Friday, August 31, 2012

Moon over!

Yesterday night was supposed to be Typhoon's Tembin's triumph in the skies of Seoul, instead, our soon-to-be Blue Moon decided to put up an extraordinary and colorful show!

The brilliant moon with the clouds lit around it

Meowws moon with the colorful halo ring

Moon with a bit of color around

The moon one day before the Blue moon

Meoww's Moon with double halo rings around it.


  • Blue Moon is today, 31st August, the second full moon in a month. Have you seen the pictures of my Supermoon?
  • The word Lunar relates to the moon
  • Selenology is the scientific study of the moon.  (Now, isnt that a pretty word? Seems so... serene :) 
  • Over the moon means ecstatic, thrilled.
  • Once in a Blue moon means hardly ever.

Skywatch Friday
Color Connection
ABC Wednesday -N for Night Light

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Colors of the World


Tantalizing Yellows

Colors of the sunrise over Korea from the airpane.
Colors of sunrise from the airplane

Supermoon from Seoul
Supermoon seen from Seoul

Golden sunset from Seonydo island in South Korea
Golden lights of the sunset on Seonyudo island

Resplendent Reds

Butterfly park in Changi International Airport in Singapore
Butterfly park in Changi International Airport, Singapore

Bongyensa Temple in Seoul
Bongyuensa Temple in Seoul during Buddha's birthday celebrations
Beautiful Blues
Sunset over the Han River
Sunset over the Han river

Emerald blue waters of the Seonyodo island
Fishing in the Emerald waters
Wonderful Whites

White spray of water in Universal studios
Water spray at the Universal Studios in California

white flowers from Korea
Flowers in white

Beautiful white elephant lantern from the lantern festival in Seoul
Lantern of the white elephant

Saturn V from NASA, Houston




Gorgeous Greens
Elephants in the wild, Kabini
Elephants in the wild, Kabini

Cricket in the nets
Cricket in the nets, Bangalore
This is a compilation of my favorite pics and an entry for the Capture the color Photoblogging contest from Travel Supermarket. I was tagged by Ashok. These are the rules. I am tagging :
Have fun! 

Golden artifacts from the Korea National Museum


As we started through the Korea National museum in the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, where we saw artifacts that were quite simple and easy to make. Simple pottery without embellishments made out of clay and burnt in a kiln. Then we moved into the bronze age where the implements used where becoming a little bit more complicated, though more sturdy than the previous ages, as Bronze needed more heat for melting it and the kilns were of improved technology too. The wonderful bronze tiger shaped belt buckle made from the Buyeo kingdom was a wonderful evidence to complexity and the improved technology during Samhan Period. But the Baekjae Kingdom started out with gold. Beautiful and intricate designs used in both ornaments and in armour. Here are some wonderful gold jewellery sported by the women and men of that age. But the piece de resistance is the heavily ornate crown made out of gold and jade during the Silla Kingdom.


Earrings and bangles in gold
Gold bangles and earrings

Pretty designs of the golden necklaces
Pretty designs of the golden necklaces

Gold bordered quiver
Golden Quiver

Golden accessories
Gold accessories

Gold flakes for the adorning of the crown and clothing
Gold flakes for adorning the crown of the Royalty.

Golden Diadem ornaments
Golden Diadem Ornaments of Baekje Kingdom

Golden earrings
Golden Earrings and colored beads

Golden head ornament
Golden head ornament

Gold ornaments
Golden armor ornament

Glass beads strung to make necklaces
Glass bead Necklaces

Glass beads used to make jewellery in the Joseon Period in Korea
Glass beads in Jewellery
ABC Wednesday G for Gold
Thursday challenge- Money



Monday, August 27, 2012

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

The Mysterious Affair at Styles By Agatha Christie in Twitter-style

The Mysterious Affair at Styles is a murder mystery which was written by Dame Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian neat-a-holic, Hercule Poirot.

Some Wonderful lines to think about from the book:

An appreciative listener is always stimulating

Imagination is a good servant, and a bad master. The simplest explanation is always the most likely."

