Uncle Tom, O Uncle Tom, Where for Art Thou Uncle Tom

Yoboseyo happy readers (That's how to say hello when answering a telephone) Greetings everyone!! Now I know that your Uncle Tom has been away for awhile and I do apologize for that but I've been really busy with work and to be quite honest, your Uncle Tom gets tired and wants to relax so cut me some slack!! But here's a quick update.... I've been to the Korean Memorial and Kyongbok Palace in Seoul which I will post about in a minute. I've also tested and earned my yellow belt, please hold the applause. The best part is that I didn't have to fight Johnny for it in a Tri-county tournament (thank God but again where is Elizabeth Shue?) although to get my green belt it gets a little scary. I also went to a Korean orphanage which is a whole different post that I will try to get to at a later date and sadly don't have any pictures for that trip. Most recently on the 4th (I hope you all had a wonderful and safe Independence Day because your Uncle Tom missed you) I traveled again to Seoul and toured the beautiful Seoul Tower, 63 Building, and did a boat tour of the Han River. I will have to post about those trips at another time as well (I told all of you my 5 readers that this was a quick recap) Now that you are caught up let's go back to the memorial and palace trip. The first stop was the memorial. There were many display areas that showed Korean life throughout the ages and also throughout all the wars that the culture has participated in. The picture that I want all of you to check out is this:

aaaannnndddd this:

What you are seeing in these pictures is as follows. The room is a huge cylinder; at the top there is a hole that catches sunlight and reflects in a single beam of sunlight that reaches the fountain in the center of the room that you can see in picture number 2. The caption for the monument reads as follows:
"The fountain symbolizes the convergence of sun light and water at the t'aeguk (the ultimate cosmic entity) on the hemisphere. This represents 'the Creation of the Cosmos' generating new life force."
To be completely honest happy readers, of all the exhibits there, this was probably the best one. I know some of you may saying to yourselves "Uncle Tom, what about the actual memorials to those who have fought and died for freedom and injustice?" Well I say to you my unhappy reader, what better way to celebrate death than to celebrate life? Yes folks that is going to be the most profound thought that you will ever read on the blog, if you want profound please read Milfie's sight, her words are so much more than the excrement that you find at this site....
Okay let's get back to business shall we. After the memorial, sadly we went to Yongsan Army Base for lunch, which means fast food but I was able to eat at one of the most incredible hotels I've ever been to. If you don't believe me, check it out. GO ARMY!!! . The lunch was all right it was just chicken and rice. No Pics but deal with it folks you've all seen chicken and rice. We then went to the Kyongbok Palace. A really neat area that was huge. We walked around the whole thing and we were told that the royal family lived in houses that were apart. The queen lived in one area and the king in another. The king also had residences for his "other women". This was because rulers had to be male and if the Queen was unable to produce a son then other actions had to be taken (ummmm now may not be the time, but Sugarduck I've always wanted a son....) The whole palace was beautiful and if you click on the link above you will be able to see some more pictures and read a little more history than what I can provide. Here is the last picture that I will leave you with, it's me with an awesome tour guide!


In the background is where the King and Queen would enjoy going to have tea. It's actually really neat and reminded of my trip to the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco with my beautiful wife.... Well, I hope that you all enjoyed this one my happy readers. I promise that soon, I will add some more content to this. Your Uncle Tom hopes you are all well and he dedicates this post to his wife. Sugarduck, I can't wait until this travel page isn't just about my travels but it's about ours.....