Travels to Asia
On this page are photos
and links to places I've had a chance to visit in Asia
(Far East and the Middle East). Asia is full of
modern cities but also full of traditonal and steep rooted
cultures.
Most of my trips to Asia
were work related, but on my limited days off I was able
to do some sightseeing - limited days off varied. On
my first work trip, to Seoul South Korea, I had the
weekends off and also had some time off during Korean
public holidays. On my most recent trip to Dubai, I
worked 17 days straight with no days off (normally it is a
six day work week there but we needed to finish our
work). On that trip I only saw the metro stations
and the trains, which was fine as it was pretty neat to
see it almost finished.
My first two trips to
Asia were to visit family and friends in Hong Kong and in
Guangzhou. They were great trips as I saw where my
parents grew up and got to meet a lot of relatives.
It was also neat to see where my great grandfather lived
before he immigrated to Toronto almost in the early part
of the 20th century.
My next seven trips were
work related - to South Korea and Dubai. On one of
my trips home from Korea, I took a week's vacation and
spent time touring Japan independently.
I've put some photos from
my trips on this page with weblinks to the places I
visited in case you would like to go there as well.
![Asia Map](images/Map-Asia.jpg)
TRIP SUMMARY
01) August 1988: China (Hong
Kong, Guangzhou, Macau)
02) July 1996: China (Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Xinhui, Macau,
Shenzhen)
03) September/October 2007: South Korea (Seoul, Suwon,
South/North Korean Border)
04) May/June 2008: South Korea (Hamyang), Japan (Tokyo,
Kyoto, Nara)
05) September/October 2008: South Korea (Hamyang, Jinju,
Busan)
06) January 2009: United Arab Emirates (Dubai)
07) May/June 2009: United Arab Emirates (Dubai)
08) August 2009: United Arab Emirates (Dubai)
09) July 2010: South Korea (Busan)
Airline Codes
AC: Air Canada
NW: Northwest Airlines (now Delta Airlines)
JL: Japan Airlines
KE: Korean Airlines
EK: Emirates
CX: Cathay Pacific
UA: United Airlines
CP: Canadian Airlines (now part of Air Canada)
South Korea IV (July 24 to
July 31 2010)
Locations visited:
- Busan, South Korea
- Vancouver, Canada
Flight Path:
- AC: YYZ->YVR (B767), YVR->ICN (B767), Bus:
ICN->GMP, KE: GMP->PUS (B737), PUS->GMP
(B737), Rail: GMP->ICN, AC: ICN->YVR (B767),
YVR->YYZ (A321)
Hotel(s):
- Busan: Novotel
Ambassador Busan
Another trip to South
Korea. This time for the Busan-Gimhae LRT.
Just one week to test and update my train control
software. Arrived Sunday night, worked five days,
and departed Saturday afternoon.
I got the Saturday morning before my flight free to walk around the city a bit. On my way home I also got a four hour layover in Vancouver and finally got a chance to ride my project, Canada Line in revenue service
![]() Here's AC63
(Boeing 767-300ER) that took me from Toronto to
Vancouver and then to Incheon airport in Seoul. I
then had to get myself to Gimpo airport (within
Seoul) and then travel to Gimhae airport on a
domestic flight. Then a 1 hour bus ride into
Busan. It was a 22 hour independent journey.
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![]() The Rocky
Mountains - I took a photo from the plane.
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![]() Haeundae Beach in
Busan - I was given a Beach Front hotel to stay in
- too bad I didn't actually have anytime to relax
and swim in the sea this time =).
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![]() The world's
largest department store (Shinsegae) is located in
Centum City, Busan. NB: The world's largest mall
is still in Dubai.
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![]() The train used
for the Busan-Gimahe LRT - built by Hyundai-Rotem
- the same company that built the trains for
Canada Line in Vancouver. This train was basically
my home during the day for the week whilst I was
in Korea.
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![]() Busan's version
of the Little Mermaid - Princess Hwangok. It is
bigger than the real Little Mermaid that I saw on
my trip to Copenhagen a few years ago.
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![]() YVR - Vancouver
Airport Station on the Canada Line in Vancouver -
I finally got my chance to ride the line I worked
on (and spent many weekends at work for last year)
during a 4 hour layover while coming back home
from Korea.
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![]() I took the train
from YVR to Olympic Village Station and here is
the view of Vancouver's skyline from False Creek.
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![]() The Canada Line
Train - fully automatic - no drivers and no
attendents on board.
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![]() In front of the
Canada Line train.
