Cartier's Contemporary Art Foundation's collection – Highlight - 2017 in Seoul Museum of Art next to Deoksugung Palace, Korea

The way to the Seoul Museum of Art to walk along the stone wall of the Palace, as for me, is always throb with a feeling of being quite different from going to another museum.

The stonewall path of old Deoksugung Palace (덕수궁), one of the Five Grand palaces, located next to the city hall and familiar with Korean, on the way to the museum gives a different feeling throughout the four seasons all year round and is beautiful in itself. The shade of trees made by the fresh green seasons, the feeling that when it rains and go this pathway under umbrella, even the raindrops in this place seem to be something different with other places, the stunning colored leaves in the fall, the tiles of the palace covered the white snow in the winter, all of this dazzle the way to the museum. I read an article about the opening of the Cartier collection in the newspaper and visit the museum in the Sunday afternoon.

On the way to the museum, as usual, people was making their beautiful memories while taking pictures in front of stone wall as the background. It made me feel better to see the scene. Fresh performances by Buskers on weekends lead the way to the museum more romantic combination. But to be wonder, I don't know why there is a popular myth handed down for a long time that if you walk on this stonewall walkway with lover, you will surely break up. Of course, many lovers were walking this way when I visited there looked as if they didn’t mind at all what it does.

Large roses were welcome me at the museum entrance. It’s the artwork with the name ”Rosy Life( La Vie en Rose)". This bold, huge rose bouquet made of FRP (Fiber reinforced plastics) material always welcomes me as usual like an old friend. I breathed in the utmost the air of museum as sat on a stone chair, as always, before entering the museum. The name of this stone chairs art is 'communication'.

I had a feeling that it was very familiar to me and comfortable each time whenever I visited. While searching for museum information to write this blog, I realized that this is also an artwork.

As I looked at the right side of the entrance door, a knight in a shiny silver armor was situated above eye level. I thought there was some consistency in artworks because the company supports this art foundation is doing business related to jewelry, so I was slightly worried for a moment that other works might have the same tendency. However, it was my perfect groundless anxiety. I lined up a line to join and it didn't take a long time to enter. It was able to appreciate for me it comfortably during the time because the staffs adjust the number of audience at a distance of time. I am not an expert in art, so I don’t like to see lots of artwork in a short time. To be sorry for the artists but I am just ordinary person. I am impressed at first, however as I go backwards, I become dull. So, I prefer the exhibition style not the dense exhibition form but a little far away spacing arrangement. In that sense, this exhibition gave me very comfortable moving line. Nevertheless, the level of the exhibits was so great and valuable that I continued to fill my curiosity with diverse art world.

"In BED"  by Ron Mueck
Oh, my. Awesome. He was lying in bed and resting so naturally. 

What his eyes say is ....

I read in the newspaper that the foundation would just support the artists but not interfere with the works of them. It seemed like that they are trying to take the high road. Well, how lucky we are to see these works for free! In addition, there was no limit for visitors to take a photo so they easily took pictures from various angles.

It was a great day for the art museum outing in a long time. I'd like to recommend not to miss this wonderful art world. It is now your turn for what you will see and feel. Be there and breathe in the air of art, please.

Cartier's Contemporary Art Foundation's collection <Highlight>

In where: At the Seoul Museum of Art(SeMA, 서울시립미술관) 1-3F, 

Duration: May 30 ~August 15, 2017. Monday off

How to get: Seoul city hall station (Subway line 1 or line 2) exit#2

.           .    Walk along the Duksugung Palace(덕수궁) stonewall walkway 

.           .    in 5~10 minutes.

Admission fee: Free
 

How much do you know about Cheonggyecheon stream(청계천) in the heart of Seoul? The more you know, the more you see!

Seoul is a complex and bustling city even for Koreans. Nevertheless, this city, the capital of the Joseon Dynasty for over the past 600 years, is a treasure trove of Korea's rich traditional culture. We are fortunate to have such a remarkable culture heritage so close to our everyday lives. Located in the heart of Seoul, Cheonggyecheon stream offers visitors a place to relax and create lasting memories. With its historic bridges built by our ancestors and modern structures that blend harmoniously with nature, it is a fascinating destination loved by both Koreans and visitors from around the world.

Cheonggyecheon(청계천) is well known as one of Korea's best-known tourist attractions for both Koreans and international visitors. However, if you are unfamiliar with its historical significance, you may miss much of what makes this place truly special.

