Bossam Tacos

One of my regular guilty pleasures is a trip to Vatos in Itaewon, it's only a five minute walk from home and there's a guarantee of good beer and a good bellyful of food. I've never been to Mexico, so I make no claims about the authenticity of the food, all I know is that it tastes pretty damn good. Plus they have Magpie's Pale Ale on tap...

Their latest invention is the braised belly pork taco with vinegared red pepper paste, a divine combination of Mexican and Korean flavours that are well worth trying.

My expanding waistline is a testament to the quality of the food.

Hello Again...

This blog has been quiet... too quiet.

I've been busy and with only fourteen posts in the last twenty months, I've been lax! Perhaps this will be the start of a renewed and revitalised blog, with much more to come! Though it may be best not to hold your breath.

Life has been rather hectic and immensely rewarding over the last year and a half. I've transitioned from full time performer to full time director and occasional show off at Latt Children's Theatre and we're just about to start work on our latest production - Twelve Singing Animals. We start rehearsals in twelve days time and if you fancy coming along and boogieing down to the hottest English language children's musical about the Asian zodiac in town then we'll be open on October 12th.

Alternatively, if you fancy listening to my dulcet tones on a regular basis then you can find me polluting the airwaves five minutes at a time, five days a week on Travel Bug, Arirang radio's morning show. I've been doing a corner for the past year and a half called Culture Note, where they kindly let me witter on about all sorts of topics.

And now back to some semi-regular blogging!

Yellow Dust

Jaundiced smoggy skies greeted me on the way home tonight. It looks as if the yellow dust is making an unwelcome return. Nowhere near danger levels yet, but still eye-stingingly frustrating.

Psy's Gentleman Gets A Much More Genteel Makeover

I'm not keen on Psy's latest pop creation, but at least this cover version I spotted on Reddit has some charm about it...

Psy's "Gentleman" done 1920's style:



The Korean may be almost unintelligible, but it's a great deal better than the original.

May 18th

Today marks the thirty third anniversary of the start of the Gwangju massacre. Hundreds killed, thousands of lives ruined.

It's worth taking the time to discover more about what happened. If you can get your hands on "Kwangju in the Eyes of the World", it's a fascinating read. Though you may find it easier to get a hold of "Korea Witness" (a wonderful collection of essays covering the past century or so), which devotes a fair amount of space to the incidents of 1980.

If neither of those tickle your fancy then I'll leave you with one of the first Korean films I ever saw - Peppermint Candy (박하 사탕 - released in 1999) - Lee Chang-dong's heartbreaking tale of one man's destruction and what brought him there in the first place. The film has strong ties to Gwangju and the democratisation movement, and charts Korea's turbulent journey from the 1980's onwards to the new millenium.

It's worth a watch if you have a couple of hours free, but be warned, it is an intense and emotionally painful journey into Korea's past. 

The Whole Story

If you're a fan of Korea and comics there's something you should know about...

There's a Kickstarter project that deserves your cash, I discovered it this morning after splurging out a little too much money on the fabulous Bill Plympton's new film Cheatin...

The Whole Story is a digital comic book project by Busan resident Ryan Estrada (the man who did a nifty little comic guide to understanding hangul a while back) and for as little as $1 you can get your mucky hands on a collection of digital comics that includes English language works by a number of Korean and international artists. If you pay a little more you can get access to even more comics including some more translated Korean manhwa. Not a bad deal...

Happy New Year

We're still in 2012 back in Blighty, but over in Korea you're all happily snuggled into 2013. I hope the future is treating you kindly and that it'll be a fabulous year for one and all. May your side dishes be plentiful, may your ondol be warm and may your resolutions be kept for longer than three days.

Happy New Year!

K-pop Takes Over The World One Owl At A Time

 

With 2012 coming to a close, various organizations and entities are putting up their "best of the year" lists and this morning's Guardian Guide managed to pay homage to a Korean song other than Gangnam Style.

"BEST KPOP VIDEO TO FEATURE AN OWL - BIGBANG: FANTASTIC BABY"

Bigbang's Fantastic Baby may be a bombastic boneheaded beast of a ditty, but the video is quite impressive and does indeed benefit from the inclusion of an owl.

I, for one, congratulate Mr. Dragon and Mr. Top on their efforts to include these feathered friends within the realms of Korean popular music and I hope that in future all Bigbang videos may feature winged specimens alongside their semi-naked muscular selves.

 

 

 

Korea Foundation Free Gallery Concert

Exciting things are happening at the Korea Foundation next month...

To celebrate the seventh anniversary of the Korea Foundation Cultural Center they are putting on two fantastic gallery concerts for free. On September 3rd you get the chance to see pianist Jonghwa Park and jazz vocalist Sunny Kim, whilst on September 4th you can see Geomungo Factory and Pansori diva Jaram Lee.

Tickets are free to both events, but you can only apply for one or the other, not both. Applications open today and run till August 27th, but get your skates on as places are limited and this is a rare chance to see some of the best musicians Korea has to offer for free. Head to the website, fill out an application and hope for the best.

Here's a taste of Jaram Lee:

(The Pansori kicks in just before the three minute mark.)

A soupçon of Geomungo Factory:

A touch of Jonghwa Park:

And a dollop of Sunny Kim:

Saturday Afternoon In Itaewon

I'm back in Seoul after a glorious week of building cardboard box cities in the wilds of Busan and I'm pleased to see that Itaewon is putting on a show at the weekend. These B-boys prove they've got what it takes to entertain the jaded crowds that hang around on the street corners of my neighbourhood.