Glow In The Dark: The Night Palace Tours

Last week, I called up Korea Tourism Organization's #1330 hotline to ask about the night tours of Changdeokgung Palace. The female operator handling the English hotline told me that tickets were made available days before and they were sold out. 

Something in me didn't believe her. Why? All my professional life I was trained not to believe unless I see evidence. And unless she told me her source and verified it myself, I didn't believe a word she said. Ha-ha-ha!

(Photographers and onlookers standing on the rooftop of the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History)

And I was right not to believe her.

Yesterday, I logged on into Interpark's website and, viola! I was able to buy a ticket! For a night tour of Changdeok Palace! They weren't sold out after all!

       (Gyeongbuk Palace lighted at night)

I wanted to call back #1330 and tell that female operator to stop informing her callers that tickets were sold out. Because if she did, those tourists and visitors to Korea who wanted to experience walking around the Changdeok Palace at night would just forego the experience of discovering the Palace's nocturnal character.

The temperatures in Seoul are getting warmer these days, and it should be comfortable walking around the palatial grounds even at night. 

And maybe when it's really quiet and calm at the Palace, perhaps, it won't only be the tour guide's voice that the visitors would be able to hear. We should also be able to hear the voices of the past residents and the stories they wanted to tell the visitors.

     (The main gate of Gyeongbuk Palace 
                            at night)

Details of the night tour:

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=1087481

Seoul's Summer, Stream and Sachoom!

           (Seoul's Cheonggye Stream)

It's been a sweltering summer here in Seoul these past weeks, and like everyone else, I avoided going outdoors, lest I wanted to melt. Ha-ha-ha!

Although the giant water ride drew everyone towards Sinchon last month for people to temporarily cool off, that was just a short respite. 

And as I made my way one night towards the Cine Core Theater in the Jongno District of Seoul to watch a special performance of Sa-choom!, I spied on some locals literally cooling their feet on the Cheonggye Stream. I would have wanted to join them if it were not for the the 8PM showtime.

Not surprising, there were more locals queuing for their tickets at the box office. If this were months ago, or shall I say during the pre-MERS days, the Chinese tourists lining up to watch this non-verbal performance would have outnumbered locals.

             (Queuing for their tickets)

Compared to other shows, you can actually take photographs during the performance, but sadly, I couldn't bring in an iced cafe mocha. You can only take with you bottled water. And after I took my seat next to Vicky, a visiting tourist from Frankfurt, Germany, I took around and noticed that all seats were taken! I assumed it's the summer vacation; so, everyone made sure they enjoyed a Korean performance or two.

I saw Sa-Choom in April, and I wasn't that impressed with what I saw. Perhaps, it was a different team that performed for the K-Performance Supporters that night. Tonight, however, the team of performers seemed to have raised their level. But I think the show's contents - the choreography, costumes, music, and storyline - were the problem. It would work for a visiting tourist who may find it a novelty, but not for me.

This team's lead actor, Bin, was just like the same as the other team: he has no presence on stage and couldn't even rap his songs properly. He was just tall and could do chest stand. Luckily, the lead actress could sing! The director should have exploited this talent more by giving her more 'screen time' to show off her good vocals. Yes, she was pretty, skinny, and could sing! I wonder if she actually tried out for a K-pop album. 

     (This guy doing the breakdance is the 
       best among the back-up dancers)

After the show, I asked Vicky which characters she liked; her favorites were Jong-yeok, the emcee (played by Jang Dong-ho) and that underdog character who danced in his pajamas and could dislocate his shoulder while bboy dancing! I agreed with her choices. These two were the redeeming characters of the show; they had showmanship and energy level above everyone else on stage. 

           (Dancing in one's pajamas!)

(Minister Kim Jongdeok of Culture, Sports and Tourism joins the performers on stage to encourage everyone to help in the efforts to promote Korean performances)

         (Sa-choom gift packs were given 
        away to lucky audience members)

And since it was a special performance that night, the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sports, Mr. Jongdeok Kim, gave a short speech encouraging everyone to help promote Korean tourism to reverse the MERS effects. He also gave out three Sachoom gift packs to three lucky audience members.

So, if you're still on your summer vacation, do catch some Korean performances in Seoul, and then you can perhaps also cool off your tired feet on the Cheonggye Stream!

The 2015 K-Performance Supporters' Dinner, Dance And Dessert!

This is what I like about the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). They know how to show their appreciation for the efforts of the bloggers, specifically those who help promote musicals, non-verbal performances and other shows in Seoul. I have been a member of this group of bloggers, the K-Performance Supporters, for a few years now, and all this time being a member, I have always enjoyed the events as well as the performances (well, most of it anyway) that I watched and wrote about. 

And speaking of bloggers, I am also a member of the Global Seoul-Mates group run by the Seoul Tourism Organization (STO), and I couldn't help but notice the glaring difference between the two tourism organizations.

I think the people running the STO can learn a lot from the KTO team. STO's programs are un-creative and lacking objectives. I have a feeling STO people are also lazy; I could not even get a decent email reply from them, and they could not even be bothered to send me the prizes they promised. And that was almost a year ago. Oh, well. Some bureaucratic mentality must have gotten into the minds of the people working at the STO, and I hope they're reading this. Ha-ha-ha!

                         (Making my own patpingsu!)

                           (My favorite shot of the night!)

