Since spotting a reference in the Lonely Planet guidebook to an organisation called WWOOF (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) The Bat and I have been planning to try out the scheme where-by you do volunteer work on a farm in exchange for bed and board. We phoned the organisation and got directions to their office in Seoul to go and join up. The young lady running the show admitted the website is not up to date with the farms available and neither is the book she gave us, however at her suggestion we booked a stay with the Jiri Mountain BioLand farm near Gurye over the long holiday created by Federation day national holiday on Oct 3rd and Chusok on the 5th. Since Chusok is a variable date every year this holiday is not always as long. When we booked the train tickets on 5th September they had already sold out of tickets for the Saturday and Sunday, so we bought tickets to return on Friday 6th.
On booking tickets: Korail have a very good website for checking train times and availability. To be able to book tickets on-line you need to: go to Seoul Station, go to booth 23 with your Alien Registration Card and 7,000 won and you can get annual membership. This gives you a membership number for the site. It also gives you a 5% discount on tickets bought via the internet and upto 20% discount on tickets bought on the day "according to the ticket early phase" whatever that means.
I have not found anything similar for the Express buses, but the KNTO site has an excellent page where you can at least find out which of the five Bus terminals to head for, how long the journey is, how much it costs and how frequent the buses are for long distance trips.
Mr Choi greeted us at Guryegu station on Tuesday evening after our first train journey in South Korea. The farm is not far from the station and as he drove he told us he is a keen exponent of WWOOF and has had over 300 visitors from more than 40 countries. When we arrived we met another WWOOFER staying on the farm, a young Japanese student who spoke Korean. The farmhouse was clean, well maintained and warm. We were given a room with a decent double mattress.
Wednesday. Up at 7am (a bit of a lie-in for us, since we normally get up at 5am) and after Kimichi for breakfast, we started our job for the day: watering the radish plants. We soon figured out an optimal trajectory with the hose and it was quite a relaxing Zen like task in the hot sun. The leather gloves posted to us by a very good friend from the UK proved invaluable in saving the delicate hands of The Bat. You cannot buy decent gardening gloves for love nor money, all they sell here is cotton gloves dipped in a bit of red plastic!
Thursday. Mr Choi generously invited us to share Chusok with him at his parents house not far away. There we met his two brothers and their families, who had come from Seoul for the holiday. We visited the Hwaeomsa temple in the Jirisan National Park in the morning with the family and admired the large gold statues of Buddha and the famous five storey stone pagoda. In the afternoon we played a gentle game of 5 aside football and other games before taking a very brisk walk up to the top of Osan, the mountain that overlooks the farm, which, probably because it is not in the national park, was very quiet. We had excellent views over the valley just before sunset from the temple at the summit.
On Friday we left the farm thanking Mr Choi for his excellent hospitality, we felt like he had got a very bad deal out of us, as we were there for such a short time, but the WWOOF experience was very intersting and I hope to visit further farms.
We were still unable to change our train tickets for a seat at the weekend, but we were able to purchase bus tickets back to Seoul for the Sunday afternoon, so we got a refund on the train tickets (less an small admin fee) and headed towards the national park. We chose the Jirisan Swiss hotel from the Lonely Planet book, which had good things to say about it. [Though quite why having shower curtains was felt to be worth mentioning is a mystery to me. In fact our room did not have any shower curtains!]
We went bird spotting in the NP near the temple and saw three species new to us : a large flock of vinous throated parrotbills, one brown dipper and a flock of azure winged magpies. Just after sunset we were still in the temple and listened to some very powerful drumming by the monks on the enormous drum, it was an impressive performance of great skill and rhythm.
Saturday we were out of the hotel and into the NP before 8am, too early for breakfast at the hotel. Heading up the valley for the Nogodan pass the path of granite rocks was wide, even and not too busy, we paused at the Hermitage temple. From there on up it was a very hard slog up a much steeper more rugged path for 4km until we finally hit a wide gently sloping path where everyone who drove up to mountain round the other side was walking and we could make the final assent to the Nogodan Pass. The view looking east towards the rest of the mountain range was well worth the effort. It is a completely unspoilt vista of trees that were just starting to turn autumnal and in the distance we could see the second tallest peak in South Korea Cheonwangbong.
Sunday after the hard day we didn’t get up until just after 9am, too late for breakfast! Luckily we found alternative sustenance before going to the other temple in that area of the park the Cheoneunsa temple. It is smaller and quieter than Hwaeomsa. Our trip back to Seoul by bus was uneventful. There were a couple of short traffic jams at one point in the journey but the predicted heavy traffic did not materialise for us.
Due to an unfortunate accident I dropped our camera at the railway station just before we left, so I have no photos to share with you. It is going to take at least three weeks to get the part to repair it, but in the meantime the very obliging shop have leant us a replacement camera!
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
North Korea tests Nuclear Bomb
As you have probably all heard on the news "our friends oop north" have just admitted to testing a nuclear bomb. They seem quite pleased with themselves, it's certainly one way of getting your country in the news. It's just a shame they cannot make more money out of tourism from it.
Apparently it was only a 1 kiloton TNT equivalent, Hiroshima was 13 kilotons. [correction from this morning]
Life carries on here as normal, however the leader of the opposition party did ask his members not to play golf (unless it was absolutely necessary). The students, having more time on their hands to worry about this sort of thing, are already worrying about their future unborn children, but all the adult students in The Bat's class were more concerned with getting on with work as normal.
Not having TV means we miss some of the news but Robert at the Marmot's Hole has summarised the events so far.
There is a good posting from the blog of the metropolitican about gallows humour in this situation.
The newspapers this morning are all full of the news, as I'm sure papers around the world will be, because lets face it, it makes a good story. Summary: China, North Korea's one and only friend has called it a brazen act; The Japanese and South Korean Prime Ministers agree the test is non pardonable, but were unable to agree on anything else at all, nor even make a joint statement after meeting yesterday; The KOSPI (Korean Stock Exchange Index) fell 2.4 per cent yesterday; The Korean won fell in value by 1.6 per cent against the US dollar; Seoul has suspended a shipment of 4,000 tons of cement to North Korea; There is unlikely to be any environmental damage from the test here in South Korea.
I think now would be a good time to buy Korean stocks, because the markets fall every time there is North Korean news, but they bounce back after less than a week.
As Robert says, we now have to wait to see what the American response to this is. If they start to get aggressive then things could turn ugly, but short of invading North Korea a very foolish move indeed considering the size of the North Korean army, I cannot see what military action they can take. Blockade the ports? Well there is hardly any trade anyway and it will only make the country more unstable.
More news as it happens.
Apparently it was only a 1 kiloton TNT equivalent, Hiroshima was 13 kilotons. [correction from this morning]
Life carries on here as normal, however the leader of the opposition party did ask his members not to play golf (unless it was absolutely necessary). The students, having more time on their hands to worry about this sort of thing, are already worrying about their future unborn children, but all the adult students in The Bat's class were more concerned with getting on with work as normal.
Not having TV means we miss some of the news but Robert at the Marmot's Hole has summarised the events so far.
There is a good posting from the blog of the metropolitican about gallows humour in this situation.
The newspapers this morning are all full of the news, as I'm sure papers around the world will be, because lets face it, it makes a good story. Summary: China, North Korea's one and only friend has called it a brazen act; The Japanese and South Korean Prime Ministers agree the test is non pardonable, but were unable to agree on anything else at all, nor even make a joint statement after meeting yesterday; The KOSPI (Korean Stock Exchange Index) fell 2.4 per cent yesterday; The Korean won fell in value by 1.6 per cent against the US dollar; Seoul has suspended a shipment of 4,000 tons of cement to North Korea; There is unlikely to be any environmental damage from the test here in South Korea.
I think now would be a good time to buy Korean stocks, because the markets fall every time there is North Korean news, but they bounce back after less than a week.
As Robert says, we now have to wait to see what the American response to this is. If they start to get aggressive then things could turn ugly, but short of invading North Korea a very foolish move indeed considering the size of the North Korean army, I cannot see what military action they can take. Blockade the ports? Well there is hardly any trade anyway and it will only make the country more unstable.
More news as it happens.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Coffee morning at the Ambassador's
Being a House Husband; Trailing Spouse; or Gentleman of Leisure, as I’ve been describing myself, I thought it about time I attended a coffee morning. I discovered the British Club of Seoul had been invited to the British Ambassador’s for a coffee morning organised by the wife of the Ambassador in aid of Macmillan Cancer Nurses as part of their Worlds biggest coffee morning event.
The brick and granite building was built in 1890. Located beside the Toksugung palace in the centre of Seoul it is a remarkably quiet and tranquil spot. Admiring the grounds it was easy to forget you were in the middle of such a large city.
I arrived promptly at 10am at the Embassy and had my named checked off on the list of registered guests. Following another guest I walked round the modern Embassy building to the Ambassador’s residence. We were met by Pam, the hostess, on the lawn where there was a wide variety of cakes and fruit laid out. The butler serving coffee and tea has been working at the house for over 25 years. I met a number of ladies and several gentlemen and discussed life in Seoul; skiing; where else people had lived; other organisations etc. I also met several of the Embassy staff who came out to enjoy the cakes and the sunshine in the very well kept garden.
I was disappointed not to win anything in the raffle. The prizes included: Champagne, a jar of Branston pickle and some cuddly toys. Warwick Morris, Her Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador (as it says on his business card) dropped by for a short while. I was delighted to be able to speak to him and we discussed some of the delights of getting a job teaching English out here.
This week is Chusok holiday in Korea, a thanksgiving harvest festival where everyone goes back to their families, so The Bat gets some time off from the school and we are getting out of Seoul for a couple of days. Not as many days as we would have liked as we were not aware of the exact dates and significance of the holiday until quite late, so by the time we came to book our tickets all the train seats on the way back on the Saturday and Sunday of the weekend had already been sold. So we have to come back on the Friday.
The brick and granite building was built in 1890. Located beside the Toksugung palace in the centre of Seoul it is a remarkably quiet and tranquil spot. Admiring the grounds it was easy to forget you were in the middle of such a large city.
I arrived promptly at 10am at the Embassy and had my named checked off on the list of registered guests. Following another guest I walked round the modern Embassy building to the Ambassador’s residence. We were met by Pam, the hostess, on the lawn where there was a wide variety of cakes and fruit laid out. The butler serving coffee and tea has been working at the house for over 25 years. I met a number of ladies and several gentlemen and discussed life in Seoul; skiing; where else people had lived; other organisations etc. I also met several of the Embassy staff who came out to enjoy the cakes and the sunshine in the very well kept garden.
I was disappointed not to win anything in the raffle. The prizes included: Champagne, a jar of Branston pickle and some cuddly toys. Warwick Morris, Her Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador (as it says on his business card) dropped by for a short while. I was delighted to be able to speak to him and we discussed some of the delights of getting a job teaching English out here.
This week is Chusok holiday in Korea, a thanksgiving harvest festival where everyone goes back to their families, so The Bat gets some time off from the school and we are getting out of Seoul for a couple of days. Not as many days as we would have liked as we were not aware of the exact dates and significance of the holiday until quite late, so by the time we came to book our tickets all the train seats on the way back on the Saturday and Sunday of the weekend had already been sold. So we have to come back on the Friday.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Review of Forums for Korea
In my surfing time I’ve come across a number of forums or discussion boards about Korea in English so I thought I’d review them here:
The most popular site I have found so far is the Korea Bridge Forum. There are 15 conferences, the two most popular are the general discussion and jobs related forums. Postings made are moderated on all conferences, so they do not appear immediately. They claim over 700 users and over 15,500 posts.
The LifeInAsia site has created conferences for South Korea. Split into two halves, there are clubs for the main cities and provinces and then a separate set of discussion forums for topics such as teaching, buy and sell. This does make it very difficult to target a question or announcement since at least half the forums have no postings since the start of 2006.
The Korea Times website hosts three boards Talk Box, Study board and Market place. Postings are on average 2 a week.
The Seoul Times also runs a bulletin board, however all the postings this week seem to be spam type adverts.
The Korea Infogate site has 30 “clubs”, for different interests, however most seem to be completely dormant.
The Seoul city council website has a community page where you can post want ads or find friends. There are 7 items in the "for sale" conference since Jan 2006.
The Korea Joblink site has a forum section: 15 postings in the market place section since July. The job discussion conference has 15 postings in September.
Seoul Selection (home of The Marmot) has a forum section. There are 10 conferences, most have recent postings. Not many have any replies or followups. They report over 350 users.
SeoulStyle.com has a link to usfkforums.com. Also divided into 10 conferences, it is mainly aimed at military expats.
Dave’s ESL cafe has 8 conferences in the Korea section, focusing not only on teaching English but also travel, current events, technology and buy/sell. The site claims over 12,000 users. You cannot tell how many are in Korea but all conferences have very recent posts many with followups.
The @llo Expat site hosts a large number of country specific forums. The one for Korea has 17 separate conferences including 3 each for Seoul, Busan and Daegu. Most of the posts have no replies, some that do are advertising posts that have not been deleted.
The Tour2Korea website has various conferences for discussion on topics including learning Hangul and Korean events. Not many postings in any of them.
Another Expat site www.expat-blog.com has 16 conferences split by continent. The Living in Asia conference has 32 posts since Jan 2006.
The Lonely Planet run a very popular travel forum called The Thorn Tree. The conference on North Asian countries is dominated by questions on China, HK and Japan. Those on Korea get answered quickly and accurately.
