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What is THE PULLOCHO?

September 17, 2014 / Mark / 0 Comments

It’s still rather early to talk about this, but seeing as the Amazon.com page is up, I guess this is a decent time to announce my new book — and my first novel. It’s titled YOUNG-HEE AND THE PULLOCHO and it is coming out in the spring by Tuttle Publishing.

(UPDATE: I just found out the book is coming out in Asia in January, but Amazon.com and the West probably won’t get it until April or May).

THE PULLOCHO is a fantasy novel, in the vein of Alice in Wonderland or the Narnia books (or The Wizard of Oz or Hayao Miyazak’s movies or the like). As you can guess from the title, it is set in Korea and it is about a girl named Young-hee.

So what is it about?

So annoying.

In Young-hee’s life, everything feels wrong. It seemed like only yesterday that her world was just as it should be. But now her dad is gone, her mom is overextended, and Young-hee is forced to move back to Seoul—and not a nice part of Seoul, either. To make matters worse, the girls at her new school are nasty, and her little brother Bum is an insufferable, attention-hogging pain.

Then Young-hee stumbles into a magical world, where the Korean fairy stories of her childhood are real and all the frustrations of her everyday life fade away—until Bum is kidnapped by a goblin, and the only way Young-hee can save him is by finding the magical pullocho plant. Soon, she is plunged into an epic quest, encountering dragons, tigers, ghosts and other fairytale creatures, and facing decisions that affect not only Bum, but the fate of an entire world.

Fyi, a pullocho (불로초) is a kind of magical ginseng root. In addition, I also retell a whole bunch of Korean traditional folktales, weaving them into Young-hee’s story.

After years of writing about other people’s art (movies, music, etc.), it feels good to have created something of my own. YOUNG-HEE AND THE PULLOCHO comes out next April or May, but already you can pre-order it on a lot of online retailers, like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books a Million, Indigo (in Canada), and Kyobo Books (in Korea).

Much more to come as the publication date gets closer!

The Best Coffee Shops in Hongdae (well, that I know of…)

September 14, 2014 / Mark / 1 Comment

Okay, for no particular reason, I thought I would give a brief rundown of my favorite coffee shops in Hongdae. By “Hongdae,” I mean the greater region, going from Yeonnam-dong in the north, to Donggyo-dong, Seogyo-dong, and south to Hapjeong and Sangsu. It’s one of the most unusual parts of Seoul and home to a huge number of independent, quirky, cool, and otherwise different coffee shops (and of course the big-name chain brands on the main roads).

This is not a complete list. I don’t claim to know every one of the hundreds of coffee shops in this part of town — some are very nice, a lot are terrible, and others are in-between. But I do know a few places that I think are worth mentioning, places where they roast their own beans or at least are actively involved in shaping the flavor (so they are not just part-time workers hitting a button).

This is also a personal list. For me, the more times I see the word “barista” used in reference to a coffee shop, the less likely I am to enjoy it. So don’t expect many award-winners here.

Coffee Me

Simple, unassuming, but run by a very nice couple. While they have a few snacks, the focus is very much the coffee. They roast their own beans here and put a lot of care into the beverages. It has a big patio out front and a lot of open space inside, so it is quite relaxing.

Located close to Sanullim Theater on the north side of Hongdae, in Changjeon-dong, on Seogangro 9-gil.

Cafe Libre

Widely considered one of the best coffee places in Korea, Cafe Libre certainly is serious about their brews. And its rustic interior is both unusual and memorable. However, its coffee is also one of the prime examples of the “sour” style that is so popular in Korea and that I personally detest. But many people love it, so you probably should check it out. Plus while you are in the neighborhood, you can eat at Tuk Tuk Noodle and enjoy the best Thai food in Korea.

Located in Yeonnam-dong, down Hyanggi 1-gil alley (by Seoul Dongbu Church).

You Are Here

The coffee shop co-run by Simon and Martina of Eat Your Kimchi and the language blog Talk to Me in Korean. The coffee here is excellent, especially the espressos — dark, strong and flavorful. Really my style. (The milkshakes and carrot cake are excellent, too).

