Nori Bong night out and Gyeongbokgung Palace

I had never heard of this and when my fellow staffers and I decided to go out one Friday, they were kind enough to introduce me to the infamous Nori-Bong! It's kind of like karaoke except every group that comes to the nori-bong gets their own private room in which you're able to sing along to the lyrics on the tv. They even provided free popcorn and ice cream?? awesome!

 Popcorn, ice cream, beer = :)

 All of my awesome fellow staffers!

 Jeznin controls the songs on the tv with this remote.

The nori-bong was fantastic, although if I remember correctly you're technically not supposed to drink in the nori-bong, however we did and it wasn't that hard to. Bear that in mind if you decide to give it a shot, because some places might be more strict than others. We were also extremely loud and the only foreigners there so we got a bit of a harder time!

 So the next morning as I pulled myself out of my post-nori bong hangover, I decided to do something cultural and educational so I decided to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace in the NW part of Seoul. If you are visiting Seoul and would like to visit, the palace is extremely well mapped out and you literally walk out of the subway onto the palace grounds. This picture above is actually the view I got after I walked up the steps out of the subway!

 Gyeongbokgung Palace means 'Palace of Shining Happiness,' and if i'm not mistaken is the largest in Seoul. It is actually quite old, I believe about 700 years old and is under construction because the Japanese tried to burn it all down in the 20th c.

 Some of the amazing architecture. This was one of the doorways that led to another courtyard.

Some of the palace guards standing watch before the changing of the guard ceremony.

My trip to the DMZ!

So a few weekends back I went with a group to the DMZ (De-Militarized zone) which is the 2kms south and 2kms north stretch from the N-S Korean border. We arrived at the Dora observation deck and came across heavily guarded fences, watch towers and command posts.

 So I went closer and took pictures :) Only I am now noticing the troop int he command post looking at me through binoculars :s

 These are ribbons with messages written on them by S. Koreans who have family in the north.

 We went to a local grocer who provided North Koran products!! So I picked up a few N. Korean beers and a bottle of vodka. Interesting point the guide was telling us: look at the vodka label and it looks so different to the ones we buy in S.K. or anywhere else. The label is very simple with a name, alcohol percentage, ml amount and a bar code. There is no need for flashy labels or advertisements as there is no competing brand to sell to consumers!

 On the was back from the DMZ we learned that this 'Christmas tree' was lit during the holiday season and is so heavily lit with thousands of lights for a point. What would be on the right side of this picture was the river and then North Korea. It was intentionally deliberate for the North Korean villagers and command posts to see this Christmas tree, as it was intended as a sort of bragging right from the South that: 'we have electricity and you don't.' Petty politics.

 This was taken at the small museum at the DMZ. We learned that these were N.Korean secret spies that tied flippers to their legs and attempted to swim past the border down the river approaching Seoul. The died en route as you can see in the photo. We also learned from the guide that every summer when its warm enough there are usually about 2-3 bodies every summer that are fished out of the river that have floated past the border into the South. These are due to floodings, intentional defactors, or apparently even assassinations.

At the Dora observatory we could only take pictures behind this 'photo line.' Past that the photos are prohibited and you can only look through the binoculars and see North Korea from there. That is where we  saw the N. Korean 'propaganda village.' Where soldiers disguise as civilians and wander about amongst fake, hollowed out buildings and houses to give the illusion of a good life. Not to be outdone, S. Korea has their own rival propaganda village facing it on the other side of the border.