Singapore

Hello! Regardless of what this entry may say, today is March 24, and this is BCS writing. Since our trip to Singapore was now over one month ago, I am relying on notes to describe the pictures below (or wherever on the page they are, relative to this text. Yay, Blogger.)

We were there from Chinese New Year onward, so the city was actually quite quiet due to holiday business closures. It was nice for getting around. Of course the weather is incredibly hot and humid, compared to Seoul. We saw the very exciting Chinatown and Little India; not all that large, but much more active and real than we'd ever encountered before. Keeping in mind we've barely traveled anywhere.

This is the world's largest fountain. It didn't do quite as much as we were hoping, but the laser projection was nice. It's in one of the many many large shopping complexes. Iris' stroller finally wore out, and we bought a new one at Toys R Us while waiting for the fountain display, so that worked out well. Also, beforehand, you could walk around three times and touch the fountain water for good luck in the New Year.



This is the National Botanic Garden. We were only able to see about half of it, but the orchid garden is quite a highlight. You notice that so many things that would be indoors in Canada, are outdoors here. And also that everything in Singapore is "national," because the city is the nation.

We bought a lot of cheap clothes for the kids, some shirts and ties for me, and a Singapore Sling for Aki (bottom left). Aki broke her glasses, but eventually the optical stores re-opened and luckily she could get new frames. Actually, although the shopping is very extensive, it is not particularly inexpensive, at least not in the mainstream Western stores. Maybe it's because of their electricity bill, since they have the a/c on full blast and the doors wide open to the tropics at all times. It's hard to picture a less energy efficient activity.

We enjoyed eating cheap Indian food, Iris so much that she ate part of the spoon (yes, this is a parenting error). Since the remaining bit seemed pretty sharp, we decided to take her in for an X-ray. Apparently plastic dissolves in stomach acid, so nothing to fear. We were in and out of the ER inside 60 minutes, and out of pocket about $90 Cdn, including the exam and x-ray. Sir Raffles was the first colonial governor of Singapore (I think -- memory fading), hence the legendary Raffles Hotel, Raffles Shopping Center, Raffles Hospital, etc.

One of the main reasons we wanted to go to Singapore in the first place was for the zoos. I think Jamie and Iris liked riding around in their little wagon the best. (Pulling those things around turns out to be harder than it looks, though.) Actually seeing the orangutans climbing around in the free-range treetop habitat was very good. As with everywhere though, the heat and humidity made it hard to keep moving all day long.

The Bird Park is another major zoological attraction. Since we did it first, it made a really positive impression. Perhaps the most famous attraction, though, is the Night Safari, essentially a night zoo that you walk/ride through after dark, with very minimal lighting. Jamie didn't stay awake too long, but we want all around the whole thing. Some of the animals are just deer, but others like the flying foxes were remarkable and definitely a novelty, even those who have been to many zoos before. Not very conducive to photos, though.



We spent a week in Singapore, and didn't have trouble filling the time. If you had a larger shopping budget, you could do even more, but beyond that it's very useful as a jumping off point for all of SE Asia. I really liked the British colonial history, the architecture, the flora/vegetation, and above all the multicultural heritage, which is a deeply-rooted rather than recent phenomenon. For us, with little kids who like zoos and sometimes need hospitals, it was a destination we were happy to have chosen.

The IRIS conspiracy

I think it's IRIS' doing!

I was watching the popular Korean Drama IRIS as I was planning my daughter's first birthday, and as the event grew greater and grander I realized that indeed "IRIS' influence has spread far." Although perhaps not a force of chaos and destruction like her literary namesake, she is a powerful agent here in Seoul. She can, for example, compel her shy and reclusive parents to hold a giant party in her honour; and draw over 60 people, including international business leaders, diplomats, and a foreign ambassador to come and celebrate her first year here among us. Just how broad is her reach? We just don't know yet.

