Books, blog and other blather
A couple of days ago, temperatures in Seoul plunged to around minus-14 or so at night. Not fun. But, on the flipside, that means the streets are much less crowded than usual. And unlike other years, the pollution out of China has not been very bad.
Here are a couple of pictures from the Cheonggyecheon, during my lunchtime walk.
And the DDP looks rather mysterious with a little layer of snow on it.
And another view of the DDP, from a couple of days earlier.
Here’s a view of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza that I took this morning through a dirty window.
And another from last night.
The charming and insightful Colin Marshall, host of the website Notebook on Cities and Culture, recently traveled to Korea to turn his analytical eye here. He wrote several articles about Korea for The Guardian, and he also conducted a whole bunch of interviews with artists, thinkers, trendsetters, and, well, me.
You can listen to me here, going on about a whole bunch of Korea-related things, like pop culture, art, win and Pringles.
Many thanks to Colin for the fun afternoon. Sorry the audio wasn’t clearer, but we were talking at Mudaeruk — a great cafe, but it can be noisy.
We had our first snow of the season last night — just a dusting that is pretty much all melted now, but it was still nice. In fact, I think this has been one of the most pleasant Korean autumns I can remember. Clear skies, and a much more gradual cooling than some years (when it seems to plummet from hot to freezing in about 10 days).
So I decided to take a walk down the Cheonggyecheon at lunchtime. As you can see, it was quiet and quite charming.
I also passed the Dongdaemun Design Plaza.
This really amused me. On the back side of the DDP, there is an ugly little room with a couple of rows of desks and chairs. It is close to nothing and resembles nothing as much as a cage in a terrible zoo. The sign on the window: Press Room.
So, I went to a 1-year-old’s birthday party today (it’s a big deal in Korea) that was held on the 33rd floor restaurant of Jongno Tower in the heart of Seoul. Needless to say, the birthday girl didn’t seem to care, but us adults were impressed.
I think it has been more than a decade since I spent any time at the top of Jongno Tower, and I was really amazed to see how little of the old city remains in the area. Even in the direction of Insa-dong, there really are just a few alleys left.
Anyhow, the Tower has some of my favorite views of Seoul. Here’s one looking east along Jongno.
A little while later, I was up another high-rise over by Hapjeong, and happened to catch this view of the sunset.
Have street vents always had these signs? Or did they just start going up after that accident a couple of weeks ago?
Here’s the site of a fire that was in the news a couple of weeks ago. I eat lunch in the alley behind this building fairly often — fortunately, none of the restaurants were damaged (and no one was hurt). But it is a bit disturbing how many fires strike this part of town. Walking along the Cheonggyecheon, you can see a lot of fire damage in the buildings in the area.
Okay, no Gordon Lightfoot here, but I still quite liked the sundown this evening.
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.
On my way to work the other morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see some ads for Akdong Musicians (aka “Akmu”) on the walls of the malls by the subway.
Anyhow, it is nice to have a job where I get to walk by the new Dongdaemun Design Plaza every day. The architecture really can put you in a great mood.
And, since I am posting pics, here is a photo from Seongneomeojip, a chicken restaurant up in the hills of Seongbuk-dong. I’m not a fan of dalkdoritang (chicken in a spicy soup), but this place has really excellent dalkdoritang. And some amazing atmosphere. A great place to eat and drink makgeolli with friends.
It’s been a really nice weekend here in Korea — sunny, if a bit cool and windy. But it was nice enough I though I would do some walking this weekend.
Saturday, I just went exploring randomly in the area between Hongik University and Sangsu Station and Hapjeong Station. I knew it had built up, but I’m always surprised at just how built up it is. After a disappointing Thai lunch a place that will remain anonymous (I think it is the Hongdae spinoff of a famous Gyeongnidan restaurant), we just went walking at random.
I mean, I can remember when all these roads were basically residential. And now they are endless cafes, restaurants, and shops.
Ironically, one of the dorkiest parts in the area used to be the coolest:
This spot, which has long been a terrible-looking noraebang, used to be home to Sangsudo, the first “real” techno club in Seoul. Or the nastiest one. Or something like that. Anyhow, it used to get hopping around 3 or 4am and go until sun-up. Until the police decided it was a den of iniquity and drugs, and started raiding it all the time. Soon it closed and was turned into a noraebang.