At first glance, it may seem like nothing more than a peaceful urban oasis where people can enjoy nature in the middle of the city. In reality, however, Cheonggyecheon has much deeper historical and cultural significance.

Historically, the major royal palaces, important government offices, and the residences of the upper class were located north of the stream, while ordinary citizens mainly lived to the south.

Several bridges crossed the stream, and markets selling a wide variety of goods developed along its banks. In this sense, Cheonggyecheon served as a symbolic boundary between the upper class and common people throughout the approximately 500-year Joseon Dynasty. 

After the fall of the Joseon Dynasty and during Korea's rapid modernization, much of the stream was covered with concrete for several decades. About 10 kilometers of the waterway, stretching from eastern to western Seoul, were buried underground, and elevated highways were constructed above it beginning in the 1950s. Commercial districts specializing in a wide range of goods also developed around the area.

The new business hub street beside stream

 Following Korea's rapid industrialization after the Korean War, this area became one of the most heavily congested parts of Seoul. For nearly 50 years, traffic jams often lasted well into the night, making the area resemble a giant parking lot.

After years of debate and controversy, the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project was completed, and the stream was reopened to the public in October 2005. Since then, it has once again become a cherished public space for Seoul's citizens.

Thanks to the environmental restoration efforts, people have gained a beautiful green oasis in the heart of the city. Older buildings along both sides of the stream were renovated or replaced, and many new buildings were constructed, giving the surrounding area a fresh new appearance.

As a result, the district has developed into a new business hub, particularly for international finance and high-tech industries, leading to a significant increase in property values. Today, Cheonggyecheon has become one of Seoul's most popular attractions, where modern architecture, history, and nature exist in harmony.

Make a wish in here so called ‘Trevi Fountain’ in the style of Korea.

Most people begin their walk at Cheonggye Plaza. As you walk down the stairs into the stream area, you will see visitors tossing coins into the Wishing Well, a small fountain located in the middle of the stream.

Often referred to as "Korea's Trevi Fountain," the Wishing Well is said to bring you back to Seoul one day if you toss in a coin and make a wish. Don't hesitate to make a wish and create a special memory. The coins collected from the Wishing Well are donated to programs that support underprivileged youth.

The first bridge you encounter after leaving Cheonggye Plaza once stood beside a marketplace where fresh fruits and vegetables were sold during the Joseon Dynasty.

In those days, when there were no public squares like we have today, this area served as an important cultural and social gathering place for ordinary people. The bridge was much more than a simple way to cross the stream—it was a place where people rested, met friends and neighbors, and spent time together as part of their daily lives.

The Gwangtong Bridge with beautiful relief

Among the many bridges spanning Cheonggyecheon, Gwangtonggyo Bridge is one of the most beautiful and beloved. In the past, various events and celebrations were held here during Korea's major traditional holidays. Today, it is also well known as a romantic setting in many Korean historical dramas.

If you look closely at the stone pillars and the beautifully carved stone reliefs along both sides of the bridge, you will notice that some of the stone slabs have been placed upside down.

These stone carvings originally came from the royal tomb of Queen Sindeok, the second queen of King Taejo, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897). Queen Sindeok played an important role in the founding of the dynasty.

However, she wished to see her own son succeed to the throne, which led to political conflict with King Taejong, the son of King Taejo's first queen. After the struggle for royal succession, Queen Sindeok's son died, and Taejong eventually became the third king of the Joseon Dynasty.

According to a well-known historical account, the beautifully carved stone slabs from Queen Sindeok's tomb were later reused during the reconstruction of Gwangtonggyo Bridge. Some of the stones were intentionally installed upside down, supposedly as a symbolic insult to the late queen ordered by King Taejong.

Whether or not this story is entirely true, the bridge is admired today not only for its elegant stone carvings but also for the fascinating history behind them.

The horse carrying King Jeongjo. In accordance with conventions, the King is not actually depicted in the painting but has been left blank.

Another highlight along Cheonggyecheon is the impressive tile mural depicting King Jeongjo's Royal Procession, created with more than 5,000 ceramic tiles.

King Jeongjo is remembered as one of the Joseon Dynasty's most capable and visionary rulers. He promoted political, cultural, and economic reforms in an effort to strengthen the nation. To commemorate his mother Lady Hyegyeong's 60th birthday, he organized a magnificent eight-day royal procession to visit the tomb of his father, Crown Prince Sado, and commissioned court painters to record the event in great detail.