First birthdays, dol or doljanchi, are very important here in Korea. The baby has passed the most dangerous period of her life, and now we can fully accept her into our community, offer our blessings and begin to think about her future. Since Iris has passed half of her life here in Seoul, we decided that we should embrace some of the traditions of her new homeland. We dressed the children in hanbok, hired a photographer and a caterer, and invited everyone we knew to our home to help us celebrate this important life-stage of our baby girl. Above you may see many of our guests enjoying the festivities; below are some of the preparations for the event.
The dol and doljabi table were created for us by my friend Sun, who helped me with many of the preparations. On the dol table (dol-sang) you will find the following: Cooked white rice and noodles for wealth and longevity respectively; three kinds of rice cakes: coloured for harmony, white for purity (and tidiness!), and red to ward off evil and bring luck; green herbs (tied with red and blue string) for vitality and longevity and prosperity of descendants; dried dates as an extra call for prosperous descendants; and fresh seasonal fruit and artificial flowers (Sun made ours out of modeling clay) for beauty and bounty. The dol table, laden with all this symbolism, is mostly a display piece and for sitting behind and being photographed (Iris was very good at this - she really liked her princess role). More fun, perhaps, is the doljabi table.
The doljabi is the highlight of a first birthday party. An assortment of items are laid out and the child picks one or two that are supposed to foretell her future talents and profession. Many families today include on their tables things like golf balls, microphones, judge's hammers etc., but we stuck (mostly) to traditional items. On Iris' doljabi table there were: Calligraphy brush, ink block, ink stick and book all representing scholarship and academic pursuits; embroidery thread, thimble and pincushion to convey dexterity and versatile talents; brass coins for wealth; a horse-tile for leadership and authority; cotton thread for health and longevity, and we threw in a stethoscope just in case. Iris selected the calligraphy brush first (artistic scholarship?) and the embroidery thread second. I guess she will need to be versatile if she follows her parents path of study - I was really pushing the horse tile. You can see the slide show recap below (at the beginning I am explaining the table items - please ignore my strange faces, It's a curse).
Before the event we had all the guests pick what they thought Iris would chose, and put their name in the corresponding party hat. Afterwards we drew names from the lucky hat for some small gifts. You can see the ballot-hats below. The white boxes contain thank-you gifts: towels with Iris' name embroidered on them. We were told this was traditional, but I'm still not sure what our lovely friends want with such things. If anyone desires one, tell me - we have lots.

I did, for a moment, consider making the food myself - but it didn't last. For the first time in my life (no wedding remember) I hired caterers (and servers!) and it is my new favorite thing. I found an ad for Indian restaurant chain Chakraa in an open copy of the Korea Herald that was sitting on my desk as I was sending emails looking for a caterer. Turns out they cater, (and very reasonably) so we were set. They came with food, and tables, and tableware, and labels, and men to serve, and deliver drinks and tidy up. Everyone enjoyed the meal, and we got to chat and eat and play with our friends. It's a great way to have a party.

In addition to the caterers, also "under the command of IRIS" was Mr. Lee, a photographer (dollsnap.com; click on baby and Iris if you want to see more). With the help of Sun, and a little English, he managed to take over 900 pictures of my smiley baby and her birthday party. He gave us around 200 prints of varying sizes, a small album, two mounted photos and the CD of all 900+ pics. If anyone is looking for a photographer here in Seoul - he is very good. It is strange to have us in photos that look like magazine ads, and he was much more creative with his shots and lighting than I was expecting. I was less self-conscious than I thought; Iris was her usual incredible Iris self; and only Jamie needs to work on the smiling-on-command that is so crucial to the photo-shoot. It was pretty fun though, and I think we might try to convince him to do some outdoor family shots in future years. In two videos below, you can see Mr. Lee's attempt to have the family do his favourite poses of "family walking" and "airplane baby." Clearly it isn't so easy for the non-Korean babies to walk in hanbok and fly through the air, though on dollsnap you can see Korean babies pulling these poses off with flair.

"What exactly is IRIS?"

"IRIS is preparing to terrorize Seoul"

"It makes us more certain that IRIS is on the move"

And so my baby girl turned one year old, and was duly celebrated, blessed and embraced. We have loved having her in our lives this past year, and are looking forward to sharing her smiles and spirit and joie de vivre with many more nations in the years to come.

"This mysterious organization called IRIS - the more we find out about [her], the more we can be certain that [her] influence spreads far . . . how broad is [her] reach? we just don't know yet"

picture perfect

We are about 12 hours away from leaving on vacation, and instead of packing (no, haven't done it yet), I have decided to share some photos of the last few weeks.

Why look - here is the family - with a visitor to Seoul.

And Jamie and I also made the Korean media - here are the photos from a variety of Korean ent-news-media sources. We showed up to a children's dumpling-making experience after school one day, and Jamie and his friend Luke (almost the only children there) were greeted by at least a dozen film and video cameras and several very assertive women insisting that we SIT THERE; MORE SMILE and TRY MAKE DUMPLINGS. The boys held up very well, but were both trembling in their mother's arms before the dumplings finished steaming. Aren't foreigners funny? Apparently it is customary to eat mandu for solal (Lunar New Year) which is this coming Monday - and photos of cute foreign kids (namu keyowah) preparing this cuisine were popular enough to make it into at least 6 news magazines.

