Seoul and the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan

Wandering about Seoul I just happened across the remains of the torpedo that allegedly sank the South Korean Pohang-class corvette ROKS Cheonan.

Apparently on display are the remains of a CHT-02D torpedo's contra-rotating propellers, propulsion motor and a steering section (matches the schematics found in export brochures). But why is anything left of the torpedo? There was no impact, just an underwater explosion 3 m from the ship which created a destructive shockwave and bubble effect.

Also on display at the Seoul War Memorial are myriad WWII and Korean War toys such as a mother of a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, SAMs and those H-13 helicopters right out of M*A*S*H.

The PKM Chamsuri was seriously shot-up with 6 dead and 18 wounded from a skirmish with a DPRK vessel in June 2002, just a month after I visited North Korea.

Some of the Gyeongbok Palace -- or whatever is left owing to nearly a century of abuse from foreign powers:

Deoksu Palace:

View from the Seoul Tower:

杨泳梁 Yang Yongliang at Bund 18 in Shanghai

I dropped by the exhibit of my favourite Chinese artist 泳梁 Yang Yongliang at the posh location of Bund 18.

I bought a piece, Viridescence, Stock World (2009), earlier in 2010. But the piece I've had fallen in love with, which I had my hands on but changed my mind owing to the world teetering on financial collapse at the time, was one of Phantom Landscape series.

From a distance, these pieces follow the traditional Chinese art style of shan-shui (山水 or mountain-water), yet up close, they are composed of exceptionally detailed photographs that Yang took of the overly rapid transformation of the typical Chinese megacity landscape.

West Park Golf Course in Dalian

Donation to the Shanghai Mint -- from the Grandson who Named "Starbucks"

The Tip of Liaoning Peninsula -- No Longer an Off-Limits Military Zone

60th Anniversary of the Chinese Navy PLA