Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do, South Korea

Well it was quite a night I must say. Everyone played really well at the Jam Session Show at Bar Bumpin last night. Unfortunately, it wasn't All You Can Drink. I was disappointed, especially because I ended up having to pay through the teeth for drinks. All You Can Drink is happening tonight, I was planning on going, but I'm having second thoughts, it all depends on how I feel later.

I did have a really late night, though. Bumpin was packed to the brim; Mr. Lee had a few too many and passed out early in the night and the "other" Kieran had to run the bar. The music was good, everyone was in a good mood, I had a great time. After Bumpin closed, a small group of us headed over to the Warehouse and forced Ras to keep the place open until sunrise, playing pool and drinking draft beer. Ras was heading to Seoul today and we shut the place down and left around 6:30am...from there it was a staggering walk to find a cab and off home...as Soutthida and Ras sped by on their scooter telling the foreigners to "Get the fuck out of the way!" heh :)

If I can get myself together, it'll be another long, drunken night of debauchery at Bumpin tonight. I'll see you there!

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Today in History: On this day in 1912, the great TransAtlantic liner, The Whitestar Titanic, sank 500 miles off the east coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia...

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Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do, South Korea

As a new season of TV shows have made their way into my living room here in Korea, I thought I'd take a moment to discuss some of my new and old favorites.

Family Guy
I'm overjoyed that someone decided to start playing this show, affectionately called "Shocking Family" here in Korea. I don't know how long it will last though, I can't see Koreans understanding the humour. Anyways...it's on Movie Plus, Monday and Tuesday nights at 10pm.

Jake 2.0
I'm only really into this show because it's filmed in Vancouver, and is really the only way of seeing my home city on a regular basis. I had watched it before, but didn't realize it was Vancouver until the third episode, when I noticed the distinct skyline and flora of Vancouver. There were a few scenes of buses and downtown that were unmistakeable. I thought to myself..."hmmm I wonder if I'll see any one I know?" First, it was Tyler Labine (he played Jimmy on Breaker High) as LaFortunada, a NSA agent that works deep in the bowels of their headquarters and has dirt on everyone. He's not someone I know personally, but someone I know of, as a Vancouver actor. He lived a block from my apartment, and I would often see him buying milk at the grocery store, at Meinhardt's or walking on the sidewalk outside my window. I had met him before at Sonar...but it was just a drunken encounter. Later in the same episode, Jake was at Playland. A friend of mine, that I worked with at Earls before coming here, Brad Dryborough, played an employee of the amusement park. He was manning a strength testing game that Jake played and destroyed in the process. Mondays and Tuesdays on OCN at 8:50pm.

The Osbournes
It's just the first season, which I already know all too well. I had downloaded it back home and watched every episode several times. It's nice to be able to watch it here though. I have to say that I love Ozzy, I had this new found respect for him after watching the series. Anyways, it's great. Wednesday and Thursday nights, MoviePlus at 10:30.

The Restaurant
I remember when this show was airing back home. I never really got a chance to watch it. The premise is as follows: it's a reality showed that revolves around the set-up, opening and running of a restaurant, Rocco's, in New York. It's funny how after working for 6 and a half years in the restaurant business I know very well what the scene is like. It brings back all the memories of the frustrations that come with working in the service industry and all the lingo that was starting fade from my mind. Getting slammed, in the weeds, Squirrel is being Squirrelly, fresh up, seating flow, menus out, flare and pizzaz, Earlitude, resos, the computers crashing, hot food hot, cold food cold, can i get a coat check! and many, many others. It's just how it was, so watch the show and you'll know what it's like...to a tee! Monday to Thursday nights on CatchON at 9:25.

Friends
They've been airing this since I've arrived. Three episodes a day. I enjoy it, but I'd never say it was a great show. The humour is too set-up...the jokes come on cue, and Phoebe using her mother's suicide for laughs one too many times...it's getting old. It does make me laugh, I'll admit, especially Joey, and I do rush home after work to watch it. I'm looking forward to seeing Joey's self-titled spin-off show when Friends finally dies...Monday to Friday nights, on Dong Ah TV, 7:30-8:30pm and 11pm.

Paradise Hotel
Did I actually watch this show? Yes. I only manaaged to catch the last few episodes. Was it good, no, was it entertaining, yes. It's called "Love Survival" here, by the way. Mondays and Tuesdays at 11:30pm on Dong Ah TV.

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Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do, South Korea

So, it's been awhile since I've really had any time to do anything useful at home. The last two weekends I've gone away and my apartment is feeling like a pig sty.

Last weekend, I went to Kyeongju...(or Gangju...Gwangju....Gongju...Kungju...etc as Misty would say). Met up with Misty in Gangneung and Jennifer and Stefan at the bus terminal. We took a 7am bus and traveled South for 5 hours to Pohang city. The road was really windy and our bus driver was a bit psycho. I was listening to music, looking out the window, when I heard a "BLECH!" I looked around and realized that the girl sitting right in front of me had puked. I stifled my laughs by burying my face in my Lonely Planet. Needless to say, it was a bit disgusting...she had coated the floor, chairs and head rests in front of her in clear, slightly chunky, purple vomit. Luckily, no one was sitting beside her...must've been one of the most embarrassing moments of her life, especially because of all the foreigners sitting behind her. It was really nice, especially along the coast and through the forests where the wind hadn't had a chance to do its work on the cherry blossoms.