Back when Sangsudo was at its peak, this area was nearly all residential and there was nothing else around at all. So I find it pretty funny to see how built up that area is now, with shops everywhere. But this is one of the few buildings that is still not gentrified.
This building has seen better days:
Then I found this:
Yay, Record Forum is still around. It used to be located in the middle of Hongdae, beside what is now Monster Pizza and the Eat Your Kimchi Studios. But its tiny location was torn down and replaced with a garish monstrosity that now houses a Bennigans. I was worried it was lost, but apparently it just move down the street, closer to Hapjeong.
It felt like every time I tried out a new street, there was something interesting to discover — a jerk chicken reggae place, a Portuguese restaurant, a funky little clothing shop (I actually stumbled across a shop run by the girlfriend of a friend of mine, totally by accident).
These days, a lot of people are worried that the gentrification of Hongdae will bring in a lot of chain clothing stores, restaurants and other mainstream franchises. But I think that’s just not really a problem for Hongdae — because Hongdae is just too big for the franchises to take over. Whenever they come to one part of Hongdae, jacking up rents, the cool people that make Hongdae interesting just move somewhere else — Donggyo-dong, Yeonnam-dong, or south of Sangsu Station.
Speaking of Yeonnam-dong, after a disappointing Thai restaurant experience yesterday, today my wife and I returned to Tuk Tuk Noodles, probably the best Thai place in town. And once again, we were very happy with our lunch. I screwed up the reservation, so we had to wait an hour, but it was worth it.
Happiness is a yellow curry full of giant prawns.
Here’s a pic of the restaurant’s entrance (stolen from here):
So, that was my little weekend exploring Hongdae. Nothing revelatory, but I do find it amazing how this part of town just keeps growing and changing. It really is one of my favorite places.
Apparently there’s an online controversy-du-jour going on in the expat community in Korea about the evolving restaurant scene in greater Itaewon. The source of the fretting came from this amusing cartoon by Chris Kwon Lewis. Some people thought it a good takedown of gentrification and hipsters in Korea. Others called it racist. In general, it looks like a pretty insufferable debate.
For a smarter take on the issue, check out these wise words that were recently written by Joe McPherson, of Zen Kimchi fame.
The way I see it, this is basically a fight between rival hipsters. Expat hipsters versus Korean hipsters. And, let’s face it, that is a fight that nobody wins. (Although, as this is Korea, if I had to pick a side, it would be with the Koreans. I don’t see the expat scene in Korea get upset when they ruin a perfectly nice local hangout, which has happened more than once).
Personally, I like that there is more Korean-foreigner interaction going on these days. And gentrification is a problem that is as old as capitalism, so it does not really annoy me. I’ve seen my favorite shops move around multiple times over the years in Korea. What’s one more time?
I think it is also worth pointing out that the cartoon can totally apply to a purely Korean context, too. Korean restaurant opens, does well with good prices, gets picks up by bloggers, becomes popular, prices goes up, quality goes down, rinse repeat. You might want to add a step about how the original owners sell the restaurant for a lot, too. It happens to Korean restaurants, it happens to foreign restaurants.
All I know is, when I look around Korea, I see a lot more diversity and cool stuff going on than ever. Music, food, art, life is all really interesting here, and for each negative change, there must be a dozen positive changes. I’ll take that over some sclerotic alternative any day.
Pop Goes Korea: Behind the Revolution in Movies, Music and Internet Culture (2nd edition) is the only English-language book to examine the whole of Korea's entertainment industry and how it became such a powerhouse over the past 20 years. With profiles of many of Korea's top stars (including Lee Byung-hun and Rain), Pop Goes Korea features chapters on movies, music, television, comic books, the Internet, and more.
On sale now at:
Amazon.com
Kobo eBooks
And hopefully more ebooks stores very soon.
The original edition of Pop Goes Korea is now out of print.
K-Pop Now! takes a fun look at Korea’s high-energy pop music, and is written for its growing legions of fans. It features all the famous groups and singers, and takes an insider’s look at how they have made it to the top.
You can buy at:
Amazon.com
Chapters Indigo
Tuttle (my publisher)
Kyobo Books (in Korea)
Goodreads (not for buying, but still a good link)
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