"Do You Want To Become Korea.Net's Next Top Blogger?"

Years ago, I started this blog so I could join a blogging contest. That time, I wasn't really sold to the idea of writing a piece every now and then, as I had a full-time job and might not be able to continue posting. So I merely populated this blog site from my posts on a defunct social medium, and got me a consolation prize for lazily doing so. 

Well, what do you know? Eight years and more than 800 original posts later, my humble blog of a diary is still up and counting! And the best part? I actually enjoy writing these posts with photographs for whomever interested in reading them.

My pre-apinoyinkorea.blogspot.com writing days merely included contributing a few articles to my business school's magazine and winning in the 2007 Seoul International Essay Writing Competition. Although I was mighty proud of my 2nd prize win at the Jose Rizal essay writing competition as well. Why? Because I wrote it in Pilipino! Wheew!  That was especially challenging since the Pilipino subject wasn't exactly my favorite in college. (English, Spanish and Economics were!) Finishing that essay was as difficult as reaching Seoraksan's peak!  A really difficult climb, but you're rewarded with a spectacular view when you reach the top! (And you have all the way down to catch your breath! Ha-ha-ha!).

And all these years of joining (and gratefully receiving prizes!) Korea Tourism Organization's ibuzzkorea.com and K-Performance Supporters group, and the Seoul City government's Global Seoul Mates team, I felt I could do more! (Yeah, after doubting if I could ever maintain this blog since Day 1 eight years ago. Ha-ha-ha!).

So, in 2014, I signed up to be part of Korea Culture and Information Service's 2014 batch of Worldwide Korea Bloggers. As part of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korea Culture and Information Service (KOCIS) team runs and maintains the www.Korea.net website.

                      (The Museum's reflecting pond)

And on June 20, 2014, a Friday, KOCIS feted the WKBloggers who live in Korea to a welcome dinner at the National Museum of Korea in the Yongsan District in Seoul.

But before I headed to the Museum that day, I spied a runway being set up in front of the Yongsan Station that afternoon. With the words "KOREA'S NEXT topmodel" written on the stage and a group of skinny Korean ladies being made up inside the white tents next to it, I immediately knew that the modeling competition was to be held in the neighborhood that night. But I wondered why Tyra Banks (or maybe the Korean franchise holder) decided to set up the runway in a not-so-glamorous of locations. Maybe their expected target audience included the E-Mart shoppers, the commuters of Subway Line No. 1, the vendors of the electronics shops (who always jack prices up if you're a foreigner!), or perhaps, the drunk ajussis of the pojang-machas (drinking tents) whose smoke from their Korean barbecue grills entices everyone passing by. I would have wanted to watch the actual competition and take pictures, but I had a welcome dinner to attend!

The last time I walked the grounds of the National Museum of Korea was during an autumn day a year before. And although that Friday night was humid and hot, walking towards the Museum's Maru fine-dining restaurant to join some of the 54-member 2014 Worldwide Korea Bloggers was a good stroll. 

For the Worldwide Korea Bloggers all over the world who couldn't make it, you were all in our thoughts that night. The welcome dinner-party was enjoyable and fun. I learned more about the KOCIS, and met its officers, Mr. Yonggi Won and Mr. Jeongseon Sun, and the energetic team led by Ms. Cathy Paik.

                                    (A royal hot pot)

And in between my plates of yummy Korean dishes, I had fun chatting with Mr. Sun and fellow bloggers, Joanna, Ana, Megan and Rasheed at the dinner table. It was also interesting to chat with a lady reporter from Arirang TV who dropped by, and with my fellow K-Performance Supporter Fakhar. So, a huge congratulations and 'thank you' to Cathy and her team for gathering everyone and for treating us to a hearty dinner at Maru. (I especially liked the royal hot pot!).

And as we WKBloggers come from different backgrounds and nationalities, I am sure our posts have become more interesting as we offer different perspectives of the culture, history and life in and about Korea. 

As for me, even after reaching my eighth year and going past my 800th post, I will continue to enjoy blogging as I have all these years. 

           (My appointment certificate and yummy dessert!)

And for everyone out there, who also would like to share their Korean stories, insights and experience through The Korea Blog, let me borrow Tyra Banks' line from that modeling competition:

"Are you ready to become Korea-dot-net's next top blogger?"