Trip Advisor has a forum for Korea, it receives the occasional question, mostly from North Americans venturing into this part of the world. Posts are sporadic averaging two or three a week, but there were 8 today.
Forums need to reach a critical mass. In my opinion the Korea Bridge forum has reached that size. The number of posts indicates a regular number of people that post and reply to questions for it to be worthwhile using.
So my suggestion, if you'd like to ask questions about Korea to as wide an audience as possible, is to create an account at Korea Bridge and ignore all the rest, however Dave's ESL forum does seem to be very popular.
I am tempted to suggest to the other Korean based sites to abandon their forums and just put links to Korea Bridge, it would increase the traffic for all concerned. I'll let you know what their replies are.
The most popular site I have found so far is the Korea Bridge Forum. There are 15 conferences, the two most popular are the general discussion and jobs related forums. Postings made are moderated on all conferences, so they do not appear immediately. They claim over 700 users and over 15,500 posts.
The LifeInAsia site has created conferences for South Korea. Split into two halves, there are clubs for the main cities and provinces and then a separate set of discussion forums for topics such as teaching, buy and sell. This does make it very difficult to target a question or announcement since at least half the forums have no postings since the start of 2006.
The Korea Times website hosts three boards Talk Box, Study board and Market place. Postings are on average 2 a week.
The Seoul Times also runs a bulletin board, however all the postings this week seem to be spam type adverts.
The Korea Infogate site has 30 “clubs”, for different interests, however most seem to be completely dormant.
The Seoul city council website has a community page where you can post want ads or find friends. There are 7 items in the "for sale" conference since Jan 2006.
The Korea Joblink site has a forum section: 15 postings in the market place section since July. The job discussion conference has 15 postings in September.
Seoul Selection (home of The Marmot) has a forum section. There are 10 conferences, most have recent postings. Not many have any replies or followups. They report over 350 users.
SeoulStyle.com has a link to usfkforums.com. Also divided into 10 conferences, it is mainly aimed at military expats.
Dave’s ESL cafe has 8 conferences in the Korea section, focusing not only on teaching English but also travel, current events, technology and buy/sell. The site claims over 12,000 users. You cannot tell how many are in Korea but all conferences have very recent posts many with followups.
The @llo Expat site hosts a large number of country specific forums. The one for Korea has 17 separate conferences including 3 each for Seoul, Busan and Daegu. Most of the posts have no replies, some that do are advertising posts that have not been deleted.
The Tour2Korea website has various conferences for discussion on topics including learning Hangul and Korean events. Not many postings in any of them.
Another Expat site www.expat-blog.com has 16 conferences split by continent. The Living in Asia conference has 32 posts since Jan 2006.
The Lonely Planet run a very popular travel forum called The Thorn Tree. The conference on North Asian countries is dominated by questions on China, HK and Japan. Those on Korea get answered quickly and accurately.
Trip Advisor has a forum for Korea, it receives the occasional question, mostly from North Americans venturing into this part of the world. Posts are sporadic averaging two or three a week, but there were 8 today.
Forums need to reach a critical mass. In my opinion the Korea Bridge forum has reached that size. The number of posts indicates a regular number of people that post and reply to questions for it to be worthwhile using.
So my suggestion, if you'd like to ask questions about Korea to as wide an audience as possible, is to create an account at Korea Bridge and ignore all the rest, however Dave's ESL forum does seem to be very popular.
I am tempted to suggest to the other Korean based sites to abandon their forums and just put links to Korea Bridge, it would increase the traffic for all concerned. I'll let you know what their replies are.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Hangul Romanization Revision Proposed
Only yesterday I wrote about how the transcription of Hangul into Roman letters was changed in 2000. Today I read in the Korea Times today that they are considering a proposal to change it again due to the confusion I mentioned.
The headline story reports :
Some 75 percent of South Koreans think the government-enacted Romanization system does not reflect the original pronunciation of Hangul properly, a survey conducted by the Yoido Institute, a think tank of the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) showed yesterday.
Of the 2,150 adults polled last week, 66.1 percent wanted the current system to be revised despite the expected financial cost, according to the survey conducted on the occasion of the 560th Hangul Day which falls on Oct. 9.
Hangul was first Romanized using the McCune-Reischauer (M-R) system in the early 20th century, when a number of foreign missionaries came to the Choson Kingdom.
'Confusion we experience today has been caused largely due to the arbitrary attitudes of armchair linguists and some misguided government officials' said Kim Bok-moon, professor emeritus of Chungbuk National University.
Scraping the traditional M-R system, which had prevailed in the past decades, the government adopted a new system on July 7, 2000, shifting Pusan, Kobukson (turtle ship) and kimchi into Busan, Geobukseon and gimchi.
The English-language media, including the state-funded Yonhap News Agency, had resisted the change for a period of time. But, as time went by, all the news media gave in to the new system except The Korea Times, which has maintained the M-R system concluding that it is the most similar to actual pronunciation.
Let alone the tremendous cost of the revision, the main problem of the current system is that it does not ensure the exact pronunciation of the original sound of various Korean words.
Kim, who serves as president of the Research Institute for Korean Romanization (KOROMA), has made sole efforts to end the confusion, submitting a petition to then President Kim Dae-jung and presenting a Constitutional petition.
According to Kim, 16 out of the newly Romanized 21 vowels of Hangul are out of sync with actual sounds when they are read by English-speaking people, who have no knowledge about the premise that 'eo’ should be pronounced as ㅓ. He has devised his own system, which he claims ensures the best pronunciations.
Critics say the Romanization system should be revised in a way that best reflects the characteristics of the Korean language and the reunification of the two Koreas should also be taken into consideration.
North Korea has a system similar to the M-R system, which writes its cities and places in English as Pyongyang, Kaesong and Mt. Kumgang not Pyeongyang,Gaeseong and Mt. Gumgang.
North Korea once proposed the unification of the different Romanization systems used by South and North Korea in a meeting of linguists from the two Koreas in Berlin, Germany, in 2002.
[Text copied from KT site and edited slightly for brevity because the link will only work for 7 days, after which they'd like you to pay to access the historic articles.]
So, as if it wasn't difficult enough already, it may change again. Lets hope Mr Kim and his buddies have come up with a suitably logical and straightforward approach. I wonder how long it will take to get agreed.
I don't normally find much to comment on from the news papers but since I've started there were a few other stories I thought worth mentioning:
Han River Projects to Enliven Seoul.
They are planning to try and brighten up the area around the Han river, the main river that runs through Seoul. I've walked across a couple of the bridges into Yeoido, it really is not a very pleasant experience. It's a long way, there is a lot of traffic and there is not that much to see while walking. I can't see their idea of converting one lane in to a pedestrian zone on five of the cross river bridges is going to make it any more appealing for people to walk when crossing the river.
Buses to have seats allocated for pregnant women.
Pregnant women will get issued badges from their hospital to allow them to use seats set aside for them. This was something Annie Mole mentioned sometime back on her Going underground blog. I'm sure she'll be delighted.
Bye bye Liza The Editor of SeoulStyle.com is leaving for Hong Kong. She told me in an email about a group of house husbands she know of who were trying to start a group to rival SIWA (Seoul International Women's Association). They were calling their support group 'DHIK' Dads, Husbands in Korea. Of course the group fell apart since there weren't enough DHIKS to keep the 'poker coffee mornings' alive.
CCTV to be installed on Metro carriages. A sad reflection on the increase in crime in this country.
The Oktoberfest comes to Seoul The Hilton has waitresses dressing up and Lotteworld has parades, dancing troupes, live music, games and events in a setting that replicates the city of Munich!
And finally, there was also a story, that I can't find on their site, of a rare item of news about the UK. It reported on this story from the Guardian about how the Ministry of Defence tried to prevent the public from finding out about unit DI55 that was investigating reported sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects. Quite why that was of interest rather than any news about the Blair / Brown battle (which they actually covered yesterday) I don't know.
The headline story reports :
Some 75 percent of South Koreans think the government-enacted Romanization system does not reflect the original pronunciation of Hangul properly, a survey conducted by the Yoido Institute, a think tank of the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) showed yesterday.
Of the 2,150 adults polled last week, 66.1 percent wanted the current system to be revised despite the expected financial cost, according to the survey conducted on the occasion of the 560th Hangul Day which falls on Oct. 9.
Hangul was first Romanized using the McCune-Reischauer (M-R) system in the early 20th century, when a number of foreign missionaries came to the Choson Kingdom.
'Confusion we experience today has been caused largely due to the arbitrary attitudes of armchair linguists and some misguided government officials' said Kim Bok-moon, professor emeritus of Chungbuk National University.
Scraping the traditional M-R system, which had prevailed in the past decades, the government adopted a new system on July 7, 2000, shifting Pusan, Kobukson (turtle ship) and kimchi into Busan, Geobukseon and gimchi.
The English-language media, including the state-funded Yonhap News Agency, had resisted the change for a period of time. But, as time went by, all the news media gave in to the new system except The Korea Times, which has maintained the M-R system concluding that it is the most similar to actual pronunciation.
Let alone the tremendous cost of the revision, the main problem of the current system is that it does not ensure the exact pronunciation of the original sound of various Korean words.
Kim, who serves as president of the Research Institute for Korean Romanization (KOROMA), has made sole efforts to end the confusion, submitting a petition to then President Kim Dae-jung and presenting a Constitutional petition.
According to Kim, 16 out of the newly Romanized 21 vowels of Hangul are out of sync with actual sounds when they are read by English-speaking people, who have no knowledge about the premise that 'eo’ should be pronounced as ㅓ. He has devised his own system, which he claims ensures the best pronunciations.
Critics say the Romanization system should be revised in a way that best reflects the characteristics of the Korean language and the reunification of the two Koreas should also be taken into consideration.
North Korea has a system similar to the M-R system, which writes its cities and places in English as Pyongyang, Kaesong and Mt. Kumgang not Pyeongyang,Gaeseong and Mt. Gumgang.
North Korea once proposed the unification of the different Romanization systems used by South and North Korea in a meeting of linguists from the two Koreas in Berlin, Germany, in 2002.
[Text copied from KT site and edited slightly for brevity because the link will only work for 7 days, after which they'd like you to pay to access the historic articles.]
So, as if it wasn't difficult enough already, it may change again. Lets hope Mr Kim and his buddies have come up with a suitably logical and straightforward approach. I wonder how long it will take to get agreed.
I don't normally find much to comment on from the news papers but since I've started there were a few other stories I thought worth mentioning:
Han River Projects to Enliven Seoul.
They are planning to try and brighten up the area around the Han river, the main river that runs through Seoul. I've walked across a couple of the bridges into Yeoido, it really is not a very pleasant experience. It's a long way, there is a lot of traffic and there is not that much to see while walking. I can't see their idea of converting one lane in to a pedestrian zone on five of the cross river bridges is going to make it any more appealing for people to walk when crossing the river.
Buses to have seats allocated for pregnant women.
Pregnant women will get issued badges from their hospital to allow them to use seats set aside for them. This was something Annie Mole mentioned sometime back on her Going underground blog. I'm sure she'll be delighted.
Bye bye Liza The Editor of SeoulStyle.com is leaving for Hong Kong. She told me in an email about a group of house husbands she know of who were trying to start a group to rival SIWA (Seoul International Women's Association). They were calling their support group 'DHIK' Dads, Husbands in Korea. Of course the group fell apart since there weren't enough DHIKS to keep the 'poker coffee mornings' alive.
CCTV to be installed on Metro carriages. A sad reflection on the increase in crime in this country.
The Oktoberfest comes to Seoul The Hilton has waitresses dressing up and Lotteworld has parades, dancing troupes, live music, games and events in a setting that replicates the city of Munich!
And finally, there was also a story, that I can't find on their site, of a rare item of news about the UK. It reported on this story from the Guardian about how the Ministry of Defence tried to prevent the public from finding out about unit DI55 that was investigating reported sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects. Quite why that was of interest rather than any news about the Blair / Brown battle (which they actually covered yesterday) I don't know.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
A Shaggy Dandy?
I had my hair cut last week. I wanted to go into this barbers and ask for a "Shaggy Dandy" :
But The Bat took me to another place and I ended up with a regular hair cut.
It is amazing how you can get by without speaking a word of Korean. Most people do not speak any English at all. Some people can understand a couple of words but 99% of communication has to be with gestures and pointing.
Inspired by so many people, including Gdog at The Daily Kimchi, who have said it is very easy to learn the Korean alphabet (Hangul) I have started to try and learn the letters. So far I can pick out a few of the consonants. Learning on the metro seems to be a good way because each station is announced and the electronic displays alternate between the Hangul and English spellings of the stations.
One confusing thing about the Romanisation of Hangul is that the Government changed the rules in 2000. So older guidebooks and text may have the old way of writing place names which do not correspond to the current signs. For example Pusan, became Busan etc.
But The Bat took me to another place and I ended up with a regular hair cut.
It is amazing how you can get by without speaking a word of Korean. Most people do not speak any English at all. Some people can understand a couple of words but 99% of communication has to be with gestures and pointing.
Inspired by so many people, including Gdog at The Daily Kimchi, who have said it is very easy to learn the Korean alphabet (Hangul) I have started to try and learn the letters. So far I can pick out a few of the consonants. Learning on the metro seems to be a good way because each station is announced and the electronic displays alternate between the Hangul and English spellings of the stations.
