William Chong

By the time you read this I’ll be over the Pacific ocean winging my way back to Auckland. But just thought I’d share a bit about my visit into the Korean Demilitarized Zone, and out to the Panmunjom Joint Security Area (that’s the place you see in photos where South Korean soldiers guard one side and North Korean ones guard the other).

The Korean situation seem to me like a contemporary parallel to the Biblical civil warring between Israel and Judah. Families on either side continue to struggle as they wait in hope that one day the country would be reunified.

Freedom Bridge

Located at Imjingak, this railroad bridge crosses the Paju River and is heavily guarded by Republic of Korea (ROK) troops. It was used to exchange prisoners following the Korean War (1950-1953). As the northernmost point that South Korean civilians are able to reach, there’s a monument and shrine that those with displaced families come to each year to pray for reunification, and that the rail line will connect both parts of Korea again. There’s a plaque there that says, “the iron horse wants to run” – summing up the fervent hopes of those separated from their loved ones in the North.

The 3rd Tunnel

Although a cease-fire armistice agreement was signed by North and South Korea to end hostilities, since then there have been numerous flashpoints and small battles. In particular North Korea made a concerted effort to dig numerous subterranean passages towards Seoul, designed for a sneak attack. So far four tunnels (out of an estimated 20) have been found – the 3rd Tunnel was discovered in October 1978.

It was sobering to hear that The 3rd Tunnel goes 435 m south of the Military Demarcation Line (i.e. in South Korean territory), and ended up just 55km from Seoul. My guidebook tells me that the Emperor at the time chose Seoul as the capital of Korea based on geomancy (feng shui) – though one wonders if his feng shui would have predicted Seoul to now be less than an hour’s drive from the most heavily fortified border in the world.

Anyways we got to walk along the South Korean side of the tunnel. You can only walk along 150m of the tunnel: when discovered it was quickly sealed off in three places, including a 5m thick portion of concrete, chemical gas and landmines. Needless to say we listened to the tourguide and didn’t go past the given boundary.

Dorasan Observatory

A hilltop observatory, guarded by troops – it gives a very expansive view of the DMZ. We got to see villages on either side of the Military Demarcation Line – Daeseong on the South side (called “Freedom Village”), and Kijong on the North side (called “Propaganda Village”).

This is a poor picture but you can see the North Korean flag flown from the top of a 160m tower that dwarfs everything else in Kijong village – the flag itself weighs 300kg! There’s a flag tower and flag on the South Korean side too in Daeseong, but it’s not as big. Keeping up with the Joneses never seemed more dramatic…

Panmunjeom

This is the neutral Joint Security Area – all important UN meetings regarding North-South Korea are held here. When we were there, elite ROK soldiers were on guard. They stand in a taekwondo pose, with half their bodies behind the Conference Room walls, the other half shown towards the North Koreans on the other side of the JSA. Our military escort, US Specialist Andrew Pollack (he previously served in Iraq) told us that the ROK soldiers do this to present a smaller shooting target, and also so that their hidden hand can be used to signal anything out of the ordinary. The guards here all hold black belts in taekwondo and are hand-selected by the government to serve in the JSA.

Conference Room

This building sits on either side of the Military Demarcation Line. The MDL runs down the middle of the conference table inside, and on either side’s windows you can see the simple concrete strip that’s divided Korea for over 50 years.

It’s also an eerie feeling to step across to the other side of the room into North Korea. In fact overall, there’s a certain tension in the air when you’re in the DMZ. Everything is more serious, the military buildup and precautions are sobering, and it causes you to reflect on the futility of war.

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Here’s the full facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=118187&id=579606378&l=2ee394fce8

A full day of walking around, sightseeing and shopping. In the morning I checked out the Gyeongbukgung Palace, the National Palace from the Joseon era. I was there in time to catch some of the guards in full costume changing around.

In the afternoon I walked down to Namdaemun Market – it’s filled to the brim with shops ready to fleece tourists like me of our money! The old brick-based market buildings remind me of Kuching, with its narrow alleyways and a bustling atmosphere. They sell everything from genuine (and fake) designer clothing, traditional wear, shoes, toys, souvenirs and so on. I must admit that I’m terrible at haggling and probably paid too much for the things I bought!

It’s been a great day of relaxed wandering, and exploring. I’ve definitely had lots of Brooke Fraser/”Deciphering Me” moments just standing in the middle of a massive intersection, neon lights everywhere – just missing the see-through umbrella!

Next on the itinerary, I’ll be off on a guided tour to the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ), which should be a fascinating experience.

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So yesterday I left the Anglophilic bubble of the Grand Hyatt, where our conference was, and stepped out into the authentic streets of Seoul for three days of sightseeing.