It can get crowded at times, but the space is fairly large and there are plenty of spaces to hang out. I find earlier in the day it is usually quieter.

Located at Donggyoro 25-gil and World Cup Bukro 6-gil.

Belief

Another place that roasts its own beans and is very serious about coffee. The menu isn’t huge, but what they have they do well, with the rich, bitter espresso that I like. (Very good macarons, too).

~~(Grr… cannot find a decent pic or URL … They renovated recently, and the new patio is much nicer than the old layout).~~

UPDATE: So, I was walking past Belief today, so managed to take a new pic. Not a great photo, but at least it is something.

Also, I remembered another very good cafe, Organic. It’s just down the street from Belief. In addition to very good coffee, it has homemade ginger ale which is excellent.

Note: The number of places in the greater-Hongdae area that are notable for ambiance or interior design is huge. Many of them are open 24-hours, too, including Ethiopia (which is frequently used for filming TV dramas) and Gabia (very stylish interior, good coffee, and probably busier at 3am than at 3pm) — both are located very close to Sanullim Theater. In the Sangsu Station area, Jebi Cafe, Yri Cafe and Mudaeruk all have excellent coffee and ambiance out the wahzoo.

Note 2: Don’t bother using Google Street view on Yeonnam-dong or Sangsu. It hasn’t been updated since 2009, and back then there was nothing in either neighborhood. Even Naver’s street view, which was made in 2012, is now totally out of date. As always, it is amazing how fast Korea changes. Daum’s street maps seem to be the most recent, having been updated earlier in 2014.

LATE UPDATE (On Oct. 31): I finally went to Anthracite, the very funky building that’s right beside Mudaeruk in the Sangsu area. And, wow, that place is crazy about its coffee. A bit too pretentious for me, but many people seem to love it.

Perfection

August 29, 2014 / Mark / 0 Comments

It’s Friday evening, and I’m sitting in the dark, 20 storeys high, looking out on western Seoul just watching a lightning storm roll in. Sleeping in my lap is my 6-day-old son. Django Reinhardt is playing in the background and there might be a glass of Portuguese wine on my desk. I think this is just about perfection.

Wherever you are, I hope you are similarly happy.

Science Fiction Festival in Korea

August 18, 2014 / Mark / 0 Comments

The “SF2014 Science & Future” Festival (launched in 2010 as the Gwacheon International Science-fiction Festival, with the name changing nearly every year since then) is coming this fall, Sept. 26-Oct. 5. The festival is based in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, and features a pretty interesting lineup of movies and events related to science-fiction.

There festival’s English website still isn’t functional, but looking at the Korean, there are several things worth checking out, imho. Among the movies being screened are 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, UNDER THE SKIN, and the Korean animated film THE SATELLITE GIRL AND THE MILK COW, as well as the 2010 Tamil science-fiction extravaganza ENTHIRAN (aka, “The Robot”) (no word yet whether the non-English films will have English subtitles).

And astrophysicist Yannick Mellier will apparently be there on Sept. 26, introducing a documentary about dark matter.

Anyhow, once the English website is up and running, I’ll link to it. And hopefully they will have a press conference in the next couple of weeks to better explain about the festival. Also, Gord Sellar talks a bit about the festival here.

Dongdaemun Wandering

August 13, 2014 / Mark / 0 Comments

The middle of August is the height of vacation season in Korea, so plenty of shops are closed at the moment — kind of like in Europe, but instead of a month off, in Korea its just a week. Or often just 2-3 days.

The weather has been quite pleasant lately, so I’ve been walking around Dongdaemun a bit. Here are a couple of shopping alleys that are usually full of shoe stores, but this week were pretty dead:

However, there are still a fair number of places open, including the book stores. Today was a good day for browsing and I ended up buying these art books:

Tiger and Sanshin!

