It's Independence-from-Japan Day!

A few months ago there was an independence day, or so I thought. Today there was another one. Chae Young and I "celebrated" by going to Changgyeonggung and the Jongmyo Royal Shrine (see "Best of HifromSeoul" on the sidebar for pictures of both places), where I've been begging her to go walking in for several weeks. She thoroughly enjoyed it, as did I. Changgyeonggung is a very special place because of the large park and various kinds of plants inside the palace walls. As it happened, the nominal entrance fee was waived today! Anyway, now I've taken her to a palace, a special shrine for dead kings, and to two temples! While in Jongmyo, she and I went to the special botanical section at the back, where we discovered an ajoshi in a three piece suit and tie ripping up ferns from the ground. When he saw us, he explained that he was removing "Ilbon plants," i.e. Japanese plants, something I found slightly alarming and very hilarious! (The Japanese had redesigned the garden, but it was redesigned again following independence.)
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On another note, Chae Young and I went to Itaewon yesterday evening, just for kicks, but were surprised when the taxi driver dropped us out in the middle of the short road known as "Hooker Hill"!