The big news of the last few weeks was Iris' first birthday. We hired a photographer for the occasion, so there will be a well-illustrated entry about it in due time, but here is a preview for anyone who like photos of cute foreign kids wearing traditional dress.

Occasionally, to broaden my horizons, Iris and I meet others for lunch - but look - here I am out for dinner with friends and there is not a baby to be seen! This may only be remarkable to me, since I think that this might be only the second time I have been out baby-free in a year. For the tourists in the audience, the restaurant was A Table, and the 7(.5)-course prix fix was well worth it. The lovely ladies are the moms of some of Jamie's classmates. We generally spend Wednesday afternoons together with a house full of kids - but this was nice too.

Family outings are still the order of the day, however, so last weekend we went to the Natural History Museum. Although a new museum, we were not spell-bound. Jamie enjoyed the dino-slide; Iris was happy with the round chairs; We ate hot dogs. I tried to photograph my daughter being eaten by a dinosaur, but my camera was pretty broken. The next day we bought a new camera; future pictures might indeed be perfect.

So parties, play dates, Prime Ministers, press junkets, and pachycephalosaurs predominate, but I still take weekly Korean culture classes - so here we are making Hanji Paper, and I also present my newly completed tea table and flower lamp. Iris has claimed the former, and Jamie the later, so my efforts are not unappreciated. My teacher, of course, remains unimpressed. Particularly after today when I tried to CHECK PLEASE that my lamp was working and managed not only to smash my light bulb but also short-circuit the socket, causing a partial power failure at the GVC. Perfect as always.

So now, off to pack. In two weeks we will return to Seoul with a whole new set of perfect pictures with which to enrich, entertain, and edify.

Are there toys at this Museum Daddy?

Out with the Kids - In with the Kids:
We are now back to a routine of sorts - school, work, weekly craft classes (I am making a hanji tea table and repeatedly hear "no touchy" and "you - too much glue!"), occasional lunch or play dates and this week, very excitingly, a neighbourhood dinner party where grown-ups made merry (multi-lingually) while children played with a nanny. We must really learn the art of hiring evening wait staff and not hesitating to invite strangers over for late-night meals on weekdays. It's a different world. On the weekends we head out for family fun. At a restaurant a few weeks ago, while admiring our cute children, the waiter said "even though you have two babies - you are not afraid - you still take them out." Indeed out we do take them, but since we had record snowfalls (the most snow in 100 years - ever since they have been keeping records), we have been seeking indoor fun - indoor fun with a three-year-old-sensibility.
Here we are at Changyeongung Palace, built by King Sejong for his father's three Queens in 1484. Very little of the original still stands except for an audience hall from the first rebuilding in 1616, and a greenhouse built by the Japanese during the colonial period when they turned the palace to a pleasure park/zoo/garden in an effort to "diminish the stature and authority of the Korean royal family." We enjoyed the greenhouse and the scenic winter lake-walk, and wished, briefly, that the Colonial overlords were still running their outdoor skating rink and petting zoo. Mostly we are finding a great similarity between the palaces in Seoul, but this one shares a parking lot with the Science Museum, so how could we refuse? And here we are at the Railroad museum. This was a bit tricky to find as it is out of town in Bugok, Uiwang (the Seoul one is temporarily closed), but Brian persevered and we found ourselves, with many many of the under 5 set, paying our 90 cents to explore what was railway history as of 1981. There were trains to climb aboard, models to enjoy, and a very comprehensive collection of railroad artifacts - ticket punchers through the ages, signal flags, and "objects pertaining to railroad opening" including display cases of last spikes and scissors used for ribbon cutting. Very thorough are these curatorial staffs. The lady sitting on the train below top centre is a model, hired for the afternoon by a photography club. Since we arrived, all over Seoul we have seen groups of men of varying ages following around their high-heeled, long-haired, elegantly dressed young model as they snap her picture in front of various scenic vistas with a variety of light conditions. Hobbies are very important here.

