Locations

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Samsung, Kia, Hyundai, Korea

So it happens  the first time to visit Seoul S-Korea (first time further from the airport!) had to be just during the few weeks time in April when communist brother in North started to pose threats in the region. We always kept the Plan B ready in a case there is a quick need to get out of the country, in 3 days just had time to see Seoul.
Korea had always been in low priority list - urban area, Shanghai and Beijing have been nearby, though now coming from Rizhao it felt like a truly amazing city to see and actually being closer than Beijing or Shanghai. It is the place where all the cars of world are driven as long as they are either Kia or Hyundai (did not see a single Toyota in 3 days); it is the best place to shop for all kinds of electronic gadgets as long as they are Samsung!
IMG_8892
Some of that well maintained! old architecture.
IMG_8903
Street art on the wall
IMG_8924
Some of that Tokyo-like night life scene
IMG_8925
Technology at every step, at every age, for all the possible purposes.
IMG_8950
Typical moto-courier 3-4 smart phones on the dashboard. Watching TV, communicating and navigating, all of it at the same time, no problem.
IMG_8938
Some very unique cafeterias, Beesket yoghurt and smoothie place. Start by getting a small 3-hole "tray". Flavours can be selected by picking small knobs with pictures of desired fruits from a big gaming board. In registry: besides the money to be paid, info about the Kcal is to be received in return. 6100 Korean money gave a 145 Kcal worth smoothie.
IMG_8935
IMG_8937
IMG_8946
IMG_8959
Korean style, instead of showing 2-finger Victory (standard photo posing style for Chinese photo lovers), Koreans go for more sophisticated symbolic heart sign by putting the hands over head. Massive wall of love-locks at the background.
IMG_8970
Seafood market fun. Theme is simple: buy the live seafood on the ground level, put in plastic bag. Take purchased goods to 2nd floor, decide the method of cooking, negotiate a price in one of the restaurants, get seated...
IMG_8976
Biggest tuna I have seen
IMG_8977
IMG_8988
Korea is a place where good ideas never stop! Well, this is the country where mass weddings for ~1000 people are arranged. We went for electronics shopping, 8 floors mall. In between TVs floor and Mobiles phones floor, 7th floor turned out to be wedding floor - not to buy wedding gadgets, but to get married. Everything together in one: bridal rooms, registration halls, wedding dining halls, photo shooting areas, etc.. Everything goes spot on like on a conveyor, there is always a previous ceremony in front and and the next couple with their guests behind.
Dream place for wedding crashers!
IMG_8992
IMG_8998
Moment of true culture :) Trick eye museum
IMG_9002
IMG_9020





Sunday, March 31, 2013

Easter in East

IMG_5979
Starting point, eggs and pile of onion peels, spinach, green tea, rose buds. Heard it caused very big eyes and many questions from shop assistants when Inga shopped for 1 onion and a big bag of onion peels.
IMG_6030
IMG_6011
Putting it all together
IMG_6028
IMG_6058
IMG_6063
IMG_6080
On the Good Friday had a team dinner, took one egg for everybody. And did the explanation of the tradition and of course the key of egg painting - the egg fight. Then we even did the demonstration fight with our 2 eggs. None of the colleagues wanted to join in, just said politely they will take the egg home and will do the fight next day.




Monday, February 11, 2013

Happy New Year vol 1 - faces and places in Latvia and Estonia

Inspired by remarkable Christmas time 2012 holiday in Estonia and Latvia
PLUS
from the 2 posts Places and Faces from previous "home leave" 1.5 years earlier.
This year the known reason for winter holiday in cold place was to see the winter in Estonia after 4 years, the commonly not known reason of getting married in Pärnu 3 days before the year number changed.

