Travelblog Korea: The 2013 Buzz Korea Awards!

This is what I like about the Korea Tourism Organization. They know how to show their appreciation to those of us who help in their campaign to promote Seoul and Korea to the world.

                     ('Fradia' with my Hannam-dong neighborhood 
                  in the background across the Han River)

                                   (Early buzzers)

The 2013 Buzz Korea Awards is the first time buzz KOREA gathered the international bloggers and members (at least those who could make it to Seoul) together in one place to celebrate another year and to award members whose videos, blogs and K-spots garnered the most votes. The winners got a free tour of selected Korean tourist spots while on a six-day, free-accommodation visit to Korea.

                             (Psy welcoming everyone)

In 2011, I received a runner-up prize for my blog, The Occidental Tourist, which I wrote in the summer of that year. Over the years, I won a prize or two for this or for that. Early this year, I won an iPad Mini!  

(The head of the Korea Tourism Organizaton's team handling buzz KOREA)

(The host of the awards, Ricky Kim)

(Dal Shabet)

So, tonight, amidst the fun and excitement of the awards ceremony held at Fradia, a floating restaurant and event place near Jamwon-dong in the Seocho District of Seoul, Dal Shabet and ZE:A, two of the more popular K-pop bands these days, performed exclusively for the buzz KOREA members. 

                                (Dal Shabet greeting the audience)

The awards night was hosted by Ricky Kim, who also helped give away special prizes like music CDs, a ZE:A jacket, an expensive-looking red backpack, and Yuna Kim's tiara and earrings, which she wore during a figure skating competition.

                             (ZE:A greeting their fans in the crowd)

And everyone went home with a bag full of skin care products. This was mine. Ha-ha-ha!

Thanks again, buzz KOREA, for the gifts. Until next year!

Here are the upbeat performances of Dal-Shabet and ZE:A. ZE:A also sang this ballad.

Here are a few photos of the winners. Congratulations to them!

I Know Where To Get My Patbingsu Fix! Do You?

I used to think Paris Croissant in Hannam-dong served the best patbingsu. Last summer, I dropped by this cafe and enjoyed a huge bowl full of ice shavings, sweetened tteok and sweet red beans. But when I went up there on the second floor one Saturday afternoon to order one, I was disappointed. The image of the patbingsu sitting on my table was so different from the giant patbingsu photograph on their wall. The photograph was flowing with red beans. Mine was, well, I had to search into the ice shavings for the red beans. I complained and decided I won't return to Paris Croissant again for a patbingsu.

Luckily, there's another cafe that serves a better version of patbingsu in the neighborhood, Coffine Gurunaru! Their patbingsu is much more interesting: a scoop of sweetened red beans, two slices of sweet green melon, slices of sweet tteok, chips of almond and a flavored powder, all on a bowl of milky ice shavings. Although it's pricey, it's worth crossing to the other side of Hannam-dong! And they have strong wi-fi and seats with a view!

Actually, this summer delight in Korea can be quite heavy; a meal unto itself. That's why some people share it. But for me, if it's yummy, I'd rather have it for myself. Ha-ha-ha!

Squid Pro Quo: Ojing-eo Dinner For A Gangnam Evening

Before the monsoon rains ruined another trip south of the river, I hurried to meet up with my friend James, whom I hadn't seen in a year. The last time we met up was last year when another friend Soo-Jin and I drove down to meet him at Gangnam to enjoy a chat over dinner at  Bae Yong-Joon's restaurant.

This time, we decided to just venture around the block near the Gangnam Station, where, even during a week night,  was still full of people. If you visit this area on a weekend, you would find pedestrians and vehicles competing for space at the back alleys. And most restaurants, cafes and bars would be packed. Gangnam was already very popular even before Psy sang about it. Before, you could only see a lot of locals here. Now, with that hit video, international tourists have added this place to their itinerary.

But tonight, with cloudy skies hovering above the Gangnam skyline, I didn't see any tourist. Only office people and groups of friends flocking to the back alleys to have dinner or a drink. I asked James to pick a restaurant as this was his territory. He works in one of those tall buildings and during lunch, he would just pick one of those hundreds of dining places within a walking distance.

As my good friend suggested, we finally ended up on a restaurant that served ojing-eo bokkeum, or the spicy stir-fried squid dish. 'Ojing-eo' means squid and 'bokkeum' refers to any dish that's stir-fried. And what a dish it was! Paired with another huge plate of calamari and our funny stories, this dinner couldn't have been more enjoyable!