One confusing thing about the Romanisation of Hangul is that the Government changed the rules in 2000. So older guidebooks and text may have the old way of writing place names which do not correspond to the current signs. For example Pusan, became Busan etc.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Trip to the DMZ
One of the most heavily publicised tourist day trips out of Seoul is a visit to the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ). Stretching for 248 km from coast to coast this 4 km wide strip of land divides the two nations on the Korean peninsular : the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea DPRK to the North and the Republic of Korea ROK to the South.
The Military Demarcation Line (MDL) runs approximately along the 38th parallel, this line was agreed after 20 months of talks in 1953 and its agreement marked the Cease fire in the Korean war. Note: It is just a cease fire, the two nations are still in theory at war.
Today at least five companies offer tours of various combinations of the sites of interest that lie around 50km north of Seoul. We went with www.tourdmz.com who offer a full day visit.
Our first stop, after an hours bus ride, was the 3rd Infiltration tunnel. We were shown an upbeat and very optimistic video presentation highlighting some of the history of the war, before being seated in the small cog railway to be taken 300m down the access shaft to intercept the North Korean built tunnel at a depth of 73m.
Information from a defector in 1974 started the search for the tunnel. The method of detection was to drill a number of boreholes, line them with PVC pipes, fill them with water and watch and wait. In 1978 their patience was rewarded when one of the boreholes erupted due to the dynamite explosion from the construction of the tunnel below. [Why they could not use Seismometers, I did not get a chance to ask]. The tunnel is roughly 2m high and 2m wide. Blasted through mostly granite rock it reached 435m into ROK territory, only 50km to go to their intended target of Seoul. It seems to me a highly dangerous and unpredictable method of infiltration, but the North Koreans had other ideas and three other tunnels have been discovered.
The tour moved on the Dora Observatory, where we surveyed the DMZ from the lookout on the hillside. We could also see the tallest flagpole in the world in the North Korean village of Gijeong-dong and the smaller one on the opposite side in South Korea.
The next stop was Dorasan railway station.
This large modern building was opened in 2002 and would be the envy of many British towns and cities. Spacious, clean and modern the only thing missing is a reason to come here. Trains arrive three times a day from Seoul for the local population and military, but tourists cannot leave the compound around the station. One day it could be an International station with the possibility to travel on the Trans EurAsian Railway network, for the moment it's a peaceful tourist attraction in its own right.
The next stop was the Freedom bridge and peace park, this non descript bridge was the scene of the first exchange of prisoners after the Korean war.
After our meal of Bulgogi, we started the second half of the tour with another visit to the Freedom bridge. Not great organisation on the part of the tour company there. The highlight of the tour was the trip into the DMZ to Panmunjeom and the Joint Security Area. After a lecture from our guide on the history of the area we were taken under strict security to the small shack that lies on the actual MDL. One half of the room is in North Korea, the other half in the South. It was here that the Armistice was signed on July 27th 1953.
The whole camp is very quiet and well ordered. The buildings are modern and well kept, it almost looked like a university campus. The American soldiers that escorted us were friendly and knowledgeable. They were pleased to answer questions on life at the base and history of the place. All too soon we had to get back on the bus to come back to Seoul. It was a very interesting tour and it really does bring the history to life, I would highly recommend a trip to the DMZ to any visitor to Seoul.
The Military Demarcation Line (MDL) runs approximately along the 38th parallel, this line was agreed after 20 months of talks in 1953 and its agreement marked the Cease fire in the Korean war. Note: It is just a cease fire, the two nations are still in theory at war.
Today at least five companies offer tours of various combinations of the sites of interest that lie around 50km north of Seoul. We went with www.tourdmz.com who offer a full day visit.
Our first stop, after an hours bus ride, was the 3rd Infiltration tunnel. We were shown an upbeat and very optimistic video presentation highlighting some of the history of the war, before being seated in the small cog railway to be taken 300m down the access shaft to intercept the North Korean built tunnel at a depth of 73m.
Information from a defector in 1974 started the search for the tunnel. The method of detection was to drill a number of boreholes, line them with PVC pipes, fill them with water and watch and wait. In 1978 their patience was rewarded when one of the boreholes erupted due to the dynamite explosion from the construction of the tunnel below. [Why they could not use Seismometers, I did not get a chance to ask]. The tunnel is roughly 2m high and 2m wide. Blasted through mostly granite rock it reached 435m into ROK territory, only 50km to go to their intended target of Seoul. It seems to me a highly dangerous and unpredictable method of infiltration, but the North Koreans had other ideas and three other tunnels have been discovered.
The tour moved on the Dora Observatory, where we surveyed the DMZ from the lookout on the hillside. We could also see the tallest flagpole in the world in the North Korean village of Gijeong-dong and the smaller one on the opposite side in South Korea.
The next stop was Dorasan railway station.
This large modern building was opened in 2002 and would be the envy of many British towns and cities. Spacious, clean and modern the only thing missing is a reason to come here. Trains arrive three times a day from Seoul for the local population and military, but tourists cannot leave the compound around the station. One day it could be an International station with the possibility to travel on the Trans EurAsian Railway network, for the moment it's a peaceful tourist attraction in its own right.
The next stop was the Freedom bridge and peace park, this non descript bridge was the scene of the first exchange of prisoners after the Korean war.
After our meal of Bulgogi, we started the second half of the tour with another visit to the Freedom bridge. Not great organisation on the part of the tour company there. The highlight of the tour was the trip into the DMZ to Panmunjeom and the Joint Security Area. After a lecture from our guide on the history of the area we were taken under strict security to the small shack that lies on the actual MDL. One half of the room is in North Korea, the other half in the South. It was here that the Armistice was signed on July 27th 1953.
The whole camp is very quiet and well ordered. The buildings are modern and well kept, it almost looked like a university campus. The American soldiers that escorted us were friendly and knowledgeable. They were pleased to answer questions on life at the base and history of the place. All too soon we had to get back on the bus to come back to Seoul. It was a very interesting tour and it really does bring the history to life, I would highly recommend a trip to the DMZ to any visitor to Seoul.
Friday, September 22, 2006
The Pudding Club : Seoul Chapter
Last night, while The Bat was at work, I was out on the town at a local society event at the Millennium Seoul Hilton attending the 8th Pudding Club dinner.
I saw a newspaper story about this regular event, and I was tempted into going by a posting from Rudolf on the Korea Bridge Forum.
After pre-dinner drinks, the meal started with Autumn Mushroom and Scrambled Egg with Smoked Salmon in Chive Cream and it was followed by a Cheddar Cheese Soup.
The main course was delicious Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding with a selection of vegetables and Natural Jus. Sadly let down, we all agreed, by the lack of roast potatoes. It was then time for the main event of the evening: The Pudding Parade. Previous themes have included James Bond in The Pie who loved me, Robin Pud and The Full Monty.
The latest theme was royalty. Each of the nine desserts was introduced to us by someone of royal standing: Prince Charles and Camilla; Prince William; Tony Blair; Mick Jagger; Mr Bean; Posh 'n Becks and to bring in the final dessert of the night, none other than Her Majesty The Queen !
Serenading us on the piano was 'Elton John' who sang a number of delightful renditions of some of his hits including 'And I guess that's why I get Pudding blues', 'A little Creamy', and 'Don't go Baking my Tart' which he dueted with your favourite member of the Spice girls : 'All Spice'. Other hits of the night included 'Puddings are forever','Can't get no Choco Satisfaction", and 'Bowl Licking'. Lyrics available on request.
The introductions over, we were invited to serve ourselves from the nine desserts offered :Victoria's Pudding
Lord Randall's Pudding
Queen's Pudding
Rhubarb Crumble
Chocolate Pudding
Ginger Syrup Sponge
Prince Albert Pudding
Banana Rum Trifle
and that most famous of English desserts: "Spotted Dick" which was the only pudding of the evening that I did not taste. [I've had it once before... but the antibiotics cleared it up eventually.]
A photographer from the Korean Tatler was there and I am looking forward to my appearance along with the other distinguished guests at the event in the next issue of their esteemed magazine.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Who's Sori Now?
Thanks to Robert Koehler posting a last minute message on The Marmots Hole on Thursday, we had an extremely enjoyable weekend as guests of the
Arts council Korea visiting Jeonju and the Sori festival
Organised by the Korean Music Festival and Seoul Selection, this visit is one of a series of four tours intended for foreigners to experience Korean culture and visit some historically significant sites.
We departed by luxury coach from outside the Seoul Selection bookshop and arrived three and a half hours later in Jeonju in time for bulgogi lunch at the restaurant Honamgak. For The Bat and me this was our first trip outside of Seoul, so it was interesting to finally see some countryside and get a glimpse of the country from the bus. First impressions are that land is scarce and every available plot is used for growing crops. We also observed how densely packed the apartment blocks are particularly on the outskirts of Seoul.
The first musical event was to see and hear the the great voice of ‘Kim So-hee, The Voice of Heaven’ at the Sori Art’s centre Yeonji Hall. She performs traditional Korean style singing which we had not heard before. It was an unusual sound: opera-like does not really begin to describe it, but very enjoyable. Kim, the other singers and musicians are obviously of the highest standard and it was a pleasure to hear them. I managed to snatch a quick photo :
After an evening meal of bibimbap we came back to the Art’s centre for the opening gala performance of the Jeonju Sori festival. It was a varied and exciting show including a huge group of Korean harp players, traditional folk singing, a fusion group of western players and Korean singers, a Korean Rap singer and Korean break dancing.
Our accommodation overnight was in the traditional folk village of Jeonju, where we were comfortably looked after in a beautiful old building and sampled living in the style of the Yangban (the elite ruling class of Korea of old).
After kimchi for breakfast we were introduced to the Korean tea ceremony. Our host explained some of the customs and traditions associated with drinking the precious tea and we did our best to imitate her style and grace. They also had traditional clothing called hanbok for some of us to try on. Here I am :
We were served another delicious meal at a local restaurant at lunchtime before being driven back to Seoul through the rain resulting from Typhoon Shanshan.
The previous trip suffered a few problems with delays but on this trip we could not fault the organisation and planning in any way. Our group of approximately thirty foreigners from Britain, America, Canada, China, France, India, Australia and New Zealand from a variety of different professions all had a very entertaining and enjoyable trip. Many thanks to Robert and the other organisers and sponsors. We look forward to the next two trips to Damyang (Sep 30) and Songgwang-sa/Seonam-sa temples ( Oct 14-15) Contact Seoul Selection to book.
For those wondering about the title of the post, Sori is Korean for Music.
Arts council Korea visiting Jeonju and the Sori festival
Organised by the Korean Music Festival and Seoul Selection, this visit is one of a series of four tours intended for foreigners to experience Korean culture and visit some historically significant sites.
We departed by luxury coach from outside the Seoul Selection bookshop and arrived three and a half hours later in Jeonju in time for bulgogi lunch at the restaurant Honamgak. For The Bat and me this was our first trip outside of Seoul, so it was interesting to finally see some countryside and get a glimpse of the country from the bus. First impressions are that land is scarce and every available plot is used for growing crops. We also observed how densely packed the apartment blocks are particularly on the outskirts of Seoul.
The first musical event was to see and hear the the great voice of ‘Kim So-hee, The Voice of Heaven’ at the Sori Art’s centre Yeonji Hall. She performs traditional Korean style singing which we had not heard before. It was an unusual sound: opera-like does not really begin to describe it, but very enjoyable. Kim, the other singers and musicians are obviously of the highest standard and it was a pleasure to hear them. I managed to snatch a quick photo :
After an evening meal of bibimbap we came back to the Art’s centre for the opening gala performance of the Jeonju Sori festival. It was a varied and exciting show including a huge group of Korean harp players, traditional folk singing, a fusion group of western players and Korean singers, a Korean Rap singer and Korean break dancing.
Our accommodation overnight was in the traditional folk village of Jeonju, where we were comfortably looked after in a beautiful old building and sampled living in the style of the Yangban (the elite ruling class of Korea of old).
After kimchi for breakfast we were introduced to the Korean tea ceremony. Our host explained some of the customs and traditions associated with drinking the precious tea and we did our best to imitate her style and grace. They also had traditional clothing called hanbok for some of us to try on. Here I am :
We were served another delicious meal at a local restaurant at lunchtime before being driven back to Seoul through the rain resulting from Typhoon Shanshan.
The previous trip suffered a few problems with delays but on this trip we could not fault the organisation and planning in any way. Our group of approximately thirty foreigners from Britain, America, Canada, China, France, India, Australia and New Zealand from a variety of different professions all had a very entertaining and enjoyable trip. Many thanks to Robert and the other organisers and sponsors. We look forward to the next two trips to Damyang (Sep 30) and Songgwang-sa/Seonam-sa temples ( Oct 14-15) Contact Seoul Selection to book.
For those wondering about the title of the post, Sori is Korean for Music.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Movies and Entertainment
Finding movies in English or with English subtitles has not been easy. The Korean government sets a limit on the number of Hollywood movies cinemas are allowed to show. So the only two films in English on at all the big cineplexes are Miami Vice and The last House this month. However thanks to the Seoul Selection website we found one last week : Time. A Korean movie shown with English sub titles.
