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Destination: the quieter side of Cheonggyecheon



While the more urban side of Cheonggyecheon is well-positioned in the heart of downtown Seoul, the stream continues for kilometers more outside of the urban jungle. Even though the overhead roads remind you that you're still in the city, it's still a unexpected pleasure. How many major metropolitan cities can boast a stream and a quiet place to reflect in just minutes from a subway station?

Start by taking in the clear, mostly still water. Once you're safely away from the commuters on the roads overhead, you'll have a little less on your mind. Also consider taking some self-portraits from one of several docks that dot the stream.



Found in virtually every park in Korea, flowers and workout facilities are all around.


Some public art is also nearby.



Just like the more urban setting of Cheonggyecheon, rock bridges offer a way to cross the stream. Be aware that the rocks are set only so high from the top of the stream - if the stream is riding high those rocks might be underwater!


With expansive views, adequate facilities, and surprisingly easy access, the quieter side of Cheonggyecheon is one place worth a return visit.

Directions: Take line 2 of the Seoul subway system to the Yongdap station (on the eastern branch of line 2) or the Ttukseom station (on the loop of line 2). At Yongdap station, take exit 2, then walk down the zig-zag ramp; at Ttukseom station, take exit 1 and go straight until you see the bridge over the stream. Bear right, and look for an underpass that leads you to the stream. Free admission, open 24/7, and wheelchair / stroller accessible.

Creative Commons License© Chris Backe - 2009

 

Zen Hideaway

Much of Korea looks the same. If you blindfolded me, spun me around enough times, hit me over the head with an iron bar and dropped me off at a random location, it would take me a long time to work out where I was. And not just because of the head trauma. The main reason is that much of Korea consists of what I like to call 'repeating units of suburbia'. To produce one of these repeating units, one needs a good amount of identical apartment blocks, three hagwons, a dash of Family Marts, a sprinkling of noraebangs and a garnish of kimbap cheonguks.

However, contrary to my sweeping generalisations, there do exist a number of rule-breakers. One of these is Gangnam, which looks like what I imagine New York looks like. Another is the more affluent district of Apgujeong, in central Seoul. Apgujeong is full of upmarket shopping and al fresco dining. Last week we popped over there with Kish, who was here for a visit from Dubai.
We ate at the Zen Hideaway, which is a Thai restaurant about 2 kilometres from the subway station.

Why did we walk so far in order to dine on Thai food, when one can so easily buy cheap and unsatisfying Thai food from our local Pattaya? Well, because this Thai food was rumoured to be somewhat extraordinary. And it was.
The restaurant is built around a centrepiece of a large indoor garden exhibit, complete with running water and wandering koi.

My own feeble attempts at interior design in my dormitory have involved putting the wardrobe where my bed was and putting my bed where my wardrobe was. For anyone interested in a more refined approach to interior design, Zen Hideaway is a worthy example. There is a lot of exotic furniture, candles and running water, which adds to an already classy atmosphere.

On the left is Jang-Ho, unfortunately bewildered by our overusage of English as the preferred language and on the right is Yulim, our guide who took us on the more scenic route to Zen.

The Zen Hideaway sells a lot of traditional Thai food with Italian influenced main courses. Italian food in general shares a lot of common methods with Asian cooking, so it's never surprising when a good wok-fryer can also churn out a decent spaghetti. In the photo above was a noodle dish, which I chose because it looked like char kway teow, but was unfortunately not as good. But on the right was Tom Yum Goong, which went above and beyond redemption. Sour, but not too sour, spicey yet not too spicey. Very well balanced and one of the first places in Korea I've found that doesn't overcook the prawns. If you ever come here, don't miss this one.

And this was a crab-coconut curry. The sauce was thick and surprisingly subtle in flavour, with hints of peanut. Overwhelmingly good and something I'd order again, even at the expense of not being able to try something new on the menu.

Overall we had 5 dishes which ranged from fairly good to superb examples of true foodism. While a better food blog like Zen Kimchi would no doubt paint a more fitting portrayal of the food here, I nonetheless recommend anyone with enough money and a decent map to seek this place out and try it. The prices were reasonable for a once-in-a-while outing and cost us around W200,000 for 5 people with a good bottle of pinot noir.

But then again, W200,000 is around 66 cafeteria lunches, if I'm not mistaken.

Mountain Health, or How I Learned I Really Need to Learn Some Korean

Today we went up, up and away into the moutains.




It was all very beautiful.

















We were poking around yet another beautiful hidden temple when an older monk came outside and waved us in for tea and oranges. What ensued was 30 mins of awkward smiles and intense gazes ... followed by a game of dressup.
I would have made a fabulous monk.









