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a nomad in the land of nizwa

~ an American English teacher in Oman

a nomad in the land of nizwa

Category Archives: Seoul

weekly photo challenge: color

06 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Istanbul, Japan, Kathmandu, Kyoto, Nepal, Phewa Lake, Photography Challenges, Pokhara, postaweek2013, Seoul, South Korea, Turkey, Weekly Photo Challenge

≈ 46 Comments

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Japan, Nepal, Oman, postaweek2013, South Korea, Turkey, weekly photo challenge

Saturday, April 6: The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is Color. Splashed on the walls of cities, in batches of flowers in gardens, in the doodles of students, and on the palettes of artists, color is everywhere: it may represent our mood, and it can affect our mood. In photography, you can use a spectrum of colors to bring a place to life, or focus on a single shade to make a bold statement. Conversely, you can shoot in black-and-white or remove color in editing mode for a different effect.

In a new post created specifically for this challenge, share a picture in which color takes center stage.

Click on any of the pictures below for a full-sized slide show.

a colorful carriage buggy in Kathmandu, Nepal
a colorful carriage buggy in Kathmandu, Nepal
Colorful doors and bedding in Kathmandu, Nepal
Colorful doors and bedding in Kathmandu, Nepal
colorful boats in Pokhara, Nepal
colorful boats in Pokhara, Nepal
Yarn in Kathmandu, Nepal
Yarn in Kathmandu, Nepal
Flowers in Crete, Greece
Flowers in Crete, Greece
More paintings by Oman
More paintings by Oman
Sweets in Istanbul, Turkey
Sweets in Istanbul, Turkey
Gloves in Kathmandu, Nepal
Gloves in Kathmandu, Nepal
the flower market in Istanbul, Turkey
the flower market in Istanbul, Turkey
lamps in Istanbul, Turkey
lamps in Istanbul, Turkey
Paintings by Omani students
Paintings by Omani students
colorful socks in Kyoto, Japan
colorful socks in Kyoto, Japan
Paintings of Oman
Paintings of Oman
more colorful boats in Pokhara, Nepal
more colorful boats in Pokhara, Nepal
delicate flowers on the University of Nizwa campus
delicate flowers on the University of Nizwa campus
Street art in Rethymno, Crete
Street art in Rethymno, Crete
Pokhara, Nepal
Pokhara, Nepal
Flowers on the University of Nizwa campus
Flowers on the University of Nizwa campus
Paper lanterns in Kathmandu, Nepal
Paper lanterns in Kathmandu, Nepal

Finally, in honor of South Korea, which is having a few problems with its bellicose northern neighbor right now, here are some colorful lanterns from a lantern festival in Seoul.

colorful lanterns at a lantern festival in Seoul, South Korea

colorful lanterns at a lantern festival in Seoul, South Korea

Let's hope everyone takes a deep breath and tries to diplomatically solve the problems between North and South Korea.

Let’s hope everyone takes a deep breath and tries to diplomatically solve the problems between North and South Korea.

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travel theme: festive

21 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Festive, Oman, Photography Challenges, Sahab Hotel, Seoul, South Korea, Travel Theme Photo Challenge

≈ 21 Comments

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travel theme

Friday, December 21:  Well, today the world was supposed to end, but here we are, still alive and kicking.  That is certainly a cause for festivity.  Since I live in a Muslim country and there are no holiday festivities to speak of, and since it is hot here even now, I’m having a hard time getting into a festive holiday mood.  However, Ailsa of Where’s my backpack? challenges us to come up with some festive photos.

Wednesday evening, I was surprised to find some festive decorations in the Sahab Hotel on Jebel Akhdar.

Christmas at the Sahab

Christmas at the Sahab

Santa dangles from a tree. :-)

Santa dangles from a tree. 🙂

The last time I saw festive decorations for Christmas was in Seoul, South Korea, in December 2010.

Click on any of the images below to see a full-sized slide show.

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Happy holidays, everyone!  I hope you have a festive holiday season! 🙂

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weekly photo challenge: big

12 Friday Oct 2012

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Andong, Nonsan, Oman, postaweek2012, Seoul, South Korea, Wadi Tanuf, Weekly Photo Challenge

≈ 33 Comments

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postaweek2012, weekly photo challenge

Friday, October 12: The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is BIG. It’s larger than life, it’s unexpected, it’s the protagonist in a scene. It’s big. It often helps to have some normal object as part of the scene so people can understand the scale.

