Soul Survivor

Continued... Seoul

We arrived in Seoul in early afternoon. We tried to get oriented but one thing that created a challenge: streets often aren't named. Some of the major roads have names, but other than that, the picture on the map is all you can go by. For two directionally challenged people, this means a lot of standing around, scratching heads, "stepping into the map" and some irritation. We first chose to check out the nearby Namdaemun Market. The concierge said it was a ten minute walk and showed us on the map. We got lost in 1.5 minutes.

Seoul is a big city, but most of the sights are centrally located either within walking distance or by a quick and efficient subway system or a quick cab ride if you have your destination written. The market really wasn't that far from where we wandering once we got a general sense of direction. It's a massive outdoor market selling everything under the sun. Since Hong Kong has its share of such markets, though on a smaller scale, I wasn't really seeking the sort of goods you might find there, except one. Snacks. It was a few hours before dinner.

We weren't finding much in the way of snacks as we hunted until I noticed a couple of options. A crowd surrounded a small storefront, queuing for something that looked like dumplings, which the shop workers were sorting into box after box like a factory line and which smelled fantastic. Then I noticed stands selling sliced melons on sticks. Those looked refreshing and I started to head towards one when something drew me back to the dumpling shop, and we added ourselves to the end of the long line of locals. The place was less a shop than a kitchen where you could see workers cranking out tray after tray of dumplings and the heat from it clung to the hovering crowd outside.

We didn't even know exactly what we were waiting for, but I essentially followed my nose, and the nose - as well as 50 people knowingly waiting for a taste - can't be wrong. A sign listed quantities and prices: 2=1000, 5=2000, etc., up to 25. 1000 Korean Won is less than $1. We ventured to try five. How bad could they be? And if they were actually bad, we'd have wasted all of $2.

As a fresh tray came out we were still in the middle of the line when a woman walked up to us and asked, "Two?" I said, "Five," and she put five pieces in a bag and we were suddenly done waiting. I guess she assumed we just wanted to try them rather than buy a box of 25 like everyone else in line. She was right. A couple behind us asked us in native English, "Is it quicker if you don't want a box?" surprising us because they were Asian. Maybe they saw us waiting and thought we were onto something... I wonder if they had to continue to wait their turn because they didn't stand out like we did. I don't know because we were already on our way back to the hotel with our prize. It didn't matter that we likely took a long way back because the dumplings were so hot we couldn't eat them for a long while anyway.

Then we tasted them. Definitely the best thing we've ever eaten for $1.60, and perhaps simply one of the best things we've ever eaten. True bliss. They were very different from Chinese style dumplings. We began mentally rearranging our next day's plans around getting more dumplings. Alas, it never happened so the taste was fleeting but the sweet memory lingers. We ate dinner at a Korean BBQ place that night, and it was enjoyable, but we would have forsaken it in a heartbeat if there were a dumpling in sight.

After dinner we walked around not far from the hotel and went into a bar that was oddly called Don Quixote. It was a Friday night so there were some people still in their work attire, mostly men. I think we were the only people there who ordered individual drinks and not a bottle of something. They didn't even sell wine by the glass. It was a telling glimpse of one aspect of Korean culture: drink yourself stupid amongst your coworkers, similar to the Japanese tradition. And the bartenders were all female, which sort of seemed like a throwback to another tradition of 'hostesses,' like geisha. They seemed to have hollow legs as well; every group who had a bottle in front of them poured their bartender a drink, and these petite ladies politely drank them all. On our way out, we saw a patron sitting on a curb, still in his suit, who didn't fair as well with a pile of vomit beneath his hanging head.

They had framed photos on the wall of Jodie Foster, Sarah Michelle Gellar and a couple of other celebrity women. Our bartender spoke only a little English but she was friendly so Paul asked her why the pictures were there, assuming they might have been patrons of the bar at one time. She said no, it was because they were famous and beautiful. She asked where we were from and when we said New York, she squealed and applauded gleefully. It was endearing. She said she had never been there.

