I'm not sure how they go together

 Seen in Incheon (Seoul) Airport:

I appreciate the straightforward shop name

view from a hotel window

We are back in Seoul, ready to fly home tomorrow, having taken the "Eurostar" bullet train from Pohang this afternoon, after the conference finished.  We are in a different, smaller, cheaper hotel this time (we had tried to book this one on the way out too, but it had been full).  It is a perfectly nice adequate hotel, but the view from the window is somewhat ... stark.

The view out my window of a nearby wall, and a desperate weed.

temple excursion

The conference has been going really well.  Lots of excellent talks, and I've been learning a lot.  This afternoon, however, was the conference excursion, to some local historical temples.  This was preceded by a governmental extreme heat alert, so I took my umbrella to use as a parasol.  I needed to: the temperature hit 37.7 Celsius.  Fortunately, we were well-supplied with Pocari Sweat.

Our guide (far left) knew all the right places for group photos with great backgrounds.  He literally drew lines in the sand for us to stand behind.  Here is the entrance to the complex.

In front of the main temple entrance.

Beautiful carving detail in the roofs.  Our guide was careful to explain that the central swastika symbol is not the Nazi symbol, but an ancient religious symbol. (As in all such things, the full explanation is much more complex.)

One of several golden Buddhas

A welcome respite from the dusty heat of the temple compound

Another line to stand behind, this time in front of an amazing old bridge

sushi

We invited speakers at the UCNC conference were invited to a super sushi dinner.  Lots of interesting things to eat!  Other people started photographing the amazing dishes, so I followed them...

many kinds of fish (each lovingly described) draped over huge pieces of bamboo

the next course is more shellfish-oriented

deep fried little tiny things

fish head

more shellfish, plus phoneshadow

view from a conference centre hotel room

We took the bullet train from Seoul to Pohang yesterday.  It felt familiar as I got on.  Ah, it's actually a Eurostar train!  Comfortable, smooth, and on time.

After a short taxi ride from Pohang Station, we arrived at the PIC (PIC = POSCO International Center, POSCO = Pohang Iron and Steel Company).  The Centre includes the conference venue and a hotel.  The view from my room is a combination of AC unit (necessary in the heat!) and lovely greenery.

Today started with a tour of the POSTECH campus (POSTECH = Pohang University of Science and Technology) for those who had arrived early enough.

braving the heat

the local synchrotron, unfortunately not part of the tour!

And then our TEMC workshop as the first event.

view from a hotel window

We arrived in Seoul yesterday, after a 12hr overnight flight from Heathrow, ready to head off to Pohang this afternoon for the UCNC conference.  It was a one hour metro ride from the airport to Seoul Station, then a short walk to a nearby hotel.

The view from my hotel room window this morning:

view from the hotel back towards Seoul Stations

This was not the same hotel room as I was given when I arrived.  

keycard promises

I'm not sure how rock stars sleep, but I bet it isn't being woken up at 1:30am by an alarm going off in a locked cupboard in the room, having the desk manager come up and switch it off, with assurances the problem was fixed, then having the alarm go off again 10 minutes later, having a different desk manager come up, and then being moved to a different room.  Which was then fine.

Ah, well.  We are off now to the station, for the 2.5hr journey by "bullet train" to Pohang.