Welcome to another week of Travel Photo Thursday.  Two weeks ago I went on a photo walk with the Daejeon Photography Group at the National Cemetery in Daejeon. I had never been there, but had been told that lots of people go there to jog, etc. I always thought this a bit strange. However, when I got there, I realized why. The place is huge, and a great place to jog or walk away from the busy traffic. The National Cemetery is where the service men and women who died in the Korean War are buried. There are 7 or 8 of these cemeteries around Korea.

AND….Don’t forget to check out Travel Bloggers Weekly Photo Choice. Discover how you can have your photo and blog featured on Budget Travelers Sandbox.

To join in the Travel Photo Thursday fun simply post a photo on your blog. Return here and place your link in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post.

Please post a link to a post featuring a travel photo, not simply a link to your blog.

As a courtesy please post a link to Budget Travelers Sandbox. 

If you do tweet a shot, please use the hashtag #TPThursday.

This beautiful horse sculpture is at the entrance…

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There’s an open air museum where you can view war planes, tanks, etc….

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Every headstone has a bouquet of artificial flowers…

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Having a picnic…

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Sculpture at the epitaph…

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Powerful…

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What you need to know…

Admission is free. (What better way to manage those budget dollars!)

How to get there, etc…Daejeon National Cemetery

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Why don’t you join the Travel Bloggers Weekly Photo Choice group on Flickr for a chance to have your photo and blog featured at BTS?

Follow BTS on FACEBOOK.

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This is the first Travel Bloggers Weekly Photo Choice here at Budget Travelers Sandbox. Any travel blogger can participate. Simply join the Travel Bloggers Weekly Photo Choice group over at Flickr, and add your best travel photos to the pool. One of your photos may be chosen to be featured here at BTS every Monday. It’s as simple as that!

For this first week I chose the photo. The winner is Laurel who blogs at Monkey and Mountains.

Click the link to find out more about Laurel and her travel blog Monkeys and Mountains.

Congratulations! Laurel you also have the honor of choosing the photo for next Monday’s Travel Bloggers Weekly Photo Choice. Choose a photo from the group pook, and let me know by this coming Friday. I will post the winning photo on Monday.

Tulips and Water…

I love the colors and the composition. The shot screams SPRING!

Laurel can you let us know where this shot was taken, please?

Travel Bloggers Weekly Photo Choice

And, don’t forget, you can also post a link to a photo on your blog on Travel Photo Thursday.

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Welcome to another week of Travel Photo Thursday. At the moment I am busy packing to move into a new apartment. It’s amazing how much stuff a person can accumulate in 6 years of living in the same apartment. To think that I arrived in Asia with only two suitcases! We are just over a week away from the festivities for Buddha’s Birthday. The actual day is May 28th this year, however the celebrations begin in Seoul on May 19th with a birthday party and street parade. The Lotus Lantern Festival is one of the  biggest events of the year in Seoul, and I will be there again this year. This week I am sharing some my favorite photos from past Buddha birthday celebrations.

AND….Don’t forget to check out Travel Bloggers Weekly Photo Choice. Discover how you can have your photo and blog featured on Budget Travelers Sandbox.

To join in the Travel Photo Thursday fun simply post a photo on your blog. Return here and place your link in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post.

Please post a link to a post featuring a travel photo, not simply a link to your blog.

As a courtesy please post a link to Budget Travelers Sandbox. 

If you do tweet a shot, please use the hashtag #TPThursday.

Lanterns at Jogyesa Temple in downtown Seoul…

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A “fish eye” view of Bongeunsa Temple in downtown Seoul; dressed for the occasion…

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Celebrating the Buddha…

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Waiting to perform….

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She looks so happy, and I love the colors; taken during the parade….

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Budget Travelers will find this weekend very easy on the budget; all events are free.

You can find out more about this years Lotus Lantern Festival here.

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Travel Bloggers Weekly Photo Choice

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Beginning next Monday, May 14th (hey I just realized that’s my birthday) there will be a new weekly feature here at BTS.
I have started a group on Flickr. Run on over and join, or if you don’t have a Flickr account you can sign up for free.  Introduce yourself. Read the rules (not too many) Post your best travel shots to the pool (limit 6 per day).

Each Friday a photo will be chosen from the pool. That photo will be featured at BTS on Monday, along with a brief bio of the photographer, and a link to their travel blog. The featured blogger will have the honor of choosing the photo to be featured the following Monday.

My plan is to keep this as simple as possible, while giving exposure to some of the great travel bloggers/travel photographers out there. Let’s see what happens.

Wat Chedi Luang….One of Chiang Mai’s most famous temples.

Here’s a favorite shot of mine taken on my last visit to Chiang Mai. This is why you should get up and out early with your camera….