The next morning we set out for Chang Deok Gung, one of the five remaining palaces in the city. I admit, I was enticed by the prospect of the so-called "secret gardens." I envisioned lush greenery and tranquility where you could stroll and relax. The only way to get in is to join a 90 minute tour. The palace itself looked similar to the structures of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Our guide had a strange manner of description, and I blanked out after about five minutes because the heat was just staggering. It was truly impossible to concentrate on anything with the sun extracting every last drop of sweat from our weary bodies. And the garden consisted of a small pool surrounded by some trees, not very rewarding. Paul may have mentioned something else here about how I was trying to kill him. All hearsay.

We eventually escaped, I mean exited, the palace and walked to the nearby area called Insa Dong which is a quaint, touristy area with cafes, tea houses and shops selling traditional Korean crafts. Last year when visiting the home of a friend here in HK, I remarked that I loved a lamp she had. She told me she bought it in Seoul, in Insa Dong, so I had a minor mission. We eventually found shops selling the same style lamps, all made from paper, and that's when Paul's real torture began. Anyone familiar with my decision making process?

It took awhile for me to decide. Of course that's an understatement, but do you really want more details? The shopkeeper eventually gave Paul a seat. When I finally pointed out the two - (hey it's now or never!) lamps I wanted, she told me I had a very good husband and that a Korean husband would have been too frustrated to wait so long. He's great and patient... applause, applause.

We had dinner at a Taiwanese place called Din Tai Fung (there's actually one here in HK too) which was pretty good. After dinner we decided to meander through the streets near our hotel in the Myeongdong district and we stumbled onto the hot spot to be on a Saturday night in Seoul. Blocks and blocks were closed to street traffic and masses of people shopped and ate among the endless maze of indoor shops and outdoor stands. It was a mix of everything, including Western stores like... The Gap!!! I was never so excited to see the familiar blue and white sign since nothing like it exists in Hong Kong. I was disappointed to find nothing I liked, and prices were higher, but Paul got pants. That was followed by Baskin Robins ice cream. We passed on the octopus legs for sale at an outdoor stand. The scene was vibrant and buzzing and a little crazy, and we would have no idea it existed if we didn't choose a random street leading there.

We stopped in a bar called 70's Radio on the way home. It was more casual then the previous night's choice, but the greatest thing about it was the waitress call button affixed to every table. Why don't they have these everywhere?

One thing that surprised us and would have delighted us if we spent more time in the city was the abundance of Dunkin Donuts. I've been craving a donut ever since I didn't have any when we were home in March. They're everywhere in Seoul and so are other donut shops, coffee shops, and I even saw plenty of signs for bagels. I guess they have a thing for New York because it figured into many shop names. I only had one donut in the airport, but I loved that I could have one every other block if I wanted.

I am happy to say that Seoul was a truly likable place. South Korea was not on our must-see list when we moved here. It's not that I had no interest in seeing Seoul, but a big city needs to offer something besides its big cityness when you've seen more than a few, and I couldn't imagine what Seoul had that other cities didn't. Maybe with little expectation, we both enjoyed Seoul more than we thought we would. Some tangible reasons: The people don't speak much English but were friendly anyway. There is good local food and an otherwise good variety on offer if that's what you seek. There are historical and natural sites scattered throughout the city. It's modern and efficient and fairly easy to get around. It's crowded and noisy yet feels very civilized. We felt an overall good atmosphere, a less tangible element that you may not be able to verbalize except to say, "I like this place." Oh yeah, it scores huge points for lacking hawkers. And having the world's greatest dumplings and the world's most recognized donuts.

Stay tuned for more adventures.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Another pin in the map: South Korea. We made it there and back with out Clinton having to rescue us.

We left last Tuesday, August 11, and spent most of the day traveling. It's 3.5 hours to Seoul and one more hour to Jeju, the island to the south that we visited. Of course all the in between time adds up, so we arrived at the hotel around 10 p.m. and I'm proud to say that I ordered room service for the first time in my life. It really works; they bring food to your room! We just split a club sandwich because it was late, but it was exciting nonetheless.

