn’t believe that we spent four hours soaking it up and didn't even see everything. The museum takes you through the development and long history of good'ol K-town. We saw fascinating prehistoric artifacts, breathtaking cultural pieces, and beautiful artwork. Afterwards we asked ourselves why we hadn't been here before! 

This is only the entrance

Neolithic Pottery

John's favorite

Who needs a box and newspapers?

Indian guardian

Artist's delight

The back-side of a bronze mirror

The front-side of a bronze mirror

Billy Thomas, what do you think about these?

The mountain spirit sporting a sweet beard

Early 20th century Korea, we hope to find some more photo's like this

A leader from the Chosan period

Yea

The Whos and Whats of Icheon Ceramic Village

Who: Johnifer, Paul, Cecil

What: Icheon Ceramic Village

When: June 26th 2011

Where: Icheon, South of Seoul

Why: Because it's cool. And...we tried to go there several months ago, however, we read the information       too fast and though it was in Incheon not Ichon.  After several hours of hiking around, we realized we weren't in the right place.  This time we had Cecil on our side  and we were determined to see Korea's famous ceramic skills.

He said: "More soju please!"

She said: "My favorite parts were seeing traditional kilns, eating lots of food, and going to a café called 'Daily Brown'. "

The good: Easy to get too and has something for everyone's ceramic style

The bad: No food in the village and some pieces were too pricey

The ugly: John after too much soju

This is where they grow all their tourists

Some of the beautiful plates

And vases

This was our lunch spread, it was all you can eat too

The after lunch stop, everyone has to have some daily brown

An old-school outdoor kiln

Stamp-a-licious

OMB! What a Weekend

Oh my Buddha! On June 18-19th we went to a Templestay, and for those who don't know what that is (we assume that's almost everyone) here is the definition. :
Templestay- Noun \ˈtem-pəl,ˈstā\ 1. a period of time in which crazy foreigners spend a weekend at a Buddhist temple doing various activities including but not limited to the following: learning about the everyday lives of the monks and taking part in their daily activities, eating bland fly infested vegetarian food, sleeping on the floor with a hard pillow, meditating, doing 108 bows at three in morning, sipping tea with monks, making prayer beads, and getting in touch with the Big B.  Food, lodging, clothing, and instruction in English is provided.

We had a spiritual experience at the beautiful Jikjisa temple which sits high in the mountains 1 hour outside of Daejeon. The next day was a little hectic, running on just a few hours sleep (we are not used to sleeping on the ground with noisy neighbors and very thin walls) we boarded a series of buses in an attempt to get to the most popular temple in Korea, Haeinsa home of the Tripitaka Koreana.  The supposed 4 hour journey took more like 6, but it was well worth it so see some of the oldest Buddhist texts in Chinese characters in the world.  The over 80,000 wood blocks are housed in a specially designed building that sits on the highest mountain in the temple and keeps the treasures safe in a temperature and moisture regulated environment.  This massive temple had a lot to offer, but nothing compared to the feeling we got as we stood among those ancient relics housed in their custom built palace with the smell of antiquated wood wafting about. 

Lets end with a smile:

Q: What happens when a Buddhist becomes totally absorbed with the computer he is working with?
A: He enters Nerdvana.

A little of the mountain's juices in a communal drinking pot

We made some necklaces to help us count our bows, Jennifer is the only one who completed all 108 of them

Jennifer modeling the latest in templestay spring-wear

Here we met the Master of the Jogie order, it was quite an honor. 

They didn't have long enough pants for John, ps... check  out his shoes, temple issued

Inside one of the many building in the temple

Luck be a lady tonight

Water flowing in the park outside the temple

View from the top of the falls

Mini Buddha on top of a wish-rock

Our wish-rock, walk clockwise around it and your wishes and dreams will come true.

More of the park

This is the year the temple was built

On his way to the Tripitaka

The front of the building built for the Tripitaka, camera's weren't allowed anywhere closer than this.