Kool Korea! I

Part One

Enjoy these clever differences between the West and the East.

In Korea, one can hold hands with their family or friends with no stigma attached.

Hundreds of friends are able to stroll the streets of Seoul hand-in-hand. (Do you recognize anyone in this picture?)

“Hey, you there.”


“Ah hah! I thought I knew you.” ^^


Before we continue our adventure, maybe we should make a short visit to you-know-where.







Oh, look there it is. What a charming sign.




One has a choice in public bathrooms...usually. Sometimes the only choice is a slot. Fortunately, this bathroom has a commode for “foreigners.”

Before entering the stall, be sure to check for TP. Sometimes it is hanging on the wall outside of the stall.

Toddlers can be a problem in bathrooms. They like to play on the floor and who knows where else. Here is the solution. This is a toddler seat hanging on the wall inside the stall. Put your toddler in the seat. He is safe, clean, and under your watchful eye! How cool is that?

The blue “handle” is really soap for washing your hands. (Nice sinks, don’t you think?)

After washing one’s hands, this high tech hand dryer is very efficient with blowing air and a cool blue light. Cute demonstrator not included!

When taking a shower in this hotel room, you can choose between 1) a handheld shower, 2) a traditional shower head, or 3) six water jets.

Just thought you might enjoy the label on this can of hairspray in the hotel room. For those of you that can’t read the print:

EXITER, Special Edition, SUPER HARD HAIR SPRAY, “EXITER” is natural’s gift to you, for a beauty that’s pure and natural. It makes you feel fresh every day.

Enough with bathrooms, etc. Let’s move on to other things!

Koreans think the number “4” is unlucky, a very bad number. In the West, we think that number”13” is unlucky. Notice, there is no fourth floor in this hotel.

This “stairs” sign has, also, eliminated the fourth floor.

Cars are worth a few photos. We see cars all over Seoul with cardboard, signs, etc. hiding the license plate.

Maybe they are trying to avoid parking tickets.

But, as you can see, their other plate is plain view. Hm-m-m. Any ideas?

This is cool. Some streets in Seoul are so narrow, that cars have trouble fitting down them. As you can see, I hope, in this picture, the side view mirrors fold in, thus providing the extra few inches necessary to allow this car to fit down an extremely narrow "street."

Check out this high tech parking garage. The attendant pulls your car onto the “lift.” It is then raised up and up to the first available slot and “parked” until you are ready to leave.

You might think that this is a bike shop at first glance. But you would be wrong. This is a bike parking lot for commuters. How awesome is that?

Look closely at this picture. This major intersection in Suwon is encircled with an elevated walkway. The skywalk goes all the way around with entrances on four corners. No smashed pedestrians here.

I know, I know. You have seen this one before. I just love this palace. It is so big and....and....Korean. Plus there are some secret gardens!