In case you are wondering where I bought these books, here’s a map:

New book on the way …

August 6, 2014 / Mark / 0 Comments

So, I have a new book coming reasonably soon — a novel actually (my first). I’m quite excited about it, to finally be doing something in fiction. The book is all done, at least on my end: written, re-written, edited and re-written once more. But publishing being what it is, the book will not be on shelves until next year.

However, what is making me excited now is that I just found the first signs of the novel online. No, it’s not in a catalog or on Amazon.com yet, but there was a mention of it at my publisher’s website. And I saw that my publisher is aiming for a May 2015 release.

That inspired some emails and my editor says that it might actually become available in April. But regardless, very fun news. Hopefully we will have an Amazon.com page before much longer. Or at least a final cover I can tease. Something like…

Beastro — A big step up in Hongdae’s restaurant scene

August 6, 2014 / Mark / 0 Comments

Last night the wife and I ate at the new-ish Hongdae restaurant Beastro, and I must say that place is just excellent. The food was superb — the cocktails and menu were both playful and extremely tasty — but even more than that, the ambience was just right, the prices were extremely reasonable, and the service was excellent.

I mention the ambiance because, while Hongdae has a lot of great places, they often have a bit of an amateurish or shabby-chic vibe. This place felt grown-up. For the quality of the food, prices were probably about half of what you might pay in Itaewon or Cheongdam-dong.

But I was especially happy with the service. Because, let’s face it, service is often the weak link at even the nicer restaurants in the fancy parts of Seoul. Not at Beastro, though. Great attitudes, very attentive, very knowledgeable about the food and friendly.

Plus Beastro is a very good size (two levels inside and a roof), so you can usually get a seat.

Actually, it has been a good spell for food in general in Hongdae, with plenty of good new places opening up all the time. Maybe I’ll write about more of them from time to time. But for now, Beastro is definitely at the top of the list, as least in my part of Seoul.

Piqued by ‘Non Summit’

August 1, 2014 / Mark / 0 Comments

Nearly a decade after KBS tortured us with “Misuda”, or “Chattering Beauties,” a show featuring foreign women talking about Korea (and perhaps being objectified a bit), JTBC gives us “Non Summit,” a rather similar show featuring young men from around the world who speak Korean.

I recall a lot of foreigners complaining about “Misuda” back when it was on the air, claiming that Koreans would never do a similar show with men. But now here we are, with foreign men being treated just as ridiculously as foreign women were way back when.

I just wonder if one of the guys will open a good makgeolli bar near my apartment, like Taru from “Misuda” did. (Information about Taru Jumak is here. Very good place).

Here’s a story talking a bit more about “Non Summit” and what they are aiming for.

If you want to get a sense of what the show is like, you can see it here with English subtitles. More subtitled episodes are linked here.

Anyhow, I know I’m complaining too much. But it is genuinely interesting to see a show like this on the air now. It’s amazing how much Korea keeps changing — both in terms of how well people around the world are learning Korea, and how much better Korea is becoming at dealing with the rest of the world.

Hallyu Riptides

July 24, 2014 / Mark / 0 Comments

So, I’ve kindly been invited to speak at the 10 magazine book club this Saturday (thanks to Barry for the invitation). And although I’m still not 100 percent sure what I’ll be saying, I’m happy to say that I finished my Prezi presentation this evening.

(One thing I like about Prezi is that it gives you some flexibility to riff, if you want).

Usually, I just talk about Korean pop culture history, but I think this Saturday I will mix things up and combine Korean history with a bit of personal history, and talk about how I got into writing and how the writing business has changed over the years. (Or I might not … all is subject to change).

Details:

Saturday, July 26, 4pm

Haechi Hall at the Seoul Global Culture & Tourism Center in Myeongdong

Cost: 5,000 won

Get Polka-y

July 16, 2014 / Mark / 0 Comments

So, there’s a new Weird Al album out. Which is not exciting as it once was.

However, there is one part of each Weird Al album that I do enjoy — the polkas. He usually has a medley or something like that. I don’t know much about his new album, but I do know that he has a polka cover of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.”

Imho, this is an awesome thing.

You can listen to it here.