While this year’s trip to Korea is still fresh in my mind, here are a few thank-yous to the many people who made the trip special. Write-ups will follow over the coming weeks, not necessarily in chronological order. Thanks… To former LKL contributor Shin Eunjung and Tim Anderson for the splendid Gwangyang Bulgogi in, er, … [Read More]
Korea Trip 2013: Mountain Medicine Land and Grain
2013 Travel Diary #36: The royal perambulation
Insadong, Seoul, Monday 16 September, 7am. What more to report? I finish my packing. I ring home. I pay the bill. I hail the usual taxi in the street and get it to drop me off at the Koreana Hotel. I buy the bus ticket. I get on the KAL airport limo-bus. I get to … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #35: Renewing old friendships
Insadong, Seoul, Sunday 15 September, 3pm. I have only just arrived back at the hotel from the Sajik Daeje when the phone rings. It’s time to meet the curator and gallerist I had arranged to meet the previous day. I set off on foot to the Lotte Hotel, where I catch up with her activities. … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #34: The Gods of Land and Grain
Deoksugung, Jung-gu, Seoul, Sunday 15 September, 10:45am. By the time I reach the Deoksu Palace at 10:45am I’m already perspiring. I was wearing sunblock, but should have been wearing a sunhat and some shorts. It was going to be a hot day. This morning’s activity is a guided walk following the Sajik Daeje procession from … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #33: An evening in Daehakro
Buamdong, Seoul, Saturday 14 September, 6pm. Seoul Museum in Buamdong (not to be confused with the Seoul Museum of Art in Jeongdong, or indeed the Seoul Museum of History next to the Gyeonghuigung) is conveniently situated on the main road which takes traffic from northern to Seoul to the Gwanghwamun area. Emerging from the museum, … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #32: The Seokpajeong — a haven of peace in Buamdong
Seoul Museum, Buamdong, Seoul, Saturday 14 September, 5pm. There are two main reasons to visit Seoul Museum apart from any temporary exhibition that might be taking place: the important collection of 20th Century Korean art which seems to be on permanent display, and the Seokpajeong, the Joseon dynasty villa once occupied by the Daewongun. The … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #31: We are all heroes – Baseball and the Bull at Seoul Museum
Seoul Museum, Buamdong, Seoul, Saturday 14 September, 4pm. Seoul Museum’s current exhibition focuses on Park Chan-ho, an inspirational baseball player who played in the US, including at the LA Dodgers, in a career that spanned 18 years from 1994 to 2012. An oversized sculpture of him in Gwon Osang’s familiar style greets you as you … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #30: New Connections
Museum of Modern Art, Gwacheon-si, Saturday 14 September, 1:30pm. I’m still wandering around some of the museum’s permanent collection when my phone rings and my 3pm appointment wonders if they can shift to 2:30pm. It’s 1:30pm by now, and City Hall is a one hour journey away, so the proposed new time is going to … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #29: Korea Artist Prize 2013
Insadong, Seoul, Saturday 14 September, 8am. However much I plan to rise early and get going with the day when I’m in Seoul, I always seem to be slower than intended. There are too many things to distract me. I have a busy day in front of me: I want to get to the National … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #28: Clubbing with the CFOs
Gangnam, Seoul, Friday 13 September, 5pm. As usual, traffic south of the river is gridlocked. I can see it’s going to take a while to get to civilisation. The cab driver seems to be getting frustrated by the jams (who wouldn’t be?) and I’m regretting that I have luggage, otherwise it would have been so … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #27: Last day at the Expo
Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Friday 13 September, 7am. There’s still a long list of things I have to do before leaving. We have to pay a courtesy call on the mayor to say farewell, plus I want to pay a last visit to the Festival. And of course I need to gather everything together, trying to … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #26: The first round of farewells
Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Thursday 12 September, 12 noon. After a refreshing herbal tea, it was time for lunch: Sancheong Beef bulgogi with Mr Byeon, Min Hyang-sik and Min Young-ki. Not only barbecued beef, but in increasing order of difficulty, raw beef fillet, raw beef liver, and raw beef lung. I really struggled with the last … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #25: The Hallyu 4.0 Experience
Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Thursday 12 September, 9am. At the main entrance to the Expo there is a long parade of information booths and gift stalls. One of the booths was there to promote Hallyu 4.0. Hallyu 1.0 and Hallyu 2.0 are the first and second waves of Korean pop culture spreading through Asia. First came … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #24: Yin, Yang and Ginseng
Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Wednesday 11 September, 5:30pm. Refreshed by our nap on the fragrant pillow, we move on from the Traditional Medicine Experience Pavilion to the Theme Hall, outside which stand the statues of the two best known figures in Korean Traditional Medicine, who have now made it into popular culture courtesy of TV dramas: … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #23: The pillow of eternal youth
Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Wednesday 11 September, 5pm. At Korean expos, the emphasis is not on the looking. It is on the experiencing. You have to immerse yourself, to touch, to feel, to try something out. At the Sancheong International Traditional Medicine Fair and Festival, then, it was no surprise when the organisers, who had come … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #22: Tiger, Bear and herb: the traditional Korean medicine experience
Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Wednesday 11 September, 4pm. In Korean mythology, it seems that it’s not the bear that has the sore head. It’s the tiger. In the Korean Medicine Theme Park, which forms part of the Donguibogam Village, the exhibits focus on the different parts of the human body, but throughout there is the recurring … [Read More]