I had my Googlemaps directions at the ready, and it told me to get to 9beonji Jongno2-ga, Jongno-gu by using two different subway lines. However when I got off at the directed stop (Euljiro4-ga), the hotel was nowhere to be found. The mental image to have here is of a lost-looking dude wheeling an oversize green suitcase up and down the pothole-filled lanes of a neighbourhood market, bemused stall owners looking on. After asking a few shop owners in fractured Korean (thanks, Collins phrase book and Farm Cove Intermediate Korean class), I realised that Googlemaps lied and the YMCA Hotel was actually 1.5 km further.

Lessons to learn here: Korean streets are divided into numbered sections. The same stretch of Jongno, which means Bell Road, gets divided into Jongno1-ga, Jongno2-ga, Jongno3-ga and so on. The main intersection signs tell you what division of the road lies ahead, rather than what road you’re actually on (that’s on a separate sign on top). And you have to be careful as well as an intersection sign before the intersection gives different road names to a sign that’s after the intersection.

Monday night: a quick walk around the area

This is the “Street of Youth”, off Jongno2-ga, across the road from the YMCA building. It links up with a warren of alleyways that run parallel to Jongno Road itself – my guidebook notes that these alleyways were once used by the peasant class so they wouldn’t have to keep bowing to the aristocrats that traversed on the main road.

In any case, it was a bevy of sights and smells.

Out here, it’s a fascinating mix of Korean pop music and the street vendors plying their wares. I popped into a small restaurant and ordered something familiar – deep fried pork on rice (kassudon in Korean). I think I’ll be content to have more of a shop round tomorrow, and inject some Korean won (the local currency) into the Seoul economy.

One thing I noticed was the faint smell of sewage on the streets. Seoul, like most Asian cities, must have a different method of moving water and sewage through the city that makes the smell more prevalent. Another thing here that’s different to NZ is that smoking is a lot more prevalent around here. Most restaurants have a large smoking section and so if you’re not used to it you may have to hold your breath when walking between shops. It’s definitely a good thing that the previous Government legislated against smoking inside restaurants and many public areas have smoking bans in NZ. We’re quite fortunate in that respect.

My internet connection here is quite patchy – but will promise more photos soon!

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Well we’re back in cold and wintry Auckland – it’s good to be home! You can only spend so much time in the Gold Coast before your money starts to run out…

Over the course of the week we picked up a few insider tips on getting around the place:

• It may be tempting, but don’t use the Gold Coast Tourist Shuttle. It costs an exorbitant amount (e.g. $91 for a 5-day pass) for bus travel that’s on par with the local bus service. Travelling like a local will save you lots: the TX1, TX2 and TX5 routes run to the Theme Parks while route 745 and 750 go past Pacific Fair shopping centre and Jupiters Casino. We went for the fare-by-fare option and only spent about $30-40 each.
• The Gold Coast during the winter actually turned out pretty good. July is usually the driest time of the year, and while it can get chilly at night, you’ll generally get 19-25 degree warmth during the day.
• We booked accommodation using our Entertainment Book and got an 11th floor, 2-bedroom apartment with ocean views at half price. Truly amazing. If you want a place to stay that’s within walking distance to Surfer’s Paradise, we stayed at Surfers Beachside Holiday Apartments and thoroughly enjoyed it. Fully furnished, kitchen, laundry, and if you book early you have a good chance of getting fantastic views of the beach.
• The Entertainment Book’s pretty useful for theme park tickets too. You get a 15% discount, and you can use your NZ card at the ticket office on the day. Don’t buy your tickets too far in advance though, as you never know what the weather will be like on the day. Some rides do get closed during inclement weather.
• When at the theme parks, we made a beeline to the best rides first. Queues built up during the day no matter what the attraction. On the day we went to Movieworld, our first ride was the Superman Escape and had a relatively short queue upon entry. Our choice proved astute as after we came off the ride (all adrenalined up), it was closed for most of the day for maintenance.
• For another type of surfing at Surfer’s Paradise, bring your laptop or iPhone/iPod and you can access free wireless internet at McDonald’s on Cavill Ave.

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Waiting in line at Movieworld, and we’ve just done the Superman Escape. Undoubtedly the best ride we have been on! And pretty fickle too – the ride closed after about an hour into the day to deal with “electrical faults”.

Some photos:

The sunrise.

The Tower of Terror sets off at Dreamworld.

The best ride ever! Superman Escape, 0-100 km/h in 2 seconds. Now that’s fast.

Moreton Bay Bug – it’s pretty tasty, and looks like a crayfish with no legs.

Other highlights from our theme park triapsing:

• After getting back from Dreamworld last night, we promptly went to Timezone for a night of arcades. For 12 hours we were just like kids at the sweet shop: going all out on laserstrike, unlimited arcade games, winning prizes, intense roller coasters, and more!
• The “I’m going to camp and I’m bringing…” game is equally useful when waiting in long ride queues.
• Some unforeseen health issues from the trip included hoarse voices (from screaming too much), sore quads (from squatting around during laser strike), and sore feet from walking and queuing for hours
• Waiting in line for an hour to ride the Lethal Weapon is a great practical test of whether you have the fruit of the Spirit (in the form of patience…)

We’re off to have some dinner, and putting photos on Facebook soon. Do wrap up warm everyone!

