South Korea - Seoul

To commemorate Seoul's 600 years as the capital of Korea, a time capsule was burried with six hundred items representing what life was in 1994. It is set to be opened for the 1000^th birthday of the capital in 2314! This anecdote conveys the struggle in Seoul between modernity and past.

Seoul Time Capsule with the 600 items and artifacts related to the city and 
the citizens of 1994, enshrined in the form of miniatures, micro film video-CD

On the side of past and traditions, Koreans took good care and rebuilt many of their royal palaces. Changdeokgung Palace is the biggest one thanks to its phenomenal secret garden which is more like a forest punctuated by wooden pavilions. But well, the different palaces look a lot alike.

Changdeokgung Palace secret garden

Gyeongbokgung Palace main audience hall tower

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Gyeonghuigung Palace Throne Hall

Namsangol Hanok village is another example of Korean respect for their roots. In 1998 were settled five old Hanok houses in a new park in order to gain a glimpse into the lives of Korean ancestors. In one of the houses medical services of traditional korean medecine are offered. We volunteered for a medical examination with differential diagnosis of constitution and consultation and were prescribe Dae-Jang Gum medicinal tea good for constitution enhancing! It was funny and little strange to stick out our tongues to a korean lady doctor in a traditional costume who was looking at them really carefully and seriously. 

Traditional Hanok house

 Receiving the consult feedback

In the village we also saw an acrobatic Taekwondo show:

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But in reality, Seoul is one of the most modern metropolis of the world with scyscrapers, a busy traffic and some gardens. Everything and everybody looks so clean and perfectly managed.

Sticker on the metro door

Hongik University metro station

We were very surprised to find a cute little river in the middle of such a huge and crowded city! So we imitate a group of old ladies and dove our feet into the crystal clear waters of Han River. 

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Maybe our days in Seoul were special because we meet our friend Yoon who is a native of this city. She showed us a traditional restaurant where we had a great lunch together, finally knowing what we were eating! :))

And another kind of restaurants where you can choose the seafood you want to eat in an aquarium:

Malaysia - George Town/Melaka

In Malaysia, two cities are distinguished and protected as Unesco World Heritage. One is an island located in the north of the country - George Town on Penang Island – the other is a coastal harbour at the south of Malaysia, famous because it gives its name to a strategic strait, Melaka.

Penang island

Those cities (it seems to be a national feature) are characterized by their multiculturalism. The protected city centres cover three different districts: Chinatown, Little India and the Malay district.

In George Town, the Armenian street is a charming little alley which marks a separation between two Chinese temples and their surrounding houses. An Indian temple and a mosque are a couple of streets away.

Armenian street

In Kapitan Keling Mosque we bumped into a very friendly young Indian who is in charge of the mosque with his brother. He spent one hour showing us the mosque and discussing about Islam in a didactic mode, stimulating our curiosity and answering all the questions that came to our minds.

Kapitan Keling Mosque

When we visited Khoo Komgsi Chinese Temple, the shooting of an advertisement was taking place. They redid numerous times the scene of a young couple walking five metres in the temple and admiring the adornments. And it is indeed a fine temple!

Continuing our impromptu afternoon meetings: while visiting Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple, we arrived in the middle of a photo shoot.

 

A Chinese Mandarin, Cheong Fatt Tze, also known as the Asian Rockefeller, built a 38 rooms mansion at the end of the 19^th century. Very well restored, the blue mansion was the set of the movie Indochine with Catherine Deneuve which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1992.

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Melaka benefited from its rich past as well as from its position near Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and became a famous tourist stop. In the Chinese district you can find a lot of crowded souvenirs shops, trendy clothes stores, food stalls and some temples.

Jalan (street) Hang Jebat, gate to Chinatown
 

Jalan (street) Hang Jebat

Melaka was colonized successively by Portuguese, Dutch, English and then Japanese. Portuguese left few marks in the city, for exemple St Paul church located on a hill, Porta de Santiago (a fortress gate) and a replica of a galleon named Flor do Mar which hosts the Maritime museum. But the best inheritance remains the portuguese egg tarts!! Yummy!

Maritime Museum

Pasteis de nata, portuguese egg tarts in Jalan (street) Hang Jebat

The Dutch Christ Church

Before colonization, Melaka was ruled by a sultan. His palace was distroyed but Malays decided to build a perfect replica, basing the construction entirely on sketches. This impressive wooden palace was inaugurated in 1986.

Melaka Sultanate Palace

In brief, Melaka is a very pleasant city to go all over, walking along a peaceful riverside or old colored colonial buildings.

Melaka River

Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur/Cameron Highlands

We had only eight days to spend in Malaysia and we wanted to see a lot of places so it was kind of a rush. And this first bite gave us strong will to come back another time. In fact for the first time we did not see everything that we had planned before entering the country, especially in Kuala Lumpur.

 Sultan Abdul Samad Building 
with Petronas Twin Towers and Kuala Lumpur Tower in the background

Malaysia is a dream country for tourism: heavenly beaches, dense jungles, typical colonial cities, temperate hills, etc. Kuala Lumpur, the capital, is a real modern metropolis full of cultural sights, entertainement parks, night life and shopping areas!

Petronas Twin Towers

The Petronas Twin Towers are a main tourist attraction in the city with its 452 metres above street level. A visit in Kuala Lumpur is said not to be complete without climbing to the sky bridge linking the two towers at the 41^st floor. The view over the city and the other scyscrapers is breathtaking.

At the time of their construction, the Petronas Towers were the tallest skyscrapers in the world. Their conception is based on islamic symbols.

Sky bridge

View from the sky bridge

In Kuala Lumpur we visited one of the most beautiful and interesting museums we have ever seen: the Islamic Arts Museum. It was a good occasion to review our Middle East and Indian memories! ;)

We also had a great time in the world's largest free-flight walk-in aviary. Kuala Lumpur's bird park is a huge area covered with a net. Some birds are free and some others in cages. It gave us the pleasure to interact and discover various exotic species. An amazing experience!

Yellow-billed Stork and Cattle Egret

 Red-billed Toucan

Cattle Egret

A funny sign outside the Bird Park: attention monkeys crossing...

Another animal story: we like to experience local daily life so Luis tried an aquatic podiatrist practiced by small fishes eating dead skin.

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A four hours bus drive from the capital will take you to a completely different scenery. The hills of Cameron Highlands benefits from a more temperate climate which enable the cultivation of some unique crops in the country like strawberries or even tea. We were there during national holidays and this place is a very popular vacation place for Malays!

Cameron Valley tea plantation

Cameron Valley tea plantation

Cactus Valley gift shop with strawberry souvenirs