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Travel Bloggers Weekly Photo Choice

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Welcome to another week of Travel Photo Thursday.  This is the time of the year when I start yearning for the beach. If I was at home in Nova Scotia, I would be beach walking on the weekends. Being on the North Atlantic means that our waters really don’t get warm enough to swim in until about August. Of course, don’t tell that to the swimmers on New Year’s Day who participate in the annual Polar Bear Swim! This week I am featuring water shots from Canada’s Ocean Playground…

To join in the Travel Photo Thursday fun simply post a photo on your blog. Return here and place your link in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post.

Please post a link to a post featuring a travel photo, not simply a link to your blog.

As a courtesy please post a link to Budget Travelers Sandbox. 

If you do tweet a shot, please use the hashtag #TPThursday.

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You don’t have to leave the city to enjoy the ocean…

Sunset at the Dingle in Halifax…

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The Halifax Harbour…It never freezes, and during WWII was ringed by German u-boats…

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Black Rock Beach, Halifax…home to the annual New Years Day Polar Bear Swim…

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Hirtles Beach close to Lunenburg on the Lighthouse Trail (less than 2 hours from Halifax)…

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Rushton Beach on the Sunrise Trail (also less than 2 hours from Halifax).

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If these photos spark your interest in visiting Nova Scotia, be sure to order a copy of the latest Doers and Dreamers Guide.

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I recently attended a tasting at a new Bistro in downtown Daejeon. Here’s an excerpt from the email we received introducing the tasting…

On April 15th at W-Bistro in Eunhaeng-dong (Daejeon’s old downtown) there will be a major tasting event. This event is to do with traditional KOREAN “jang” based dishes. “Jangs” are the Korean paste/ sauce bases that underly much of their cuisine, similar to the way French (and much western) cuisine is based around white, brown and clear sauces.

…. it will be Fine-Dining/ Haute Cuisine and as said, includes wine…but its not a drink-fest (alas!).

When we arrived we were warmly greeted by busy staff, adding the finishing touches to the restaurant and the tables. The bistro is a cozy affair with lots of natural light. We were sat at an elegantly set window table.

The title of the event was “Fermentation” , and when we took our seats we discovered why. The dishes served would feature DoenJang (Korean Fermented Soybean Paste), GanJang (Korean Soy Sauce), and GochuJang (Korean fermented red chili paste).

Our chef took the floor to welcome everyone (in Korean and English)…

Presented on a bone white china serving tray, were the appetizers…

First, Tangyeonchae… mung-bean jelly, celery, water parsley, bean spout and laver…

Then, the shrimp with pine nut cream…shrimp, pine nut, cucumber, pear…

And last but not least…Japchae…rice paper, mushroom, paprika, green pumpkin…

I enjoyed all three with my favorite being the shrimp. While being very rich, I enjoyed the nice range of flavors from the pine nut to the pear.

The second course began with Abalone with pomegranate…chili paste sauce, abalone, cumquat, daikon, and Chinese cabbage.

The vegetables and sauce complement the abalone nicely, and I loved the presentation. The comment was made that the abalone was a bit tough.

The abalone was followed by steamed tofu with Ssamjang sauce…tofu, mushroom, butterbur, beet and violet sweet potato…

The sweet potato, beet, and ssamjang combined to give this dish a nice blend of flavors, and this was one of my favorites. I thought that cranberry, lemon or basil could also be added to give it a little more oomph.

Next up was the sauteed short arm Octupus with red chili dipping sauce… short arm octopus. rice, tomato, crown daisy…

The onion and tomato combined for an explosion of flavor, and the octopus was perfectly cooked.

The second course ended with Grilled tilapia with soybean paste, velote tiapia, sesame leaf, radish, mushroom, celery, violet cabbage…; served with a sweet white wine (Korean brand)…

I loved the presentation, and this was my favorite of the second course tastings. The radish added a unique flavor. I would have preferred a wine that was not quite so sweet.

A dish of sherbet to freshen the palette… and we were ready to sample the main course…braised beef short rib with sweet soy sauce…beef short rib, asparagus, mushroom, carrot and turnip…

The vegetable were cooked to perfection. The meat was flavorful, but a bit stringy. I enjoyed the hint of sweetness in this dish.

And of course what would a tasting be without desert…Makgeolli tiramisu and sweet potato Sikhye…makgeolli, mascarpone cheese, sweet potato, rice…

One word…………………YUM!!!!

Accompanying each course was Makgeolli…traditional Korean rice wine. There are many different flavors and each brand is usually associated with the area where it is produced. If you’re interested in learning more about Makgeolli here is a link…Makgeolli

My first experience with nouveau Korean cuisine and definitely not the last.

Thank you W Bistro for wonderful evening…..

W Bistro is located in Eunhaeng Dong, downtown Daejeon; steps from the Brickhouse bar. As I am finishing this post I realize that I don’t have their address or opening hours. I will find out and amend this post in the next day or two.

