DAY 36 MARCH 18 SEOUL MAN!, SOUTH KOREA

Sailing into Seoul we crossed under the magnificent Incheon Bridge.  This 13.8 mile cable constructed in 2009 is an example of this terrifically contemporary city.  By constructing this $1.5 billion bridge (private funds) it reduced travel time to the airport by 1  hour.  Incheon is the port we tied up at....then up bright and early for a tour of the DMZ.

DMZ

Bubs & Larry check out the Freedom Bridge

Pleep loved the train-ho choo!

 The DMZ was created to divide the county-so each side agreed to move back from the line 2200 yards, creating a 2.5 mile buffer zone between North and South Korea.  The hostility is still evident today with large numbers of troops stationed along both sides of the line- each guarding from aggression from the other. 

PUDGE &PUDGE, BOCA&PLEEP, BUBS, JOHN,LARRY,MICKEY,RUTH

INCURSION TUNNELS

Since Nov. 1974 the South has discovered 4 tunnels crossing the DMZ which have been dug by the North Koreans.  Upon discovery, the North Koreans said they were mining for coal.  Pleep thought that was a good story and as long as he got to wear a Miner's Hat he was sticking with it!  And "tram" down we did....and down and down. No place for the claustrophobic. We toured the 3rd tunnel-1770 yds long and 490 ft deep which was discovered when a North Korean Defector squealed like a pig.    You get to do the Groucho Marx walk to see the actual tunnel-damp, dripping and very low ceiling.  Yes the blue metal hard hats made beautiful music as the men kept bumping their heads.  Yeow!

Then over to the "tourist" spot to glare at those North Koreans.  Ok people, you can look through the "spy glasses" but no picture taking from that spot.  Huh?  You must step behind the yellow line 10 feet from the scopes) and take pictures from there.  Huh?  Punishable by wiping out your pictures a la delete-Korean.  Pudge and Boca tried to figure out the exact millimeter that we could step on to take that award winning photo of those Commie Bastards.  I told Pudge, just get on my shoulders and we'll win this little soon to be dust up.  Pleep tried to pose oh so coyly on the wall - the guard shack behind him- but no that very smart Korean soldier was not to be duped by Pleeps move. Monkey sir, I need to erase your pictures please. So to the line he went....for a little sunning.

THE REUNIFICATION WISH or what happened to the SUNSHINE POLICY?

South Korea has invested a lot of money over recent years and relations were moving in the "right" direction.  Then our good buddy Kim Jong il started acting up with all that nuclear nonsense.  Oh no said the South Koreans- so in 2007 they elected "The Bulldozer"- the former Mayor of Seoul and responsible for the absolute transformation of this very modern city.  President Lee learned much of his skill while an executive at Hundayai (imagine that) and his election gave a loud message to the north from this conservative candidate and now President.  What pushed him over the edge was the North Korean submarine that  torpedoed a South Korean warship in International waters.  President Lee went to the UN
for sanctions.  Then buddy Kim opened artillery and killed 4 South Koreans on an island- GAME ON!  Hence, Hillary getting her kisser in the conversation as well.  Oddly, in the meantime the South Koreans cozied up to their old enemy Japan .  So with Junior (Kim-Jong il II) waiting in the wings for his whacked out old man to either die or step down not much hope for reuny at this time.  Besides this reunification would be very different than Germany's....a much greater cost $$$$$$.  Estimating it would eat up 50% of all South Korea's Tax Revenues for  many years due to the huge wealth disparity, education disparity and the projected flood of North Koreans hopping that fence for true freedom.  The BLUE HOUSE (the South Korean White House-yes with a Blue Roof) over in Seoul has reason to be Blue.

SEOUL SISTER!

