Happy Hangeul Day

October 9th marks the 565 anniversary of the proclamation of Hangeul, the Korean alphabet. The major portal sites changed their logos accordingly for the occasion.

Naver has an animated logo going on - something which I don't know how to capture.

Daum features King Sejong.

As does Nate and Yahoo! Korea.

And Google Korea opted for a simple logo in traditional tricolor.

I wrote a long post last year about Sejong Story, the museum at Gwanghwamun Plaza about King Sejong and the creation of Hangeul : here.

멋진 한글날 되세요~ ^_^

Rabbit, Rabbit

Hite beer promotion display for the Year of the Rabbit

Remember the saying, "Chase two rabbits, catch none"? Well, do I really have to mention how ancient history that is? In this day and age of multi-everything, you can't do anything without chasing two (or even more) rabbits at once. Of course, you need to have the goods and skills to catch 'em, but that's totally something you can work on.
It's the Seollal (Lunar New Year) holidays. The year of the rabbit is officially starting so I'm also officially stating that I'll be catching as many rabbits as possible this year.

One of the things I'll be doing : adding my voice to Korea.net's official blog. I'll be posting more informational content about Seoul and Korea over there, while this blog will get a tad more personal by and by.

The Korea Blog
http://blog.korea.net/

Have a very Happy Seollal, wherever in the world you may be.
May good fortune always grace your life .

End of Winter, Start of Spring?

Lights at Gwanghwamun Plaza

People in the western world, what was the groundhog's verdict?

Is everyone in the northern hemisphere as sick of winter as I am? Odd, for winter was my favourite season as a kid. It still was when I was in uni as well, come to think of it. I loved strolling along the deserted city streets with my walkman blasting my music of the mo' (yes, I'm of that generation) and breathing in the crisp chill air.
I started dreading ole man winter when my circulation started not to be so cooperative. Durrr, as soon as the north winds saunter merrily down south into the peninsula, I can feel the cold seep into every single cell of my body, even those of which I'm not aware. In short, I frickin' freeze in the winter. (Thermal underwear is my best friend for practically half of the year.)

February 4th is "Ipchoon" (입춘), literally the 'start of spring', according to the lunar calendar. That's tomorrow. And it's still minus 10something degrees celsius here. SPRING? Really?
February is my least favorite month of the year. November is right up there as well but December makes up a lot for it with the holidays, whereas March doesn't really manage to cover the absolute blahness of February.
I think they made February short for a reason. A test of patience, this month is. If it were any longer I'm sure a lot of people, yours truly included, will just go bonkers at the tenacious dreariness of the non-dying winter.
(Obviously they stuck in Valentine's Day to spice the month up a bit but it being an exclusive holiday rather than an inclusive one - what are you supposed to do if you don't have a significant other? - it's not that effective.)

The Lunar New Year holidays have fallen in February this year so there is at least something to look forward to but I honestly can't wait until this month, or to be more exact, this winter to be over.

No more ranting. Let's talk happy. Bright lights are happy.
Posting photos that I never got around posting about, from the Seoul Light Festival to holiday lights in downtown.

Gwanghwamun Plaza at dusk. A far view of the installation of Nam June Paik's video art "Fractal Turtleship". It was placed in front of Admiral Yi Sun Shin's statue during the Light Festival, an apt spot, as the Admiral led his naval troops at the helm of the Turtleship.

Took a video clip from the outside through the glass; the inside was far too crowded to get a clear shot during the guided tour.

Back to Ipchoon. The tradition is to put calligraphy writings of good luck on the front door, the usual shortened version being Ipchoon Daegil (입춘대길) - "Great Fortune on the Start of Spring". Usually written in Chinese characters rather than Hanguel, you rarely see them now but you might glimpse them on the doors of traditional houses (hanok, 한옥) in less urban neighborhoods.

Photo from encyber.com

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

I sound weird and unnatural and tired. Phooey. Doesn't mean that I'm not sincere, though. If you're not in the mood to listen to my voice, a still version of Cheonggyecheon at Christmas:

Christmas is a national holiday in Korea as is Buddha's birthday in the spring, but like most capitalist societies it has become a holiday of avid consumerism more than anything else.
The Christmas decorations were up in the department stores in November. The decorations at Hyundai Dept. Store (Apkujung) :

A Christmas themed art display at Avenue L. (I only took photos of the B1 floor.)

Christmas photo-op setting at Ssamzie-gil.

Christmas tree at Seoul Plaza. (Homepage is going through reconstruction until Dec. 28th, 2009.)

Students taking pics in front of Youngpung Bookstore's Christmas display:

Not many Bûche de Noël to be seen, but most bakeries and patisseries sell many versions of Christmas cakes. A patissier friend of mine mentioned that they look far more better than they taste and advised me to go for "regular" cakes rather than the holiday ones. Pity, because they are so pretty. These are from Caffe Themselves:

Hope everyone has a happy holiday season. May there always be good fortune in your lives.

Winter Solstice & Patjuk

Juk is the chicken soup of Korea. When you get sick, you eat juk. The main ingredient is rice, which provides lots of carbohydrates (= just enough energy), it's a porridge and either lightly seasoned or not seasoned at all so it's very easy on the stomach, it's hot and warm.
It's not only food for the ailing, though. (I like chicken soup anytime, for example.) Many ingredients such as assorted vegetables, beef, pumpkin, abalone, shrimp are all used to make diverse variations. And on dongji, the winter solstice, we Koreans eat patjuk.

