Line and Volume

Weather was unseasonably warm and streets were relatively uncrowded.  I spent precious few days in Seoul Korea after a week long silkworm fest in Japan.  Lines and volumes  are two things I noticed on this trip to Seoul.

I was walking in "Hehwa-dong" area and came upon these cats sleeping behind the windows.  This area is well known for small playhouses and these theater cats were sleeping the day away behind the dusty glass windows.  Cats always manage to look elegant and lazy at once.

elaborate Dancheong on eaves of Gyeongbok Palace building.

Colors aside, curvature of Korean traditional buildings show balanced beauty.  In comparison with Chinese and Japanese buildings, lines of Korean architecture are neither exaggerated nor austere.    They seem to echo the landscape around them, gentle, restrained yet warm.

Sunsets behind Gyeongbok Palace.

Haitae, a mythical creature guards the entrance of the palace grounds.

Poong-soo-ji-ri, or Fengshui was heavily used to find a suitable palace ground.  You can feel the flow of energy from the panoramic view of mountains cradling the palace.

Wish lanterns celebrating Buddha's birthday

Just outside the palace grounds is a well known temple which name escapes me.  Buddha's birthday had already passed, but colorful wish lanterns were still decorating the temple grounds.  White lanterns are memorial wish lanterns for deceased and the colored ones are for living.  Lanterns will be taken down about a month after the celebration day.

On a slightly different note, the ultra modern convention complex designed by Zaha Hadid provides impressive night view.  It's big, curvy and looks quite impractical.  I didn't have time to go inside, but would like to see it from inside next time.