The Capitol and largest city of South Korea.  As a matter of fact 1/2 of the 50 million person lives in the greater Seoul area. And what a city!  Today Seoul is considered to be a leading Global City and was named a city World Design Capitol for 2010.  The current President of South Korea, Mr. Lee (educated at Brandeis, senior executive of Hundayai-KIA) was the former Mayor of Seoul and credited with its magnificent transformation.  Seoul is in the top 10 financial centers of the world and boy does it show.  Think Samsung, LG, Hyundai and more-also named 6th most economically powerful city/2008 by Forbes.

Lot's of oohing and ahing during our tour around the city....modern architecture, infrastructure, clean clean clean (no graffiti here), orderly people (very homogeneous with very few westerns in site), new hospitals, big and bold universities....  Seoul has a highly technologically advanced infrastructure.  It's Digital Media City is the worlds first complex for IT and Multi Media Applications.   Remember the Olympics in 1988, 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2010 G-20 Summit.  This is one happening place to see!

Part of the city is surrounded by mountains.

Very sleek modern University.

And still a touch of their tradition...this area dates back to 18 BC .  There are several World Heritage sites in the Seoul area.  Love the Yin and Yang of this new skyscraper...

A shopping trip to the "Antique" Street- very cool and lots of fun things to eat, buy and check out...

Liquid courage?

Furry candy made for you!

 Lots of smells.

PLEEP even had his fortune read and his name in calligraphy-all in a booth!

 His fortune read  COME BACK PLEEP!

DAY 35 MARCH 17 CRUISING THE YELLOW SEA-ON THE WAY TO KOREA

Happy St. Patricks Day my Irish friends and family!  We even celebrate out here on the Yellow Sea.  Never mind the boiled beef they passed off as corned beef.  Everyone is Irish today- even Yudi our Butler from Malaysia- O'Yudi we called him all day.  Yes poor Charlie jumped ship in Manila....he mumbled something about he couldn't take any more of the Boca.   So Bubbs is running around the ship with his lime green "Hawaiian " shirt singing "Coming Through The Wire".  A sight for sore eyes for the Filipino wait staff.  Naturally, like father like son- Pleep at least had the right shade of green on singing Danny Boy.  I hid under the covers most of the day reading about the Yellow Sea. Pleep used to call our swimming pool by that name when the kids were little.... The Yellow Sea is an arm of the North Pacific of the East China Sea located between China and Korea. It is connected to the East China Sea to the south. It has a maximum depth of 500 ft . Huge quantities of sediment are discharged into the Bohai Gulf by the Yellow River in China. Bohai, Korea Bay, and the Liaodong Gulf are its major inlets. The Huang He, Huai, Liao, and Yalu rivers empty into it. South of the Korean peninsula, it becomes the East China Sea.  As you can tell by the map we are chugging to South Korea, the Port of Inchon- then in to Seoul.  Yes, we can just about touch Japan.  While the sun is bright the air is cool and crisp- a glorious day to be cruising.

Korea – South and North Korea, respectively  is a territory of East Asia and a region in northeastern Asia that was formerly unified under one state, but now divided into two separate states. On the North- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and The Republic of Korea (South Korea).   Located on the Korean Peninsula, it is bordered by China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan (East Sea).  No nuclear drift over please.

Korea was one state until 1948, when it was split into North Korea and South Korea.  We are talking a major league split......

North Korea Flag

South Korea Flag

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a free market, democratic, and developed country, with memberships in the United Nations, WTO, OECD and G-20 major economies. North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, has a centrally planned industrial economy, with memberships in the United Nations, ISO, Non-Aligned Movement, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and other international organizations.  At one point in their history, Korea's isolationist policy earned it the Western nickname the "Hermit Kingdom". By the late 19th century, the country became the object of the colonial designs of Japan. In 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan, becoming part of the Japanese Empire, and remained so until the end of World War II in August 1945.  In 1945, the Soviet Union and the United States agreed on the surrender and disarming of Japanese troops in Korea; the Soviet Union accepting the surrender of Japanese weaponry north of the 38th parallel and the United States taking the surrender south of it. This minor decision by allied armies soon became the basis for the division of Korea by the two superpowers, exacerbated by their inability to agree on the terms of Korean independence. The two Cold War rivals then established governments sympathetic to their own ideologies, leading to Korea's current division into two political entities: North Korea and South Korea.  Could we call this a PROXY WAR?  Hey didn't George Heidkamp serve in the Korean War???  Oh, now it's clear why it's still screwed up!!  Well, he did get all those South Koreans drinking Budweiser though....go Geo!