We started late the next morning after needed rest and asked the concierge about hiring a taxi to see some sights. This is the common thing to do. The taxi drivers typically speak no English, so the concierge writes their instructions down. I had some knowledge of the island's attractions but no sense of where things were, worth seeing or skipping, etc.

Being a volcanic island, there's a large inactive volcano in the center whose peak you can scale and peer down into its crater, but it's a several hour trek and we only had two days so we opted for other spots. You can see peaks and volcanoes all around in the distance, and the island's volcanic stone is everywhere - sculptures, walls, homes, souvenirs. There are also forests and beaches among the natural scenery. The concierge suggested spots on the Western side of the island, where we were based.

It was a grayish day, no sun, but no rain when we started out either. Despite our lack of understanding each other, our taxi driver laughed at everything we said and everything he said, a real hearty laugh from his gold tooth-filled mouth. We first stopped at a green tea plantation. You could walk around freely, but the crowds were mostly in the museum/shop where you could get everything green tea. The ice cream was tempting but we weren't hungry at the time.

Our next stop was Hallim Park, a pretty big complex consisting of many parts. They included stone and bonsai gardens, sub-tropical gardens, bird gardens and two caves classified as lava tube caves, Hyeopjae and Ssangnyonggul. The island has an extensive network of them. Fortunately, they are very different from the last cave we entered (bats, roaches, remember?). The only thing dripping from the ceiling was water. Each of the two was cool, dark and odorless, and no creatures were hanging, crawling, or lurking. Piece of cake.

Next we made a stop along the coast at Songaksan. The vistas were pretty but shortened and dampened by the gray mist. Our last stop was a peak called Sanbangsan. It was beautiful and intriguing as there were colorful artifacts adorning the climb upwards. We only made it a few flights of steps because the rain finally insisted on falling. We were lucky to have made it till about 5 p.m. that day, but it would have been nice to linger at that location.

We ate at the hotel that night, a BBQ buffet. The hotel also housed a casino, so Tai Pan Paul won about 43,000 Korean Won ($35) st the Blackjack table, and then we spent it on approximately three drinks in the posh lounge.

The next morning after breakfast we set out for the East side of the island, again with the concierge's written instructions for locations I chose - different driver. He was polite but not as jolly as the previous one. Our first destination was about an hour's drive away, Sunrise Peak. Peak=climb, so this is probably when Paul started to announce his suspicions that I might be trying to kill him. C'mon, there's a peak, what else can you do? This day was sunny and hot so we started missing the cool grayness of the day before, but really, the weather was perfect.

Down at the shore, there's a peculiar activity to observe. One of Jeju's unique attractions is the Women Divers. Historically, these were women who would dive to depths of 10-20 meters for over two minutes without SCUBA gear in order to collect valuable marine products, such as seaweed. Today, in this spot anyway, it's mostly just a kitschy show for the tourists. We were tourists, so we watched the women dive and surface, waving their clumps of seaweed and marine creatures.

We next stopped at Seongeup Folk Village, an authentic, still-functioning village where people live in traditional houses with thatched roofs. Our driver walked us into the village for about three minutes and then walked us back to the car. I was surprised it was such a small place since it appeared in the guide books and sounded like a worthwhile destination. Later when I looked in the book again, it said there were over 3000 homes in the village. I guess our driver decided for us that if you've seen three thatched roof homes, you've seen 3000.

Looping back towards home, the next stop was Jeongbang Waterfall. The heat reached its height at this point, so it felt good to stand close enough to the falls to feel the mist. It is said to be the world's only waterfall that falls directly into the sea. Our next stop was another waterfall, Cheyonjiyeon. The entrance was through a crowded parking lot filled with souvenir shops and refreshment stands. That's why it surprised me that past the gate laid a very pretty path to the falls.

It was around this time that I realized something and pointed out to Paul that South Korea should be his favorite Asian destination yet. Not one man, woman or child pitched us a book, tee shirt, bottle of water or any other less useful commodity... no hawkers! How refreshing.