From Pohang, we took another bus to Kyeongju. Fortunately, the whole trip was hours less than expected. Soutthida had mentioned a place called the Sa Rang Chae hostel, but it was fully booked and we ended up staying at the Hanjin instead. Mr. Kwon, who runs the establishment, seemed to be quite a character and it only took a night of staying there for him to be well-remembered. It's funny how everyone, even after just knowing him as the guy behind the desk, displayed a heartfelt affection in every mention of his name. He does calligraphy and poetry and apparently there's also a "Live Scorpion Show" that he performs. Ahhh...Mr. Kwon. The first day was fairly muggy and cold, we spent the day wandering around the tombs from the Shilla dynasty. Giant mounds of earth, perfectly rounded, several stories high, covered in grass and dotted around the downtown area. Tumuli Park houses a large concentration of them and is close to downtown. But, once you've seen one, you've seen them all. There's one that they've excavated and hollowed out. You can walk in and see the grave at the base, in the center, of this giant mound of earth.

Misty had noted a "Rice Wine Factory" on the tourist map, so after meeting her friend from Newfoundland, Nathan, we made our way through the park for some refreshing rice beverages. Unfortunately, it was more like a museum and seemed fairly closed to visitors. There were a couple of old people and a monk, smiling and drinking rice wine in a room. We poked around and were scolded by the proprietor when we opened one of the vats.

We ended up purchasing some Sake and Hite Beer from a small shop and drank it on the street outside. A sight, I'll never forget and one that is typically Korean. It was a small street running parallel along the outside of a park housing many of the Mound tombs. Cherry blossom trees were in full effect along both sides of the street. So, there we were, five foreigners at a dirty metal patio table, sitting on plastic chairs and crates drinking in the afternoon. I had noticed several signs mentioning Famous Kyeongju Bread and was eager to try some. I bought a bag for snacks as we drank. They look like small shiny donuts and are filled with red bean paste. They were okay...not what I expected.

We also walked to Anapji Pond. It's fairly large and surrounded by small temples. It was dredged some time ago, and they found hundreds of ancient artifacts now on display at the National Museum in Seoul. We fed the remaining Kyeongju Bread to the Koi in the pond.

From there, we headed back to the hostel and then out for dinner. That night, after drinking in a couple of Hof's around the hostel we joined up with a small foreigner party on the roof. It was damn cold that night and I headed to bed fairly early.

The next day, we took a bus to the Bulguksa Temple. It was a long, long ride, and standing room only, the entire way. The temple is a popular tourist site and it seemed like all of Korea had come out for a visit. The temple is a World Heritage Site and houses some of the most amazing examples of temple architecture and painting from the Joseon and Shilla dynasties. We also went on a long hike higher up in to the mountains to the Seokgulam Grotto, which houses an ancient Buddha statue. The Buddha has a small crystal on its forehead. The crystal is taking the place of a diamond that was stolen during the Japanese occupation. Apparently, as the sun rose, the diamond would catch the rays and reflect them out over the city. They haven't been able to get the crystal back in the right spot and so the light reflecting abilities of this Buddha are mere legend now.

I tried Bondegi (boiled silk worm larvae) for the first time. I knew that I wanted to, but never really had the opportunity. Nathan purchased a steaming paper-cupful from an ajummah near the entrance to the park. I know the smell only too well, like warm, salty dirt. What did they taste like?...like warm, salty, dirt and crunchy too! I have some photos of my deluge into this culinary oddity...check back in a week.

This outing took more time than expected and we didn't have much energy left to check out anything else. We went out for dinner and then met up with Kate and friends from Gangneung at a bar. I went home early and Nathan stayed out with Kate all night. The next morning at 8am he crept back into our room and passed snoring on the floor. Misty and I woke up a couple of hours later and made our way to the train station. The ride home was nice. The train was clean and comfortable. It's funny how typically Korean the sights were. Like the windows were a video screen flashing "Images of Korea!" Passing through small towns, little one story houses with tiled roofs, children playing in the street. An ajummah and her goat trodding through rice fields. Failed businesses, boarded up with broken windows. Garbage and bits of Styrofoam along the shores of what would be a majestic river. Noraebangs, family run shikdangs and hofs everywhere. And then the signs of "progress", highway construction, concrete pillars and bulldozers diverting streams and tearing down trees.

It was funny how nice it felt to be back in Gangneung. It's finally starting to feel like "home."

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February 20, 1967 - April 5, 1994

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Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do, South Korea

....not going to Seoul anymore....I'm going to Kyeongju....Saturday morning...6am...

Hey...look at Jerry Seinfeld's new ad campaign for American Express at: www.americanexpress.com/jerry

today was rough...

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