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Dubai III (Aug 10 to Aug 28 2009)
Locations visited:
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Flight Path:
- EK: YYZ->DXB (A380), DXB->YYZ (A380)
Hotel(s):
- Dubai: Rimal Rotana Hotel
My third business trip
to Dubai for last minute testing and software updates
just before the metro line was to enter passenger
service (date: Sept 9 2009, 9:09:09 PM).
I started work the day
after I arrived and didn't stop working until the
morning before my flight (17 days straight). It
turned out the last minute problems weren't actually my
issue however I decided to sweep the entire line (52.1
km - in both directions) to make sure everything was
"perfect" before I left.
This trip I got to take some photos of the completed metro system (and basically these were my only photos :)).
![]() I got to fly on
the Airbus A380-800 for the second time from
Toronto non-stop to Dubai. Even though in the past
two years, I've flown across the Atlantic now 5
round trips and across the Pacific for 3 round
trips, I still get a little nervous each time I
fly.
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![]() Entrance to
Financial Centre Station.
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![]() Financial Centre
Platform Level - Ready to go for opening day!
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![]() Stairs from
Platform to Concourse level at Financial Centre
Station. The vast majority of the stations on the
Red Line are above ground.
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![]() The ticket booth
at Financial Centre Station.
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![]() The fare gates at
Financial Centre Station. Passengers will use an
integrated fare card called "Nol" to enter the
system - another Thales product (by Thales
France).
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![]() Silver or Economy
Class on the Train.
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![]() Standing in Gold
or First Class - I guess this is where Emiraties
will ride the train if they choose it over their
Land Rovers =). It offers leather seating and a
table for computers - free Wifi - which works in
the tunnels as well.
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![]() Station Sign and
Map at the Mall of the Emirates Station.
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![]() Ticket Machines
in Mall of Emirates Station. The entire system is
bilingual - Arabic and English (there are a lot of
Brits, Aussie, Inidian, and Filipino ex-pats
residing in Dubai).
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![]() Concourse level at Mall of
the Emirates Station.
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![]() After working 17
days straight (this has set a new record), I
finished the updates and tested on the complete
system (it took so long since it takes one hour to
travel the entire metro line in one way) and
hopped back onto an Emirates A380 back home.
That's why almost all of my photos were taken
either on the train or at metro stations or at
airports this time.
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Dubai II (May 25 to June 1 2009)
Locations visited:
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Flight Path:
- EK: YYZ->DXB (B777), DXB->YYZ (A380)
Hotel(s):
- Dubai: Rimal Rotana Hotel
A short one week
business trip to Dubai for some joint testing of my
software with prototype train motoring and braking
software. It was a neat trip as the team was truly
international, Canadians and Filipinos from my company
and British and Japanese from the train manufacturer and
French and Chinese from the consultant.
No site seeing this
time, just got to experience 45°C weather!
The bonus was getting
to fly back on the first A380 flight ever into Pearson
Airport in Toronto!
![]() The clock tower
in Deira (this time a photo of it during the
daytime). We decided to walk from the hotel to
Deira City Centre for lunch. It was only 40°C
and not very humid so it was ok.
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![]() On the way back
from lunch, the temperature soared to 45°C and
it became very humid. The walk back to the hotel
was tougher, but we made it. This is the hottest
anywhere I've been before. When I stepped outside
from the metro or a mall, my glasses fogged up.
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![]() This time I got
to test my controller software in a more scenic
area of town. This is the Mall of the Emirates
(the second largest mall now since the opening of
Dubai Mall). You can see the ski slope in the
background.
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![]() Here is the Burj
Al Arab from the train. The passengers are going
to get great views as they travel from the suburbs
to downtown Dubai!
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![]() The inside of a
Dubai Metro vehicle. This is Silver or Economy
class. They've installed everything except for the
LCD displays. The train ride is very smooth.
The official
opening date for the Dubai Metro is 09/09/09.
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![]() Construction at
the Mall of the Emirates Metro Station.
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![]() In my Thales gear on the train. |
![]() Completed all my
work on time and I was fortunate enough to be
booked on the inaugural flight of Emirates A380
route from Dubai to Toronto. This is also the
first time a passenger scheduled A380 flight has
landed in Toronto, and I think in Canada.
This is the
Emirates Business Class Lounge in Terminal 3,
Dubai.
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![]() At the gate,
about to board the A380. My seat is near the back
of the plane on the upper deck.
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![]() My seat on the
flight.