"Instinct is a marvellous thing," mused Poirot. "It can neither be explained nor ignored."

Sometimes, I feel sure he is as mad as a hatter; and then, just as he is at his maddest, I find there is method in his madness."

The happiness of one man and one woman is the greatest thing in all the world."

Lawrence blushed, and then smiled awkwardly. A man in love is a sorry spectacle. Now Cynthia had looked charming.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Sky lighted!

Beautiful sky late in the evening to an otherwise gloomy and grey morning at Seoul.

Wispy clouds on a blue sky
The wispy clouds lent a beautiful view to the sky, late evening yesterday

golden reflection of the sun on the apartment windows
It was the reflection of the sun's rays on the glass windows producing the golden effect

Sunset through the buildings
Sunset seen through the huge apartment blocks!

golden glow on the apartment windows
Golden glow

trees from the top
Green cover at our place
Skywatch Friday
Color Connection
Blue Monday
Yellow Mellow Monday



Reveling in Pride

My dear little son comes home in a huff and tells me breathlessly that he definitely needs to go back down to the play area as he has left his ant hill unguarded from the Koreans in the apartment. On further inquiry, i discerned that he needed a "Do not touch this" sign made in Korean to protect the latest sandy treasure from our language-barriered friends to go along with his English sign.Yeah, i again whip out my cellphone to translate in Google's way the Korean version and draw the semblance of the output for him on paper. He says,"Mom, you are so awesome!" went down merrily to display it. I am of course, reveling in my idea and feeling on top of the world, by myself.

I turn on the mac just to see if anything new has happened in the 2 hours i had turned it off, when i see a Liebster award presented to me by Ashok. Liebster means favorite, beloved in German! Oh Cool :) I should be presenting it to more deserved bloggers, but i just sit there, basking in my achievement...
Liebster award for Meowws Musings on Aug 23, 2012
 
I have this habit of writing down the interesting lines, anecdotes, quirky problems and quotes that i read on the white board of our home, just to remember those wonderful words and let them sink into my otherwise forgetful head. Yesterday, my elder son comes home from school sporting a huge grin and declaring 23rd Aug is the best day of his life. It seems he had got accolades from his English teacher, for his essay. I excitedly ask him to show it to me. His essay was pretty good when i see the lines that i had wrote on the white board from long ago staring back at me... That's when the tears started flowing. It worked! HE does see it and reads it and even uses it! He even googled the quote to get the author of it! I am in ecstasy!

Quote from Hercule Poirot
The latest quote from the book I am reading now.

Turned out, this became one of my best days in my life too.



Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Twitter-style review of Oscar Wilde's The picture of Dorian Gray

Author: Oscar Wilde
Available free for Kindle at Amazon.

Thought provoking Lines:

The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things. 

The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.

Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art.

"every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter. The sitter is merely the accident, the occasion. It is not he who is revealed by the painter; it is rather the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself.

"Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is far the best ending for one," said the young lord, plucking another daisy.

"Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul."

Men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious: both are disappointed."

Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals."

When a woman marries again, it is because she detested her first husband. When a man marries again, it is because he adored his first wife. Women try their luck; men risk theirs."

Monday, August 20, 2012

Tagged


 Yay! I've been tagged by D.Nambiar of Odds and Ends

The Rules -

    Link back the blogger who tagged you.
    You must post the rules.
    Answer the questions given by the person who tagged you.
    Tag 11 new bloggers.
    Set 11 new questions for the bloggers tagged by you.
    Inform them about the tag.