         (The KOCIS team and some 2014 WKBloggers!)

Daehangno's Musicale Hwarang 뮤지컬 화랑

                      (The Art Madang Theater Building)

It's the one aspect of Korean culture that needs to be promoted more: the Korean musicale performances and plays in Daehang-no.

While most tourists may not be able to understand the plays as they are in Korean, they may be able to enjoy the music and the dancing of the musicale even if these are in Korean.

                    (Audience lining up to enter the theater)

And while the non-verbal performances in Seoul are already popular with international tourists bussed in to their shows non-stop, I, as a member of the K-Performance Supporters of the Korea Tourism Organization, am helping to promote the musicales, which most international tourists have yet to discover.

The Korean musicale Hwarang has been playing for a few years now. The musicale is a mixture of story of  Shilla Dynasty trainee-soldiers, who are called Hwarang. The five male characters, Ki-Parang, Yu-o, Mun-no, Gwan-rang and Sa-daham, all tell their own story through dialogues, and very K-pop-ish song ang dance routines, which K-pop lovers out there would appreciate. 

Here's the synopsis of the musicale, as provided by the Visit Korea website:

The Hwarang audition announcement is posted in Seorabol, the capital of the Shilla Dynasty, which has a thousand-year history.

The rebel Yu-o who wants to escape from his mother, the audacious and self-centered Ki-Parang, the Hwarang descendant Mun-no, who came down the mountain village with great dreams, the reluctant Gwan-rang, who was forced by his father to apply for Hwarang, and the innocent youth Sa-daham who thought the only purpose of his life is to protect Gwan-rang, all finally become a team after many twists and turns. However, there is no such thing as a peaceful day for this group given their different personalities, backgrounds and talents.

In order to break free from the strict rules and hard training routine, the group decides to make an escape plan. To make things worse, they reach a turning point where they have to decide whether to endure the competition or succumb to the conflicts and misunderstandings arising from the group.

Will they succeed in becoming a real 'Hwarang' and achieve they dream of becoming a superstar in Seorabeol?

(The cast and a lucky audience member.)

As the show has been playing for years now, it has created quite a following, especially among the young girls. But since the musicale is based on history and updated to the current music trend, it's for the whole family. When I watched last weekend, there were a couple of parents with their kids in the audience clapping at each lively song-and-dance number. In keeping with their tradition, the current cast also has very good voices, way much better than the K-pop boy band you'd see on TV.

The musicale holds 'events' every once in a while where lucky audience members are given prizes by the cast. 

  

For directions to the theater, do refer to the photographs and directions on this previous Hwarang blog. Or to their Facebook page.

From Where I Sip: A Cafe As A Beauty Shop!

Continuing on with my From Where I Sip series...

There used to be a sandwich restaurant next to our office, Joe's Sandwich, where I'd order a tuna sandwich for lunch on  days when I didn't have time to properly sit down for a real mid-day meal.

On one of my lunch time visits to Joe's Sandwich, I was surprised on one table, a couple of girls were clipping their finger nails and coloring them. I asked myself, 'Isn't this a restaurant where food is served and sanitation should be observed?'  I don't know Seoul's sanitation regulations when it comes to restaurants, but when clippings of dead finger nails are scattered around the restaurant and these colored chemicals are introduced into the room, I was pretty sure health and sanitation should be a priority. Fortunately that day, those girls were only doing their hands, and not their feet. Eeew!

But I guess, in Korea, that is very acceptable. Putting your sandwich next to your finger nail clippings and nail cutter, or sipping your iced cafe americano while you paint your finger nails red, or perhaps, interchanging the two tasks, is normal.

I'm not sure if that finger clipping and nail-polishing scene at Joe's Sandwich may have been an exception. Perhaps, those girls were meeting their respective dates after lunch and needed an emergency nail-beautification session inside the restaurant before going back to the office. 

On some occasions, it's less surprising. At times, I'd see a group of girls at Starbucks in Itaewon seated in between students studying and ajussis talking about business, while they duplicate a scene out of a beauty shop, minus the hair drying and perming. Ha-ha-ha!