Our last stop in the early evening was Jusangjeolli cliffs. I also realized that although all these attractions are popular and crowded, they're not China-crowded. You could move without suffocating.

Hot and energy spent, we hoped to take a quick dip in the hotel pool upon our return but were surprised and disappointed to learn that it closed at 6:00. Therefore, in our limited time there, we never even saw the hotel pool. Actually, the hotel was on a mountainside overlooking the ocean with access to a beach and we never even walked down to the beach. Oh well.

That night we ate a traditional Korean BBQ dinner at a restaurant that specializes in horse meat. We went for the less daring pork, cooked at our table. It was a pleasing meal and the server was friendly and told us how to manage the ingredients. We ate pork wrapped in mint leaves (I had no idea mint leaves could be so big). Yum.

Nearby our hotel there were a few luxury hotels and other attractions that make up the Jungmun Resort Complex. We strolled around after dinner and marveled at the amalgam of natural beauty, tradition, sophistication, modernity and tackiness. The Teddy Bear Museum says it all. Jeju is a popular destination among Koreans, mainland Chinese and Japanese. There's enough natural scenery to draw the crowds, but just in case scenery alone doesn't appeal to the Asian tourist, no effort was spared to offer every type of organized attraction imaginable:

citrus museum, chocolate museum, peace museum, sex museum, goblin park, love land, art park, water world, elephant land, maze park, water world, magic world, alligator town, miniature theme park, ballooning theme park, world eros museum, stone tortoise museum, natural love museum, ceramic ware museum, baseball museum, pony town, mask and bogey museum, psyche world, paper doll museum, dinosaur theme park and, of course, Happy Town.

We stuck with waterfalls and mountains, but I must admit... psyche world? Just a little curious.

You may think the island would be overflowing with cheesiness after that list, but it's not. Oh, it's there if you seek it, but so is a laid back atmosphere. The first impression of the island that I recall is green - lots of lush, green rolling hills and evergreen trees. As for all the man-made attractions, I saw signs for some, but they must blend in well because Jeju seemed like an otherwise normal, developed but not over-developed, modern, convenient, efficient, place to live - dotted with volcanoes and caves and cliffs - almost as if tourism was an afterthought, not a necessity.

Thankfully, every entrance fee to parks and such was minimal, and things are highly organized as to facilitate easy access to natural sites, though this might somehow make them alternately less accessible. You can see a lot, but you don't stand much of a chance of any uncharted, rugged or isolated exploration.

Well, continuing on our stroll that evening, we walked past the teddy bear museum and found a park with a bridge overlooking another waterfall. It was dark so we could only hear the falls, and the place was deserted. The two of us had a twinkling lantern-lined bridge to ourselves. To counter that peacefulness, we then passed through the Lotte hotel. Whew, that's where to go for a dose of sensory overload. Electric lighted horse-and-carriages, a pool surrounded by windmills and a volcano, complete with a Vegas-style show of volcanic flames and demons and noise. In contrast, the Shilla hotel next door was the picture of elegance and subdued sophistication. Rather than a volcano, there was someone singing operatically in the lounge.

The next morning, we were grateful to be taking off for Seoul because it was not just gray, it was pouring rain with no foreseeable end. Unless we gave in to the teddy bear museum or something similar, I can't imagine what else we would have done.

As my vacation posts continue to be epic, I'll write about Seoul in a second post.

Happy birthday to John.

And by now, we've just celebrated our 8th anniversary, a lucky number in China. We had a delightful dinner at our favorite restaurant, M, Saturday night and since yesterday was the actual date we went for sushi in our neighborhood. Here's to wandering the earth and dining together for 8x8 more years.

Horse with No Name

So we’re almost at the end of the decade and surprisingly there are not a million best/worst of lists floating around (at least not around here). I think this is simply the result of the decade never having a name that caught on, and conceivably we could go from the 90’s to the 20’s without ever really over exaggerating the end of a 10 year period.