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![]() Emirates A380
Business Class. I usually don't take photos on the
plane, but since everyone else was snapping away,
I made an execption this time =).
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![]() The view from my
window. The wings on the A380 are enormous!
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![]() The in flight
entertainment system (ICE). This is one thing on
Emirates that is way better than Air Canada. One
bad thing was the live news updates from the BBC.
I found out about the Air France crash and
received updates mid-way through my flight.
Sometimes there are things you don't want to know
while flying =).
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![]() Landing at
Pearson. We were welcomed by the fire engines
spraying water on the plane as we taxied to our
gate.
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![]() As we left the
plane, there were a ton of people inside the
terminal waiting to catch a look at the plane.
Emirates had turned the plane's arrival into a
media event.
That's it for
this trip. The work went ok but the highlight was
the once in a lifetime trip on the first A380
flight into Toronto!
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Dubai (Jan 21 to Feb 18 2009)
Locations visited:
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Flight Path:
- EK: YYZ->DXB (B777), DXB->YYZ (B777)
Hotel(s):
- Dubai: Rimal
Rotana Hotel
My first business trip
to a place other than South Korea was Dubai, United Arab
Emirates - for a month's worth of testing and making
software updates on the Dubai Metro.
Dubai runs on a six day
work week, with Friday being the day off. So I had
4 days off on this trip and took advantage of that time
to see the city. Dubai is a modern and
mutli-cultural city and I was fortunate to be able to
visit this place for work.
![]() At track level at
work on the Dubai Metro. I had to take some
measurements to confirm that the track level
equipment was correctly installed.
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![]() Deira, Dubai -
the old area of Dubai. On the right is the
Etisalat tower (Etisalat is the main telephone
company - i.e. like Bell Canada in Central Canada)
and to the left in the background is Thales' site
office.
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![]() A Dhow (Arabian ship) at the Dubai Museum. This was my main destination for my first day off. |
![]() The Dubai Museum
is housed inside the former Dubai Fort.
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![]() Inside the Dubai
Museum. The musuem was nice and gave me good
insight into the relatively short history of Dubai
and the United Arab Emirates.
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![]() A Camel statue
along the Dubai Creek on the Deira side to
commemerate a chess tournament held in Dubai.
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![]() More musuems and
walking through the historical parts of Dubai were
on my plans for my second day off. Here is a
Dhow in Dubai Creek.
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![]() An Abra (water
taxi) that connects Deira with Bur Dubai. The
grand mosque is in the background.
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![]() This is me inside
Dubai
Heritage House, another museum. I was the
only one there (musuems are not the big draw in
this city =)). But the staff was really nice, they
offered me free arabic tea and a arabic dessert
(which looked and tasted like a pancake to me).
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![]() Leaving Heritage
house, I spotted an Emirates Airbus 380 taking off
from Dubai Airport (DXB) to either Heathrow (LHR)
or New York (JFK). I flew direct to Dubai on an
Emirates 777-300ER. Air Canada has a better seat
layout but Emirates has a better entertainment
system (non-Thales) and a better more consistent
level of service from the staff. I was sort of
dissapointed with the Emirates lounge though. It
was too big, 1500+ seats, it is more than 10x the
size of the other lounges I've been in (Air
Canada, ANA, SIA etc).
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![]() The old souk in
Bur Dubai on a Friday (the day off in UAE).
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![]() More Abras in
Dubai Creek.
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![]() My next day off, I
decided to take a hop on, hop off bus tour (the
Big Bus Tour) to see the rest of the sites
in Dubai. This was the only feasible way to
see many of the places as at that time, now of
course you can can the metro to many of these
places.
Here is the Dubai Raffles hotel. |
![]() Jumeirah Mosque |
![]() Burj
Al Arab - the famous hotel in Dubai. The
beach around it was nice. It was a little
surreal to wade into the Persian Gulf - as I tend
to associate it with warfare rather than beaches.
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![]() A house on the
Palm Jumeriah. Palm Jumeriah is the set of
man made islands off the coast that combine
together to form the shape of a palm tree, when
viewed from above.
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![]() A nice shot I took while on the Palm Jumeriah. |
![]() Ski Dubai at the Mall of the Emirates |
![]() Another shot of
Ski Dubai at the Mall of Emirates. This is
probably the only city in the world where one can
go to the beach in the morning, go skiing in the
afternoon, and then go watch the sun set in the
desert at night.
