Best K-pop Medley Ever

I popped into a dumpling restaurant for lunch yesterday and saw this playing on the tv. Quite possibly the best K-pop medley ever sung. I'm a sucker for relatively elderly choirs singing pop songs...

It's from a show called 남자의 자격 - 청춘 합창단 which features aging rocker 김태원 conducting an amateur choir. It's not quite Glee, but it has its moments. Still it's not a patch on the documentary Young@Heart. Their version of Coldplay's Fix You remains one of my favourite covers.

 

 Seek out Young@Heart if you can. One of the most beautiful documentaries you'll see.

New Cheap Eats In Itaewon

New restaurants and cafes seem to be springing up all over Itaewon at the moment. As I wander down alleys and side streets I keep spotting new places to try; and right out on the main strip, sandwiched between Panchos and the KB Bank, I discovered a new take out noodle place that offers a box of South Asian goodies for far less cash than most other eateries.

 

Noodle Box franchises have popped up in Hongdae, Shinchon, Gangnam and Itaewon, offering a small selection of noodle and rice dishes starting at 5,700 won. To celebrate the grand opening of the Itaewon branch every main course on the menu has been brought down to 5,000 won, I'm not sure how long the discount will last, but it certainly offers a thrifty alternative to Buddha's Belly, Wang Thai or Pattaya. I opted for the Pho Xao, described as "Vietnamese Pad Thai. Fried flat rice noodles served with pork, mussel, plus vegetable combination."

 

Low prices also mean self service down at Noodle Box, but for 5,000 won I was happy to make the short trek to the counter. My noodles arrived promptly in their own special box (how appropriate!) and when I opened up my small cardboard parcel of delight I was greeted with a burst of fragrant steam. So far, so good. It turned out to be a tasty little package and worth the price - choice morsels of pork, a few mussels and plenty of beansprouts, but my only complaint would be that the noodles were a tad too chewy.

 

Noodle Box offers a decent meal at very low cost and adds a touch of asian flair to the row of kebab shops that adorn the strip between the subway and the fire station. Certainly a good option for those on a budget or in a hurry, and may well offer a little nostalgia for those who used to get their noodles in boxes... To get to Noodle Box, head out of Itaewon station past KB Bank and this cheap little eatery will be on the right hand side. If you hit Mr. Kebab, you've gone too far. Visit their website here.

Freaky Firestation Flashmob Filming

First Itaewon Freedom, now this:



Itaewon can be a very odd place at times and today was no exception.



I'm not quite sure what happened or why, but outside the firestation on the main strip, there was some sort of flashmob/photoshoot/music video/mass hysteria involving a decrepit popstar, three firemen and a group of youngsters dressed like rejects from a Grease audition.



 I stayed for only a few minutes, but the memory has been seared into my brain and will haunt me for decades to come.



And now a glimpse of the dancing, lip syncing, k-pop horror itself...

Greek Tragedy?

This photo accurately reflects my feelings about this plate of food.

Last night I met up with some old friends for a glass of wine, a bite to eat and a natter about the comings and goings of 2011. We decided that the Santorini's new restaurant on the main street might be a good place to try. I'd been to the Santorini behind the Hamilton hotel a couple of years ago and not had a wonderful experience, but I was willing to give them another go, especially in their new location.

Unfortunately... more of the same.

Our waiter, when asked for salads with no dressing explained that all salads were pre-dressed; and after being informed that I had an egg allergy and couldn't eat mayonaise, she brought me a plate of food with a big dollop of mayonaise rich coleslaw...

I ordered the mixed grill for 25,000 won: A chicken kebab, some lamb gyros, a "meatball" which looked and tasted suspiciously like a burger, fried potatoes and pitta bread. The meats weren't bad, perhaps a little too salty, the fried potatoes were passable, but the pitta bread was so tough that I feared for my teeth.

Then there's the price... A little steep considering that the Turks are selling good quality kebabs and other bits and pieces round the corner for much less. As @mrpfisher said on twitter last night:
"Tried it last weekend. Wasn't massively impressed, certainly at those prices. Hope it's better for you!"

I had kept my hopes up for Santorini, but I fear I won't be darkening their door again. Perhaps not a Greek tragedy, but certainly a disappointment.

Seoul Is Changing

Something strange is happening to this city...

At the start of August I left rain soaked Seoul for ten days in rain soaked Edinburgh and when I came back I found myself in what felt like a different place.

As we flew into Incheon, everything seemed so clear. I could see every boat, every road, every nook and cranny of this crowded and chaotic peninsula, and as we drove into Seoul the skies were blue and I could see for miles and miles.

How odd.

This may not be so noticeable for relative newcomers, but after a decade living under the yellow haze of pollution, looking up at the sky and seeing rather indistinct shadows and a blurred sun, this past month has come as a revelation. We've had our good days and bad days, but late August into mid-September has given us some stunning skies and some gorgeous clouds. I don't remember enjoying the heavens so much in the last eleven years and I'm thankful that I can look out across the Han river every morning on my way to work and enjoy the view.

Maybe it was the ridiculously long and ridiculously heavy monsoon season, maybe Seoul is getting cleaner, maybe the sky gods are smiling down on us... Whatever the cause may be, it makes me happy.

Long may these clear skies reign, before Seoul changes its mind and the smog comes back again.

Wine Gift Time

One of Korea's big two holidays is coming up this weekend, and with the arrival of Chuseok (the Korean Harvest Festival) comes the arrival of the annual Chuseok gift from my present employer. In previous years I've received frozen fish, frozen steaks, seafood powder, olive oil, and a set of soaps, body-washes and toothpaste that still hasn't been used up entirely...



 This year it was pretty easy to guess what I'd received from the box.