The paintings vividly capture the atmosphere of the time. The relaxed procession, lively scenes of everyday life, and the expressive faces of the participants provide a fascinating glimpse into Joseon society.

King Jeongjo's family history was deeply tragic. His father, Crown Prince Sado, became a victim of political conflict and was ordered by King Yeongjo to be locked inside a wooden rice chest, where he died after several days. After Sado's death, the young Jeongjo was raised under the protection of his grandfather, King Yeongjo, before eventually ascending the throne.

As king, Jeongjo frequently paid tribute to his father by visiting his tomb, and this moving story has inspired countless Korean historical dramas, novels, and films.

Exhibition zone 

Cheonggyecheon Stream has long been a beloved place for the people of Seoul, and it continues to be cherished today. It is a vibrant cultural space where visitors can enjoy busking performances and a variety of live events, especially on weekends.

When I visited on a weekend, I watched a bubble show that lasted about 30 minutes. Thanks to the performer's humor and entertaining performance, the time seemed to fly by. The show was especially popular with children, who laughed and cheered throughout.

Another simple pleasure was enjoying a cup of coffee at one of the cafés along the stream. Take your time, relax, and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere. Since the walking trail is quite long, you may want to turn back at a convenient point or take a break to rest your legs before continuing.

One performer particularly caught my attention—a woman playing a musical instrument while singing. She reminded me of what it truly means to be an amateur. She made a few mistakes during her performance, but they only made me smile. In the end, technical skill did not seem to matter very much. What mattered most was how genuinely she enjoyed sharing her music. 

Watching her, I realized that being an amateur is not about lacking skill. It is about having the courage to enjoy what you love and to share it with others. Perhaps that is what happiness is all about.

Lightning Festival of the Garden of Morning Calm

When the leaves fall and the flowers fall into a deep sleep, the garden becomes calm. After a moment's rest, In winter, this garden is reborn again into the lighting garden by the 6 million LED light bulbs shining brightly. In general, many dynamic Koreans do not let them off to waste long winter without doing anything in the cold winter. Thanks to a lot of attempts, sometimes we can encounter another astonishing moment and unforgettable memories even more than we expected. Shall you come and go with me to find out what's in there waiting for me? Move,Move. 

In fact, the garden has been always crowded with lots of visitors who want to appreciate thousands of trees and various beautiful flowers combined with Korean pavillion and pond expressing oriental beauty from spring to autumn.

*I strongly recommend to visit again in spring when it is full of flowers. 

*The lightning festival of garden will continue until March 26.

The Herbal Kingdom, Herb Island in Pocheon, South Korea(포천 허브아일랜드)

When the Herb was unfamiliar to the public 20 years ago in Korea, it is said she started to plant herbs in small green house in desolate land, this was registered as specialized Herb Plant Museum in Korea and became landmarks in Pocheon city(포천시), where is located in the northern of Seoul, a little far from around 2 hour drive from Seoul. Herb Island, it's not a real island but just the name only. I used a tour bus that only goes on Saturdays. I didn't want to drive my car because the road of suburbs on weekend are always jam packed with lots of car.  As I looked over the people waiting bus, more than half of them were young couples hand-in-hand. Aha, romantic date attractions?

It has certain charming point that makes people visit here up to million visitors all the year. In the beginning, It is said, it reached just 10,000 square meters only in width and was barren land being overgrown with full of weeds and gravels. At that time there was no road, water and even electricity was not linked at all. They pulled up out the weeds, sow the seeds and planted the trees of Mediterranean herbs. But it was so difficult to get a success that there were several attempts and failures to fit it in the soil of Korea. Most of all, there is big difference in the amount of sunshine as compared with the one of Mediterranean. It is insufficient in Korea.

Inside of Herb plant Museum

The huge herb green house (Herb & Plants Museum) was considered to be the most valuable place of this place. It boasted several hundred type of herb and seemed like to show long cultivation history. I felt the green house is not only the simple cultivation area of trees but also each tree was treated with care. This herb plant museum has been played its’ role for as the matrix of this herb island absolutely, as I thought.

The Santa Claus village, composed at the back side of these herb greenhouses, gave me another pleasure, too. How sweet and cool it was by the fresh flavor of herbal aroma in this hot summer! It was holding cooling event of aromatic herbal showering on the path during these hot summer days till end of August. Both Visitors and Santa Clauses lined on this path were soaked fully with foggy herbal vapor. It was very pleasant and something special aromatic experience.