It was an unusual plotline. The girl of a couple that have been going out for two years is worried that her boyfriend finds her boring and that he wants a change. So she does the obvious thing and has cosmetic surgery. Suddenly leaving him for six months with no warning or explanation. He pines over her and generally has a sad life until a new waitress starts at his local cafe. This girl, it turns out, is the same girlfriend as before, but he does not recognize her. Still pining for his lost love he does not fall for the new girl. When she reveals it is her all along he gets (understandably) upset. There are various recriminations, including him visiting the cosmetic surgeon and fighting with him trying to ask him why he did this to her. Then, in a desire to get his own back, he himself has cosmetic surgery and gives himself a new look. She then tries to find him again, testing out various boys along the way to see if they are him. It is all very confusing. If you can suspend your disbelief long enough then it certainly was an entertaining thought provokin movie. The scenes of cosmetic surgery the surgeon shows her to try and deter her are not for the squeamish.
At the Sponge House cinema that this was showing at, we discovered the Seoul International Film Festival was on this month. The timing of the shows coincide with the times The Bat is working so sadly she has not been able to see any. I have watched two so far and I'm about to go into a third one later today.
The first "Portait of a Lady Far Away" was not to my taste. An Iranian movie about an architect who gets a call from a stranger who says she is about to comit suicide unless he comes. So he does, eventually, and he meets a friend of the caller. They go to a Art performance that she stars in, he figures out it was her who made the call. It goes on. There are various old women and small children involved, families, dreams etc. (Not going to make it as a film reviewer am I?)
The second "Apart from That" was an American movie about the lives of three pairs of people. It was a well observed film about life and people, no real story, just "stuff happened". Pleasantly distracting for two hours. Tonights movie is "Aura" about a taxidermist. I am looking forward to this!
Other entertainment has been to see Blondie last night. Yes the punk rocker of old is still going strong. We really enjoyed her "First and Last concert" as it was billed. We missed the start as I had assumed there would be a support act. D'oh. Not. Oh well, we will know for next time. Gotta go, show starts in 15 mins.
It was an unusual plotline. The girl of a couple that have been going out for two years is worried that her boyfriend finds her boring and that he wants a change. So she does the obvious thing and has cosmetic surgery. Suddenly leaving him for six months with no warning or explanation. He pines over her and generally has a sad life until a new waitress starts at his local cafe. This girl, it turns out, is the same girlfriend as before, but he does not recognize her. Still pining for his lost love he does not fall for the new girl. When she reveals it is her all along he gets (understandably) upset. There are various recriminations, including him visiting the cosmetic surgeon and fighting with him trying to ask him why he did this to her. Then, in a desire to get his own back, he himself has cosmetic surgery and gives himself a new look. She then tries to find him again, testing out various boys along the way to see if they are him. It is all very confusing. If you can suspend your disbelief long enough then it certainly was an entertaining thought provokin movie. The scenes of cosmetic surgery the surgeon shows her to try and deter her are not for the squeamish.
At the Sponge House cinema that this was showing at, we discovered the Seoul International Film Festival was on this month. The timing of the shows coincide with the times The Bat is working so sadly she has not been able to see any. I have watched two so far and I'm about to go into a third one later today.
The first "Portait of a Lady Far Away" was not to my taste. An Iranian movie about an architect who gets a call from a stranger who says she is about to comit suicide unless he comes. So he does, eventually, and he meets a friend of the caller. They go to a Art performance that she stars in, he figures out it was her who made the call. It goes on. There are various old women and small children involved, families, dreams etc. (Not going to make it as a film reviewer am I?)
The second "Apart from That" was an American movie about the lives of three pairs of people. It was a well observed film about life and people, no real story, just "stuff happened". Pleasantly distracting for two hours. Tonights movie is "Aura" about a taxidermist. I am looking forward to this!
Other entertainment has been to see Blondie last night. Yes the punk rocker of old is still going strong. We really enjoyed her "First and Last concert" as it was billed. We missed the start as I had assumed there would be a support act. D'oh. Not. Oh well, we will know for next time. Gotta go, show starts in 15 mins.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Turning Forty and Eating Bosintang
Yesterday was my fortieth birthday. Star Trek is also forty. I didn't feel any older yesterday than I did the day before so I am not going to dwell on this little milestone anymore.
Almost the first thing people mentioned to me when they knew I was going to South Korea was “They eat Dog don’t they?” so since I arrived I have been planning to try some. Lets get some myths out of the way first:
1. No Koreans do not all eat dog all of the time. In fact it is a bit of delicacy and quite pricey. You do NOT find it in all restaurants and you have to know what to ask for to get it.
2. They do not eat any old dog off the street. The dogs are bred specifically to be eaten and are treated like other animals bred for slaughter like cows, sheep, pigs, chickens.
3. Yes during the football world cup and the Olympics there was some controversy about how these animals were reared and, having read some websites today, I cannot say hand on heart that I am sure they are not mistreated these days, but can anyone say that about all their food?
My birthday meal was organised by The Bat (my non-carnivorous wife, for those new to the blog). Two other teachers from The Bat’s English School came with us. Richard, who can speak Korean, asked a taxi driver to take us to a
restaurant that sells dog meat stew. The taxi driver phoned his mate and they found us a very small, out of the way place, not that far from Yeouido and we went inside.
It was more of a private house, than a restaurant. We ordered the Bosintang “healthy soup” as it is known. When it arrived it looked very much like pork. The taste was different, not as strong as venison, more like pigeon if I had to compare it to anything. Personally, I could not connect the meat in the stew with an animal but one of the guys had a momentary crisis of conscience at one point.
Some of the other comments during the meal were : “Is that a dog hair or a human hair?”, “Is that the tail. No it’s just a vegetable”, "Do I hear barking", “Can I have a hot-dog” and to round off the meal : “Do you think they'll give us a doggy bag?”
So there we have it: I’ve eaten dog. It was OK, but I am not planning on eating it again, I prefer the beef, chicken, pork etc.
Here is one of the dogs from outside the restaurant :
Postscript. Looking through the Korean blog List there is one blog named No Dog Please. Reading his blog I noticed a recent post about the Gupo Dog market. Not for the faint hearted I am afraid. For more references to dog welfare see here.
Almost the first thing people mentioned to me when they knew I was going to South Korea was “They eat Dog don’t they?” so since I arrived I have been planning to try some. Lets get some myths out of the way first:
1. No Koreans do not all eat dog all of the time. In fact it is a bit of delicacy and quite pricey. You do NOT find it in all restaurants and you have to know what to ask for to get it.
2. They do not eat any old dog off the street. The dogs are bred specifically to be eaten and are treated like other animals bred for slaughter like cows, sheep, pigs, chickens.
3. Yes during the football world cup and the Olympics there was some controversy about how these animals were reared and, having read some websites today, I cannot say hand on heart that I am sure they are not mistreated these days, but can anyone say that about all their food?
My birthday meal was organised by The Bat (my non-carnivorous wife, for those new to the blog). Two other teachers from The Bat’s English School came with us. Richard, who can speak Korean, asked a taxi driver to take us to a
restaurant that sells dog meat stew. The taxi driver phoned his mate and they found us a very small, out of the way place, not that far from Yeouido and we went inside.
It was more of a private house, than a restaurant. We ordered the Bosintang “healthy soup” as it is known. When it arrived it looked very much like pork. The taste was different, not as strong as venison, more like pigeon if I had to compare it to anything. Personally, I could not connect the meat in the stew with an animal but one of the guys had a momentary crisis of conscience at one point.
Some of the other comments during the meal were : “Is that a dog hair or a human hair?”, “Is that the tail. No it’s just a vegetable”, "Do I hear barking", “Can I have a hot-dog” and to round off the meal : “Do you think they'll give us a doggy bag?”
So there we have it: I’ve eaten dog. It was OK, but I am not planning on eating it again, I prefer the beef, chicken, pork etc.
Here is one of the dogs from outside the restaurant :
Postscript. Looking through the Korean blog List there is one blog named No Dog Please. Reading his blog I noticed a recent post about the Gupo Dog market. Not for the faint hearted I am afraid. For more references to dog welfare see here.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
The Convex Magnum Opes
No, I don't understand it either. I wonder what the T shirt designer thought it meant?
Ever since I arrived a few weeks ago I have been amazed by the "English" on some T shirts. Here's a few of my favourites :
Flashers Football
Make the green in heart
Dear the Blue
"Pretty good Baby
Choose Juicy"
Juicy Private school, Never go Home
Ask Enquired This is a brand name around here. They use the Union Jack as a logo!
What's this? Gold dust everywhere
Whose fingerprint is this?
...Stop making sense. I've seen this a couple of times now, it always makes me smile
Beaver Hunters Beware
"Morning & Snack
I keep seeing POLHAM everywhere, which is a local brand name, but for some strange reason they like to add the words "THE JUSTIFIABLE" beneath the name on some of their shirts. What are they trying to justify?
Another brand name is HUM, and likewise they feel the need to add a word as well, so you get shirts saying "HUM BRIMMING", which conjures up some very strange images.
I wish I had photos of some of them, but I fear I may get arrested going around photographing young girls wearing T shirts, so the shot of the couple above is the only one I have I'm afraid.
A cute young couple we saw yesterday had matching T shirts: his (in blue) said 'She's my girlfriend' with an arrow pointing to the left, and hers (in pink) said 'He's my boyfriend' also with an arrow pointing to the right. So sweet. Apparently here it's very important to look the same or to have matching clothing when you are young and in love.
I've just added my blog to feedmap.net and I was looking at other blogs in the area. A lot are either in Korean or have not posted to for more than six months but there are some good ones and I found Miss Koco does korea who has also posted about the same subject this morning!
She also has a great photo of the name of a shop in the earlier post. The best shop name I've seen so far is "Wet Pup".
Ever since I arrived a few weeks ago I have been amazed by the "English" on some T shirts. Here's a few of my favourites :
Flashers Football
Make the green in heart
Dear the Blue
"Pretty good Baby
Choose Juicy"
Juicy Private school, Never go Home
Ask Enquired This is a brand name around here. They use the Union Jack as a logo!
What's this? Gold dust everywhere
Whose fingerprint is this?
...Stop making sense. I've seen this a couple of times now, it always makes me smile
Beaver Hunters Beware
"Morning & Snack
BISCUIT HONEY"
I keep seeing POLHAM everywhere, which is a local brand name, but for some strange reason they like to add the words "THE JUSTIFIABLE" beneath the name on some of their shirts. What are they trying to justify?
Another brand name is HUM, and likewise they feel the need to add a word as well, so you get shirts saying "HUM BRIMMING", which conjures up some very strange images.
I wish I had photos of some of them, but I fear I may get arrested going around photographing young girls wearing T shirts, so the shot of the couple above is the only one I have I'm afraid.
A cute young couple we saw yesterday had matching T shirts: his (in blue) said 'She's my girlfriend' with an arrow pointing to the left, and hers (in pink) said 'He's my boyfriend' also with an arrow pointing to the right. So sweet. Apparently here it's very important to look the same or to have matching clothing when you are young and in love.
I've just added my blog to feedmap.net and I was looking at other blogs in the area. A lot are either in Korean or have not posted to for more than six months but there are some good ones and I found Miss Koco does korea who has also posted about the same subject this morning!
She also has a great photo of the name of a shop in the earlier post. The best shop name I've seen so far is "Wet Pup".
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Bukhansan National Park
In a bid to escape the concrete jungle of Seoul at the weekend, we ventured into the nearest National Park to Seoul : Bukhansan. This is proud to hold the Guinness world record for the National park with the largest number of visitors, over 5 million at last count. ( It's a shame they had to build a motorway through it ). The large park ( 79sqkm) is easily accessibly by Metro and Bus and there are over 40 different ticket booth entrances to chose from.
We went to the north western enterance ( Subway line 6 Yeonsinnae, and then Bus 34 ) which takes you right to the gate. Unsure as to what the catering arrangements were inside we had some lunch at a small shack on the road, it was tasty but not cheap.
The Koreans, we have discovered, are very keen indeed on their hiking. It was a hot day but there were hundreds of very well equipped walkers streaming down out of the park, it was busy, but not crowded. As the day wore on the numbers thinned out a lot. We did not walk all that far, but came across a small buddhist temple in the hills which looked almost brand new and was very peaceful.
Inside one of the temple buildings were all these little statues:
There was not much birdlife around, too many humans, but a number of trees had been labelled in Korean and with their Latin names. We also saw a couple of small mammals a Siberian Chipmunk and Siberian Weasel according to the display boards. We need not have worried about going hungry, there plenty of small places to eat. It was almost like being in a small village at one point there were so many inside the park.
We went to the north western enterance ( Subway line 6 Yeonsinnae, and then Bus 34 ) which takes you right to the gate. Unsure as to what the catering arrangements were inside we had some lunch at a small shack on the road, it was tasty but not cheap.
The Koreans, we have discovered, are very keen indeed on their hiking. It was a hot day but there were hundreds of very well equipped walkers streaming down out of the park, it was busy, but not crowded. As the day wore on the numbers thinned out a lot. We did not walk all that far, but came across a small buddhist temple in the hills which looked almost brand new and was very peaceful.
Inside one of the temple buildings were all these little statues:
There was not much birdlife around, too many humans, but a number of trees had been labelled in Korean and with their Latin names. We also saw a couple of small mammals a Siberian Chipmunk and Siberian Weasel according to the display boards. We need not have worried about going hungry, there plenty of small places to eat. It was almost like being in a small village at one point there were so many inside the park.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Scenes from the inferno
This was the scene at 08:45 on Friday 1st September from inside the apartment :
I quickly exited the building to watch the fire brigade arrive.
The camera crews were on the scene very quickly . All three of the major broadcasters KBS, SBS, and MBC have their headquarters on the island.
And then this was the scene upstairs in our apartment :
Once the fire brigade had gone, the cleanup operation began very quickly and by 2pm when The Bat came home the floor was dry and clean again.
