 Preparing tteokbokgi snack food, Seoul / Pavilion at the Changgyeonggung Palace |
 Seoul, the South Korean capital, is a city of monumental avenues, a sprawl of grey cubes softened by the wispy needles of gnarled pines, the flashes of vermilion under the eaves of venerable palaces and portals; the chilli-pepper red of countless pots of simmering rice dough rolls - and the shell-pink of countless cellular phones.
Seoul sprawls too far to roam far and wide on foot, even though the pavements are wide and clean. Eight-lane avenues sweep past office towers, street markets straggle inconclusively for block after block. Dainty 'office ladies' clip-clop past, invariably reed-thin on their diet of rice cakes, fermented cabbage (kimchi) and char-grilled squid. Gruff bear-faced 'salarymen' (again, the Japanese term) don't quite pull off the bizoid look; the suits are stiff, not stylish.
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