Before we finished off the squid, veggies and spicy sauce off the huge hot plate, the Korea ajumma added two cupfuls of rice and thinly sliced kim or edible seaweed, which she mixed with the remaining ojing-eo bokkeum. The whole hot plate then transformed into another picture of red, spicy rice with squid and veggies, and looking like another dish unto itself. By this time, although I felt a little bit full, not from our exchange of stories, anecdotes and jokes, but from everything else on our table, the image of a hot plate filled with meticulously mixed rice with the red pepper paste flavored with the taste of stir-fried squid and veggies was very tempting that we just had to continue. Eating. And chatting. Ha-ha-ha!

After dinner, we needed to wash off the spiciness of our ojing-eo bokkeum dinner with coffee and more stories. And we weren't surprised that most cafes nearby were also full of people as I thought, just like us, these crowds also wanted to spend a fun evening in Gangnam. 

Thanks, James, for the dinner! Until the next time in Gangnam!

R16 Korea: A Celebration of the BBoy Culture!

As Alfonso_n_Korea tweeted ‘even the monsoon rains can’t stop the #R16 Korea’ (which R16 Korea re-tweeted) the day before the 2013 R16 Korea World BBoy Championships, the skies were gloomy, the winds were howling and the streets in Seoul were wet from the heavy downpour. But even the bad weather could not keep the crowds from heading to the Olympic Park in Seoul during the weekend to enjoy the biggest bboy party of the year!

                (No monsoon rains could stop the party!)

                  (Long lines at the Ticket Box!)

Yes, R16 Korea is not just a competition and it’s not just a gathering of who’s who in the bboy world either. It is actually a celebration of the bboy culture. And if it’s a celebration, it’s a parteeeh!

The year 2013 is the 7^th year of R16 Korea, although I only heard about it until about three years ago when the organizers and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) stepped up their campaign to promote this international bboy competition. I first attended R16 Korea in 2010 when I got a free ticket as a blogger (read blog here) from KTO, and then in 2011 when I received a 'press pass' from the R16 organizers(read blog here). Last year, I missed the whole thing as I was out of the country. 

Luckily, this year, I was around to enjoy R16 Korea’s way of celebrating the bboy culture, and enjoy I did.

                (A Red Bull DJ at the street festival)

And since I was allowed to invite friends, I signed up two with the Korea Tourism Organization for them to get VIP tickets, too. And although my trip from my Hannam-dong neighborhood (in the Yongsan District) to the competition venue at the Olympic Park was quite a long route, it was always worth the trip! I guess crossing the river is always exciting especially if there was a party to cross for.

        (Juan Doe's artwork artwork at the street festival (read blog here)

The first day of the competition was all about the solo bboys (watch video here) and bgirls. These finalists, who have battled their way from their national and regional competitions, have finally reached the final stage where they can be declared the world champion, the best of the best, in the bboy, locking (watch video here) and popping competitions (watch video here).

                               (The urban street festival)

In the solo bboy category, Bboy Reflex of the Philippines (watch video here), who won the Southeast Asian regional finals, represented Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, he lost his first battle against Bboy Roo of Korea. At the end of the night, Bboy Issei of Japan (watch video here) was the solo bboy champion, Nao of Japan was the solo locking champion, and Hoan of Korea was the solo popping champion. Until now, I still get confused between locking and popping by the way. Ha-ha-ha! But my confusion aside, these champions' hard work paid off! Paid off handsomely in thousands of dollars in prize money, that is.

                                  (Bboys Issei and Blond)

But what brought the house down on the first night were the guest performances of Jinjo Crew, former R16 Korea champions (watch video here), and Monster Woo Fam (watch video here), which are both from Korea. Jinjo Crew’s 19 members were divided into three crews who danced to three genres of a song. My favorite were their classic jacket routines, which I saw them perform a couple of years ago, and the retro section complete with retro pants, shirts and sleek hairstyle. These guys are amazing! The current K-pop bands who try to make some bboy moves in their music videos look like beginners compared to the bboys of Jinjo Crew and Monster Woo Fam. They’re a league of their own.

                              (The solo bboy winners!)

Although he lost to Hoan of Korea at the popping finals, Josh of Singapore (watch video here) made a lot of local fans with his style and his on-stage good-luck paraphernalia: a Singaporean flag and what looks like an iPad mini to video his performance.  I hoped he successfully recorded his battle. On Sunday night, his Singaporean fans who attended the championships posed with Josh in front of the R16 board and they asked me to take their group photo.