I've just had someone from the insurance company come round. (It is not entirely clear but I am assuming he's from the company insuring the building opposite) We had prepared a list of the clothes and items destroyed and the cost to replace them. He seemed very keen that I reduce it. Maybe this is some sort of custom or bargaining position I'm not sure, but I've stuck with our figures so I am hoping for a payment that will cover the cost of replacing all our winter gear.
I've just been to the COEX Mall this morning to get a new power supply for the Mac laptop. Luckily it was only the power supply on the floor that got soaked and stopped working, not the computer as well. In spite of the apple website denying they have any offices in South Korea we did eventually find an Apple service center and they have very kindly lent me a power supply until they can give me a new one next week.
I quickly exited the building to watch the fire brigade arrive.
The camera crews were on the scene very quickly . All three of the major broadcasters KBS, SBS, and MBC have their headquarters on the island.
And then this was the scene upstairs in our apartment :
Once the fire brigade had gone, the cleanup operation began very quickly and by 2pm when The Bat came home the floor was dry and clean again.
I've just had someone from the insurance company come round. (It is not entirely clear but I am assuming he's from the company insuring the building opposite) We had prepared a list of the clothes and items destroyed and the cost to replace them. He seemed very keen that I reduce it. Maybe this is some sort of custom or bargaining position I'm not sure, but I've stuck with our figures so I am hoping for a payment that will cover the cost of replacing all our winter gear.
I've just been to the COEX Mall this morning to get a new power supply for the Mac laptop. Luckily it was only the power supply on the floor that got soaked and stopped working, not the computer as well. In spite of the apple website denying they have any offices in South Korea we did eventually find an Apple service center and they have very kindly lent me a power supply until they can give me a new one next week.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Yeouidos Burning
Very exciting morning this morning. I was sitting in the apartment, when I noticed some smoke coming up outside the building. I closed our windows quickly, and retreated as moments later the blue builders netting on the building site opposite burst into flames in front of the window.
I managed to grab a couple of photos before getting outside rather quickly. Outside the extent of the fire was not great but was threatening the local petrol station. The Fire brigade were on the scene fairly quickly and soon tackled the blaze. The news crews were on the scene almost as fast as the emergency services and all three stations had crews covering the fire. After milling around outside I was accosted by our cleaning lady who urgently insisted I go upstairs very quickly.
When I reached our apartment I was greated by a crew of firemen in breathing apparatus who immedidately went into the apartment after I unlocked our door. It turned out that I had forgotten the small room containing the air conditioner had a vent that was open to the outside. A small spark or ember must have got in and set fire to the two suitcases and a box of winter clothing we had stored there. As a result of the firemen dousing the flames there was a deluge of water in the apartment. It was swilling around about 3 cm deep. Mercifully I had put all our bedding up on a chair earlier. As the fire brigade were milling about and checking it was all out the TV crews came in. One who spoke English asked me what happened and after he put a microphone on me I explained the sequence of events. I then repeated the explanation for the other two crews! I then showed one of them the photos I had taken and they took screen shots of the photos.
I spent all morning cleaning up the mess. Luckliy the only damage was the suitcase and box of clothing. The parquat floor seems to have servived intact. The Bat came home after lunch to survey the damage. In fact there was not that much to see. She was upset about the loss of the clothes.
I have plenty of photos but the power supply for the computer has been full of water, so am unable to upload them for now. ( I am at in internet cafe now)
I hope someone can video the local news from either MBC, SBS or KBS to see if the interview of me is on! I must check their websites for any photos. If there are stills of flames in a window, they are mine and want some royalties!
The neigbours have been extremely kind in helping clean up and translate for the various people that have been round this afternoon to deal with the repairs.
I managed to grab a couple of photos before getting outside rather quickly. Outside the extent of the fire was not great but was threatening the local petrol station. The Fire brigade were on the scene fairly quickly and soon tackled the blaze. The news crews were on the scene almost as fast as the emergency services and all three stations had crews covering the fire. After milling around outside I was accosted by our cleaning lady who urgently insisted I go upstairs very quickly.
When I reached our apartment I was greated by a crew of firemen in breathing apparatus who immedidately went into the apartment after I unlocked our door. It turned out that I had forgotten the small room containing the air conditioner had a vent that was open to the outside. A small spark or ember must have got in and set fire to the two suitcases and a box of winter clothing we had stored there. As a result of the firemen dousing the flames there was a deluge of water in the apartment. It was swilling around about 3 cm deep. Mercifully I had put all our bedding up on a chair earlier. As the fire brigade were milling about and checking it was all out the TV crews came in. One who spoke English asked me what happened and after he put a microphone on me I explained the sequence of events. I then repeated the explanation for the other two crews! I then showed one of them the photos I had taken and they took screen shots of the photos.
I spent all morning cleaning up the mess. Luckliy the only damage was the suitcase and box of clothing. The parquat floor seems to have servived intact. The Bat came home after lunch to survey the damage. In fact there was not that much to see. She was upset about the loss of the clothes.
I have plenty of photos but the power supply for the computer has been full of water, so am unable to upload them for now. ( I am at in internet cafe now)
I hope someone can video the local news from either MBC, SBS or KBS to see if the interview of me is on! I must check their websites for any photos. If there are stills of flames in a window, they are mine and want some royalties!
The neigbours have been extremely kind in helping clean up and translate for the various people that have been round this afternoon to deal with the repairs.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
A Round up of some Korean blogs
I’ve been reading a lot of Korean blogs in the past couple of weeks to get to know what’s happening and read what other foreigners have to say about life in Korea. As you can imagine a large number of bloggers are English teachers (ESL English as Second Language) . From the 36 I have sampled so far the majority seem to be American or Canadian, with a few Australians and British. Those that are not teachers are either Army, (GI Korea) , Students , Accountants or Attorneys. The current ratio of male to female bloggers is 23 to 10.
Most bloggers post between two and three times a week on average, but the most prolific blogger must be RJ at The Marmots Hole. This blog, which is quoted in the Joog Ang daily newspaper, is probably the one blog most often linked to from other blogs. His regular daily postings cover aspects of the news in Korea often relating to foreigners and items of Korean culture that interest him and the large number of folk who comment. Thanks to his ability to read Korean he can gain a better understanding of current news than I ever will be able to. Today there are already eleven posts, including some from other contributers to the blog.
Other popular blogs that are also referenced a lot include The Lost Nomad, Big Hominid's Hairy Chasms and ZenKimchi Korean Food Journal. All three cover current news items, humour, the ups and downs of teaching, their travels and food and cooking in Korea. The authors have all been in Korea for several years and have built up an enthusiastic following with their wacky and interesting posts.
Some blogs have been around for several years, since May 2001 in the case of David at Staypuff , whilst others have only just started in March . Almost all the blogs include photos of their own and sometimes videos of their exploits or links to youtube with clips of interest. An example blog with no photos is Korean Liberator who focuses on the antics of North Korea and it’s leader. The blog keeps readers abreast of worldwide news coverage of the country. Some blogs are photos only for example Seoul Daily Photo where Kais posts interesting and unusual photos on a regular basis, she also has a blog in Korean on a separate page.
Big Hominid and Seoul Hero get the prize so far for the largest number of links to other sites, I estimated both have more than 200 links. Some sites have no links to any others at all, but the majority of blogs have between 10 to 30 links to other blogs and websites on their blogroll. (That's the list of other blogs the writer has put links to, usually down the side of their blog.)
A lot of blogs have setup RSS feeds which makes life easy for keeping track of new postings. For those not familiar with this, RSS provides a publishing mechanism so that you can use software either on your own computer or create an account at one of the many dedicated websites to enable you to monitor posts from the blogs you read in one place, without having to visit each individual blog website to see if they have posted or not. If you have a blog, it’s not too difficult to setup. I used a third party site feedburner to publish posts from this blog, it's that small orange symbol below the "Power Blogger" logo on the righthand side, and I have installed NewsNetWire to subscribe to the blogs and read them on my computer at home.
Most bloggers main topics are life in Korea, the food, their travels, their work and life , family and friends and items of interest to their readers. The one exception to this is Feetman Seoul who has just started and who has dedicated his blog to photographing and discussing the legs and feet of the ladies of Seoul. Don’t worry, it is work safe, as he focuses strictly below knee level.
Other attributes I’ve not been keeping track of are: Advertising: some do, some don’t. Comments: almost all the blogs allow you to comment on the posts. You have to have a login for some blogs, but quite a few allow anonymous postings. You have to type an antispam code for some, this is to prevent automated programs adding spam comments to the blog advertising other websites.
Surprisingly not everyone who is on the Korean Blog list has a link on their blog back to the site and there are several bloggers who’ve not added theirs to Alan Scully’s masterpiece of a list. I’ve so far only found one dead link and one blogger who has moved on from Korea, in his case to Syria. Almost all the blogs I’ve visited so far have posted at least once in August, so this list is most assuredly a valuable and up-to-date repository.
If you are interested in reading more Korean blogs, due to the sheer number of blogs on the list it is difficult to know where to start. Perhaps Alan would consider adding a few more fields to help make it easier to select based on the material? But, dear reader, I shall be doing my best over the coming months to visit them all. 36 down, 316 to go. (based on the current total of 352)
Most bloggers post between two and three times a week on average, but the most prolific blogger must be RJ at The Marmots Hole. This blog, which is quoted in the Joog Ang daily newspaper, is probably the one blog most often linked to from other blogs. His regular daily postings cover aspects of the news in Korea often relating to foreigners and items of Korean culture that interest him and the large number of folk who comment. Thanks to his ability to read Korean he can gain a better understanding of current news than I ever will be able to. Today there are already eleven posts, including some from other contributers to the blog.
Other popular blogs that are also referenced a lot include The Lost Nomad, Big Hominid's Hairy Chasms and ZenKimchi Korean Food Journal. All three cover current news items, humour, the ups and downs of teaching, their travels and food and cooking in Korea. The authors have all been in Korea for several years and have built up an enthusiastic following with their wacky and interesting posts.
Some blogs have been around for several years, since May 2001 in the case of David at Staypuff , whilst others have only just started in March . Almost all the blogs include photos of their own and sometimes videos of their exploits or links to youtube with clips of interest. An example blog with no photos is Korean Liberator who focuses on the antics of North Korea and it’s leader. The blog keeps readers abreast of worldwide news coverage of the country. Some blogs are photos only for example Seoul Daily Photo where Kais posts interesting and unusual photos on a regular basis, she also has a blog in Korean on a separate page.
Big Hominid and Seoul Hero get the prize so far for the largest number of links to other sites, I estimated both have more than 200 links. Some sites have no links to any others at all, but the majority of blogs have between 10 to 30 links to other blogs and websites on their blogroll. (That's the list of other blogs the writer has put links to, usually down the side of their blog.)
A lot of blogs have setup RSS feeds which makes life easy for keeping track of new postings. For those not familiar with this, RSS provides a publishing mechanism so that you can use software either on your own computer or create an account at one of the many dedicated websites to enable you to monitor posts from the blogs you read in one place, without having to visit each individual blog website to see if they have posted or not. If you have a blog, it’s not too difficult to setup. I used a third party site feedburner to publish posts from this blog, it's that small orange symbol below the "Power Blogger" logo on the righthand side, and I have installed NewsNetWire to subscribe to the blogs and read them on my computer at home.
Most bloggers main topics are life in Korea, the food, their travels, their work and life , family and friends and items of interest to their readers. The one exception to this is Feetman Seoul who has just started and who has dedicated his blog to photographing and discussing the legs and feet of the ladies of Seoul. Don’t worry, it is work safe, as he focuses strictly below knee level.
Other attributes I’ve not been keeping track of are: Advertising: some do, some don’t. Comments: almost all the blogs allow you to comment on the posts. You have to have a login for some blogs, but quite a few allow anonymous postings. You have to type an antispam code for some, this is to prevent automated programs adding spam comments to the blog advertising other websites.
Surprisingly not everyone who is on the Korean Blog list has a link on their blog back to the site and there are several bloggers who’ve not added theirs to Alan Scully’s masterpiece of a list. I’ve so far only found one dead link and one blogger who has moved on from Korea, in his case to Syria. Almost all the blogs I’ve visited so far have posted at least once in August, so this list is most assuredly a valuable and up-to-date repository.
If you are interested in reading more Korean blogs, due to the sheer number of blogs on the list it is difficult to know where to start. Perhaps Alan would consider adding a few more fields to help make it easier to select based on the material? But, dear reader, I shall be doing my best over the coming months to visit them all. 36 down, 316 to go. (based on the current total of 352)
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Wildlife in Seoul
I've mentioned Yeouido park a few times. There is also the Yeouido Setgang Ecology park which I have been visiting these past couple of days. It is, as it's name suggests a lot more natural than the park, the footpaths here are all gravel and there are no labels on the trees etc.
It has been a good place for birdspotting. In the past two days I've seen : Spot Billed and Mandarin Ducks, an Egret, two Night Herons, several Grey Herons, a Black Naped Oriole, a pair of Rufous Turtle Doves, plenty of Brown-eared Bulbuls, Magpies and Sparrows are everywhere, a Yellow Wagtail, a Kingfisher, a Marsh Tit and an unidentified wader and a warbler.
Since my photos of the birds just show very small brown blobs, I thought I'd share this one of a Cicada.
