Thursday 12 June 2014

Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York

I pop by the MMOA last evening. It was first set up in 1870. 


It's my lucky day. Free today. ^_^ but I made a $10 contribution of the usual $25 ticket. 


You can see many visitors to the musuem. According to the website, it is one of the most visited museums in the world. These are private collections that were contributed by rich prominent businessmen over the years and I have to admit the collection are awesome. 


To be honest, I walked away from the musuem having mixed feelings. Why is that so... 


You see this mummy above? It is contributed by JP Morgan. Yes the famous JP Morgan which you know. But aren't these treasures supposedly bought from tomb raiders in Egypt?


There is the bronze portrait of Alexander the Great with many other Greek treasures. It also feel ironic that many treasures of Egypt, Greece, China etc are found elsewhere rather than the country of origins. The price to pay for losing wars?!


You will need to spend days here if you intend to go in depth into each section of the museum. 


They even brought the entire temple back to United States, but at least in this instance, it was a legitimate gift from that country at that time. 


The museum is huge with many treasures on display. I only managed to cover the first floor. The second floor consist of East Asian artifacts and other relics. I am sure I will see more treasures here but will not try to dwell into how these treasures were acquired. You have also read for yourself how our Asian Civilisation museum got into trouble for buying allegedly stolen relics from supposedly trusted sources. 


A sleeping Cupid for you before I end this post. You can see that I mix business and leisure pretty well :@P


I will be going on holiday soon and clearing off one of my bucket list this time round. Will keep you guessing for now but the picture above will give u a hint of my next destination. 

Happy holidaying.  

Saturday 7 June 2014

Namsan Park - Seoul

If you are staying at Grand Hyatt Seoul, there is a park just outside the hotel which you should not miss. I think it's worth taking an hour jog and stroll into Namsan park. 


There are nice pathway with trees, stream and bushes along the way and you should head towards the Seoul TV tower. The journey is probably 3-4km to and fro. 


The way up is not easy as it can be pretty steep at times but there are many benches along the way for you to take a breadth and enjoy the scenery. 


You can get a great view of Seoul as you head upwards towards the Seoul TV tower. You can see Grand Hyatt in the background. 


Seoul TV tower is the target and I am only half way there. 


You can see some old walls along the road side.


The tower is the reward at the end of your walk but this is also the place where you will meet hordes of tourists who came up by buses and missed smelling the flowers along the way. 


At this point, you can either take the lift up to the top of Seoul Tower or you and your loved ones can "lock" your love in the trees. 


The locks are for sale inside the shops!

Seoul long. Don't miss this walk if you are staying at Grand Hyatt. ^_^







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