Patjuk is made from pat(red beans). As it is the day when the sun turns, in the ancient days dongji was observed with much reverence; some historians say it was even considered the true New Year's Day (seolnal). It is a day to get rid of your old debts, forget old grievances and try to start anew, a day to greet good fortune with wide open arms.

Because red is the color of the sun, eating juk made from red pat was believed to would ward off evil spirits in the following year. Traditional medicine doctors state that the nutritional reasons for eating patjuk in the winter is based on Korea's long agricultural history as well. Pat stimulates your inner organs and rids the body of toxic wastes, something that is difficult to do with lack of exercise in the "farm lazy" winter season.
Also, pat is considered a yin and the saealshim (glutinous rice balls which are added in the juk) a yang, and eating 'a yang within a yin' is supposed to be beneficial for your body in the winter months.

Patjuk comes either non-seasoned or sweet (which is called dan patjuk, in that case). I prefer the non-sweet kind, where I can taste the pat properly. The lack of salt is easily fixed by kimchi or dadaegi (mixture of various chilis, garlic, radish). Patjuk is traditionally paired with dongchimi, a cold radish kimchi soup. (Kimchi, like cheese, comes in a gazillion different varieties).

I have never made patjuk in my life; it's such a hassle to make. I usually get patjuk at my mother's or buy it. This year I got carryout at Bonjuk, the juk franchise that is all over Korea, and which was featured heavily with a fictional name in the K-drama 'Boys over Flowers'.

To be honest, patjuk is best at those traditional street markets but I live right next to a Bonjuk store and laziness won over. The juk was okay. A spoonful with saealshim and dadaegi.

The dongchimi they gave me was soooo bland. Notice how in the photo it's completely washed out? It's not supposed to look that way, so here's a photo of my mother's dongchimi, complete with flower carrots. Yum!

Junie Moon Halloween at 0101 Shinjuku

Yes, Thanksgiving is over and it's almost Christmas and I'm talking about Halloween! Better late than never, I say.

For me, Tokyo is food, art and Blythe. Didn't have time to go to the main Junie Moon in Daikanyama but I dropped by the store at Marui One (0101) in Shinjuku.

Halloween display with customized Blythes by Honey Drops & Daisy D. I love their collaboration work.

Back window display. Blythes go trick or treating.

My favorite. So simple. Boo!

Picked up several things. Love the shopping bag.

I haven't touched Blythe in ages; no customizing, no sewing, no photographs, no new dolls. Wonder if I'll get the bug back in 2010.

Christmas Wishlist #1

Karl Lagerfeld figurine by Tokidoki

More info at WWD - Click!

Yes, I know it's not even Halloween yet. It's never too early to get the word out, you know.
True to my ex-fashionista doll/toy geeky self, this goes on top of my Christmas Wishlist this year.

Harvest + Full Moon = Chuseok

Okay, I'm not that cute but hey.

Today starts the beginning of Chuseok, the Autumn Harvest Festival, i.e. Korean Thanksgiving.
Most Seoulites leave the city in mass exodus to see their families in the country and during long holidays the city is quite serene and still; much less hustle and bustle. I love Seoul at these times; it's like seeing a wild child in a rare quiet moment, caught unawares.

Anyhow. I'm off to my parent's to gorge on holiday food and be useless for a couple of days. Maybe I'll find the energy to lug myself to see some holiday festivities, maybe not.

Be sure to make a wish while looking at the Full Harvest Moon. Once again, Happy Chuseok!

About Chuseok
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuseok

What's Going on in Seoul
http://www.hiseoul.org/

Is every day Children's Day?

Well, maybe in the western world from where that saying originated, but not here.

May 5th is Children's Day in the Land of the Morning Calm, turning it into the Land of Whole Day Chaos quite adequately. It's a national holiday. Kids and their 'don't spend enough quality time with my children' guilt-ridden parents will be spilling into all space deemed public in lemming proportions; if you can't abide large crowds, noisy demanding kids, cramped public transportation, epic traffic jams, and/or all of the above, I suggest either lounging and rolling at home or hitting drinking spots (i.e. non kid-friendly places) at the earliest time possible.

For those who crave mayhem and chaos and thrive from sucking the energy out of those around you (I'm talking about you crowdchasers), and those who are actually parents and have to go through this ordeal, there are many events and goings on taking place throughout the city.
All the national parks, palaces and museums have special programs which cater to both kids and adults and other festivities are being held by various districts. The zoos and amusement parks have goings on as well, of course.

Too much info to put into this post, but you can access the websites of the national museums and other parks through the Wikipage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_Seoul

Additional info : the official Children's Week logo is a symbol of 5 and 5 (May 5th) as young buds walking hand in hand. Designed by Prof. Yoon Ho Sup of Kookmin University.

P.S. My can't-edit-personal-photos-yet compy problems are causing my blog to turn into a PSA! Need to get out of this mode. I feel like a virtual tour guide.

P.P.S. Caffeinated Traveller has written about the same holiday on her blog, with a more informative and much less cynical view.

Lotus Lantern Festival - Buddha's Birthday

Korea celebrates both Christmas and Buddha's birthday, the latter falling on May 2nd of this year. (Changes every year due to the lunar calendar.)

Events at various temples and venues had already started from the end of April, but the biggest events are taking place on the date itself. The lighting of the Lotus Lanterns are the highlight of the ceremonies, so take some time out to enjoy the beautiful colorful displays.

2009 Lotus Lantern Festival homepage
(available in English, Japanese, Chinese, French, German)
http://www.llf.or.kr/index.asp

P.S. It doesn't matter what your religion is, take it as a cultural event.