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![]() Inside the Mall
of the Emirates. Same stores as any mall in
Canada, nice to see a lot of Canadian brands in
Dubai in this and other malls - Aldo, Bata, La
Senza, le Chateau etc. Otherwise, mostly European
stores dominate - Carrefour, Marks and Spencer,
Ikea, Debenhams, Harvey Nic's etc.
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![]() Burj Dubai, now
known as Burj
Khalifa - The world's tallest free standing
structure. It isn't completed yet.
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![]() Dubai's World
Trade Centre.
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![]() Emirates Aviation
College - it is shaped like a plane =).
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![]() The crowds
outside the Abra terminal at the Bur Dubai Old
Souk.
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![]() On the Right is
the Dubai Bank tower and the left is the Sheraton
hotel.
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![]() A shot of Deira at
dusk.
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![]() A shot of me
working on the train. The hard hat is solely for
the photo shot, I didn't need to wear it whilst I
was on board the train.
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![]() The donuts I
bought for the Thales guys one day. I never saw
blue and orange ones before.
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![]() A sandstorm. It
is like smog execpt when you open your mouth sand
comes in!
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![]() On my last day
off, some of the Thales guys and I went on a
desert safari. The camel there had an unnatural
attraction to me =).
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![]() The 4x4's that
took us on the desert safari.
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![]() In the desert. |
![]() I met up with
Nimesh who was in Dubai for a school field trip
during my last week in Dubai at Deira
City Centre.
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![]() Deira clock tower
- to celebrate the discovery of oil in the United
Arab Emirates.
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South Korea III (Sept 26 to
Oct 10 2008)
Locations visited:
- Hamyang, Jinju, and Busan, South Korea
Flight Path:
- AC: YYZ->NRT (B777), NW: NRT->PUS (B757),
PUS->NRT (B757), AC: NRT->YYZ (B777)
Hotel(s):
- Hamyang: El Dorado Motel
- Busan: Haeundae
Grand Hotel
Another business trip to South Korea. We worked 11 days in a row, with only Sunday afternoon off in between.
![]() We arrived on
Saturday night and we decided to walk around town
on Sunday. The main place of interest was a park.
This is rural Korea, not Seoul so there really
weren't any other places to go =). However it was
nice to get away from big city life for a little
while.
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![]() The fountain in the park in Hamyang. |
![]() The Hamyang
mascots!
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![]() After working
seven days straight, we took the next Sunday
evening off and went to Jinju, a fortress city
south of Hamyang. This city is famous for a battle
between the Japanese and Koreans in the 1500s.
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![]() Changing of the guards in Jinju fortress. |
![]() A gate in Jinju fortress. |
![]() We were lucky
enough to be in Jinju for their lantern festival.
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![]() On the last day
of the Thales trip, we travelled to Busan to be
closer to the airport. This is Haeundae Beach.
Busan or Pusan is
famous for its beaches and its international film
festival (we were there for the last days of it)
and for not being captured by the Communists
during the Korean War.
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![]() We then went to
the Busan
Aquarium (After working 11 days straight, we
deserved to be tourists for the day).
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![]() The penguins! |
![]() Shark! |
![]() Sting Ray and his
little fish friend!
BTW, I did get some of the Thales guys to go with me to ride the Busan subway for one stop (just to see what was like - very similar to Seoul's metro) |
Japan (May 24 to June 3 2008)
Locations visited:
- Hamyang, South Korea
- Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nara, Japan
Flight Path:
- AC: YYZ->NRT
(B777), NW: NRT->PUS (B757), JL: PUS->NRT
(B767), AC: NRT->YYZ (B777)
Hotel(s):
- Hamyang: El Dorado Motel
- Tokyo: Tokyo Green Palace Hotel
- Kyoto: Comfort Inn Kyoto Gojo
My second business trip was also to South Korea. This trip was planned in advance. To get to our destination, we had to change planes in Tokyo. I hadn't been to Japan and decided to take five days off (an extended long weekend) on my way home. There wasn't any cost to the air ticket to take a break in the journey, so all I had to pay for out of pocket was the hotels in Japan, transport, and admissions.
The first thing I noticed about Japan was that they
drove on the left, this actually caught me off guard as
I was taking the bus from the airport to the
hotel. Also, I had heard the hotel rooms were tiny
but I thought people just exagerated - but they really
were tiny.
It was neat to walk around Tokyo and Kyoto.
Going to Nara was special as well. These three
cities were all at one time the capital of Japan, of
course Tokyo is still the current capital!
![]() Finish work.
Leaving Busan for Tokyo on a JAL 767-300 (JL 096)
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![]() On the flight from
Busan to Tokyo, we saw Mt Fuji and here is a
blurry picture of it.