I was amazed that they even brought their own make-up kit. And in between sipping my iced cafe mocha and reading the pages of my report, I observed as they painted their faces with all the colors at their disposal. Brushing, pencilling and lining every square centimeter of their skin that faced the world. Or in the case that night, the skin that faced all the other people in Starbucks. Ha-ha-ha!

I am not sure if this sisterhood of turning any cafe into a beauty shop is prevalent all over the city, or perhaps, the whole peninsula. 

I haven't seen this face-painting scene for quite some time now, and I'm thinking, maybe, just like the nail-clipping and nail-polishing at Joe's Sandwich, this make-up session in a coffee shop is only common to those having an emergency. After all, shouldn't you be groomed and ready when you step out of your apartment?  

So, the next time you're in a coffee shop and you see a group of girls having a make-up session together, don't be surprised. They're having an emergency. 

From Where I Sip: Textbooks And Students

To continue on with my From Where I Sip series...

In most coffee shops, on any given day (or night!), there would always be people reading text books, scribbling notes and discussing lessons with their classmates. 

These are the studious students. Mostly high school and college students doing their homework, writing their papers or cramming for an exam. In my high school and college days, there was only a library and a study hall. Nowadays, these students have another venue: coffee shops!

I can understand it's always difficult to concentrate or get your homework done at home where there's TV and a comfortable bed. And perhaps, noisy neighbors.

These students I always see at coffee shops would buy a drink, occupy a quiet corner, get their textbooks and iPods out, and study away! The whole morning, afternoon or night! 

I used to see a lot of them at Starbucks and at the 24-hour Tom N Toms in Itaewon. But when a group of noisy people seated at the next table is as noisy as a jet plane taking off, you would need more than the concentration of a pilot flying an Airbus 380! It's always irritating when two or three people facing each other at a table are talking at a volume so loud it's as if they are a kilometer away from each other. I'm not sure if they have hearing problems, or maybe, they just don't care that a student seated nearby is cramming for an exam the next day.

I was a good student myself (naks!), and I know that getting good grades needs a lot of hard work and studying. 

So, the next time you and your friends are in a coffee shop babbling loudly away about a new thing you bought or gossiping about other people, try to look around and be considerate. The student seated next to you is studying for his or her future. Who knows? Perhaps, that student would become somebody some day.

Memorial Day: Remembering The Fallen At The Seoul National Cemetery

War is cruel; we all know that. And today, Memorial Day in South Korea, at 10AM, the siren wails all over the country for everyone to pause for a minute and remember those who died for the country.

And at the Seoul National Cemetery in the Dongjak District, the fallen rest eternally on a plain and on the hills surrounded by a forest of as if to guard them as they lay in their eternal slumber.

This place is very quiet, especially on ordinary days when you can only see a few people strolling around perhaps to visit the graves of their family members who died during the Korean War, or just to walk around the place and absorb its tranquility.

Rows and rows of thousands of headstones marking each grave line up in perfect geometry at the national cemetery, looking like lines of battalions of soldiers ready to go to war. But sadly, they all had fought their last battle and had made the ultimate sacrifice for the country. 

On Memorial Day, the cemetery is visited by thousands of family members and ordinary citizens paying their respects and honoring the memories and lives of these soldiers, policemen, martyrs and other unnamed heroes, who all are forever remembered and honored in this cemetery.

And as I roamed the Seoul National Cemetery for the first time on one cool autumn day, I was able to also pay my respects, not only for the heroes and soldiers whose remains were identified, but also for those unknown. 

According to the Korea Tourism Organization website, there are 165,000 remains of soldiers, policemen, martyrs, reserved officers and meritorious citizens entombed here. At the Memorial Tower, memorial tablets for 104,000 soldiers who bodies were never found, and about 7,000 for unknown soldiers whose remains were not identified. Although their remains are missing, or unidentified, they are still accorded the honor and respect of a fallen hero.

Today, there may be memorial services for these heroes. And if you have time and want to visit the Seoul National Cemetery, it's at the Exit 8 of the Dongjak Station (Line 4 or 9). I was told nobody is allowed to hold picnics here as this is a sacred ground.  But if you want to pay your respects and enjoy the serenity in the middle of the city, I highly recommend you join the thousands of citizens heading there today.