If someone mentions the 80’s it immediately conjures up some very specific impressions. Will anyone ever comment on the Oh’s? The 2000’s? It just doesn’t sound right, does it? The aught’s was used in the previous century and sounds about that dated. For example, “In nineteen aught two, men used to wear an onion hanging from their belts, as was the style of the time.”

I was recently listening to a podcast of a sports / pop culture writer turned podcaster that I follow, Bill Simmons of ESPN. He was speaking with Chris Connelly of early MTV for those that might remember, and they were discussing the best movie of the past 10 years.

Simmons claimed Almost Famous was the best movie of the decade based on Excellence, Originality, and Rewatchabilty. He then actually followed this up with a two part article defending his selection. Connelly tried to say that TV series like The Sopranos and The Wire were actually the movies of the decade, but I dismiss that argument. TV shows get the chance to change characters and story lines if they start to lose audiences while films aren't given such a grace period. I can't imagine how bad a movie would do if it had it's characters chase a Russian in the woods for an entire hour and then never refer back to the guy again. (If these were eligible, The Wire would take it in a landslide.)

I was a fan of Almost Famous but this certainly seemed like a stretch for the best overall film. My biggest arguments being: A) Did it reach an audience outside of its target? I’m not even sure everyone reading this blog has seen it. B) While it had some cool dialogue, is the movie ever referenced in real life?

Taking an example from the 90’s, many people that are admittedly not fans of horror / thriller films thought Silence of the Lambs was great. Eighteen years later and people still can’t hear the name Clarice without immediately repeating it in a long drawn out and creepy way. What would you drink with fava beans? I think you get the point and I can’t think of any specific scene or dialogue people go to for A F.

So without much going on and little to write about I decided to glance through the long list of movies that came out over the past nine and a half years and see what really was the defining film of the past decade. And after an initial look I was shocked how few outstanding films there really were. Suddenly A F didn’t seem like such a stretch. There were three themes that stood out as the most successful.

First, while independent films rose to prominence in the 90’s, garnishing Oscar nods for the first time, this past decade they were annually the best group of films represented. Almost every year at least one small film was up for best picture with a realistic shot of winning and there were several others each year that held their own both critically and commercially.

Some of the best were: Lost in Translation, Sideways and Slumdog Millionaire. While others may not be the best films of the year, they certainly topped many of their big budget rivals, like Juno, City of God, Little Miss Sunshine and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Finally there was still a group that represented the independent spirit of targeting smaller audiences with original screenplays and quirky characters like Once, Memento and Amelie. I’m sure people are naming some other great indys I haven’t listed which is exactly the point.

One of the two big budget genres that really exploded this past decade was the Superhero movies. While they have been being made forever, box office receipts alone can tell the story that these movies have moved into a new realm. I think two in particular sit on top of this category. 2002’s Spiderman which I believe its impact in this film category is now overlooked because of its own sequels and others building off the foundation it laid, capping off of course with The Dark Knight, but more on that later.

The third and final category that seemed to dominate the twenty-oh’s (still not right) was the predetermined sequel / trilogies. The difference between these and other sequels such as Spiderman 2 were that they were budgeted for and filmed before the success or failure of their predecessor. While I think some of these were excellent, I will say now that I do not believe that any one of the individual films stood out on its own as the best picture of the decade, including the Harry Potter series which does not technically fit here but I have included. In best first order these include:

· Lord of the Rings

· Harry Potter

· Kill Bill

· Letter of Iwo Jima / Flags of Our Fathers

· Star Wars Prequels

While this may seem like a good trend and a director like Peter Jackson claims he was much more free to create the stories he wanted knowing he had the support to complete his vision, I also worry that some really bad sequels could be in our future. Prior to these successful franchises Matthew Broderick was contracted and paid to make Godzilla 2 before the original was released and then it bombed so badly the studio just took a loss on his salary and pulled the plug.

Another interesting sequel trend that took place this decade was the “delayed” sequel. In 2006 Basic Instinct and Clerks released sequels a combined 26 years after the original films. Stallone had a similar strategy releasing the next installments in the Rocky and Rambo franchises a combined 36 years after the last films. I would have hoped this proved that going back to past successes was a bad idea, but Rambo V is now in talks.