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![]() First full day in
Tokyo, went to Ueno park in the morning.
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![]() Gojo shrine in Ueno Park. |
![]() The blue whale
outside the science museum.
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![]() Is it the grand
opening of IKEA, H & M, no the people are in a
huge line up for a special exhibit at the Tokyo National
Museum in Ueno Park. If the ROM could get
these crowds, we wouldn't need any government
subsidies!
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![]() Two samurai
outfits in the Tokyo National Museum. It is a
blurry picture but the one on the left made me
smile.
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![]() Senso-ji Temple in Tokyo. |
![]() Senso-ji Temple in Tokyo. |
![]() Senso-ji Temple in Tokyo. |
![]() The next day,
walked from the hotel to Tokyo Train Station. On
the way, sought out the HSBC branch to get some
more Yen.
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![]() The Diet (Japanese Parliament) |
![]() The Imperial
Palace in Tokyo. Wasn't going to go there,
but it was on the way and it looked nice enough to
get strangers to take a picture with me in it.
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![]() On my way to the
train station, I looped through Ginza the main
shopping district in Tokyo and took 20 minutes to
snap some pictures of moving bullet trains.
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![]() Ginza early in the morning |
![]() A bullet train in Tokyo Station. |
![]() My train, the
Kodama Super-Express, actually not really that
express. Since I couldn't get a rail pass (didn't
have time to get one in Toronto), got the next
best thing economy tickets (Puratto Kodama Economy
Plan) on the local bullet train from Tokyo to
Kyoto (one way <$98 CDN). You can buy these
tickets at the JR tours office on the main floor
at Tokyo station one day before you depart.
The good thing is that while we stopped at
stations, when express trains ran by us, I could
feel our train shift from side to side due to the
force of the other train.
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![]() Nijo
Castle in Kyoto. This was a neat experience.
The floors squeaked as I walked on them, they were
designed that way so the shogun could detect
intruders.
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![]() Nijo Castle.
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![]() Nijo Castle with me in the pic. |
![]() The Gion (Geisha)
district of Kyoto at dusk. I didn't see any Geisha
but there were a fair number of women in Kimonos.
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![]() The narrow side
streets of Kyoto. Kyoto still has these since the
allies didn't bomb the historic capital of Japan
duirng WWII.
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![]() The next day, took
the local train south to Nara (the first permanent
capital of Japan). Here's the train station.
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![]() Turtles at Sarusawa Pond in Nara |
Kofuku-ji
Temple in Nara (the second tallest pagoda in
Japan).
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![]() The deer in Nara Park. |
![]() Arrived at my
destination in Nara, Todai-ji Temple.
The world's biggest wooden structure with the
biggest Buddha statue in Japan. This was in the
pop-up book of Japan I got when I was a kid.
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![]() This is the actual Todai-ji temple. |
![]() The Buddha Statue.
It was odd how the gift shop was to the left and
under the statue. It was a little too commercial
for me, although they did have some good stuff
that I did buy.
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![]() The Air Canada Jet
that I flew from NRT back to Toronto. While
waiting to board, got to go to the ANA lounge. The
food was great there. But thus far, the best
lounge is the Singapore Airlines lounge in Seoul.
Almost everything beats the Maple Leaf lounges in
Toronto / Vancouver!
|
South Korea (Sept 28 to Oct 20
2007)
Locations visited:
- Seoul and Suwon, South Korea
- South Korea / North Korea Border
Flight Path:
- AC: YYZ->ICN (A340), ICN->YVR (A340),
YVR->YYZ (B767)
Hotel(s):
- Renaissance
Seoul Hotel (This is a Business Hotel, not for
the budget traveller - This is probably the best hotel
I've stayed at)
My first business trip for Thales. I had just
gotten back from my vacation to Denmark (not really a
vacation as I was in Denmark to present a paper from my
Masters thesis) when I got asked to go to Seoul for a
week do some testing on one of the company's
projects. Well that one week ended up being three
weeks, but at least I got weekends off and also some
Korean public holidays off. It was a fun trip as I
got to see and learn a lot but it was also probably the
only business trip I took where I actually got weekends
off to explore the city/country I visited.
Korea made a lasting impression with me as all the
Koreans I met were super friendly. Through going
to Royal Palaces, musuems, and other sites including the
border between North and South Korea, I gained an
appreciation for how much the country suffered during
the war and how much effort they've made to rebuild
their country.
