Wandering Browns

Big sculpture with fountains around it Whilst searching for things to do in Jakarta, I came upon Mini Indonesia. I thought to myself, "Definitely a tourist trap, but a cool place to get an overall feel for Indonesian architecture, culture, animals, etc. before we go off to what the city-folk dub as the middle of nowhere." So off we went. It was only slightly unsettling that the Concierge asked us why we picked Taman Mini when there are other things to see, but really my reasoning was that it looked like a big place with plenty of space for Landon to run around without worrying about him ruining something at a museum or getting ran over by a car. He seemed to think that was an OK reason. We decided to just get a ride there and call the hotel back when we wanted a ride back. In hindsight, not a great plan, but I guess we were safe and it worked out alright in the end. Anyway, our driver was disappointed that we did not want to pay for him to wait for us outside the gates....

Wonder of wonders, Austin has from Monday morning until Saturday morning off! That means lots of exploring for our family this week. Next time he has a "long-off" we are going to the famous honeymooners locale Jeju Island off the southern coast of Korea. It has been compared to Hawaii and I'm ready for the beach! Anyway, we started off our explorations with a day in downtown Seoul's business district. There was a palace there that offered free English tours, so we took them up on it! The palace of Deoksugung was right across from city hall! It was originally not a palace complex, but after the Japanese invasion in the 1500s the royals decided to make it a palace after theirs burnt down. There were several buildings along with the gates. I forget what this building was for- I think it might be living quarters Many of the buildings had been destroyed or burned, so they were refurbished and painted the way they were before- in lovely bright colors Gat...