Taking an urban walk

Admittedly wandering through Seoul isn't always the most pleasant of activities. People, traffic and high rises aren't exactly conducive to relaxing. Still, eager to try my new digicam I bought in Yongsan last weekend, I headed for City Hall for a wander around the less congested roads around the area. First stop: Seoul Museum of Art.

I wanted to see if they had a modern art exhibition still running that Lauren had recommended before she left, but alas I was a week too late. Still, this was a good opportunity to browse the works of Chun Kyung-Ja in the permanent collection. It is a small array of the pieces that this successful female Korean donated to the gallery, depicting her life of travel and quest for international acclaim in the art world.

I really enjoyed wandering around this artist's paintings. I was lucky to turn up at the time that a fellow English teacher was giving a tour of the collection, and having enjoyed the art myself it was nice to gain more of an insight into the artist's life and the depth behind the paintings. I'm no art critic, but I'd like to come back here sometime and enjoy the serenity of this gallery.

Continuing my walk I headed to Gyeonghuigung - a small palace yet to be fully restored. Again, I was revelling in the lack of people and cool breeze that the end of summer has brought with it. By chance I stumbled across a taekwondo demonstration, being held every Wednesday and Saturday until December as part of the 2008 Seoul Taekwondo Tour Program.

Even though taekwondo is a self-defense sport, the power and control behind the fighters manages to turn a potentially scary skill into a form not dissimilar to dance. There really is an element of beauty and elegance to this martial art. There was an opportunity for foreigners to try out some board-breaking themselves, but it was only strong looking men who partook^^

My photos aren't going to win any competitions, but for a point-and-shoot camera I'm pretty pleased with the lack of effort needed to get some nice colourful pictures. On the way to the bus stop I got a shot of this moving Statue of Hammering Man, presumably depicting the endless toil of Seoul city life...