从心开始, 享受自由 - ing : Day 6 in North Korea - King Kongmin's tomb, North Korean currency, Children's Palace

Ready to start Day 6

spotted a local tour bus just next to us... wonder how did these North Koreans managed to be on this tour given that everything they do or not do is being controlled by the dictator and his troop of enforcers ?!?!?!?

new look for the selfie of the day.... getting wackier as part of withdrawal symptom from a lack of internet, FB and communication with people outside of our tour group.... =S

either the cloud was low or the ski resort we stayed at the night before was damn high up...

A visit to a King Kongmin's tomb

this group of locals was enjoying their picnic when we approached the main site of the tomb ... we were kept very separated throughout the visit...

what caught my attention first was this Angry Bird look alike sculpture.... wahahahahaha

the irony is that the method used to maintain / repaint / preserve / restore the ancient structures destroys the ancientness in them instead... every part looks fake to me... as if it is built to 'smoke' tourists de... =S

their turn

looking like our HDB ah...

weeders spotted again.. they are EVERYWHERE...

spotted a bike sharing booth... can read up on the history on cycling in North Korea here...

BBQ duck for lunch...

followed by a visit to Kim Il Sung's native home at Mangyondae

mosaic of a young Kim Il Sung leaving his family for China on his own to fight the Japanese when he was just 13 years old...

omg... what was i doing at 13 years old?!?!?!... trying to juggle 11 subjects of which 9 are examable, can i not go school today??? which hair clip should i wear for school tmr???... wahahahaha...

Pretty neat trees in the compound...

briefing by the local guide

this area used to be a cemetery for the rich... the house was provided for Kim Il Sung's grandfather who was employed as a caretaker to ensure that the tombs in the area were well taken care of ...

this badly bent vessel is said to represent how poor the family was...

skeptical me: "like real.... clay bent until like that is considered ART liao lo"....

到此一游 selfie

Another weeder ... yes, i am obsessed with them... i just cannot comprehend why are there so many people plucking weeds with their hands?!?!?!?

Next stop was to the supermarket.. the only place on our whole 7 day trip where we got to be in close contact with the locals, we could shop among everyday citizens.... =)

sadly, no photos allowed in the supermarket.... =S

sweets and instant noodles were the only few items i found that were made in North Korea and i thought were okay-able to be used as holiday tokens for kiddos, colleagues and friends... most of the items sold in the supermarket were imported, mainly from China....

here's 4 huge packs of sweets and 10 packs of instant noodles sardined into my luggage.... Thank goodness partner found a safety pin which we used to let the air out from the packaging... else i would have serious trouble fitting them all in... =S

besides being able to be up close to the locals, another interesting experience in this supermarket was that it was the only place we got to see a North Korea currency, exchange our Renminbi into North Korea currency and then used it to pay for our shopping in there... then we had to exchange all unused currency back to Renminbi before we leave the building...

well, i took the chance to 'smuggle' one piece of this back to home sweet home and now it's on display on our fridge... =D