Death To All Smurfs

Continuing my series of badly taken blurry photos of strangely named cafes, I present to you Cafe Azrael...

For me Azrael has always been the Angel of Death, I hear that name and I think of scythes, cloaks and heading towards a bright white light. So I was intrigued by Cafe Azrael and its taped up smiley cat.

The only reference I can find that might explain the connection is that in The Smurfs, Gargamel's incompetent cat was called Azrael. However, with no sign of little blue people and only a generic cat shape to look at, I'm not quite sure whether Smurf fans would make the connection.

Cafe Azrael is located in the back streets near Ewha Women's University, but judging from the tape on the sign and the mess in the cafe itself, I wouldn't recommend it.

Forgive Me For Being Immature, But...

Sometimes you have to wonder why bands choose the names they do. Fannyfink? Really?



They're not bad, but Fannyfink? Really?



I like their style, but Fannyfink? Really?

Perhaps it's my inner schoolboy, but I can't help giggling every time I see their name...

Fannyfink? Really?

When Regular Coffee Just Isn't Enough...

Strolling round the back streets near Ewha Women's University last night, I spied this oddly monikered cafe.



A friendly face to go with a not so friendly name...



It turns out Exorcist Coffee is a fortune telling cafe where you can hire out the services of wonderfully talented people who tell you what your future holds (that tall dark stranger, the lucky numbers for next week's lottery or the prospect of you being run over by a quick service motorcycle).

Now if only I could get Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells out of my head...

Day Out At KBS

As established in my last post I am indeed a media whore and to prove it I'll be on KBS this Friday along with my theatrical colleagues. At 4.00 pm we'll be appearing on TV유치원 파니파니, a kids' variety show. Tune in for all sorts of excitement, including a rare chance to witness me playing the clarinet badly on national television...

Until then, I'll leave you all with some of the highlights from our day out at KBS...



Armed with a handful of props, a rack full of costumes and our own painted faces we headed off last Thursday to the KBS studios in Yeoido.



We endeavored to make the most embarrassing entrance possible, sending our Clown into the lobby, tooting the horns on her tiny tricycle as she went.



First stop the luxury dressing room.



Not the nicest of places to get naked in, but we've all seen worse. If I could show you pictures of some of the dressing rooms I've been in...



Then it was up to the glamourous canteen on the third floor.



Pretty much a standard cafeteria menu.



However, it was all quite tasty. The stewed Spanish Mackerel was beautifully tender, though the 청국장찌개 tasted more like your standard 됀장.

As you can see, everyone was delighted to be there.



And I took the opportunity for some rebellion. Yeah, watching SBS in the KBS building! I was born to be wild! I'm a rebel without a cause! I'm a... oh, wait. This isn't really as exciting or cool as I thought it might be...



Behold the hippest dude on KBS.

The filming itself went well, I was rather too busy to take photos, but I've been assured that I'll be able to get my hands on a video at some point. Top marks to the KBS team, who were slick, smooth and treated us very kindly.



So tune in at 4.00 pm this Friday when you'll see a load of balls being thrown at adults in bad fancy dress and a team of Five Fools pretending they know which camera to look at.

I'm a Whore, a Media Whore!

Stumbled across this yesterday, the lovely people at Visit Korea have put my Today's Blog video from Arirang tv on Youtube. Watch at your own peril, it may contain scenes of me...

But on the positive side I've now found out that my nationality is "England" and you get to see the ridiculous goatee I grew for last year's show The Little Dragon.

Pastitsio!

In this terrible cold there's only one thing that really warms my stomach... baked pasta. So the other night I set out to make myself a Pastitsio.



My parents used to make it when I was a child and it's the sort of dish that brings back happy memories of family life in Blighty.



Our family recipe is a slightly bastardized one, no pasta on the bottom. Just a layer of meat sauce, then a layer of pasta surrounded by a cheesy béchamel sauce. Finally the whole thing is sprinkled with cheese, black pepper and nutmeg, and baked in the oven for forty five minutes.

Delicious.

Sugar Glider Cuteness

If you head down to Insadong on the weekend you may be lucky enough to meet the Sugar Glider man. He hangs about near the Crown Bakery at the Anguk Station end and likes to show off his furry friends (at least he did last year, it may well be too cold for him at the moment)...



Cute!



Less cute!

More cute!

Too cute!

Restraining My Impatience...

"I am restraining my impatience for the time being."

Found in a taxi in Gwangju, possibly the most eloquent English ever seen on a sticker...

Though I'm sure there's a simpler and more accurate way of translating "애교 금지".

Jeolla-do Jungle Book

On tour last summer we briefly sojourned at a Jeolla-do rest stop on our way to Gwangju and got a glimpse of some fantastic hedge work.



It seems to be a tribute to Rudyard Kipling's magnificent Jungle Book, but I'm not quite sure what the musical pandas have to do with anything...

It's A Small World After All...

Down the back streets of Insadong there's a magical place that will make your smallest dreams come true. It's called Worldmini and it is a fantastic little gallery with some tiny pieces of art.



There's a similar place in the Ssamzie shopping centre, but Worldmini is less about tourist knickknacks and more about the art of modelling itself.



The attention to detail is incredible. Each model has its own story to tell and if you care to, you can lose yourself in these miniscule worlds.



The Marie Celeste of Hanok parties...



My favourite is this fast food stall.



A miniature moment, frozen in time, each patron's plate perfectly arranged.

If you ask nicely they'll even let you sneak a look at their workshop. An Aladdin's cave of modeler's odds and ends.



When I was there last March I got a preview of their latest hanok.



And if you didn't know this was a miniature, you might glance and think it the real thing...

If you fancy visiting Worldmini, then head down to Insadong. Exit from Anguk station then head down the main street and turn right when you see the sign for the Hae Jeong Hospital. Worldmini is on the first building to your left (on the third floor).