 

Sure enough, a quick peek inside revealed two bottles of rioja, plus a fancy schmancy corkscrew and pourer. Often we share gifts with my in-laws, spreading the fishy, beefy, soapy love around, but this year I think we'll be keeping these bottles for ourselves.

A quick search on the internet reveals that these two bottles go for a total of about 70,000 won in Korea... another quick search on the internet reveals that they go for a total of about 20,000 won back in the U.K...

Hopefully one day wine prices in Korea will settle down, so that my need for decent wine can become an affordable habit. Until then I'm still very grateful that my employer wants to send me a bottle or two to celebrate the harvest.

You can catch me wittering on about Chuseok tomorrow morning on TBSeFM during my regular 11.30 Korea Only slot on the 1013 Main Street programme...

My New Favourite Korean TV Programme

We've only recently got a streaming iptv service and as I was flicking through the few free channels we have access to tonight I discovered 한국인의 밥상 on KBS1.

Thursday nights at 7.30, it's every Korean food addicts dream. Half an hour of a rather elderly slightly famous man (I know his face from somewhere) travelling round Korea and finding the best that Korean dinner tables have to offer. Tonight's episode was salt, samphire and seaweed focused, with some beautiful shots of beautiful food.

Plus there's no audience sound track, no dramatic oohing and aahing over everything and they don't show the same shot three times in a row. It's proper adult television meant for those with a serious interest in food. I am in love...

If like me you grew up with a love of serious food programmes for serious foodies, then this may well be the show for you.

Idiocy In Theatre

I sit here in front of my computer when I should be sitting in seat B24 in the circle of the large theatre at the new Yongsan Art Hall. I should be watching a Sherlock Holmes influenced magic concert starring 최현우. I've walked out of a couple of plays before, but this is the first time I walked out of one before it even started...

First if all I should say that I'm very happy that Yongsan has an art hall and that it's located in Itaewon. I'm also very happy that Yongsan residents get 50% off tickets to any show there. Thank you Yongsan, that's great, it's super, it's absolutely wonderful and I love you dearly. However, there are a couple of things that need to be sorted out.

First - If you want people to come and see your shows then you should really start advertising them ahead of time. As you can see from your pretty little website, the only thing advertised is the aforementioned Arthur Conan Doyle based extravaganza. Beyond the middle of September? Who knows? It's just a glorious field of 준비중입니다 signs. I'd love to start booking tickets for upcoming shows, but that's not going to happen if you don't tell me what's going on. I was lucky enough to stumble past the Yongsan Art Hall last Saturday and noticed that something was actually on. Lucky me.

Second - You don't have any English pages on your website. That's ok. I'll live with that, I'm a big boy and I'll do my best to navigate through the internet using my stumbling Korean. However, when it comes to booking tickets, rather than booking online or by phone, I find it's much easier to come down to the box office and book face to face. That way if the staff member and I have any communication problems we can use the miracle of body language and other tried and tested techniques to get the message across. However, when I tried to go into the theatre to buy tickets last week, I was told I had to book by phone (in Korean) if I wanted to get my Yongsan resident discount. I'm a Yongsan resident... I live in Itaewon... I am standing in front of you with a pile of cash and my alien registration card... Would it be so hard to take the booking? Really? Really?

Third - I booked by phone yesterday. You said you reserved a seat for me. You said I could pay at the box office. I got to the box office today and you had no record of my booking. You sold me a ticket anyway at the box office. Even though the last time I went to the box office you said I couldn't buy my Yongsan resident discount ticket at the box office. You seem to be contradicting yourself...

Fourth - I'm a poor artist so I went for the cheap seats up in the circle. Normally I love the circle, you get a great view of everything, a little bit of distance from the stage and a chance to throw chewing gum into the hair of those in the pricier seats below. I was happy with seat B24 up in the circle - on the little auditorium map it looked like a great seat with a great view. Perfect, Yongsan Art Hall, you've given me a great ticket at a great price and I get to watch a tiny cherub faced Korean man pretend to be a Victorian detective whilst messing about with cards for an hour and forty minutes.

I get up to the circle fifteen minutes before showtime and things start to seem a little less perfect. You seem to have put a rather large clear plastic barrier in front of the circle seats. You seem to have done it for safety purposes and yet you don't seem to have noticed that this rather large and obtrusive plastic barrier obstructs the view and significantly diminishes the enjoyment of the circle seated spectators, especially for those looking to involve themselves in a Moriarty antagonizing wizardry related experience.

For the first time in my life I walked out of a show before it had even started and I went back to the box office where you told me that you didn't give refunds directly before a show starts. I explained myself and you gave me a refund. This time I was very happy that you contradicted yourself.

I go to the theatre so that there is no barrier or screen between myself and the performer. I have been to hundreds of venues where audiences in the circle have been absolutely safe without the use of a large plastic barrier. You may be worried about safety (and that's a good thing to worry about), but you also have to worry about the audience experience of a show. If I want to watch a man in a deerstalker produce a rabid phosphorescent hound from a hat, then I want to do it without having to squint through plastic.

Sort yourself out Yongsan Art Hall. I'm only saying this because I love you and I want you to succeed.

Edinburgh!

We're off on tour, so if you happen to be in Edinburgh this week then stop by the King's Theatre and say hello to the Mokwha Repertory Company.

We'll be performing The Tempest on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (13th-16th August) at 7.30 pm. There'll be Shakespeare, Shamans and English Supertitles. Full details at the Edinburgh International Festival website here.

Radio Days

Well, it seems that every Wednesday morning just after 11.30 you'll be able to hear me waffling about Korea on TBSeFM's 1013 Main Street program.

I'll be on this morning if any of you care to listen in and I'll be talking about the joys of ddeok-galbi, one of my favourite meaty Korean dishes.

Listen in if you dare...