This is the National Folk Museum of Korea. Consisting of three exhibit halls, two special exhibit spaces, a children's museum and an outdoor "street to the past" where you can enjoy 1960s Seoul, we didn't manage to see it all, but we enjoyed what we did see. We learned about village life and life cycle events, admired Lee Rheeza's designer hanbok (her bojagi hanbok bottom left and maedup-decorated hanbok top left), saw what Iris' first birthday party table should look like and told our children that if they really loved us they would spend several months camped on top of our graves once we died. Jamie and Iris enjoyed playing at the children's museum (based on a folk tale about the filial loyalty of blind Shimchong's daughter) but I'm not sure they learned the required lessons about indefatigably and reliability. There was a ball room though. afterwards we visited a bookstore specializing in English books about Korea (Seoul Selections/Hank's Book cafe) so now we have much reading material. Currently my Korean cultural education is coming from the mini-series IRIS (no really - spies, guns, a secret organization with my daughter's name), but soon I'm sure I will turn to text - I bought a graphic novel that promises to explain the Korean psyche so just you wait.

Speaking of Iris' birthday (her Tol), much of our time is spent currently planning it. Invitations, caterers, thank-you gifts, photographers, outfits - it's all very exciting. My lovely friend Sun is helping me try to pull off this important Korean passage. Last week she took me to a traditional market to buy the kids their very own Hanbok. (Hanbok alley was only one of the many alleys in the market - wrapping paper alley, bakeware alley, furry hat alley etc.) Here is Sun in street-food-alley where she introduced me to spicy rice cakes, pressed-fish-cake soup, and blood sausage with accompanying organ meat. I ate some of what was on offer, really enjoyed the heated benches, and was pleased to be able to share in some of this vibrant culture on non-foreigner terms.

Near us is the Seoul Arts Center. In addition to opera, theatre, dance and music halls, and museums of calligraphy and traditional music, it boasts a number of art galleries with rotating exhibits. We went to see a Matisse and Picasso show, but the lines were too long so instead we saw a very strange exhibit of reproductions of Renaissance frescoes, painstakingly repainted life-sized, and a giant exhibit of children's book illustrations. We ate at a tasty buffet with lots of fresh sushi and crab legs, and then drove up the mountain to gaze on snowy Seocho-gu and admire the mountain temple overlooking the Arts Center. Apparently there is free childcare at the SAC if you have performance tickets, so we might yet see some opera, but life is long and babies are short.

And finally, here is Seoul National Science Museum where we can learn about velocity, enjoy the magic mirror hall (there is a reverse mirror, and one that makes it look like you are following yourself down a hall), be a spaceman (like Yi So-yeon, the youngest woman in space), make a balloon-powered car, and discover the history of humankind's fascination with killing and eating the creatures of the wild (early man, top centre, crushes small mammal for breakfast). So, we've been finding lots of indoor outings, and fitting a few uniquely Korean experiences in and among the seeming universality of 3-year-old fun involving trains, pushing buttons, stomping snow and playing toys.

Snow days

Next up on the neighbourhood challenge was Hongdae. Now you'd think a neighbourhood known for night clubs and indie-youth-culture was not for us, but it is supposed to be hip and artsy - and we have hips and like art so off we went. Indeed there is sort of a student vibe, but as it was winter and daytime we didn't see many of the young and free enjoying the food stalls, dessert stands and retro clothing stores. The Free and Hope art/craft market was not running and the ice-bar was less of a curiosity when we were already in snowsuits. We did notice many hat and boot stalls and many people wearing hats and boots (the young are favouring the large pom-pom and the furry suede these days), and Western-influenced consumer and dining options (we ate Mexican and considered the pink leather parka in Gangsta clothing). Mostly interesting, however, were the cafes designed to cater to the student set. There were DVD bangs - private rooms where you can watch movies and snog, Gaming bangs (play video games - maybe snog?) and princess cafes for the young female students with no-one to snog to have some "YOU TIME" and sip from china cups in pink floral comfort. Ann House, shown top (billboard on bottom left) is situated underneath videobang PLAY, for the complexly layered princesses. We left the university neighbourhood, like so many young women do, via wedding dress lane, and went to find some more family-friendly-fun.
So here is World Cup Park, where, much to our surprise, we found families doing their best to eek as much snow-day fun as possible out of what, to we Canadians, seemed to be a very faint dusting of snow indeed. There was a large tubing hill where families queued for hours to go down an almost snow-free slope holding onto one another. There were many daddies pulling their kids around a snowy field on improvised toboggans (I saw cardboard boxes, picnic blankets, plastic-wrapped couch cushions, car mats, and windshield sun shades). We looked at many snowmen (they seem to favour those with pointy hats - and use more of a sand-castle building technique since it wasn't packing snow) and we built a very tiny one of our own (right centre beside Brian and Jamie at the pecuter). It was cold; the road up the mountain for "spectacular views of the city" was closed; but we drank hot chocolate and Jamie had a bit of winter fun. There was very little traffic (the long line of cars at the bottom centre is the line to get into World Cup Stadium Home Plus, a grocery/department store owned by Tesco which is one of the most coveted grocery destinations in Seoul - they really like to line up to park at grocery stores here). We drove home quickly, spent some time at the local automatic car wash (they hand-dry your car, and two men open your doors at the end and vacuum the carpets beneath your feet - Jamie was quite surprised), ordered pizza (dishwasher is still kaput) and snuggled the young off to bed. Now we will spend Saturday night drinking tea, folding laundry, and watching American TV - take that you hip and artsy indie-clubbers!