Share a picture which means BIG to you!

my son Alex in Seoul, South Korea with a BIG mushroom

the Jebiwon Buddha in Andong, South Korea

Gwanchok-sa temple in Nonsan has Korea’s largest free-standing stone Buddha image, Unjin Mireuk Buddha. The Buddha dominates the temple compound and looks out serenely at us. The statue is from the early Goryeo Dynasty and supposedly took 38 years to complete.

And finally, some BIG boulders at Wadi Tanuf in Oman.

Alex in front and Adam in back in the BIG boulder-strewn Wadi Tanuf

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a-z archive: q! challenge (quintessential [q]orea!!)

24 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by nomad, interrupted in A-Z Photo Challenge, Busan, Daegu, Geoje-si, Seoul, South Korea

≈ 6 Comments

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a-z photo challenge

Tuesday, April 24:  I have to admit I’ve been a little stymied trying to find an interesting Q picture for this week’s a-z photo challenge.  If I had time, I would go down the east coast of Oman to photograph a town called Quriyat or to Muscat, where I could photograph the Qurum beach area.  The problem is, I don’t have time to do that in the next week.  I have other plans and they don’t involve anything with a Q… 🙂

This is my neighborhood in Daegu; it's the QUINTESSENTIAL Korean city block....

Besides, I started looking over my catbird in korea blog this week because that blog got nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award.  I have to admit, after looking through many of my pictures, a wave of nostalgia swept over me.  I discovered I miss Korea a bit, although everyone who knows me knows I didn’t care for it at all while I was there.  There was a lot of good about Korea though.  At least two weekends out of every month, just as I do in Oman, I went on adventures exploring all that Korea had to offer.  And looking back, it actually was quite a lot.  So, for this challenge, I’m posting a few pictures that capture Quintessential [Q]orea…. Don’t worry, I do know it’s really spelled with a “K.”  But hey, it’s the same sound, right?  Quintessential means: most typically representative of a quality, state, etc.; perfect; most typical…..

There’s no way I can really capture Korea in four photos, but that’s my goal and I’m stickin’ to it!

Donghae Yonggung-Sa Temple in Busan, South Korea ~ the quintessential temple in Korea

The thing I loved the most in Busan was Donghae Yonggung-Sa, a temple set on the rocky coast.  For some reason it was totally packed, possibly some Buddhist holiday we didn’t know about.  Though usually crowds like that would detract from a place’s appeal, I didn’t find it offensive.  I actually thought the crowd gave the spot a  “pilgrimage” ambiance.  The entrance is lined with large carved stone zodiac figures and stone lanterns punctuate the steps leading to the temple.  It’s such a pleasant setting all around, set on a rocky coast overlooking the East Sea with a pine-covered hillside behind it.  Buddha and bodhisattva statues abound and a huge pot-bellied smiling Buddha sits near the top.  Korea has hundreds of temples, but I see this one as the quintessential one!

Korea is known for its bright colors verging sometimes on the point of garishness. However, I loved the colorful lanterns at a lantern festival in Seoul.

one of many colorful lanterns at the Lantern Festival in Seoul, Korea

Finally, I can’t ignore the food.  I have to admit I didn’t care much for Korean food.  It seems among expats that we either love it or hate it.  There were some things I enjoyed, like bibimbap, and a few other dishes, but generally speaking, I dreaded any meal where I was forced to sit at a table with other Koreans who spooned huge helpings of bizarre chewy meats and seafood or heaps of kimchi onto my plate. Every time they loaded up my plate with food I didn’t like, they told me one health benefit or another.  According to Koreans, every single food in Korea has a health benefit.

One thing I generally did enjoy, however, was street food.  These are steamy hot accordion-shaped dumplings on a stick, made of some fish product (I think!).  It actually is quite tasty on one of Korea’s icy cold winter days.

Korean street food

Quintessential Qorea… in 4 little pictures…. 🙂

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weekly photo challenge: contrast

09 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Boseong, postaweek2012, Seongju, Seoul, South Korea, Weekly Photo Challenge

≈ 18 Comments

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postaweek2012

Friday, March 9:

Contrast.  Being strikingly different from something else, especially in close juxtaposition.

the tea farms in Boseong, South Korea

There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast.  ~ Charles Dickens

lantern festival in Seoul, South Korea ~ Fall 2010

Sublime upon sublime scarcely presents a contrast, and we need a little rest from everything, even the beautiful. ~ Victor Hugo

everywhere contrasts: the ajuma's shirt & pants, the ajuma and the teddy bear. But. They ARE both asleep... 🙂


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~ wander.essence ~

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