Questions D Nambiar set for me and my answers:

  1. What does blogging mean to you? Blogging is the easiest way, even for me to enter My World.  A place where i can think my thoughts, relive my memories, share my loves with the world and many a times, a perfect place to getaway! Blogging is a way for me to get a grip on with my life and create clarity for myself.
  2. How did you get into blogging? My husband pushed me into blogging! He was on a trip to the USA and had an important meeting with the director (of the company he was working for) about his promotion. I waited, counting the hours and minutes, calculating the time difference and not sleeping a wink. He never called. I texted, i called, i emailed, with no avail. That was my first blog post about the torture that was the wait and why it wasn't obvious for him with all the technology around him to just let me know the details, he knew i would be waiting dying for!
  3. What subjects do you blog about and why? Everything that fascinates me. Right now, my muse is Lady Seoul, who is tantalizing me with her looks and taking me on an adventure with her everyday. Why? When i was searching on the web to learn anything and everything about living and moving to Seoul, it was these little blog posts that people make about their everyday mundane activities which made me understand and prepare better for the big move! I also use this medium to preserve my works and showcase my interests. Why? It is so much fun to connect with people with similar interests! And not to forget the appreciations and the inspiations :) Makes me happy!
  4. Which according to you is your best post, till date? I should say my first post where i rambled on about the wait and my impatience on September 19th, 2006. But unfortunately, it has been lost by rediff, while they were upgrading their site :(
  5. How long have you been blogging and what have you learnt in the process? Started blogging in 2006 but got upset about losing my blog posts so, gave up for a few years, but back now, and dont mean to ever quit again because, it has become a habit.
  6. What are your favourite blogs? Could you name 2-5 of them? My favorite must-reads for the day are: Quirky Mind stuff (To help me think out of the box), GoodLife Zen (To maintain the peace or cultivate some on some horrible days :), Mashable (To keep in touch with the geek in me), Digital Inspiration (To understand and experiment with the geeky stuff),
  7. Name two bloggers you are dying to meet. This is a toughie. So many interesting people, so hard to pick just two...
  8. What is the most annoying trait you have come across in the blogosphere? It becomes more about the visits and traffic after sometime, doesn't it? Comments, just for the reciprocation, clicks just for the hits. And spellings. I do hate the sms-style, abbreviated language which the latest generation now uses...
  9. When met with bloggers’ block, how do you overcome it? Memes :) Inspiration finds itself!
  10. Where do you get the most support from, as far as blogging is concerned -- fellow bloggers or non-bloggers? Bloggers excite and inspire me, pushing my limits a little bit higher each time. Others help me achieve it just by being themselves.
  11. Where do you see yourself (as a blogger) 10 years from now? Oh, i live in the moment. Let the drama unfold itself, i will remain an ardent spectator, who will play the part when asked to :)

 Now to tag 11 other whom i find interesting:

Green Thumbs:
I love flowers and garden. There are some people who are totally rock at growing them and enlightening others about them. I have learnt a lot from them and their pictures are just too awesome.
 Foodie Fun:
Delicious recipes with wonderful pictures that tempt your taste buds. Whats not to like? May be just a button that can teleport the item on my dining table?
Movie Magic: 
Movies are wonderful ways to be transported to an alternate reality, chocolate wonderland or just back to the good old days. He writes about movies with such devotion and ardor that i am transported to that movie itself and makes me want to watch it immediately. 
Artsy Touch:
Love the drawings of this talented namma ooru architect. His poems are divine!
Zesty Kin
Words that just hit the spot and convey the thought. Funny, cheerful and witty.
 Photo Art
These people just talk with their cameras. I was enchanted by their simple, everyday shots that convey a lot and those million worded beauties captured by a single shot!
I would like to know you guys better! Answer the same questions DN set for me:
  1. What does blogging mean to you?
  2. How did you get into blogging 
  3. What subjects do you blog about and why?
  4. Which according to you was the best post and why?
  5. How long have you been blogging and what have you learnt in the process?
  6. Which are your favorite blogs?
  7. Name two bloggers you are dying to meet.
  8. What is the most annoying trait that you have come across in the blogosphere?
  9. When met with blogger's block, how do you overcome it?
  10. Where do you get the support from as far as blogging is concerned? From bloggers or non-bloggers?
  11. Where do you see your self (as a blogger) 10 years from now?

Friday, August 17, 2012

Dongdaemun for a bargain!