Our prefered method of transportation?
My brand new previously well loved bike.


We passed a golfing range ... and it was just so big and shiny and green that stopping seemed necessary. Korea seems to have this tendency to bring out the jock in me.
Don't ask how often I visit the batting cages.


Life in Korea: 100 Korean words to sound more like a local (part 3 of 3)

To my wonderful veteran expat readers - 'Life in Korea' posts are aimed at the newer expats among us. Think of these as the Idiot's Guide to Life in Korea - helpful for some, and a review for others. Please feel free to contribute what you know in the comments!

This part has been vetted by multiple Korean adult students - something I probably should've done with the other two parts. If something managed to slip through, make a note of it in the comments :)

UPDATE x 2 - 7 September 2009 10:08pm - HT's given where HT's are earned, and some more corrections made. Thanks for your kind contributions asadalthought and Gomunshin Girl - your turn to blog about learning Korean - especially you GG! :) As usual, check the comments for more.

Presenting the last part - and more Korean words to add to your Korean vocabulary. Check out part 1 here, while part 2 is over here.

The expressions

  1. 가자 - ga-ja - let's go, or come on (to someone with you)
  2. 요즘 잘 지내? yo-jeum jal ji-nae - how are you doing these days (literally, how well are you doing?) - (HT to asadalthought for the correction)
  3. 죽여주는데 - juk-yeo-ju-neun-de - you look great (literally, something is killing me) (caution: very sexual / flirty - consider avoiding or just use for the shock value!)
  4. 무슨 일 있니 - mu-seun il -iss-ni - what's the matter?
  5. 잠깐만요 - jam-ggan-man-yo - wait a minute, or hang on. (more polite) (HT to Gomushin Girl for the correction)
  6. 비켜 주세요 - bikyeo juseyo - move please!
  7. 정말 - jeong-mal - 'really?', or 'you're kidding'
  8. 별일 없지요? byeol-lil eop ji-yo - what's new?
  9. 나야 - na-ya - it's me
  10. 나도 - na -do - me too (as a response)
  11. 하지마세요 - ha-ji-ma-se-yo - don't do that
  12. 곧도착해 - god-do-chak-hae - I'll be right there, I'll arrive soon (HT to Gomushin Girl, who also suggested 이따봐요 or 이따가 도착할거에요, which means essentially the same thing)
  13. 잘해 - jal-hae - good luck (to a friend) (HT to Gomushin Girl for pointing that the Konglish term 'Fighting!' is closer to saying 'good luck')
  14. 이거 얼마에요? - i-geo eol-ma-e-yo? - how much is it? (follow with 깎아 주세요, or ggakk-a ju-se-yo, meaning 'discount, please!')

The games

  1. 장기 - jang-gi - Korean chess (see this Wikipedia article for more)
  2. 바둑 - ba-duk - Go (see this Wikipedia article for the rules)
  3. 족구 - jok-gu - soccer volleyball (see this ancient post)

The relationships

  1. 소개팅 - so-gae-ting - blind date (literally, introduction meeting)
  2. 주선자 - ju-seon-ja - the person who introduces guy to girl, and vice versa (AKA the matchmaker -HT to Gomushin Girl for the clarification)
  3. 저녁 같이 드실래요? - jeon-yeok ga-ti deu-sil-lae-yo - will you go out with me tonight?
  4. 남자친구 - nam-ja-chin-gu - Boyfriend (남친, or nam-chin, for short)
  5. 여자친구 - yeo-ja-chin-gu - Girlfriend (여친, or yeo-chin, for short)
  6. 사랑해요 - sa-rang-hae-yo - I love you (사랑해, or sa-rang-hae, is a little less formal)
  7. 바람둥이 - ba-ram-dung-i - a playboy or player, a man who is smooth with women

The 5 W's and an H

  1. 누구 - nu-gu- who
  2. 무엇 - mu-eot - what
  3. 언제 - eon-je - when
  4. 어디에 - eo-di-e - where
  5. 왜 - wae - why
  6. 어떻게 - eo-ddeo-ke - how (HT to asadalthought for the correction)
The subway
  1. 급행 = geub haeng - express train (lines 1 and 9, primarily)
  2. 지하철 = ji-ha-cheol - the subway itself
  3. 행 - haeng - the final destination where the train is going, usually as a suffix to the destination itself. On line 2, you might see 신도림행, where 신도림 is the station's name and 행 indicates it's the final destination.

33 in the first post, 34 in the second one, and 33 in this one - hope you enjoyed and learned something new. There's far more to learn than three admittedly basic posts - but here's hoping you learned something you can use!