  

And while the energy at the solo battles was already at its maximum, on Sunday night, during the crew battles, it was just over the top. If the Olympic Park stadium wasn’t made of sturdy materials, the roof could have blown off from so much energy emanating from the stage and from the bleachers. 

Every time a bboy or bgirl (watch video here) did an impossible move, the crowd just went wild. One of favorite bboys during the battles was Morning of Owl’s  Bboy Pocket, who did his flares like he was just making coffee or something. A flare was originally called Thomas Flair as invented by an American gymnast, Kurt Thomas. It’s like swinging both legs around you like an electric fan while only being supported by both hands on the floor. What brought the crowd to its feet was when Bboy Pocket actually took off his shirt while doing a flare.

I met Bboy Pocket two years ago on my way home after watching the R16 Korea in 2011. I spoke to him at the Olympic Park subway station while we were both waiting for the train. He told me he had to get home early that night as he still had to go to school the next morning. I think he was still in high school then. With his continued success in his bboy profession, I wonder how his grades are in school. I hope he’s able to juggle his time between school and his bboy activities like he juggles his flares.

The eight crews of Morning of Owl (Korea), Battle Born (USA), SKB Crew (Australia)(watch video here), Mental Fusion Crew (China), The Future Crew (Taiwan), Body Carnival (Japan)(watch video here), Melting Force (France) (watch video here) and Slavic United (Russia) battled it off until the remaining two, Morning of Owl and Body Carnival, were left standing. And the final showdown between the two was just a delight to watch. These guys are not just bboys who can breakdance, twist, twirl, spin and tumble; these guys are artists in their own right, inventing and creating moves that nobody else would have thought possible. Risking a broken arm, wrist or worse, their neck, they defy gravity, defy physics and of course, defy any chiropractor. Ha-ha-ha!

                        (The crew battles!)

In the end, Morning of Owl was just too much for the competition (watch video here). Once again, a crew from Korea was declared battle champion of R16 Korea, and Body Carnival was declared the performance champion. Before the crew battle began, each of the eight crews performed individually displaying their creativity, originality and everything what they’re made of, and of those eight performances, Body Carnival was declared the best.

                       (BWB, Khan and Moon)

The guest performance of Blue Whale Brothers with Bboys Khan and Moon was also amazingly impressive. I could tell a lot of work (and hours!) went into their preparation and rehearsals, especially when the four of them had to synchronize their moves with the visual animation behind them. Only top professionals could do it since they were actually dancing ‘blindly’. They could not see the animation behind them and yet with such precision, they had to move not only with each other, but with the music and the animation flashed on the white screen in front of which they danced. These guys had the precision, accuracy and creativity of Olympic synchronized swimmers! 

                           (Salah on stage)

Also a very memorable performance was that of the popping legend, Salah, of France (watch video here). His number actually reminded me of the mime of another French legend, Marcel Marceau, which I only saw on TV. But thanks to R16 Korea, I was able to see in person how Salah mesmerized his audience with his magical numbers.  The day before, at the urban arts festival outside the Olympic Park stadium, I saw a Korean fan asked Salah for a photo-op. Not only did Salah obliged, but he also chatted with that fan. That just shows he’s not only a great artist; he’s also a nice person. I hope he returns to R16 Korea next year to perform. And if he does, everyone should not miss his performance.

                               (The crowd going wild!)

So, instead of having to stay home while the rains ruined my tennis weekend, R16 Korea provided an even more interesting and enjoyable weekend! So, thank you to the Korea Tourism Organization and the staff handling the K-Performance Supporters for the VIP tickets (and the souvenirs!) for me and my friends.

                  (The final battle of the night! 

                        What a showdown!)

And congratulations to all the winners! Those endless hours training and perfecting those gravity-defying, shoulder-dislocating moves have paid off!

                           (The crew battle champions!)

And to the organizers of R16 Korea for another successful World Bboy Championships and their sponsors, that was a job well done!  I know everyone had a lot of sleepless nights before the finals. Congratulations!  

So, thanks to R16 Korea! My weekend was rained out, but it was a blast! See you all again in 2014!😎

#bboy #bboyculture #R16 #popping #locking #morningofowl #jinjocrew #salah #seoul #Korea #breakdancing