(Please note…no compensation was received for this review and all opinions expressed are mine.)

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Welcome to another week of Travel Photo Thursday.  First off; congratulations to Leigh of  HikeBikeTravel for winning last weeks Thai cookbook give away! We’ll all be waiting to see some of these awesome dishes coming from your kitchen, Leigh! No contest this week, but say tuned…

I am happy to report that I was able to recover all of my photos, and now I’m in the process of getting them reorganized. That should take another week or so. Also, I am in the middle of midterms, so the job is taking more time than normal this week. What I am trying to say is that what I had to post for this week is not happening (next week, I promise). Instead, I’ve decided to give you my top 5 most popular shots on my Flickr account. Anyone who has a Flickr account knows that there is a Popular link which only you can see.

To join in the Travel Photo Thursday fun simply post a photo on your blog. Return here and place your link in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post.

Please note: Travel Photo Thursday is open to all individual travel bloggers. If you are the owner of a commercial travel site/blog, please contact me directly and we can discuss available advertising/sponsorship options.
My email address is nanciemckinnonatgmaildotcom.

Please post a link to a post featuring a travel photo, not simply a link to your blog.

As a courtesy please post a link to Budget Travelers Sandbox. 

If you do tweet a shot, please use the hashtag #TPThursday.

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My five most popular shots on Flickr….beginning with Number 5…

Number 5:  Spring time in Rural Korea…We got lost on the back roads, and this what we found. I have no idea if this place even has a name!

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Number 4…  Gunung, Kawi, Bali…  At the bottom of these many many stairs is a major Hindu temple, with 10 rock-cut candi (shrines). It’s one of Bali’s oldest and largest ancient monuments (according to LP).
The day I was there it rained (HARD). That’s why the sky in this photo looks so washed out. (This was just before the downpour.)I think the lushness of the trees and rice paddy on the right makes up for it!

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Number 3… Dragon’s Head, Nun’s Temple, Daejeon… Taken during a temple stay at a local temple on the out skirts of Daejeon.  Featured by National Geographic’s blog “Intelligent Traveler”. The direct link appears to be broken, but Travels on a Shoe String mentions it being featured…

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Number 2…Taiwan Mist… Taken in the early evening after a huge thunderstorm in the mountains. I was there at the right moment to catch the mist coming down.

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AND…Number 1….Seoul Forest…Taken on a fall photo shoot in 2007…

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Number of hits does not necessarily make a shot the most popular. Take a guess at which of these shots has the most views on Flickr…NO PEEKING!

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Welcome to another week of Travel Photo Thursday. This has been a week of computer challenges. I opened up my relatively new (less than a year old) Lenova laptop on the weekend and was greeted by the dreaded blue screen. In the end I had to reformat the computer, and have spent my free time this week downloading and installing programs, etc. etc. I also had to recover a lot of photos, and am now in the process of reorganizing them and getting them on to my portable hard drive. Actually, it was a huge surprise to me that I had not already done so. It seems that when I was traveling this past winter I downloaded many photos to my C drive with the intent of moving them to my back up hard drive, and forgot to do it!

This week I am pleased to announce a contest. Simply paste your Travel Photo Thursday link in Mr. Linky below, and like Budget Travelers Sandbox on Facebook. The contest is open until midnight this coming Sunday. On Monday I will pick a name at random and one lucky person will win a copy of “Thai Cooking: Step by Step”.

To join in the Travel Photo Thursday fun simply post a photo on your blog. Return here and place your link in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post.

Please note: Travel Photo Thursday is open to all individual travel bloggers. If you are the owner of a commercial travel site/blog, please contact me directly and we can discuss available advertising/sponsorship options.
My email address is nanciemckinnonatgmaildotcom.

Please post a link to a post featuring a travel photo, not simply a link to your blog.

As a courtesy please post a link to Budget Travelers Sandbox. 

If you do tweet a shot, please use the hashtag #TPThursday.

Since I am giving away a Thai cookbook this week, I figured it would be a good idea to feature some Thai food. There is a short alley way in Chiang Mai’s Chinatown that has some of the best street food I have ever tasted. My favorite vendor is a husband and wife team who have been making som tom salad at their alley stall for the past ten years. I love, love, love their salad; THE BEST!

Making the Som tom salad…

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The finished product

I love my som tom VERY spicy. The green sprigs on the side are morning glory. This along with the piece of cabbage help to control the heat in your mouth. Take a bite of either and things will cool down. Like I said before this is the absolute best som tom salad I have every eaten, bar none.

How much, you ask? 35 baht…($1.13US!!); any budget traveler’s dream!!

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Sausage Vendor

I have tried the sausage, and it is also very good. The thing is, once I finish the som tom salad I don’t have room for anything else.