Gyeongbokgung,
A Royal Palace in Seoul. First opened in
1395, destroyed by Japanese invaders in 1592,
and reconstructed in 1868.
Be sure to sign
up for the English tour that is included with
admission. I found it very informative
|
Inside Gyeongbokgung |
Inside Gyeongbokgung- Gyeonghoeru - Built in 1412/1867, a two story pavilion used for Royal Banquets |
Changdeokgung, the seconday Royal palace in Seoul to Gyeongbokgung. Constructed in 1405 and restored in 1610. This is a UNESCO world heritage site. Again, be sure to sign up for the English tour. I went in the afternoon here (on a public holiday) and the tour was packed (50+ people). |
Injeongjeon (Throne) Hall in Changdeokgung built in 1405 |
The National Museum of Korea This is a nicely
laid out musuem that gives a good summary of the
history of the Korean people
|
Namsangol Hanok Village, Seoul This is reconstructed model traditional Korean village in the middle of Seoul. It was neat to be able to walk inside of the different types of houses, and they had a good souvenir shop as well. |
Since we worked the night shift, after finishing work on Friday morning, I went with some of the guys from work on a bus tour of the Demiliterized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea. The half day bus tour cost 46,000 Won ($46 CDN) and picked us up right at our hotel. We had a tour guide accompany us through the various sites. The only downside was a mandatory stop at the Amethyst jewellery factory at the end of the tour. Here's Freedom Bridge, Border
between North and South Korea
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Tired after ascending from one of the tunnels the North dug to enter the South - I was looking forward to riding a little mining train through the tunnel back to the surface, but our tour guide said we didn't have time to wait in line and got us to hike up (the only place on the tour we weren't rushed was the jewellery factory). |
In the Background is North Korea. The tour was worth it even though it was rushed. It was a surreal experience as there were barbed wire installations, armed solders, and land mines everywhere. It gave me a glimpse into what a real live war zone was really like. |
The next day, I visited the city of Suwon (~2 hours by subway south of Seoul) by myself. Suwon is a walled city - Hwaseong Fortress. The key point to remember is that there is a tourist information centre next to the main train station. You can get directions there, I did not find English widely understood here. You need to take a local bus from the train station to the Walled part of the city. This is Paldaimun, one of four main gates into the fortress. |
This is the main entrance to Hwaseong Haenggung, a detached Royal Palace, used by the Royal family when visiting Suwon. |
Inside Hwaseong Haenggung. There are a variety of rooms with dioramas of Royal life. It was an interesting place to see but not too much to do inside. |
The walled city of Suwon. It can take hours
to hike around the walled city. However
there is an inexpensive "dragon" mini-train that
does half a loop around the city and it also
includes a taped English commentary. The
train starts up the hill from Hwaseong Haenggung and ends
at the East Command post. It was pretty
neat to climb the walls and go up the turrets,
posts, and observation towers that formed the
command post.
From the command post, a local bus takes you back to the train station. |
There are a lot of
dioramas of Korean military sites, including a
mini walkthough scale version of Suwon. The
basement is filled with tanks and military
planes. The most memoriable part of the
musuem was the recreation of a Korean War refugee
camp. It was very realistic.
|
The Turtle Ship in the War Memorial of Korea |
After work the next day, I went to Seoul's Oympic Park to see some of the buildings from the 1988 Olympics. This is the World
Peace Gate with an eternal flame in the centre of
the gate.
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1988 Olympic Mascot
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1988 Olympic Mascot
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On my final weekend, went to Sungyenmun (Namdaemun) - South Great Gate. I was fortunate to see it as it was burned down by an arsonist a few weeks afterwards. |
In front of Sungyenmun. |
Near Sungyenmun is Deoksugung, the most recent Royal Palace in Seoul. It was used from 1907 until Japan annexed Korea. |
Inside Deoksugung. This is the smallest of the three palaces I went to in Seoul. It was also the only palace with some western style buildings that were built as part of the palace. |
This is Seoul City Hall which is across the street from Deoksugung. |
In the same area as City Hall is the Bank of Korea Museum, it had some good exhibits on Korean and international currencies. |
The KoRail Bungdang Metro Line - Why I was in Seoul in the first place |
After working my last night shift, I went to Insadong, the tourist market area for some last minute souvenirs. I saw this sign outside the market and it reminded me that I was 10,621 km from home! |
Finally my last destination in Seoul was the Olympic Stadium. I had to go see the place where Ben Johnson won a Gold medal and then had it stripped away after he failed a drug test. |