Improvised Breakfast...

Touring theatre life is generally fairly full on and the past few days have been no exception. So I decided that instead of the normal tea and toast, rather extreme measures were necessary to cope with the fatigue that comes with 14 hour days, little sleep and large amounts of jetlag... Unfortunately the accommodation we are staying in is rather bare so improvisation and compromise are the keywords of the day.

I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, the breakfast of surtitlers: Four cheese tortellini with slices of fried portobello mushroom, ripped basil and scatterings of cheshire cheese.

A breakfast fit for an Ajosshi...

Surtitling Ajosshi...

Hello dear readers,

On the off chance that any of you might be in London for the next week and a half, I offer you the chance to see a unique piece of theatre from Korea...

'"Romeo and Juliet" performed by Mokwha Repertory Company at The Rose Theatre in Kingston on Thames starts tomorrow (Friday 16th July) and runs through till Sunday 25th July. Tickets are still available and surtitles are provided by Paul Ajosshi himself (I take full responsibility for all mistakes, mistranslations and bizarre errors).

For the even more adventurous of you, next Tuesday (20th July) there are two performances of Mokwha's Zombie Soldier Children's Musical "My Love DMZ", again with English surtitles (once again I take full responsibility for any errors, I'm a sucker for punishment).

I'll be around over this weekend supervising surtitle operations and would love to see any of you, your friends or family who may wish to watch one of the best adaptations of "Romeo and Juliet" around.

Italian Joy Sometimes Comes In The Smallest Of Places...

I discovered a delightful tiny Italian restaurant yesterday on my way to the Arirang tv shoot. Hidden away in the backstreets of Bukchon Hanok village is 이태리 면 사무소 .

This miniscule hole in the wall spaghetti house offers you a choice of the usual suspects when it comes to Italian food. I went for one of their summer specials: the "aglio e olio" for 7,500 won.



I think the simplest pastas are often the hardest to perfect, but this small restaurant did not disappoint. The spaghetti was spot on, the garlic was perfectly cooked and with a little fresh parsley and a lot of olives it was a satisfying plate of pasta.

I wandered round the backstreets till I found this place, so I think google maps may be able to better show you how to get there...


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You can call them on 02 3676 0233, be prepared to wait a little while to get a table in this tiny, yet perfectly formed Italian joint.

Evil Desktop

I decided that I should tidy up my MacBook desktop for filming with Arirang. I might have made a few cosmetic changes and added a few folders...

Blogging For Arirang

Well, dear readers, here I am sitting in a cafe being forced to blog against my will by the folks at Arirang tv (I jest... or do I?)

Here in the midst of hundreds of Hanoks they are filming me as I sip homemade lemonade and write this blog post. I fear for my life, dear readers, I fear for my life...

All joking aside they're actually a lovely bunch of people and have been treating me very kindly. We've been visiting hanoks and talking about traditional houses in film. Who knows how it'll turn out, but hopefully I will not seem too much like a fool...

June Menu at OKitchen2

Last month my father rolled into town on business and we decided to use this as a good excuse to head out to OKitchen2 to try their latest culinary concoctions... What follows is evidence of our visit.



Bread, my delicious wheat based addiction.



The always welcome fish plate. Clockwise from top: Smoked salmon with a citrus and fennel sauce, croaker sashimi, anchovy ceviche and halibut and avocado ceviche. the halibut won hands down.



Next up, pea flan with a carrot and cardamom sauce crowned with carrot tops. I'm not a huge fan of flan, but I was impressed with the crunchy carrot tops. First time I realised they were edible... Oh, the naivety!



Beef carpaccio with assorted mushrooms and truffle oil. Heavenly raw beefiness.



Linguine with grilled saury and kennip pesto. Delicious oily mess of fish, breadcrumbs and perilla leaves.



A little palate cleanser.



Chicken roulade with salsa verde. Perfectly cooked.



One of the trio of desserts presented to us. A mere trifle...

OKitchen2... I love you...

OKitchen2 is just down the road from Itaewon station, head towards Noksapyeong and turn right at the first set of traffic lights. The restaurant is just a few metres down the alley on the left hand side. Call them on 02 797 6420 or visit their website here.

The Death of Toque?

Walking near Hangangjin station on Friday, I noticed that Toque was looking a little worse for wear.



On closer examination the restaurant seemed to have been gutted and judging by some of the messages on the wall, it seems likely that Toque has shut down.





Goodbye to this little slice of Americana in Seoul.

The Best Bibimbap in Jeonju

Over at Zenkimchi, Rob McGovern has written a thought provoking article on where to get the best bibimbap in Jeonju, but there's one place he hasn't mentioned...

중앙회관 offers the best bibimbap experience I've ever had in that lovely city and I highly recommend a visit if you have the chance.

For 10,000 won you can get the 옛날 가마솥 비빔밥 (Old Style Stone Bowl Bibimbap) and it's worth every penny.

It's a thing of beauty...



That is then beaten to within an inch of its life by the restaurant's resident mixologist.



Stand out side dishes include the mysterious yellow jelly of deliciousness (황포묵)...



And a heavenly marinated grilled fish.



Great service, great food and beautiful bibimbap.

Plus their 해물 파전 (Seafood Pancake) for 10,000 won is worth splashing out for. Crispy, crispy joy on a plate.

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So there you have it, my personal pick for the best bibimbap in Jeonju. All that remains is for me to try out Rob's recommendations... I'll be heading down to Jeonju in August for a little bowl of bibimbap heaven.

A Bigger Better "What The Book?"

UPDATE: Thanks to @stevenward on twitter, I can now tell you the opening date is fixed for July 7th.

If, like me, you find yourself spending a sizeable part of your paycheck on books then you'll be pleased to know that What the Book? is moving to a bigger and hopefully better location!

They say they'll be moving at the "beginning of July, 2010", but there's no concrete date yet. Still the new storefront looks enticing enough and I'm sure I'll be spending far too much in the new place as well...

You can find it by coming out of exit 1 of Itaewon station, head toward Noksapyeong and you'll find it just past Burger King on the right hand side.

6.25

Sixty years today since the Korean war began.

My wife is in Brisbane performing a show called 내 사랑 DMZ (My Love DMZ) to commemorate the occasion. I translated the show and prepared surtitles for the performance. It's filled with a mixture of strange songs, old and new, but this one stood out:

우거진 수풀을 헤치면서 앞으로 앞으로
추풍령아 잘있거라 우리는 돌진한다
달빛어린 고개에서 마지막 나누어 피던
화랑담배 연기속에 사라진 전우야
고개를 넘어서 물을 건너 앞으로 앞으로
한강수야 잘 있느냐 우리는 돌아왔다
흙이 묻은 철갑모를 손으로 어루만지니
떠오른다 네 얼굴이 꽃같이 별같이

Making our way through the rough undergrowth,
Onwards and onwards we go.
Goodbye to the homes and the places we know,
Rushing onwards we go.
Under the moonlight on top of the hill,
We share a last cigarette.
Suddenly our lost comrade appears
In the smoke and we cannot forget.
Over hill, over stream we carry on,
Onwards and onwards we go.
Till the welcoming river of Seoul appears
And we are safe back home.
But the ground is covered with dirty tin hats
And we touch each one as we go.
I remember your face, my comrade, my friend.
Like a star, like a flower in the snow.

It's a shortened version of 전우야 잘자라 (Sleep Well Jeon-woo). All mistakes in interpretation and translation are mine. Apologies in advance if any have been made...



Photos taken at The War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan. May all who suffered rest in peace.