These small creatures make such a loud racket it's incredible. It's taken a while to get used to such noise. There are also plenty of other smaller animals about: we saw two very large butterflies and other smaller ones; dragonflies are very numerous and colourful and the bees are also large. The ponds have koi carp and also turtles in them, and I've seen several small rodents in the park. All in all, not too bad for the centre of the city.
It has been a good place for birdspotting. In the past two days I've seen : Spot Billed and Mandarin Ducks, an Egret, two Night Herons, several Grey Herons, a Black Naped Oriole, a pair of Rufous Turtle Doves, plenty of Brown-eared Bulbuls, Magpies and Sparrows are everywhere, a Yellow Wagtail, a Kingfisher, a Marsh Tit and an unidentified wader and a warbler.
Since my photos of the birds just show very small brown blobs, I thought I'd share this one of a Cicada.
These small creatures make such a loud racket it's incredible. It's taken a while to get used to such noise. There are also plenty of other smaller animals about: we saw two very large butterflies and other smaller ones; dragonflies are very numerous and colourful and the bees are also large. The ponds have koi carp and also turtles in them, and I've seen several small rodents in the park. All in all, not too bad for the centre of the city.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
I'm a Legal Alien
I went back to the Korean Immigration Office in Seoul yesterday to collect my Alien registration card:
All very fast and efficient, only 10,000 won. I've checked, and my spouse's visa does not allow me to work. They are very strict about this so no working for me, oh dear what a shame, but since the house husband lark is going very well so far I don't think this is going to be a problem.
I met up with The Bat in the afternoon and we went "into town" to the Bank Of Korea Museum. It's not a very large museum and does not seem to be on many maps, but it is free. Inside, the building and the atmosphere reminded us both a great deal of the Bank of England Museum in London.
There is not very much English text on the display boards, but all the objects in the museum were labelled in English. The most unusual was a Horse hoof shaped silver coin. It was about 8 cm across, 4 cm deep and shaped like a cast of a hoof: not very comfortable to carry in the pocket.
One document of historic interest was a telegram from the IMF:
Date : Aug 23 2001.
Regarding Korea's repayment of the IMF loan of Dec 3rd 1997.
We are pleased to inform you the following sums have been transferred : 106,294,596.67 Euro (Germany) , 19,360,584.89 Euro (France) 8,683,250.67 Euro (Greece) 5,294,419.29 Euro (Ireland) 4,541,659,622 Dinar (Kuwait) .
Korea has repaid in full the standby credit of 14,412,500,000 SDR extended by the IMF.
It's surprising that with those huge sums of money they go right down to Euro cents to balance the books.
Also currently at the museum is a temporary exhibition of a collection of currencies from around the world. A large selection of notes and coins from over 50 countries are viewable in pull out cases. A small improvement would have been to include the year of production for the notes, since not all were the current notes in circulation. There were also some exhibits of currency oddities. I liked: the 3 dollar note from the Bahamas; The half franc note from Tunisia; A 2 Tala bill from Samoa; and the 15, 45 and 90 unit bills from Myanmar.
Well worth a visit if you have 30 or 40 minutes to kill. It's less than ten minutes walk from City Hall. Strangely the BOK does not even mention it on it's website! It's like they want to keep it a secret.
All very fast and efficient, only 10,000 won. I've checked, and my spouse's visa does not allow me to work. They are very strict about this so no working for me, oh dear what a shame, but since the house husband lark is going very well so far I don't think this is going to be a problem.
I met up with The Bat in the afternoon and we went "into town" to the Bank Of Korea Museum. It's not a very large museum and does not seem to be on many maps, but it is free. Inside, the building and the atmosphere reminded us both a great deal of the Bank of England Museum in London.
There is not very much English text on the display boards, but all the objects in the museum were labelled in English. The most unusual was a Horse hoof shaped silver coin. It was about 8 cm across, 4 cm deep and shaped like a cast of a hoof: not very comfortable to carry in the pocket.
One document of historic interest was a telegram from the IMF:
Date : Aug 23 2001.
Regarding Korea's repayment of the IMF loan of Dec 3rd 1997.
We are pleased to inform you the following sums have been transferred : 106,294,596.67 Euro (Germany) , 19,360,584.89 Euro (France) 8,683,250.67 Euro (Greece) 5,294,419.29 Euro (Ireland) 4,541,659,622 Dinar (Kuwait) .
Korea has repaid in full the standby credit of 14,412,500,000 SDR extended by the IMF.
It's surprising that with those huge sums of money they go right down to Euro cents to balance the books.
Also currently at the museum is a temporary exhibition of a collection of currencies from around the world. A large selection of notes and coins from over 50 countries are viewable in pull out cases. A small improvement would have been to include the year of production for the notes, since not all were the current notes in circulation. There were also some exhibits of currency oddities. I liked: the 3 dollar note from the Bahamas; The half franc note from Tunisia; A 2 Tala bill from Samoa; and the 15, 45 and 90 unit bills from Myanmar.
Well worth a visit if you have 30 or 40 minutes to kill. It's less than ten minutes walk from City Hall. Strangely the BOK does not even mention it on it's website! It's like they want to keep it a secret.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Under the Gourd Walk
I thought I'd show you a couple of photos from our route during the walk to The Bat's office in the morning. This is a 50 meter long walk through a tunnel of gourds in the middle of Yeouido Park.
It's quite an impressive sight. They employ a number of gardeners whose sole task appears to be tying up the gourds to prevent them dropping, and cleaning up the dead leaves from the plants. There is also a security guard there during the day, we assume to prevent people from helping themselves to these low hanging Cucurbitaceae
The other side of the park is an eight lane highway:
Mercifully there is a pedestrian crossing. Readers familiar with life in Korea will immediately spot what to most people may seem completely commonplace, but is rare here. To save you guessing it's the red car. In Korea it seems as though you can have any colour car you like as long as it's black, white, silver or grey. In the two weeks I've been here that was only the third red car I've seen.
Meeting up with The Bat again during the afternoon we went swimming in the Han River park in Yeouido. Outdoor swimming is very refreshing in this heat. For some reason just after we'd got there and swum a bit, we realised we needed to be wearing a swimming cap, bought one, everyone out of the water for 15 minutes. Luckily an english speaking person told us. No idea why we were all kept out of the pool for a bit, then just as suddenly allowed back in.
It's quite an impressive sight. They employ a number of gardeners whose sole task appears to be tying up the gourds to prevent them dropping, and cleaning up the dead leaves from the plants. There is also a security guard there during the day, we assume to prevent people from helping themselves to these low hanging Cucurbitaceae
The other side of the park is an eight lane highway:
Mercifully there is a pedestrian crossing. Readers familiar with life in Korea will immediately spot what to most people may seem completely commonplace, but is rare here. To save you guessing it's the red car. In Korea it seems as though you can have any colour car you like as long as it's black, white, silver or grey. In the two weeks I've been here that was only the third red car I've seen.
Meeting up with The Bat again during the afternoon we went swimming in the Han River park in Yeouido. Outdoor swimming is very refreshing in this heat. For some reason just after we'd got there and swum a bit, we realised we needed to be wearing a swimming cap, bought one, everyone out of the water for 15 minutes. Luckily an english speaking person told us. No idea why we were all kept out of the pool for a bit, then just as suddenly allowed back in.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
It's strange where blogging takes you
As a House Husband I have plenty of time to surf the net. (Don't worry the floors are clean and I just have to go and pick up the dry cleaning before meeting The Bat for lunch) I was supposed to be finding some Taekwondo lessons for us to do to keep fit. This place seems like a good bet, more news on that later I hope.
OK so I got side tracked, one web page led to another and another, you know how they do. Searching for Taekwondo lessons in Seoul I got to this page which led me to read a bit more of the blog which led to to this posting of a dog balancing 32 meat treats on his nose on a Japanese games show which led to a simlar video of someone elses dog doing the same trick which led me to read more of her blog and finally this posting in her blog . She seems to get a pretty impressive amount of hatemail and did you see how many comments she got on her dog?
This blogging lark, it's a funny old world out there. No two blogs are the same, oh except the automatically generated ones. You sometimes find them with generated text and advertising links that I assume are trying to improve the link rate for google.
If you are ever short of inspiration and none of the links on the current blog are of interest just click the "Next Blog" link in the very top right hand corner. I tried that this morning and found June in Korea being sad. What are the chances of finding another blogger in South Korea?
OK so I got side tracked, one web page led to another and another, you know how they do. Searching for Taekwondo lessons in Seoul I got to this page which led me to read a bit more of the blog which led to to this posting of a dog balancing 32 meat treats on his nose on a Japanese games show which led to a simlar video of someone elses dog doing the same trick which led me to read more of her blog and finally this posting in her blog . She seems to get a pretty impressive amount of hatemail and did you see how many comments she got on her dog?
This blogging lark, it's a funny old world out there. No two blogs are the same, oh except the automatically generated ones. You sometimes find them with generated text and advertising links that I assume are trying to improve the link rate for google.
If you are ever short of inspiration and none of the links on the current blog are of interest just click the "Next Blog" link in the very top right hand corner. I tried that this morning and found June in Korea being sad. What are the chances of finding another blogger in South Korea?
What do think this is advertising?
This lady appeared on a banner near the bus stop yesterday and then we got free sweets attached to a flyer with the same image:
What do you think they are trying to advertise with a lady on the toilet with her skirt round her ankles? Not obvious? Well from what I can see on the back of the flyer it appears to be "CSH Sportsmall Fitness Center". But I could be wrong.
Another cartoon that has got me very confused is this one in the lift in our building:
The bunny either sees the lift has been damaged, or has just done a karate kick and smashed the panel, so he phones Bob the Builder. Those seem easy enough. But then the bunny is bouncing up and down and a small blue creature collides with the life door? Right, well that's clear. Not. But then in the final panel there is an entire zoo / aquarium in the lift, Bob the Builder is now doing ambulance duty with a blue spirit for someone, something that appears to have damaged their foot?
Yes. There are many many things in this country that I cannot begin to understand, and that's before I've even left our building. If there is anyone reading this blog that can ready Korean I would be delighted to understand exactly what message the lift decorators were trying to get over.
A warm welcome to readers who've found this blog from The Korean Blog List
I will be working my way through that list of 351 blogs and giving you the highlights and summaries of what I find during the coming weeks and months.
What do you think they are trying to advertise with a lady on the toilet with her skirt round her ankles? Not obvious? Well from what I can see on the back of the flyer it appears to be "CSH Sportsmall Fitness Center". But I could be wrong.
Another cartoon that has got me very confused is this one in the lift in our building:
The bunny either sees the lift has been damaged, or has just done a karate kick and smashed the panel, so he phones Bob the Builder. Those seem easy enough. But then the bunny is bouncing up and down and a small blue creature collides with the life door? Right, well that's clear. Not. But then in the final panel there is an entire zoo / aquarium in the lift, Bob the Builder is now doing ambulance duty with a blue spirit for someone, something that appears to have damaged their foot?
Yes. There are many many things in this country that I cannot begin to understand, and that's before I've even left our building. If there is anyone reading this blog that can ready Korean I would be delighted to understand exactly what message the lift decorators were trying to get over.
A warm welcome to readers who've found this blog from The Korean Blog List
I will be working my way through that list of 351 blogs and giving you the highlights and summaries of what I find during the coming weeks and months.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
The Apartment
I wish I could say that this is the view from our window:
But it's not quite. Due to the crazy way the apartment was built the wrong way round, it's the view from the corridor and balcony outside our apartment. Instead our one room looks out at the building next door about 10 feet away, which has become, between the time The Bat came and viewed the room and the day we moved in, a building site as they refurbish it. We have drills and hammering starting from around 7am until 8pm or later.
That building is the National Assembly building. That website seems particularly harsh, but explains how this little island was planned as the "Korean Manhatten".
If you want to see where exactly we are here's google maps reference however our building was not built whenever that shot was taken. It's the second block from the top in the group of eight. To the south is Yeouido Park, a narrow strip of greenery that is very pleasant of an evening and in the morning on the way to the office for The Bat.
We are slowly getting settled in. We’ve unpacked all the boxes and thrown them away, well, added them to the huge recycling pile in the basement here.
By some miracle pretty much all our stuff seems to fit into the built in cupboards, with just a few bits and pieces on the floor.
The previous owner sold us two armchairs and two regular chairs, otherwise there would be zero furniture in the room. There is no bed, just some very thin bedding rolls that we are sleeping on. There's a parquet floor, so it's a bit hard!
The cooking area is not too bad. A washing machine that I have just been able to get to work this morning; a sink; two electrics rings and plenty of cupboards. However with the price of food, it’s a lot cheaper to eat out.
I've taken loads of photos. I'll try and get round to putting some of them on to blog as I progress.
But it's not quite. Due to the crazy way the apartment was built the wrong way round, it's the view from the corridor and balcony outside our apartment. Instead our one room looks out at the building next door about 10 feet away, which has become, between the time The Bat came and viewed the room and the day we moved in, a building site as they refurbish it. We have drills and hammering starting from around 7am until 8pm or later.
That building is the National Assembly building. That website seems particularly harsh, but explains how this little island was planned as the "Korean Manhatten".
If you want to see where exactly we are here's google maps reference however our building was not built whenever that shot was taken. It's the second block from the top in the group of eight. To the south is Yeouido Park, a narrow strip of greenery that is very pleasant of an evening and in the morning on the way to the office for The Bat.
We are slowly getting settled in. We’ve unpacked all the boxes and thrown them away, well, added them to the huge recycling pile in the basement here.
By some miracle pretty much all our stuff seems to fit into the built in cupboards, with just a few bits and pieces on the floor.