Yin and Yang

We are looking forward to our tour of the DMZ and the 3rd Tunnel tomorrow.  The Captain made Bubba promise he would not wear any of his camo outfits or do any special "saluting" with his middle finger as he heard Bubs did this on his recent trip to Vietnam.  A stern talk with the Pleep reminding him no "monkeying" around in the DMZ.  Pleep said not to worry as he was bringing his favorite flag....

REFLECTIONS ON CRUISING

 Without a doubt, the absolute best part of cruising is being with the friends you've made and meeting new ones!  I feel like I am at adult sleep away camp.  So nice to not think about DUI.  We have cruised for years and have met many dear friends on ships.  Pleep mentioned something about birds of a feather flapping their wings together...yup.  The beauty of the longer cruises is that you have time to get to know the person- their ailments, their rotten kids, their eating disorders, why they want to beat their husband, why they can't stand their sister in law, business bloopers and then there are those other people with the perfect kids, husbands, figures, face lifts, perky you know whats, those are the people we don't talk to.

DAY 34 MARCH 16 CRUISING THE EAST CHINA SEA/LUNGSHAN TEMPLE

The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China and part of the Pacific Ocean.  Per our Captain, the Regent office is monitoring the situation and assures us it is safe to travel on ahead to Korea, with a drive by of Japan.  Oh yes, this is the guy who couldn't figure out the tide chart.  We have  utter faith in his knowledge and judgement.  Sure, keep those cruisers cruising...their glowing won't start till they get home.    Bubba said "hey we go to Alaska, California and other spots that are earthquake prone-it can happen at anytime.  So if it bothers you, then don't go anywhere in the Ring of Fire".  Did he say ring?  Oh hell no, I'm not getting off this boat as I am sure I will find some bauble in China.  I have convinced Bubs they are practically giving baubles away in Shanghai-recession and all.  So what about the radiation floating around Bubs?  "Hope it's in containment and doesn't set back the needed nuclear energy efforts."  Bub, I think you have been watching way to much Fox News.  We  continue to pray for the souls of the reposed in Japan and for the good Lord's guidance in handling this disaster.

cont'd yesterdays tour- LUNGSHAN TEMPLE

What a fabulous tour stop! The Lungshan (Dragon Mountain) Temple is Taipei's oldest and most popular temple and one of Taiwan's premier religious edifices. This bustling and high energy Temple is a happening place and definitely a must see on your visit to Type A. :)  We are talking lots of Yin and Yang going on.  Pleep loved the Dragon motif of course.  Up here Boca, I'm up here- take my picture!!

Decorated for Chinese New Years-the year of the Rabbit- this resplendent Buddhist temple, has the best traditional temple architectures of Chinese temples. Built in a three-sectional shaped design with bronze dragons on right and left pillars symbolizing protections to the main hall, and decorations of delicate sculptures, detailed wood carvings and gorgeous Buddha settled in the main hall. A mass of Chinese poems, verses, and phrases onsite representing values of the religion and Chinese culture part of the temple experience.

Praying and incense lighting are all part of the worshipping process.

Construction on the temple began in 1738 and was completed two years later. There is a popular legend associated with its construction. Apparently someone had left a charm or lantern of Kuanyin hanging on a tree. It began giving off an unnatural light and granting wishes to those bringing petitions; local residents consequently decided to build a temple to mark the sacred place. It has been a popular site for local residents ever since.  And tourists too!