All Imaginable Owls

We decided to check out some of the Seoul neighbourhoods that we haven't visited yet. First on the agenda was Samcheong-dong, home to art galleries, museums and traditional Hanok homes.
Here we are having tea at the owl museum. Run by Mrs. Bae, proclaimed in her English hand-out as "crazy lady for owl," the museum houses her collection of 2,500 owl-related items "regarded as family treasure #1 at the time of marriage and house-moving." Admission included a hot drink and Jamie drew some owl pictures and gave one to Mrs. Bae for her collection. This neighbourhood also has a chicken museum (bottom left), but we save that for another day.
Look - it's ToyKino museum. Here you may find 200,000 character figures, mainly from the last 15 years (we felt quite old - our childhood was off the radar). There was, however, some CanCon with Don Cherry and Wayne Gretzky dolls (Cancon at the Owl museum was supplied by Mrs. Bae proudly showing us her photo album containing a snap of a young shirtless Canadian lad with a giant owl tattoo on his back). I also made it into the toy collection in my incarnation as Dr. Aki Ross from Final Fantasy. Top left you can see a young couple in their matching plaid padded hoodies exclaiming with glee over the Disney princess dolls. Top right is a restaurant billboard included because it recommends "Well-being" pasta and risotto. Everything in Seoul is promoted as being "well-being" these days: well-being walnuts, well-being beauty-care, well-being peach water, etc.
And here are the Hanok homes in Bukchon village. Hanok is traditional Korean architecture, made of wood, stone and earth. The homes are tightly packed together along narrow, steep, winding alleys ringed with mountains (the parked cars needed wheel-stoppers - see bottom left). It was very scenic in the new fallen snow, and we enjoyed the details of carved porches, elaborate hidden doors and papered windows. Jamie was cold and crying though, so perhaps a warmer-weather visit next time. The neighbourhood main street was full of coffee shops, European bistros, and jewellery stores and it is a popular place to stroll and shop for trendy urbanites in search of tradition, but it was a bit tricky for those of us with strollers and hungry babies to find a place to rest. Lucky there were perches for all imaginable owls, once you knew where to look.

63 Building

Looking for something closer to home, and offering one-stop fun, we went a few km down the road to Korea's golden landmark, which for about a year after it was finished (1985) was the tallest building in Asia. Technically, it has 60 storeys above ground and 3 below, which is where some of the main attractions are. For about $27 Cdn per adult (kids under 4 free), you can go to the top floor observation deck, watch an Imax movie, and visit the aquarium. Plus free parking. (We skipped the wax museum.) The top also hosts travelling art exhibitions, and thus bills itself as the world's highest art gallery. The views are pretty good in all directions, and it makes a nice complement to Namsan Tower on the other side of the river. The Han River is crossed by something like 20 (actually more) bridges, which makes for one of the major aesthetic elements in the Seoul panorama; tall buildings and craggy hills in all directions round out the picture.

The aquarium was the kids' favourite, of course. It's not as large as the one across town at COEX, but kept us busy for the better part of two hours. Zoos and aquaria in Korea, while usually not alarming, do not have the rigid "pure science" ethic that the most serious institutions abroad do. There is generally an entertainment element that doesn't have much to do with wildlife conservation. (We've also noted a tendency to amp up the visitor experience by cramming enclosures full with as many animals as will fit. No more peering hopefully for the lone specimen in the back corner, as often happens in zoos at home.) Anyway, the main tank here at 63 Building features a nearly-continuous dancing mermaid show (video below), as well as some spunky floor performers (not shown) in fairy godmother and ballgown attire, whose thespian antics were sadly on lost on us. Yet another of those occasions where it would have been nice to have had really any idea as to what was going on.

In today's final installment, you'll hear me promising Jamie ice cream if he'll let a tiny fish nibble on his finger. (This "Dr. Fish" skin reinvigoration is a big spa thing here.) He consented, briefly; unfortunately, the creatures seemed little interested in his diminutive digit. That's my finger in the shot. I got a few bites. I really wanted that ice cream.