The previous owner sold us two armchairs and two regular chairs, otherwise there would be zero furniture in the room. There is no bed, just some very thin bedding rolls that we are sleeping on. There's a parquet floor, so it's a bit hard!
The cooking area is not too bad. A washing machine that I have just been able to get to work this morning; a sink; two electrics rings and plenty of cupboards. However with the price of food, it’s a lot cheaper to eat out.
I've taken loads of photos. I'll try and get round to putting some of them on to blog as I progress.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Fish Market
Today we visited the Noryangjin fish market. Even at 2pm it's still quite busy, at 5am I gather it is in full flow. There is a wide variety of fish and sea food on sale, there's plenty of "weird" stuff like sea cucumber, sea slugs etc too. A lot of it is kept alive in tanks, The Bat and I joked that it is better than the sad aquarium we went to yesterday at Building 63. Yesterday there was one huge Japanese spider crab, today in the market there were tanks and tanks full of these huge crustaceans.
We were also looking for a table, we found one secondhand furniture store but nothing of use. Back at home I've found a great site for this www.usedtown.co.kr Now I just need to figure out the Korean.
We didn't have much luck finding a good bus this morning, so after doing a bit more shopping at the Lotte supermarket (big mistake: it turns out to be a bit like Harrods or Fortnum and Masons. With our small basket of shopping we were attended at the checkout desk by no fewer than five ladies trying to help) we decided to get a taxi home. Passing the driver The Bat's residence permit with our address in Korean on was not much help to the driver. He peered at it and showed another driver who seemed to have had a bit of clue and we reached Youido. He then pulled over and phoned someone but he still did not seem to be very happy. A lot of taxis have a big sign on the side window saying "Free Interpretation" so we pointed this out to him, but he shook his head at that. So he carried on driving. At least we knew where we were, and when he was about to take a wrong turn we gesticulated wildly and directed him in a similar manner back to our apartment. Only 3300 Won but I think the bus would have saved our patience.
Having got our fish and seafood home we cooked for the first time in our apartment. A very tasty spaghetti and clams, it's the first meal we've had without Kimchi since we've been here!
We were also looking for a table, we found one secondhand furniture store but nothing of use. Back at home I've found a great site for this www.usedtown.co.kr Now I just need to figure out the Korean.
We didn't have much luck finding a good bus this morning, so after doing a bit more shopping at the Lotte supermarket (big mistake: it turns out to be a bit like Harrods or Fortnum and Masons. With our small basket of shopping we were attended at the checkout desk by no fewer than five ladies trying to help) we decided to get a taxi home. Passing the driver The Bat's residence permit with our address in Korean on was not much help to the driver. He peered at it and showed another driver who seemed to have had a bit of clue and we reached Youido. He then pulled over and phoned someone but he still did not seem to be very happy. A lot of taxis have a big sign on the side window saying "Free Interpretation" so we pointed this out to him, but he shook his head at that. So he carried on driving. At least we knew where we were, and when he was about to take a wrong turn we gesticulated wildly and directed him in a similar manner back to our apartment. Only 3300 Won but I think the bus would have saved our patience.
Having got our fish and seafood home we cooked for the first time in our apartment. A very tasty spaghetti and clams, it's the first meal we've had without Kimchi since we've been here!
Friday, August 18, 2006
Connected from home
True to their word KT sent two engineers round this morning at 09:30 and within minutes I was connected to the internet. It seems to be built into the apartment somehow, there is a network connection in the wall and one lead plugs straight into the computer and the Mac immmediately recognised it, and I was online straight away. No setup, no configuration, so usernames or passwords. This is the way computing should be!
I then got a phone call from someone at KT to say the equipment in the building is better than discussed and cheaper than agreed yesterday so it's 100Mbps and 4,000 Won less. Just this second I got a second call from KT asking if everything was working OK. Very good of them to check.
I then got a phone call from someone at KT to say the equipment in the building is better than discussed and cheaper than agreed yesterday so it's 100Mbps and 4,000 Won less. Just this second I got a second call from KT asking if everything was working OK. Very good of them to check.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
National Holiday
August 15th is a National Holiday in Korea, they celebrate liberation from the Japanese, so The Bat had a day off. We spent the day at Gyeongbokgung which, because of the holiday, was free entry for the day. Bargain.
One of The Bat's students had volunteered to be our guide and we spent a very interesting day with him. I took many photos but cannot upload them yet so I'll share some other links to this fascinating place.
Our boxes arrived on Monday evening. Many thanks to John at DS Logistics for his personal and efficient service. If you are shipping to Korea I highly recommend them. I spent Wednesday morning unpacking and met The Bat for lunch and coffee before she had to go back to work.
This morning my task has been to get us connected to the internet at home. With slight trepidation, armed only with a map and the address: 2-5 Hanangno 2, Yongsan-gu I left our appartment to get a bus and metro to the Korea Telecom office I had guessed as being closest to us.
The 461 Bus took an especially round-about route and then ended up going a fair way past the metro station Daebang that I was aiming for. I won't be using that bus again, but at least with the air conditioning it was comfortable! The metro was only two stops. Emerging from the station with no idea which direction to go I headed left and soon discovered I was on the correct street. Local maps of the neighbourhood did not mention the KT office, so I blindly continued in what turned out to the correct direction and, as I had hoped, it was a prominent and modern office block with a large corporate logo.
I was politely ushered into the plaza waiting area and presented with a numbered ticket for the queue by the doorman. After waiting only a few moments I was seen at one of the three desks by a lady who spoke enough English to be able to be able to help me fill in the form she provided. Less than 15 minutes later I walked out with an appointment for the engineer to call tomorrow to install the Megapass Premium service. It's 45,500 Won (roughly 25 GBP) a month including modem for 13Mbps upload speed which seems like good value. Amazing service, all this based on my passport and our address. By the way, there's a link to a currency converter on the righthand pane which converts Won to GBP or other currency.
Just spotted on another blog The Marmot's Hole those killer fans have hit again. It is very hot and humid at the moment and also during the night making sleeping difficult. We were thinking of buying a fan but maybe not...
One of The Bat's students had volunteered to be our guide and we spent a very interesting day with him. I took many photos but cannot upload them yet so I'll share some other links to this fascinating place.
Our boxes arrived on Monday evening. Many thanks to John at DS Logistics for his personal and efficient service. If you are shipping to Korea I highly recommend them. I spent Wednesday morning unpacking and met The Bat for lunch and coffee before she had to go back to work.
This morning my task has been to get us connected to the internet at home. With slight trepidation, armed only with a map and the address: 2-5 Hanangno 2, Yongsan-gu I left our appartment to get a bus and metro to the Korea Telecom office I had guessed as being closest to us.
The 461 Bus took an especially round-about route and then ended up going a fair way past the metro station Daebang that I was aiming for. I won't be using that bus again, but at least with the air conditioning it was comfortable! The metro was only two stops. Emerging from the station with no idea which direction to go I headed left and soon discovered I was on the correct street. Local maps of the neighbourhood did not mention the KT office, so I blindly continued in what turned out to the correct direction and, as I had hoped, it was a prominent and modern office block with a large corporate logo.
I was politely ushered into the plaza waiting area and presented with a numbered ticket for the queue by the doorman. After waiting only a few moments I was seen at one of the three desks by a lady who spoke enough English to be able to be able to help me fill in the form she provided. Less than 15 minutes later I walked out with an appointment for the engineer to call tomorrow to install the Megapass Premium service. It's 45,500 Won (roughly 25 GBP) a month including modem for 13Mbps upload speed which seems like good value. Amazing service, all this based on my passport and our address. By the way, there's a link to a currency converter on the righthand pane which converts Won to GBP or other currency.
Just spotted on another blog The Marmot's Hole those killer fans have hit again. It is very hot and humid at the moment and also during the night making sleeping difficult. We were thinking of buying a fan but maybe not...
Monday, August 14, 2006
Greetings from Seoul
I've arrived!
I had hoped to post "Airside at Heathow" once I'd finally got checked in and through the departure control, but the Net Nanny software they use on the internet kiosks classify www.blogger.com and all blogs on it as "unsuitable due to likelihood of porn" I also can't remember the email addres I can use to mail posts to.
Needless to say Heathrow on Friday was "organised chaos". The time taken between arriving at Heathrow tube station and getting airside was over two hours, not too bad considering the thousands of people in random queues in the check in zone. The atmosphere was good natured and the information assistants did their best, but I was very lucky to somehow arrive at the head of the Korean air check in time to be able to request and recieve a seat by the emergency exit. The queue upstairs to get airside took 45 minutes alone to traverse.
The flight was late departing due to having to offload two peoples luggage who failed to make it to the gate, (probably still in the queue to get airside!) and delays on the airport taxiways. We took off an hour late. I felt sorry for anyone on the Continental airlines flight to Chicago which was scheduled for 16:00 but delayed till 22:00, several other US flights were reporting long delays too.
It was an uneventful flight. My tactic of staying awake the previous night paid off and I managed to sleep for four or five hours. We arrived at Incheon Seoul at around 5pm local time and I met The Bat in the arrivals hall at around 6pm. A very joyful reunion. After a bus ride and short taxi journey we arrived at our new apartment. The Bat had only just picked up the "keys" ( it's an electronic button key) that morning and had been busy cleaning it and moving out of the original unsuitable accomodation.
The apartment is in the Youido area of Seoul. Out of the window we can see the National Assembly building. It is also the financial and media district of the city. It's full of modern skyscrapers: imagine Canary wharf, but covering an area six or severn times larger. Our building is beside the Ben Hur hotel!
Sunday we visited the almost brand new National Museum of Korea. A huge place teeming with Koreans. I also had my first trip on the metro. More, many more details to follow.
This morning we followed what will be our normal routine. The Bat needs to be in the office for 6am to prepare for her first class at 6:30. So a 5am start leaves enough time for the 20 minute walk to the language school.
I'm posting this from a post office opposite the school. It's amazing: blogger somehow knows I'm in Korea, and all the menu options are in Korean. Luckily I can remember to relative locations of the important links.
The county is so full of surprises and interesting things. I've already got a couple of months worth of ideas to blog about and I haven't even started taking photos yet.
Better post and let someone else use the terminal.
I had hoped to post "Airside at Heathow" once I'd finally got checked in and through the departure control, but the Net Nanny software they use on the internet kiosks classify www.blogger.com and all blogs on it as "unsuitable due to likelihood of porn" I also can't remember the email addres I can use to mail posts to.
Needless to say Heathrow on Friday was "organised chaos". The time taken between arriving at Heathrow tube station and getting airside was over two hours, not too bad considering the thousands of people in random queues in the check in zone. The atmosphere was good natured and the information assistants did their best, but I was very lucky to somehow arrive at the head of the Korean air check in time to be able to request and recieve a seat by the emergency exit. The queue upstairs to get airside took 45 minutes alone to traverse.
The flight was late departing due to having to offload two peoples luggage who failed to make it to the gate, (probably still in the queue to get airside!) and delays on the airport taxiways. We took off an hour late. I felt sorry for anyone on the Continental airlines flight to Chicago which was scheduled for 16:00 but delayed till 22:00, several other US flights were reporting long delays too.
It was an uneventful flight. My tactic of staying awake the previous night paid off and I managed to sleep for four or five hours. We arrived at Incheon Seoul at around 5pm local time and I met The Bat in the arrivals hall at around 6pm. A very joyful reunion. After a bus ride and short taxi journey we arrived at our new apartment. The Bat had only just picked up the "keys" ( it's an electronic button key) that morning and had been busy cleaning it and moving out of the original unsuitable accomodation.
The apartment is in the Youido area of Seoul. Out of the window we can see the National Assembly building. It is also the financial and media district of the city. It's full of modern skyscrapers: imagine Canary wharf, but covering an area six or severn times larger. Our building is beside the Ben Hur hotel!
Sunday we visited the almost brand new National Museum of Korea. A huge place teeming with Koreans. I also had my first trip on the metro. More, many more details to follow.
This morning we followed what will be our normal routine. The Bat needs to be in the office for 6am to prepare for her first class at 6:30. So a 5am start leaves enough time for the 20 minute walk to the language school.
I'm posting this from a post office opposite the school. It's amazing: blogger somehow knows I'm in Korea, and all the menu options are in Korean. Luckily I can remember to relative locations of the important links.
The county is so full of surprises and interesting things. I've already got a couple of months worth of ideas to blog about and I haven't even started taking photos yet.
Better post and let someone else use the terminal.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Update on Departure
It's looking good for departure tomorrow is my current feeling. The Thursday flight departed OK this evening only 20 mins later than scheduled. Considering the disruption at LHR today I would say that was very good indeed.
It looks like I won't be able to take the Ipod into the cabin with me nor any reading material at all unless they are letting you take stuff you have bought in the departure lounge. It's not clear at the moment. It looks like it is going to be a very long, very boring eleven hour flight.
I am planning to stay up late tonight so that I am very tired tomorrow and hopefully sleep on the flight.
A new series of The Dragons Den started recently, I watched it this evening. It has started to become a bit of a formula: They usually rubbish and dismiss most ideas pretty quickly; there is usually one person they go with, but they always want to take double the stake in the company that the entrepreneurs are offering. This evening one poor chap pitching a telephone mechanic service to troubleshoot your car was reduced to tears by "The Dragons". The guy they did go with (the truck washing business) they fought over amongst themselves and finally agreed to give him 200k for 40% of his business. Lets hope it works out for him. The most amusing part was an older gentlemen trying to sell them the idea of the EasyXChair a home workout kit in the shape of an armchair. All credit to the guy he's put up a website. It brought tears of laughter to Duncan's eyes trying the running machine out of the back of the chair!