Won is a confusing currency for a little-bit-slow-on-the-math Indian. When the eye sees the price of an eraser to be 2000won, the brain makes sense of it and inevitably divides it by 20 to compare it with the Indian Rupee and responds with a eye-popping, shocking look and shares the shock with the dried-up mouth which involuntarily starts rambling about how we should have packed 50more erasers from India to counter this exact eventuality. It is so hard to remove the "worth for your rupee" attitude from an Indian.

Always proud to be an Indian, we set off shopping in shopping malls for these knicks and knacks before the start of school. When the currency conversion became an overload as the count of zeroes became an exponential increase, i ditched shopping at these huge a/ced (or Air con-ed, here in Korea, pun intended) and felt the need to get some value for my won even though it would mean that i have to practice my play-acting skills infront of giggling Koreans ajummas (old ladies). That meant leaving the comforts of placarded boards which poster the preposterous rates to olmayo-ing (how much is it?) the achummas and ajaussis with absolute surety that i am not going to understand their answer! (Koreans dont even use a bit of English, even in their number system. They use the Korean words for numbers. They also use another set of numbers- The Chinese numbers for telling time etc. Double set of numbers to memorize, again my brain goes into overdrive, and blame starts blurting out about how we should have moved to some other country where they atleast have a simpler language) Little did that matter to the Sherni of the South, who is still a little-bit-slow-on-the-math, and we made the courageous trip to Dongdaemun.

Now Dongdaemun is a huge area, and quite hep i must add, with high end shopping malls towering the streets. But it is also hugely famous for its street vendors who have set up miles of shack-shops (with A/C) and selling wholesale items for dirt cheap prices. Maybe they dont pay as much of a rent or for advertisements, and thats what make them sell goods at these attractive prices. But the prices are so low, that nobody asks the olmayo (how much is it?) question. They just grab a basket, dump everything they need and shove it to the owner. He then pulls out numbers from memory (or at random- who knows!) and comes up with an approximate, admissible number for both parties and the cash deal is done! Bill? What is that?

There is a separate area, in Dongdaemun, specializing stationery items. Thats were we went first. Rows and rows of goods in streets after streets of shops- Angry birds, Doraemon, Hello Kitty and many other kid-adored graphics adorned everything that a kid could ever want and on many things that a kid would never need. Enticing, alluring and seducing both the parent and child together so that the zeroes you didnt want to spend on a little bit of stuff in the mall could be lost in the satisfying thought that you got lot more value for your money :)

The most memorable quote i got from an English speaking Korean : "Take this. This made in Korea. Very good. That made in China. No good :)"

Dongdaemun skyline
Dongdaemun streets are bordered with high-end malls in tall, high rises on a sweaty, grey day in Seoul

Whole sale shop selling stickers in Dongdaemun
Sticklers for stickers posing infront of the sticker shop!

Wholesale shop for games and toys in Dongdaemun, Seoul
Toys, Games and everything imaginable for a kid in Dongdaemun

Wholesale stores in Dongdaemun
Paper, pens, notebooks? Anything stationary available here!

Wholesale market, Dongdaemun
Kid Paradise!

Dongdaemun sells Lego too!
Oh, yes! Lego is available too.

Dress shops at the Dongdaemun
Crossing the Cheonggyecheon river, would have led me into the wholesale clothing shops, which i was denied, owing to the zeros already spent.

Shoe shops at Dongdaemun
But i went fearlessly into the shoe shops, not minding the dull lighting and the angry looks from the shopping-phobic companions to grab a good pair of high-heeled wonder for a bargain!

Wholesale shoe shops in Dongdaemun
Shoes for Kids, women or men. For a bargain!

Thursday Challenge- Stationery

Friday, August 10, 2012

Sublime sightings

Such a hot, humid day but with a wonderful view in Seoul over the Han River!

Blue and yellow sky with rays of the sun
Blue and yellow sky

Rays of the sun emanating from the blue and yellow sky
Captivating sky


Lazy susan flowers.
Beeautiful Lazy Susan
Skywatch Friday
Color Connection
Floral Friday
Blue Monday
Yellow Mellow Monday
Our World Tuesday


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