IMG_7996
Place: Rizhao, China. All packed and ready to roll, just few kg over the limit. No problem, the best we have done is 90 kg of checked and non-checked luggage for 2 people, roughly 50 kg over limit between Shanghai-Rizhao.
IMG_8024
Place: Central Riga. Latvians traditional pie or Finnish Karjala pie, same same. Ask from one or other side, hope not causing a border conflict, Estonia would be just in the middle. 
IMG_8026
Place: Riga Centre Christmas market.
IMG_8027
Face: Santa, Riga Centre Christmas market. Not real, now I know
IMG_8029-Edit
Place: Riga Centre. When very cold, even the traffic signs dress up. 
IMG_8063
Places: shopping centre in Riga. Instead of window shopping went for escalator hopping.
IMG_8088
Place: hip restaurant in Riga. Frozen marzipan cake worth of travelling continents... or at least from Tallinn to Riga.
IMG_8321
Place: Frozen sea, Pärnu. Second main reason for the holiday: snow and ice
IMG_8327
Place: Frozen sea, Pärnu
IMG_8344
Face: KUMU, Tallinn. One white sheep. Spontaneous stop at KUMU (Art Museum), outside blistering cold (must have been at least -2 degrees), where else to be if not in KUMU!
IMG_8346
Face: KUMU, Tallinn. Free divers from 1960s
IMG_8348
Place: KUMU, Tallinn. Faces from different times
IMG_8349
Place: KUMU, Tallinn. Small artwork in one of the corners of the exhibition a yellow digger pulling down Kadrioru castle.
IMG_8352
IMG_8356
Faces: KUMU, Tallinn. Sofa art
IMG_8369
Face: Taivo. Getting wax done. Then skiing done, checked. The very last day in Estonia.
IMG_8380
Face and place: Aegviidu, very traditional New Year dinner around long table
IMG_8381
Face: Armin and the pork stake
IMG_8387
Face: Annabel and her potato, this time as discussion partner
IMG_8397
Place: Seaplane Harbor, Tallinn. One more museum. Interesting because of its interior and some of the exhibits. Honestly getting to know every single fresh & salt water buoy is not that interesting, of course if not being in process of making captain's papers




Tuesday, December 18, 2012

In the very centre of China

Preparations for visiting the middle kingdoms of China started ... let's say exactly ... 3 years ago by starting to convince my mother to visit me in China. After all these years of hard work it all finally started to roll in November 2012 when my mother and brother landed in China, not in Shanghai or Beijing, but in the very middle, in Chongqing. Mother first time ever so far and in Asia! Brother already second time on rice.

Wanting to show something different from golden triangle of Shanghai, Beijing and Xian, we headed to search for somewhat more traditional - Southern China's rich minority culture, misty hills with small villages in between, burning spicy food, long bus and train trips. All this was available in Guizhou and Chongqing province.

IMG_5618
Chongqing transporter. As the city is very hilly, old profession of transporter guys offering service to carry goods on their shoulders is still highly valued.
IMG_5625
Mother getting to know the local market life
IMG_5630
Vegetable seller's rice break
IMG_5667
Train departing from Kaili (Guizhou province), 13 hours and ~700km it took to get there from Chongqing.
IMG_5669
In Kaili, the last big town, before heading to villages in the middle of mountains. Feel of China: little foggy (smoggy), little hilly, a pagoda and already few rice terraces. Still the beginning!
 IMG_5681
Miao minority women
IMG_5871
Xijiang village in mountains
IMG_5703
When there is no rice season the same field is used as a fishing pond. Basket was used as the fishing net
IMG_5704
IMG_5696
Just a spider net
IMG_5836
Village street, for some reason cars were not the most popular mean of transportation inside the village, must have been high parking fees :)
IMG_5814
Terraces preparing for winter
IMG_5757
Xijiang village entrance - developed as tourist attraction, so everybody coming to the village will be welcomed by local dancers
IMG_5793
Getting the true looks of Miao people
IMG_5735
Chinese-Estonian farming cooperation, knowledge sharing workshop in progress
IMG_5729
Tasting flowers
IMG_5873
Roofs with no cement
IMG_5858
Into the mist.... siilike
IMG_5811

Next stop Baltics, Dec2012