Anyway before I get on with my pick for the movie of the decade let me just say that much like the celebrity death of the decade, I hope one sneaks in under the wire (I may be watching Inglourious Basterds with my fingers crossed). Most years I could not remember what five films would have been nominated for best picture, particularly in the middle of the decade, and it makes me wonder if anyone actually did so before making the decision to increase the Oscar nominations to 10 Best Pictures, or just looked back to the 40’s when this worked.

And in no particular order, the losers are:

ANCHORMAN

While the Academy refuses to honor comedies I will not make the same mistake. I cannot think of a more rewatchable or quotable movie from the past decade. I don’t think I have the ability to change the channel during the street yard fight scene or the following recap back at the studio. Many of you may argue that other films in this genre were better like Old School, Wedding Crashers, Pineapple Express or the recently released and very funny The Hangover. But the bottom line is that you would be wrong. I realize it may fall a little short on the Excellence and Acting scales to be movie of the decade, but it certainly deserves to be mentioned. And if you’re wondering about its global appeal, Nike is releasing a Ron Burgundy sneaker, only available in Beijing (we may need to make a trip back). I’ll admit I’m a little worried about the recent buzz to create a sequel and have had some bad Clerks II flashbacks.

No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Mystic River, Gangs of New York

All well acted, well written, well directed and extremely intense films. All deserving of the Oscar nods they received as well as being mentioned on this list. I honestly could not tell you which one was better than the other, but I can also say I really have no desire to see anyone of them again.

Lost in Translation

A personal favorite that I could easily go on about the subtle genius of Bill Murray and the official introduction of Scarlett Johansson as a Hollywood starlet. However I realize that there is a large contingent of people, with good taste and respectable opinions, which either do not get or simply do not like this film. And I get that. I think I have a similar reaction to many critically acclaimed Cohen brother films. It’s my list and I could just pick this as best picture but I’ll respect the majority here.

Almost Famous

Previously discussed. A great film that is easily rewatchable and Kate Hudson’s pinnacle acting performance, having men around the country crushing on Penny Lane. Personally I think her performance and a more interesting topic made this film only marginally better than Wonderboys which I would include in the same category.

The Departed

Maybe it’s not fair to compare this to Marty’s other fantastic work, but I’d dig the Goodfellas DVD out 9 times out of 10 before popping in The Departed.

The Dark Knight

It may be that I’m just too old to think this could be the best film of the decade. It may be that its direct completion is just too close to say this film was that much better (specifically than Spiderman and Ironman). But it was a thoroughly entertaining movie that concentrated more on acting and storyline as well as action than any of its predecessors. Would Heath have been nominated if not for his untimely death? Probably. Would he have won? I’d say definitely not.

Gladiator

A much more entertaining film than A Beautiful Mind which was the picture Russell actually should have received the Oscar for. Rewatchable and quotable in the same mold as Braveheart of the previous decade. But not as quite as inspiring and not topping The Dark Knight for action movie of the decade.

And the winner is:

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

I’m disappointed myself. I was not trying to be deceptive earlier, I had made the above choices while writing and as much as it kills me to pick a movie with no ending, at the end of the day this was the best that the decade offered. I take solace in the fact that the sequels were predetermined and the movie had every right to not offer a tidy conclusion. It was well made, fun to watch and if you have 9 hours to kill, completely rewatchable. Will anyone ever refer to “the Return” and have everyone understand what they mean in the same way when they hear “the Empire” or “Jedi”. I doubt it, but only time will tell.

It’s very disappointing that I had difficulty picking a handful of movies and not honestly believing any of them were really worthy of a “best of the decade” billing. While if I did this for the 90’s I would have had trouble narrowing down my selection. Pulp Fiction, Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, Goodfellas, Silence of the Lambs, There’s Something About Mary, Life is Beautiful, Saving Private Ryan, Braveheart, Good Will Hunting – and that is all just off the top of my head.

Burumpt! Burumpt! Burumpt!