Lungshan sometimes is known as the 'meeting place of the gods.' There are over a hundred deities worshipped here, since new settlers from the Fujian Province on the mainland often brought with them their local gods. The unevenly cut stones in the courtyards, incidentally, provide evidence of this cross-channel contact; the stones were used as ballast in in the ships that traversed the sometimes treacherous Straits of Taiwan, or "Blackwater Channel." Thus although the temple was originally constructed in the 18th century as a temple for Kuanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, numerous other gods soon made their appearance. Matsu, the Goddess of the Sea, and Kuan Kung, the God of War, figure prominently, but there are numerous other statues and altars.

 There is praying and chanting and much smoke from the burning of incense and paper money for the gods. The temple experienced numerous natural disasters and the devastation of war over the centuries. The main temple was destroyed by an earthquake in 1815, though the statue of Kuanyin survived; in the 1860s it was destroyed by a typhoon. The main hall was destroyed by allied bombing in the Second World War (Taiwan was occupied by the Japanese from 1895 to 1945), though the image of the Goddess Kuanyin again survived. The temple then served as a place for hawkers and squatters, as government offices, a school and center for military housing. In 1951 the Taipei Municipal Government proclaimed it an historic site, and announced a plan of renovation. It began in 1953 and lasted for over twenty years. The most recent refurbishment were completed in the late 1990s in time for the celebration of the 260th anniversary of its original construction.

The loving and careful restoration have revitalized and even extended the ornate and rich decorations on its walls and pillars and the numerous lively exquisite bronze, stone and wood carvings and the unique cavorting figures and dragons on the rooftops. Though much is the work of modern restorers, the true spirit of the old temple lives on today.  It was fun to watch the school girls  try to worship the Buddha of Marriage...as in I want to find a husband.  But the teacher shooed them away. 

Pleep loved the red wooden "bananas".  Also part of the worship process....stand before your Buddha, clang clang and throw them on the ground.  Over and over and over.  Pleep decided to become Buddhist for the afternoon and had a ball throwing and picking up....he found the right Buddha- The Buddha Of Cruising- making sure there will be more in his future.

DIDN'T THAT FUR BALL UNDERSTAND THIS IS A MONK KEY MEETING!

DAY 33 MARCH 15 THE BEST OF TYPE A, TAIWAN

NOT TYPE A BOCA- TAIPEI  OOPS
No wonder Boca liked it a lot.  The money from the billions of products bearing the "Made In Taiwan" is seen all over the city.  The modern affluence is abundantly evident.  Boca really really liked the very tidy streets....reminded her of how clean Germany used to be!
In this city of 2.5 million folks I saw only one graffiti.  The shrubs, landscaping and general neatness of this bustling place (mind you many of the main streets are under heavy construction expanding the subway system) was a pleasure to tour.  Make no doubt their rich Chinese cultural past is equally evident and celebrated as well.

THE NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM  was established by the National Republic of China in Bejing's Forbidden City in 1925 by then Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.  Rather than to have all their ancient Chinese artworks fall into the hands of the Japanese they moved the items all over the country and eventually when Chiang broke away from mainland China moved items here, to Taiwan.  Built in 1965 housing 677,681 items: bronzes, ceramics, curios, jades, paintings, calligraphy and more.  In spite of being very crowded with Taiwanese visitors  a must to see.

Pleep  very much enjoyed the calligraphy and felt compelled to purchase a calligraphy brush and book to be able to do this Chinese style of writing.  He also helped the SHHHHHHH Lady ( yes the lady with the paddle reminding all to shhhh) manning the shhhh podium.  Pleep was quite effective in this role as he told the Shhh lady he has had much experience with being SHHHH'D.




