Friday, September 30, 2011

Mini Travel Log: Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark and is home for the famous Little Mermaid. After away for months in Shanghai for the World Expo, the Little Mermaid is back to her home and to the very spot she sat for almost a century. While her name is famous worldwide, she is actually not so large in real. She is a very small statue, only 1.2m high. Many visitors will be taken aback when see her for the first time, for they expect a grand statue for such larger than life name.

Copenhagen city itself is very similar to that of Amsterdam of Holland. However, it is bigger than the latter. And of course more beautiful, cleaner and free of cannabis smoke which can give an pleasant experience for visitors in Amsterdam. They also have the changing of royal guards similar to that of London. Like the Vatican City in Rome, it also has a city within city, called Christiania. This unrecognized city is home for hippies, homeless, gangs and druggies. As much as the city tries to be friendly to visitors from outside, it is still very uncomfortable to walk alone, getting suspicious stares from gangs and punks; whom enforces the no photography law. Even though the city proudly displays their no drug trade policy, open cannabis trade is rampant.

Visitors looking for amusement fun can head to Tivoli Gardens for the thrills of height and speed. This park just celebrated its 168th anniversary. Don't be fooled by its age, for the rides are extremely thrilling or you can chill in this beautiful park itself which opens till late night. The best ride in the park is the Vertigo, which puts you in the hot seat of a fighter plane doing insane rolls and pulling incredible G forces which can black out the unprepared.

Click on the image for picture gallery

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Mini Travel Log: Seoul, South Korea (2)

If you were a fan of Korean TV drama "Winter Sonata" and want to visit the beautiful places depicted in the series, again I need to reiterate that Seoul is not the place. It was filmed on a tiny island which is 2 hours away from Seoul. So if you really want to visit beautiful places with some Korean heritage, you need to get out from the city. Seoul has been over-developed with many heritage sites either being removed or destroyed. Even many palaces in the city were re-built instead of being restored; leaving just empty shells. This place is good for nightlife clubbing and shopping. Other than that, I really couldn't find anything else around the city on my 2nd time back to this city.

Click on the image for picture gallery

Related link: Mini Travel Log: Seoul, South Korea (1)