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A view of Chiang Mai’s street food alley…

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Finding Street Food Alley (This is my nickname for the street) is not that difficult. Located downtown in Chiang Mai’s Chinatown, right beside the small Chinese temple. The vendors are open from late morning to late afternoon. Everyone is usually gone by 5pm. If you are in CM, don’t miss your chance to try some of the best street food in the city. Who can resist a delicious lunch for less than $2.00US (much less!); a dream lunch location for any budget traveler!

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Finally, a shot of this week’s prize….

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Good luck to everyone who enters the contest!

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Welcome to another week of Travel Photo Thursday. This past weekend I traveled to the southern part of Korea with the Royal Asiatic Society. We visited the beautiful island of Namhae on Saturday, and a cherry blossom festival in the coastal city of Jinhae on the Sunday. It was a fabulous weekend with fantastic spring weather. For this Travel Photo Thursday I am featuring photos taken on the Saturday; Sunday’s photos to follow in another post.

To join in the Travel Photo Thursday fun simply post a photo on your blog. Return here and place your link in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post.

Please post a link to a post featuring a travel photo, not simply a link to your blog.

As a courtesy please post a link to Budget Travelers Sandbox. 

If you do tweet a shot, please use the hashtag #TPThursday.

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Our bus left Seoul at 7:30am on Saturday, but I was not on it. Instead, the bus was stopping to pick myself and a friend up at the Daejeon Toll Gate at around 9:30 am. If you had been looking for me around 9:15am you would have found me playing chicken with the cars racing to the toll gate. We were on the wrong side of the road. Sorry, no photos, but trust me I never want to play chicken on a road way in Korea again! Our first “official stop” was about two hours later at a small temple called Irak-sa. Here, there is monument to General Sun-Shin. He is one of Korea’s most famous military heroes, and credited with inventing the turtle ship.

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Entrance to the monument…the ladies yellow hats adds a little life…I thought..:)

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After leaving Irak-sa we literally ran into our first cherry blossoms…this shot reminds me of an impressionist painting.

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On the road again, an unexpected tulip festival…

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Then it was onto Namhae Island’s Sangju Beach where we took a two hour boat tour. The area has many interesting rock formations, and the sun sparkling on the sea made for a perfect afternoon. For those people who were not interested in the views, karaoke and dancing were available below deck!

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Sangju Beach... ( I wanted to dig my toes in…!)

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Rock formation…reminded me of a lizard…

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Out for a swim…

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A favorite pass-time of the locals is fishing from the rocks in the bay…

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Gulls following our boat to shore…(being thrown food by some tipsy Koreans)

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A lone gull…

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No day out in Korea would be complete without at least a short hike up a mountain, and we were not disappointed. Our last stop of the day was at Namhae’s Geum-san Mountain where we hiked to the Boriam Hermitage (a Buddhist temple overlooking the bay).

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View of the bay from the Boriam Hermitage…

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Travel time from Seoul to Namhae is approximation 4 – 4.5 hours on a divided highway.

Part 2 to follow later this week…a fabulous seafood dinner, a room with a view, and awesome blossoms…stay tuned!

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Touring rural Korea can be a challenge if you are trying to do it independently. Accommodation is rarely available for booking online, and without a car, getting around can be difficult. The Royal Asiatic Society offers well priced tours out of Seoul. The tours are geared to the more mature traveler and they won’t break the bank. You can find out more here…

Royal Asiatic Society

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Keep an eye an eye out…a contest is coming next week. I’ll announce the details over at Facebook on Monday.
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Welcome to another week of Travel Photo Thursday. Spring is still struggling here in Daejeon. The trees and blossoms are struggling to come to life. This past Saturday I did have a magnolia tree sighting. Seeing those blossoms was exciting! However, for the most part we are still under a blanket of bleak.

To join in the Travel Photo Thursday fun simply post a photo on your blog. Return here and place your link in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post.

Please post a link to a post featuring a travel photo, not simply a link to your blog.

As a courtesy please post a link to Budget Travelers Sandbox. 

If you do tweet a shot, please use the hashtag #TPThursday.

We have a photography group in Daejeon and we have gotten together a couple of times recently. Last week we did a walk in an area close to the Expo site (Yes, Daejeon hosted an Expo in 1982). Not much color, and there is little to no water in the river right now. Taking shots of a bridge with no water underneath is just…well, strange. I did manage a couple of shots I liked. Plus, here is a shot of the Expo Bridge, that I took a couple of years ago.

These were taken from under the bridge…
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The Under Side

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On another day, a couple of years ago…

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The Expo Bridge, Daejeon

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Have you ever joined a local photo walk when you’re traveling? It’s a great way to meet people, and an inexpensive way to see the local area.

If you are ever in Daejeon, The Daejeon Photography Club.

If you are in Seoul, you can check out the Flickr in Seoul Group. They meet bi-weekly.

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