GRAND HOTEL

After much Shhhhing it was time to eat- geeze it's been 3 hours since our last meal....come on, WE ARE BOAT PEOPLE and perpetually hungry.  So over to the GRAND HOTEL we head for chow.  Originally built in 1952 the current structure was completed in 1973 and still the worlds tallest classical Chinese building-285ft tall- Chinese Palace Style.  This extravagant hotel,  was quite the lunch stop.  After a little posturing and posing in the GRAND lobby Pleep was raring to go. Go?  He had heard a rumor that there were secret passages and he was hell bent to find them.  And pass up lunch?  Gone!

 So we mosey over to the most exquisitely laid out Asian Buffet.  A feast for the eyes as well as my pie hole.  Huge and varied.  From traditional Chinese to American style Chinese.  Plenty of Sushi too.  Boca should have worked for Kraft Foods as a taste tester.  She pretty much will try any and all.  The raw egg sitting in water being the least favorite of the tastings didn't slow her down.   Boca thought that  sprinting back and forth to the various food stations qualified as exercise for the day.

 Of course Bubba's favorite was the desert trough....I think he started at that station.  So many choices and so little time.  Bubba thought that the serving sizes were so small that the process warranted loading up on several.  You go Bubba!  And naturally always taking a little extra for the Pleepmeister.  Knowing he would be hungry after the hunt for the secret passages.  Where in the heck is that darn monkey????  Oh there he is!   Boca found him sneaking into the White Party.  The what?  Following all the very cute young girls all dolled up heading to a party.  Boca had to promise Security that he would be no further bother, that the bus was waiting for him once again.


THE NATIONAL REVOLUTIONARY MARTYR SHRINE
Dedicated to the war dead of the Republic of China-built in 1969.  Although the shrine is located in Taiwan, most of the soldiers honored (390,000) served in China and were born in the Chinese provinces.  We enjoyed watching the very stellar changing of the Guard.  Very precise and sharply adorned.  Bubba puts them in the top 5 of honor guards he has seen.  Well done!


Pleep so begged for cleats on his boots and a bayonet.  He very much loved the marching and cleat tapping and best of all bayonet twirling.  After talking his way into the Guard Room, Pleep convinced one of the young guards that having their picture taken with the Pleepmeister would be a big hit on their Facebook page.  Again, making the bus wait for that pesky monkey1



THE CHAING-KAI SHEK MEMORIAL HALL...OR NOT.

Built in 1980 in honor of Chaing Kai-shek the former President of China and the hero of Taiwan.  Generalissimo Chaing took 2 million folks from China and brought them to this island, then called Formosa to start a new gig.  Oddly IN 2008 President Chen Shui-bian changed the name to  THE NATIONAL TAIWAN DEMOCRACY MEMORIAL HALL  and in 2009  the new President, Ma Ying-jaou changed it back to Chaing Kai-Shek Memorial. Pleep loved the controversy and  posing for the visitors on Chaings lap .....

Bubba told him to get the hell off of Chaing's lap as he was sure it was not allowed....
Sure enough here come the guard. The clicking of the cleats on the marble scared the little monkey and he just about flew off Chiangs knee!

And of course  a stop off at the gift shop a must.  The Taiwanese shop girls fell in love with Pleep and convinced him a Bamboo cup would serve as a fine bath tub and suggested he needed one sooner than later.

TAIPEI 101,formerly known as the World Financial Center.  This landmark skyscraper was the tallest building in the world from 2004-2010.  Designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes and I so don't want to experience that test!  The 101 is now number 2- number 1 is in Dubai.    101 floors above ground and 5 below.  Very much resembling a Pagoda.  Next time must see the observatory on the 89th floor.  No time this trip and quite cloudy today.  Taipei was a real treat to tour- modern blended with Chinese heritage made for a great day!

Final stop LUNSHAN Temple....more about that tomorrow!  Doing this blog on a boat with intermittent service is beyond taxing....type type, load pictures then disappear!  GRRRRRRR.  Yes the neighbors have complained about all of the cusses permeating our cabin door!