Spot the blonde...

I thought it was about time to show that we have been doing the cultural thing as well as spotting unusual fish (they're sea cucumbers I've been reliably informed - still not even vaguely tempted to eat one!). So, the first photo is a spot the blonde competition outside the ancient Korean palace called Changdeokgung which is my kind of place, being the Palace of Illustrious Virtue. Very interesting to see all the glamorous Korean ladies tottering around in their high heels and skirts around the uneven paving and grit pathways, but it is important to look ones best on every occasion in Seoul. Apparently.

The palace and grounds were pretty amazing though, built originally in the 15th century but having been burnt down and rebuilt most centuries as various people invaded (mostly the Japanese!). Probably very disrespectful of me to say that the roof gables reminded me of gypsy caravan type paintings...?

Offence of the week: Stu and I decided to venture to a local restaurant on Sunday night, and to try the posh looking Japanese restaurant round the corner (ok, not entirely local Korean cuisine). After being shown to a rather posh room (with paper sliding doors) and having had a cup of green tea, we discoved after lots of pointing, gesticulating, chirades and bad Korean, that it only served Seafood, most of which was live or at best raw. So we then had to get up and leave. We offered to pay for our tea but they were having none of it. It doesn't take a cultural expert to figure out that this is probably not the done thing in Korea. Oops.

Embarrassment of the week: I ran out of cash so was trying to establish whether our local supermarket took Visa cards or not before I actually did my shop and got to the checkout, so I was loitering at the end of the checkout feebly waving my Visa card around to try to communicate this point. Unfortunately, before I could come up with suitable gestures/Korean/preventative measures, the cashier whipped my card out of my hand and swiped it to pay for somebody else's shopping, to the great surprise of both me and the customer involved. It was particularly embarrassing for all involved as all the lady was buying was some panty liners to which everyone's eyes in the queue were immediately drawn towards, to see what the commotion was about. After much apologising, signing for payment, unsigning for payment I was free to scurry off into the shop. It's quite hard to be inconspicious and blend in when you are the only blonde in a 10 mile radius though. Spot the wierd blonde who tries to pay for other people's shopping. Oops.

Luckily we have found an Irish bar that to make us feel like at home. I'm not totally convinced of the authenticity of the outfits or the staff though...