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Blogging this from the back of the bus headed to Dreamworld.

We’ve so far had a grand time here on holiday in the Gold Coast, Australia. We landed on Sunday morning and explored Surfers Paradise for the day. Some photos and comments below:

We booked a 2-bedroom apartment at Surfer’s Beachside Holiday Apartments, and upon entering the room and seeing the spacious rooms and pristine ocean view, jumped around and screamed excitedly for about five minutes!

Going for a run up and down the main beach is a great way to explore and savour the sights: I got street-level views of Surfers, Main Beach, the Gold Coast marina and Broadbeach over a 16 km run.

We caught up with our maternal granduncle, who promptly took us to Ashmore Rd Steak and Seafood for a crazily filling meal/banquet. The cows in Australia must be bigger because we got ourselves huge steaks!

We followed them to meet our aunt-once-removed, whose husband whisked us on a thrilling night cruise of the Gold Coast Waterway on his luxury yacht. Following that, Rick took us around the Marina Mirage and treated us to some chocolate treats. A testament to generous and hospitable relatives.

And that was just the first day!

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It’s been pretty mad at work for the last wee while, so I was glad to take some time out and visit the hairdresser for a bit of hair modifying.

So now I find myself sitting in a chair with a showercap on my head, and a weird hairheating contraption that attempts to placate your protests of “hey my head is kinda getting hot” with nursery rhymes. Yes, those soft music-box melodies you hear in horror movie scenes showing the innocent child, playing in their room prior to some gruesome death.

I’ll put up a photo of the end result. But this tinkly music is gently putting me to sleep…

Anyways, just to let you guys know I’m off on holiday next week: me and my bros and sis are off to be tourists in the gold, Gold Coast. I’m sure we’ll survive the deadly swine flu pandemic that’s decimated the swine population around the world. That’s right, more pigs have been killed due to swine flu compared to humans.

Alright, enough rambling. Take care everyone!

UPDATE 4/7/09: The head-warming machine. Could be a low-grade torture device if you asked me.

I took a day off work today and spent the day driving around with Cheryl. We made it as far as Tauranga for lunch and a basic trek before coming back via Waihi and Paeroa (and yes, there was the obligatory L&P bottle shot). I have to say that climbing mountains is exhilarating when you have a great view of Tauranga behind you. I also have to say that it’s a little odd driving past bars selling beer in Bethlehem. In fact this part of Tauranga is so Christian-themed that you’ve got streets named after apostles, clothing stores called “Elim”, and of course, plenty of churches purporting to be Bethlehem [qualifier] church.

I had a great time – nothing like a day with your best friend and future wife to rejuvenate oneself.

Cheryl, I’m looking forward to more moments in life together! You’re my favourite Christian Asian chick!

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 Was good. Our tent (the white one) didn’t leak, which was pretty good for a $50 trademe no-brand 3-person type. Relaxing drive up to Goat Island, 80-cent ice-creams, pasta cooking, card games under torchlight, good friends.

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Some random musings from the streets of Sydney:

There’s more mentally ill people on the streets than in Auckland. I think one reason could be that Sydney is so busy and stressed (compared to NZ) that perhaps people that can’t take it fall by the wayside. You have the regular homeless/bum-types that sleep on the sidewalk against the wall, or huddle in the corner with a hat out in search of pity cash. This is hard to come by since people here usually don’t care. I also happened to watch an irate power-professional female at an intersection enduring some very inadequate window washing (the dude sprayed more soap than he scraped, no chance of any money) and then screech into the distance, leaving the man with a half-furious, half-bemused expression. Sad to see.

Queues are long. Not sure why, they just are. Trains have people, people, people. I’m quite aware that my limited worldview means that I’ll probably think Sydney relaxed when I hit the streets of Manhattan, for example. More people in the same space. Actually it means more food choices – as long as you have the money, you can’t go hungry in Sydney.

There’s an Easyway! *dances* How crazy is it that Easyway can franchise all over the word from Taiwan? In Sydney it’s very Westernised: you can order pearl milk tea as “Top Seller #1″, or as part of a drink and movie deal, or even little snacks. Definitely not a one-man stall in an echoey Meadowlands set-up…

Even in a small company, to do any discussion with more than one person you have to have a meeting. Meetings are held in boardrooms. Very businessy, very new to me.

Transit lanes. I saw them in Brisbane last time I was there as well, but it’s a pretty good idea – a lane on the far left is reserved only for those who carpool. If the road has a T2 lane, then any car driving along it has to have 2 or more people. I also saw T3 lanes, which is totally funky. What a great idea to reduce road congestion (though it invariably clogs up the other two lanes. Bring a friend in to work with you).

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Getting ready for a bear market. Sold a chunk of shares yesterday. Lost money, but would lose more holding on to it all the way through the downturn. Sea of red arrows striking fear into investors’ hearts.

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