Creative Commons License © Chris Backe - 2009

Canteen Food

While I'm always thankful for the cheap and relatively well-balanced meals at the university canteen, these days a certain amount of tiresomeness is starting to wane my once stalwart positivity. With the first year nearly at an end, and only another (hopefully) three years to go, this gochujang-marinade-weary-blogger is starting to wonder whether packed lunches from home are a viable option. Probably not.

Laziness being the primary obstacle.

I'm pretty sure there are around 14 different dishes that the canteen cycles through in a predictable fashion. There are other options available, but most of them are too far away for a short lunch break. So I guess I'll just have to buckle up and enjoy nature's bounty.

Things could be worse. Soylent Green for example.

No Skin Required: Healthy Images of Couples in the Korean Media


Han Ji-hye So Ji-sub Bang BangMuch as I’d like to always present a sophisticated and hard-hitting persona on the blog, I’d have to admit that the following two commercials from Bang Bang (뱅뱅) are very sweet and endearing, and put big smiles on my wife’s and my faces.

More to the point though, they also provide a timely reminder that if presenting healthy images of couples is the deliberate intention, and (much needed) ones of romantically assertive women in particular, then you don’t need to have them lounging around in their underwear or “accidentally” falling into awkward sexual poses to do so. Ironically however, the first two commercials in this series with Han Ji-hye (한지혜) and So Ji-sub (소지섭) featured precisely that, which makes one wonder if Bang Bang mixed the order up.

Here’s what was said in the first video, a little stranger than it looks:

용감한 데님

[Her] Brave Denim Jeans

난 아직 그녀를 안아줄 용기가 없습니다.

Ji-sub: I haven’t had the courage to hug her yet.

이때 그녀의 데님이 내게 속삭입니다.

But this time, her denim jeans whispered to me.

대신 나를 살짝 잡는거예요.

Ji-hye’s jeans (to Ji-sub): Instead, [you should] softly grab me (the jeans).

그녀의 친구는 나보다 용감합니다.

Ji-sub: Her friend [the jeans] is braver than me!

Be my best, 뱅뱅

Be my best, Bang Bang.

And in the second one from Ji-hye’s perspective, which came out at the same time:

친절한 셔츠

[His] Friendly, Warm-hearted Shirt

이 남자, 아직 내 손도 잡지는 못해요.

Ji-Hye: This man, he hasn’t [even] been able to hold my hand yet...

이때 그의 셔츠가 내게 말합니다.

But then, his shirt spoke to me.

“먼저 내 소매를 잡아봐요.”

Ji-sub’s shirt: First, try grabbing his sleeve.

그의 친구는 내게 친절합니다.

Ji-hye: His friend [the shirt] is very friendly to me!

“Be my best, 뱅뱅”

Be my best, Bang Bang.

So Ji-sub Han Ji-hye Bang Bang( Image Sources: Paranzui )

All together now: awwwwwww! But seriously, are any readers aware of any earlier Korean commercials featuring couples in which the woman…or her clothes…took the lead in becoming (slightly) more intimate with her partner, like in the first one here? Not that it’s that radical of course, nor – even if it is the first of its kind – that by itself it will make serious dents in Korean social expectations of romantically meek and passive women. Hopefully it is the start of a trend though, and that would indeed make a difference.

Or am I projecting too much from Koreans’ sexual behavior onto their dating behavior? It is true that many Korean women are so concerned about maintaining virginal appearances as to make them feign lack of knowledge of contraception for instance, and so either not provide nor insist on their partners using it, so it seems reasonable to suppose that this passivity would also be the case at earlier stages in their relationships. But this is a generalization of course (which didn’t even apply to my own wife and former girlfriends), and I haven’t actually dated in 9 years either (sigh), so I may be a little out of touch. I’d appreciate it then, if more experienced readers could pass on their own impressions!

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Posted in Korean Commercials, Korean Media, Korean Men's Body Images, Korean Sexuality, Korean Women's Body Images Tagged: Bang Bang, 뱅뱅, Han Ji-hye, 소지섭, 한지혜, So ji-sub
  

 

Beer Ahoy!

It didn't take long for Sarah and I to discover another Vietnamese institution: the Bia Hoi.

These street bars are located all around Hanoi, and supply the basics - cold beer and a seat from which to watch Hanoi whizz by.

The beer is based on chezch pilsner, and brewed on rooftops all across the city. It has a fresh, hoppy taste, and most importantly, it is cheap - one glass will set you back no more than about 10p.

All this makes it incredibly easy to simply sit back, run up a tab and let the chaos get on without you.

Which is exactly what we did.

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