The KTO teams, on the other hand, are very active and know what they are doing. And last week, to welcome the 2015 K-Performance Supporters, the KTO feted everyone to a buffet dinner at VIPS restaurant in the Jongno District in Seoul! Yes, it was a buffet!

In 2014, the 3rd K-Performance Supporters group were also welcomed at the same restaurant and had a fun time watching the Ka-Boom performance. This year, however, the bloggers watched another show, Sachoom!

I saw Sachoom about two years ago when it was still being performed at the Nakwon-dong Arcade near Insadong. This time, they're performing at the Cine Core Building in the Jongno District in Seoul. It's the same building as the show, JUMP.

             (In most performance, there's always the 
                  required audience participation section)

Sachoom is an 85-minute dance musical with about 12 dancers making up the ensemble, who engages the audience with a few genres of dance: modern jazz, bboy, tango, and a few dance steps you'd see from Dancing 9 and some K-pop performances. In between, there was mime, a slapstick comedy sketch, and of course, the required audience participation section.

                         (I was relieved she could sing.)

Although the showmanship is there, the show could do some help in the costume section and choreography. All the lead dancer/actor did was stretch his arms wide, do handstands and flash a smile. And while his female counterpart could sing a few bars, I have a feeling she wasn't exactly hired for her dancing. 

Sachoom didn't give me an obvious reason why it should be watched. It was just a few dance numbers put together with a few comedic antics squeezed in between to tickle the audience. Nothing more. But luckily for the audience, we were allowed to take pictures (without flash) during the show, and it kept me busy. Yes, all night long. Ha-ha-ha! I even featured one photo that I liked in a separate blog.

But thanks to the Korea Tourism Organization for the dinner treat that night. I truly enjoyed making my own patpingsu!  Other than the dancing, I hope my fellow 2015 K-Performance Supporters also enjoyed the dinner and dessert! 

Until the next event!

If A Picture Paints A Thousand Words: "The Painters: Hero"

                   (My The Painters: Hero ticket courtesy of 
                         the Korea Tourism Organization)

According to the band Bread, a picture should paint a thousand words. But at 'The Painters: Hero' show, a picture paints, not just a thousand words, but also applause, laughter, oohs and aahs.

This show is a performance art, literally. Four guys creating works of art on the stage with all the audience members watching and sometimes participating.

On the first few minutes of the show, I thought that perhaps my friends who have attended painting classes would be able to appreciate this performance more than I would. After all, I didn't actually excel at drawing when I was in grade school. I'd rather write or sing than draw. 😂

I have watched a lot of performances in Seoul over the years; from non-verbal performances, to musicales to Korean traditional music, gugak, opera, and ballet. But this one was a novelty: a show that lets the audience share the experience of the artists on stage in bringing works of art to life, and with dancing and funny antics at that!

               (At the end of the show, the audience can 
                      take photos of the actors on stage)

That night, courtesy of the K-Performance Supporters team of the Korea Tourism Organization, I joined an audience consisting mostly of Chinese tourists and a few locals, and heard for myself that the loudest laughter in the crowd was not from the adults, but from the kids! Yes, this show is not only for the grownups, but I think with all the slapstick and the digital spectacle onstage, the kids enjoyed it more!

The show featured popular figures in the sketches and drawings so that the audience would immediately recognize them. I would have wanted to enumerate the popular profiles they featured on the show on this blog, but I don't want to spoil the surprise for you. You'd know who or what they are when you see the completed work on stage.

               (The audience taking photos of the 

                       stage after the show)

There's charcoal, paint on water, oil, and other media they use to create these interesting art pieces on stage. With music and background digital images on stage, the whole experience makes it especially unique. And there are also sections for audience participation. If you're picked, the actors will turn you into an artist on stage.

A very impressive part of the show was the drawing of the three warriors in charcoal on three separate boards with an ending completed by a digital fortress flashed on stage. Those were really imposing drawings. I wonder what they do with those drawings after the show?

But my favorite was the mesmerizing sketch of stars with the sea and a boat. Was it sand art? The unique experience of this section was that the whole theater was dimmed and what everyone saw on stage was the glowing canvas on which two performers created the whole scenery with green flash lights. And the best part? This number was performed to Paloma Faith's charming song, Stargazer. I guess, since the work of art was about stars, the director decided to have the song Stargazer, and I think from now on, every time I hear this song, I would remember this show.

"The Painters: Hero" actually have five teams named after Chaplin, Jackson, Superman, Beethoven and Picasso. These teams take turns in performing the 80-minute show.

              (The Picasso Team at the autograph session)

That night, it was the new Picasso team that performed. I spoke with the actors after their performance and told them it was my first time to watch them and I was impressed. 

So, if you also want to be impressed with these artists on stage who could dance, do mime and slapstick on stage while creating works of art, do visit their website below and set a date to watch it:

http://thepainters.co.kr/

The venue is the Seoul Theater, which is accessible from Exit 14 of Jongno 3-ga Station, and is actually a good stroll from Insadong. The ticket box is on the first floor, but the performance venue is on the 5th floor. You need to take the escalator all the way up. There are staff members who will direct you to the venue.

After the performance, you can actually walk down (opposite direction from Jongno 3-ga Station) to the Cheonggye Stream, which is just a couple of minutes by foot from the venue.

#performanceart #painting #artists #painterhero #Kdrama #Koreandrama #picasso #palomafaith #stargazer