Ancient Korean Colours and Patterns

Thailand: Grand Palace

Some photos of the Grand Palace and surrounding architecture -- Bangkok, Thailand.

"By the Door" by Yann Kerloc'h

I liked this short video (about 2 minutes) by Yann Kerloc'h, posted at The Three Monkeys. It is simply a couple of shots of different angles of one of the grand doors at one of the palaces in Korea, presumably Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul. There is something relaxing about it -- as if you are a fly against a wall, or a CCTV camera just looking, but with no real objective or focus. You are just staring out in front of you. The fact that you are at one of the great historical sites in Korea seems somewhat accidental. At the same time the creaking of the big wooden door creates a sinister tension with the tourists that are going on their merry way, seemingly oblivious to the moans and groans of the ancient door.


By the door from Yann Kerloc'h on Vimeo.

Apgujeong, Café Tilt, and Kim Yuna

Yesterday I went to Apgujeong, one of my favourite places in Korea. A favourite, in part, because it is kinda my “hometown.” Those of you familiar with Korea / Koreans would know that a Korean person’s hometown has special significance. Usually your hometown is where you were born and raised. (If your parents moved a lot, some people choose their place of birth as their hometown, while others choose the place they spend the most time as children.) Korean people often return to their hometown on special occassions like Lunar New Year and Korean Thanksgiving. The first time I came to Korea I lived in Gangnamgucheon / Apgujeong area. Everytime I go there the familiarity has an hominess to it, so I’ve adopted this area as my Korean “hometown.”

I spend the day walking around, looking at the unaffordable beautiful clothes, beautiful cars, and beautiful people. Not only are the people in Apgujeong area particularly fashionable, they truly are more beautiful. There beauty is not surprising if you take into account all the plastic surgery clinics in the area. Seeing as I suffer from a light case of cacophoby (a fear of ugly things), Apgujeong is a wonderful place to hang around.It also features more interesting architecture than one would see typically in Korea.

One of my stops was at Café Tilt. I’ve been intrigued by this coffee shops ever since I saw the captivating architectural lines of the building the first time, around two years ago. I’ve always wanted to go there but every time I went to the area I had other agendas. However, yesterday I was in no rush to get back and decided to stop by the Café Tilt and just enjoy I nice cup of hot chocolate.
Unfortunately the captivating angled lines that make the building so mesmerising from the outside is not adequately repeated by the interior. While it is still a pretty decent coffee shop, the contents does not live up to the fancy packaging.

Be that as it may, while waiting for my hot chocolate some beautiful music was playing. An enchanting voice filled the room. I immediately asked the waitress who the singer is. Of course I did this in very broken Korean: 노래—누구에요? (“Singing—person who?”). She quickly checked and told me it is Kim Yuna (김윤아). Another client standing by told me that Kim Yuna is actually the vocalist for the band Jaurim (자우림), but that she also has a solo career.

In the YouTube-video below, Kim Yuna sings the song “Going Home” from her latest solo album, titled “315360.” (I have no idea what the numbers represent.) The second video is a song by Jaurim. I really like their sound. The third video features Kim Yuna with Drunken Tiger (드렁큰 타이거), Korea's foremost rapper.