What are those trumpets?

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

"As by order of the Queen herself a last minute decision has been made that the 2002 re-release of Monty Python's The Holy Grail in theaters has made it eligible for competition in best film of the decade."

And the New Winner of the best movie of the first decade of the 21st Century Is:

1977's Monty Python's The Holy Grail

A proven champion, completely rewatchable, extremely quotable, and fondly referred to 32 years after the original release.

My suggestion would be to break The Grail out of the DVD cabinet and give it another go - or if you need something more recent, try one of the smaller films for entertainment and hope the "teens" offer something better. But I don't remember anyone ever referring to the teens of the last century, so we may be in for the long haul until the roaring 20's come back.

For now I leave you with this double blog for missing last month and we're off to Korea, hopeful filled with some exciting stories and photos.

Blog ya' later...

MASH

Yes, I'm still here. I've spent many hours in front of the computer in the last couple of weeks but obviously not on the blog. I've been trying to put together a trip for August and it has finally materialized.

I looked into several options including Lombok (an Indonesian island), Singapore and a nearby island, more than one area of China, Okinawa... I don't know how many places. But things kept falling through at some point either because of airfare prices, lack of availability of flights or chosen hotels, and mostly due to rainy season in this part of the world. Several people say, "So what! It's not that bad." But I am that person who seeks optimum weather conditions where possible, so Thailand or Vietnam would not be the places to go right now.

Curious yet? We chose another random place that had not even been on our must see list. One day I saw an online article listing the 28 finalists in the contest for the seven new natural wonders of the world. I looked through the list of 28 destinations and one seemed relevant to my search. Jeju, an island to the south of South Korea.

Research, research, research... and we're going to South Korea. It was supposed to be a long weekend sort of trip, but since we're passing through Seoul, how could we not stop there? We head to Jeju first for two days and then back to Seoul for the next two days. We leave next week. I hear Seoul is an interesting place, hardly any English spoken. And of course, no one I know has heard of Jeju because we always have to traipse ourselves just off the simple, obvious path, don't we? Looking forward to it.

The other thing I had been doing was studying for my advanced wine course exam. I originally took it back in March, the day after we returned from our two week stay in NY, where I told myself I would have plenty of time to study. I knew about two days into our stay that I could give up hope of having time to study and resigned myself to taking the test as practice. Not surprisingly, I didn't pass (though I did pass the tasting part in which you have to describe and identify a wine) and I signed up to retake the theory part on July 25.

So I spent the last four months studying every day for three hours. And if you're reading this, then you're someone who knows me well enough that you have a suspicious, puzzled expression on your face right now. Of course I didn't! I meant to... but I gave myself about two weeks. I crammed a lot in, but you have no idea how much information there is about the production of wine. And then - I got the same exact test as the last time. If you think that would help me, it didn't. There are so many possible facts they could pull out of the material, I only vaguely remembered what was asked the last time and I didn't think that they would give the same test as a whole, maybe just some questions. Another problem is that the way they ask questions, I come home after the exam, search the book, and still can't find a definitive answer to some of them. That's frustrating.

So I didn't even really want to say that I took the test again because I probably only did marginally better than the last time and it will be embarrassing if I fail it twice, but I had to come up with something to report over the last few weeks! Wine studying, trip planning. Sorry, folks.

We did go back to Macau a couple of weeks ago. We planned on it because the forecast predicted a sunny Saturday for the first time in weeks. The forecast lied, so we looked at the pretty pool through the raindrops on the hotel room window, took advantage of the spa at the Mandarin Oriental, and had a pretty good Portuguese dinner nearby before throwing some money away at The Sands. It was beautiful and sunny the next day while we checked out.

We also visited a winery here in Honk Kong recently. That's right, a Hong Kong winery. They import the grapes from other grape growing regions of the world and they make the wine here so it is actually produced locally. It's a small outfit and a small staff of three, but they were friendly and it was a fun evening with a group of fellow wine tasters.

Saturday in Macau

Sunday in Macau

8th Estate Winery