I've been following blogs today to add to the "blogroll" on the side. It's a pastime that can easily take up your whole day. I'll try and add a few more Korean ones. The Korean Blog list has 332 blogs so I'm slowly working my way through them, even at three or four per day it's going to take a while. My current favorite is The Daily Kimchi two Canadians English teachers (what else) with a keen interest in Korean food and Carrefour
With any luck this will be my last post from Clapham, South London. I may post a quick update from an internet kiosk at Heathrow, otherwise the next post will be from Seoul. Wish me luck.
It looks like I won't be able to take the Ipod into the cabin with me nor any reading material at all unless they are letting you take stuff you have bought in the departure lounge. It's not clear at the moment. It looks like it is going to be a very long, very boring eleven hour flight.
I am planning to stay up late tonight so that I am very tired tomorrow and hopefully sleep on the flight.
A new series of The Dragons Den started recently, I watched it this evening. It has started to become a bit of a formula: They usually rubbish and dismiss most ideas pretty quickly; there is usually one person they go with, but they always want to take double the stake in the company that the entrepreneurs are offering. This evening one poor chap pitching a telephone mechanic service to troubleshoot your car was reduced to tears by "The Dragons". The guy they did go with (the truck washing business) they fought over amongst themselves and finally agreed to give him 200k for 40% of his business. Lets hope it works out for him. The most amusing part was an older gentlemen trying to sell them the idea of the EasyXChair a home workout kit in the shape of an armchair. All credit to the guy he's put up a website. It brought tears of laughter to Duncan's eyes trying the running machine out of the back of the chair!
I've been following blogs today to add to the "blogroll" on the side. It's a pastime that can easily take up your whole day. I'll try and add a few more Korean ones. The Korean Blog list has 332 blogs so I'm slowly working my way through them, even at three or four per day it's going to take a while. My current favorite is The Daily Kimchi two Canadians English teachers (what else) with a keen interest in Korean food and Carrefour
With any luck this will be my last post from Clapham, South London. I may post a quick update from an internet kiosk at Heathrow, otherwise the next post will be from Seoul. Wish me luck.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Major Airport delays
The chap came to collect the boxes this morning. All 33 have been safely loaded on to the van. He said "When are you flying? The airport is completely full, it chaos at Heathrow." "Huh" I replied. "Haven't you heard the news?" "No". After he left I turned on the TV, there was a rolling news update program on BBC one. It turns out the police have foiled a plot to blow up nine or ten planes in mid air, and have therefore raised the alert status to critical. They have arrested 21 people in London , Birmingham and High Wycombe.
All flights not already in the air to the UK are being cancelled.
All UK airports are affected with LHR, being the most the busy, the most heavily affected this morning. The BAA web site could not stand the pressure of so many people trying to find out flight status that it is currently down.
The new measures introduced this morning mean absolutely no hand luggage except wallets and purses on any flights.
I'm not sure what this means for me at the moment. My ticket is for the flight 9:30pm Friday 11th. I'll check Korean air website this afternoon and try and call them tomorrow.
Looks like we have to be prepared for some delays to my arrival!
All flights not already in the air to the UK are being cancelled.
All UK airports are affected with LHR, being the most the busy, the most heavily affected this morning. The BAA web site could not stand the pressure of so many people trying to find out flight status that it is currently down.
The new measures introduced this morning mean absolutely no hand luggage except wallets and purses on any flights.
I'm not sure what this means for me at the moment. My ticket is for the flight 9:30pm Friday 11th. I'll check Korean air website this afternoon and try and call them tomorrow.
Looks like we have to be prepared for some delays to my arrival!
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
What's the story in Balamory?
I've just had a very enjoyable weekend down in Cornwall staying with another friend from my school years. His son's favorite TV show is Balamory on CBeebies. As a result of watching only a couple of episodes of this delightful little program for pre-schoolers I now cannot get the theme tune out of my head. I'm sorry I can't share the tune with you, as you don't seem to be able to listen to the catchy little number off the website.
Saturday we went to Perranporth beach where those more adventurous than me went in to the sea and on Sunday we went to the Eden Project somewhere I have been keen to go to for a long time.
Sadly I cannot post the latest postcard from The Bat as it appears that our scanner has given up the ghost. It makes a non stop grinding / clunking noise when you turn it on and all attempts at maintenance (with a hammer) have failed at the moment. So I'll cheat and post this one instead which came from Photoatlas :
I've been given a few more items for the shopping list to purchase before I get out there, so must nip out and shop.
Saturday we went to Perranporth beach where those more adventurous than me went in to the sea and on Sunday we went to the Eden Project somewhere I have been keen to go to for a long time.
Sadly I cannot post the latest postcard from The Bat as it appears that our scanner has given up the ghost. It makes a non stop grinding / clunking noise when you turn it on and all attempts at maintenance (with a hammer) have failed at the moment. So I'll cheat and post this one instead which came from Photoatlas :
I've been given a few more items for the shopping list to purchase before I get out there, so must nip out and shop.
Friday, August 04, 2006
We woz robbed
Many thanks to Lisa of Detica for organising this evenings entertainment. A wine tasting event at Berries wine bar near Blackfriars. It took the form a "Call my bluff" type evening.
We were split into teams and give eight wines to taste. For each wine Chris and Dave, two wine tasting experts, tried to convince us exactly which wines we were drinking. My team of "Corked by the Short and Curlies" with Keith , Pete, Louis and John initially came second. However after a stewards inquiry, but after the prizes had been allocated, it appears that due to an arithmetic error we actually scored more than the "winning team". We could tell the Sancerre from the Stellenbosch; the Verdicchio from the Riesling; the Viognier from the Muscatel and the Chardonnay from the Chablis. On the Reds we correctly identified the Louis Latour Gamay from a South African Gamay and the Blackstone Merlot from the ValPolicella. But we were wrong on the St Jozef Shiraz, it was the Leaping Lizard and the final red was Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, not the Festino Recioto we thought it was. A very enjoyable evening.
Another recent postcard from the bat :
Jongmyo Jerye, The royal Ancestral Rita in Jongmyo Shrine.
We were split into teams and give eight wines to taste. For each wine Chris and Dave, two wine tasting experts, tried to convince us exactly which wines we were drinking. My team of "Corked by the Short and Curlies" with Keith , Pete, Louis and John initially came second. However after a stewards inquiry, but after the prizes had been allocated, it appears that due to an arithmetic error we actually scored more than the "winning team". We could tell the Sancerre from the Stellenbosch; the Verdicchio from the Riesling; the Viognier from the Muscatel and the Chardonnay from the Chablis. On the Reds we correctly identified the Louis Latour Gamay from a South African Gamay and the Blackstone Merlot from the ValPolicella. But we were wrong on the St Jozef Shiraz, it was the Leaping Lizard and the final red was Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, not the Festino Recioto we thought it was. A very enjoyable evening.
Another recent postcard from the bat :
Jongmyo Jerye, The royal Ancestral Rita in Jongmyo Shrine.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
First Day of Retirement
I was suffering slightly from a hangover this morning after my leaving drinks last night. When The Bat asked where was I going to have my leaving drinks I said the local pub near the office. She suggested why not go somewhere more unusual : how about Tower 42. ( The old Nat West Tower) Booking was easy and last night we had a brilliant view out over the city from 42 floors up, lots to drink and some very good finger food. I am hoping someone will email me some photos to show the view.
I was surprised and delighted yesterday to receive a leaving present of a Ipod Nano. To everyone who contributed I cannot thank you enough, you were all very generous indeed.
So the first day has gone very well. I've been to the bank to transfer a few million Korean Won to The Bat for the deposit on the apartment; I've had a fried breakfast at Cafe Delight on Clapham high street; I've done The Times prize sudoku, just in time to enter the competition and have I've been watching Countdown this afternoon. You can tell who the advertisers are expecting to watch by the adverts : Opticians at home, Stair lifts, Denture glue!
Got another postcard from The Bat :
Books and Scholar's utensils, Embroidered silk. Museum of Korean Embroidery.
Sadly the embroidery does not really come over very well on the postcard, I'm looking forward to seeing it in real life.
I was surprised and delighted yesterday to receive a leaving present of a Ipod Nano. To everyone who contributed I cannot thank you enough, you were all very generous indeed.
So the first day has gone very well. I've been to the bank to transfer a few million Korean Won to The Bat for the deposit on the apartment; I've had a fried breakfast at Cafe Delight on Clapham high street; I've done The Times prize sudoku, just in time to enter the competition and have I've been watching Countdown this afternoon. You can tell who the advertisers are expecting to watch by the adverts : Opticians at home, Stair lifts, Denture glue!
Got another postcard from The Bat :
Books and Scholar's utensils, Embroidered silk. Museum of Korean Embroidery.
Sadly the embroidery does not really come over very well on the postcard, I'm looking forward to seeing it in real life.
Jonathan Allen retires
As is customary when leaving the firm I sent out an email announcing my departure. However I created it and emailed it to mimic the style sent out to the whole company when someone very senior leaves the firm. Needless to say the following email did NOT go to the 23,000 employees at the firm, only a select few were blind copied:
From: Allen, Jonathan
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 12:32 AM
To: 'All Employees'
Subject: Jonathan Allen to retire.
From: Allen, Jonathan
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 12:32 AM
To: 'All Employees'
Subject: Jonathan Allen to retire.
We regret to announce that Jonathan Allen will be retiring from the position
of Production Support Analyst in the PRISM team in Prime Brokerage
today.
Jonathan graduated from Southampton University in 1988. He joined the firm
in Zurich in 1997. He retired from the firm for the first time at
the end of 2003. After almost a year in the wilderness he
was enticed back by a carelessly worded advert on www.Jobserve.com for a
position titled "Application Support, Major Investment Bank Margin System
(PRISM)".
During his contract Jonathan has worked with a large number of talented,
enthusiastic, and helpful staff from a number of offices and from
different departments.
Please join me in wishing Jonathan and his wife the very best for their next
adventure in Korea, and thanking him for his contribution to the firm.
You can contact him in the future at his private email address
and find out how he copes with retirement in Seoul
of Production Support Analyst in the PRISM team in Prime Brokerage
today.
Jonathan graduated from Southampton University in 1988. He joined the firm
in Zurich in 1997. He retired from the firm for the first time at
the end of 2003. After almost a year in the wilderness he
was enticed back by a carelessly worded advert on www.Jobserve.com for a
position titled "Application Support, Major Investment Bank Margin System
(PRISM)".
During his contract Jonathan has worked with a large number of talented,
enthusiastic, and helpful staff from a number of offices and from
different departments.
Please join me in wishing Jonathan and his wife the very best for their next
adventure in Korea, and thanking him for his contribution to the firm.
You can contact him in the future at his private email address
and find out how he copes with retirement in Seoul
by reading his blog : www.seoul-man.blogspot.com
LCB
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Hey, More Free Comedy
Another busy day of free comedy on Sunday. I was going to go to the Battersea Art Centre for something I saw recommended in TimeOut, but the box office was closed and their website was not taking bookings. When I found out the Theatre Royal Stratford East was offering Comedy night: free entry, I thought "It's a no brainer".
I spent the afternoon at the Science Museum followed by a walk through Hyde Park. I nipped into the Serpentine Gallery and saw what I thought were some pretty mediocre, very large photos of very mundane things. Umm, "Modern Art" I thought, or "Kunst" as the Germans like to say. Reading the blurb about the artist on the way out, Norman Demands (yes I'm sure he does) I discovered that actually the photos are not of just mundane things. Oh no. He created those items as life-size paper models; made them as real as possible; then photographed them; then destroyed the models. How weird is that?
Stratford has not got any less dingy than the last time I was there ten or more years ago, though the shopping centre has had a facelift I think.
The Compere was : Dave Ward, supporting act: Nathan Caton. It turned out to be the same guy we'd seen at Jongleurs. He did a longer show but included the same jokes about Nigerian Parking wardens.
The star of the evening was PATRICK MONAHAN preparing his show : "DO THE RIGHT THING" before taking it to the Edinburgh Fringe festival. Prepare being the operative word here. He didn't do too badly, but I think he needs a bit more practice.
One last day to go at work before my "Gap Year", as I am calling it, begins.
I spent the afternoon at the Science Museum followed by a walk through Hyde Park. I nipped into the Serpentine Gallery and saw what I thought were some pretty mediocre, very large photos of very mundane things. Umm, "Modern Art" I thought, or "Kunst" as the Germans like to say. Reading the blurb about the artist on the way out, Norman Demands (yes I'm sure he does) I discovered that actually the photos are not of just mundane things. Oh no. He created those items as life-size paper models; made them as real as possible; then photographed them; then destroyed the models. How weird is that?
Stratford has not got any less dingy than the last time I was there ten or more years ago, though the shopping centre has had a facelift I think.
The Compere was : Dave Ward, supporting act: Nathan Caton. It turned out to be the same guy we'd seen at Jongleurs. He did a longer show but included the same jokes about Nigerian Parking wardens.
The star of the evening was PATRICK MONAHAN preparing his show : "DO THE RIGHT THING" before taking it to the Edinburgh Fringe festival. Prepare being the operative word here. He didn't do too badly, but I think he needs a bit more practice.
One last day to go at work before my "Gap Year", as I am calling it, begins.
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