Aromatic herb showering

Tiny church where we can send the Christmas card in advance

Summer Santa Clauses wearing in blue, small box houses decorated with items related on Santa Claus. People could feel the early Christmas mood on August and send their pre-card for Christmas at the tiny church on the hillside. With all of these in fairytale-like village, people were busy taking photos and enjoying early arrived Christmas day.

In the Herbal crafts exhibition hall

At the Herb Museum

It's under distilling the essential herb oil

The herb museum exhibits all about the herb in the side of food, flavoring, medicine and others. History of herb, herb related goods like oils, wines, liquors, vinegar and teas, making herb candles and soaps, handicraft corner, distillation corner of essential oil, many kinds of herb details helped my knowledge of it. What’s more, tiny items situated each corner added us aromatic pleasure, too. Recommend not to miss here. As time had gone so fast, we felt hungry. We enjoyed herb dishes in the Athens hall restaurant which is decorated in Greek style. How was the taste and price? The mood in there was very good but the price and taste didn't impress me enough.

Inside restaurant

When the sun went down, this place became the more beautiful, stunning and romantic site than daytime with millions of starlike lights and gave me wonderful shooting time. The live show on weekend at square and to see the youth who boarded mini gondola circling this square made me happy even though I didn’t ride it. For a while I sat and took coffee break. Well, the two guys’ singing ability on the stage was not good enough. They had trouble hitting the high notes and some portion of notes was stretched more longer. I was eavesdropping on the next person said to funny when was passing me " What makes them sing just like crying?". Whatever it was, it didn't screw up my romantic feeling at all. Surely, the night has powerful strength to make everything looks beautiful. This light festival of night goes on all the year.Don’t wait to meet the beautiful night time in there. 

Let's have free herbal teas & aroma therapy experience at this Fragrance Shop

Aroma tester

There were two accommodation zones on the back side, Herb healing center and experience building prepared various experiences like herb hydro therapy, herb & hay therapy, aromatherapy, tea therapy, stone therapy and others. Some rooms boast whirlpool bath in herb essential oil. It looked like have high grade and didn’t look cheap just to see it from a distance.

Herb Healing and experience center

D. I .Y. Experience Field

Flames for herb candle at D.I.Y Field

How to get there

1.          Shuttle bus run by DOOREBUS co.: Seoul city hall>Sport complex>Herb Island (running duration: 2hours). 
       Night course is available only on Saturday. Day courses are available on Sat/Sunday. 
        Send email to dooretourkorea@gmail.com for your booking.

2.         Midweek:to Subway1 Soyosan st.#1>transfer to bus 57-1 across the street, not sure about the duration because the bus runs every 2 hours. 

Dumulmeori(두물머리) in Yangpyeong,Couldn’t feel better than it is as a romantic place, South Korea

On this fine day, with short pause from a hustle and bustle daily life for a while and sitting on a bench by the river to get past memory seemed like a good idea to me. I stopped by Dumulmeori (or Yangsuri). It is named as Dumulmeori because it is a place where two rivers meet.

In the past, it was a quite prosperous ferry. A dam was built in the vicinity and here was designated as a Green Belt area, and it had resulted in stopping its function.

The boat with an ochre sail is now silently telling past stories indifferently. Don't expect too much of here. It is a simple riverside area with nothing special. If I mention it, three trees of 400 years old are gathered side by side and look like an umbrella from a distance. And it has been bustling for visitors to make memories of their own at the zone recently installed frame to take pictures.

However, the mediocrity and silence more than spectacular views sometimes let our hearts stick to it. The weather was heading towards summer and the lotus was full blooming.

As sitting on a bench while watching the river without thinking and I was reminiscent of my memories with my parents when I was a child, high school campus and friends, college campus at this time of the past, etc. The book pages of Memories were turning over on and on to the past.

It is a place often seen in dramas and advertisements, and the mist of the dawn is quite reputed to be beautiful in spring and autumn. Despite of depending on whenever it is, the atmosphere was great even if i visited in the daytime. I heard that snow in winter makes spectacular view but I'd give up to visit due to its cold weather. The bandit as for me seems to be the very right blooming season of lotus. Welcome to those who enjoy a secluded spot.