South Korea

From our contributors: week of July 23

Lots of interesting reading material this week, courtesy of our contributors. Enjoy!

Nahargarh Fort

Mike, our contributor from Japan, published one more installment of his Then and Now Series: Okawa Spring in Kin Okinaw  with photos taken in 1955 and in 2012.

Ski, our contributor, from Hong Kong, wrote a compelling description of a day in the life of a tour guide in Hong Kong.

Almost every day, I wake up bright and early, ready to meet my guests-of-the-day. We will brave the weather together (right now, it’s a very hot and humid summer), in order to explore the streets of Hong Kong. We talk about Hong Kong history, culture, the love-hate relationship with mainland China, our pop culture, food, etc. As much as a routine job this seems, it really isn’t.

LeX, our contributor from Malaysia, put together a list of the ten must-visit places in Busan, South Korea.

Busan is another big city which consists of numerous exciting and amusing tourism attractions which mainly surrounded by white sandy beaches with exquisite panorama and more relaxing atmosphere for traveller to walk around the seaside.  Something that you will never miss is the fresh seafood in the market. You can enjoy the scenery of Busan while eating sashimi!

Anu, our contributor from India, published a photo essay about her visit to Nahargarh Fort in Jaipur.

The fort’s name has an interesting legend behind it. It is said that the original name of the fort was ‘Sudarshangarh’. However, as work was on, excavating the area for the fort, the resting place of the saint Nahar Singhji Bhomia was disturbed, and his spirit began haunting the construction site. On advice from his spiritual preceptor, the king eventually changed the name of the fort to ‘Nahargarh’ after the saint, and also built a temple for him within the fort premises. It was only then that the haunting ceased and the work on the fort was able to continue!

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From our contributors: week of July 9

From our contributors: week of June 23

From our contributors: week of June 11

From our contributors: week of July 9th

Here’s some summer reading if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere. If you’re south of the Equator, curl up beside the fire while enjoying your favourite beverage  and go over to our contributors‘s personal blogs.

Bronc riding (Ana)

LeX, our contributor from Malaysia, provides details of the World Premiere Electronic Music Festival in Seoul, South Korea.

Coming up the next hot modern festival, The World’s Premiere Electronic Music Festival which is going to be held in the Soul of Asia, Seoul South Korea on 3th to 4th August 2012. Over 40 of the planet’s most talented electronic musical master will be on the move to rock the stage with a little mixed of Korean flavour.

Mike, our contributor from Japan, published a photo essay entitled “Then and Now (Photos) The Statue of Toyoma Kyuzo”

Here is the statue of Toyama Kyuzo at it appears today. He was the man who convinced some of the first Okinawans to immigrate to Hawaii. That was way back in 1899.

Anu, our contributor from India, also published a photo essay about bulbuls, lovely songbirds that visit her garden every day.

I see Bulbuls every day……. These Red Whiskered Bulbuls come home to eat the food we put out for the birds….

Ana, our contributor from Argentina, wrote about her first visit to a professional rodeo on Texas.

We bought our tickets and walked around the arena to kill time until the start of the rodeo. There was a merry-go-round with real ponies, a couple of food stands, and a stand where you could have your fingerprints taken (never figured out what for), a cowboy boot and hat stand and a barbeque restaurant. At one end there was a pen holding a few bored steers.

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From our contributors: week of June 23

From our contributors: week of June 11

From our contributors: week of May 28

Different customs, harmonized to create one unique identity

Pamela is biracial Korean and Caucasian and grew up in a predominately white, small town in Northen California. She experienced culture shock when she moved to the very diverse Orange County, which lead her to examine society’s differing perspectives of her as a mixed woman.

Whilst at UC Irvine she helped run an on-campus organization for multiracial/multicultural students, which explores multicultural identities in a society that has a difficult time finding a “category” for them. Read on to find out more.

Tell us a bit about yourself. How would your friends or family describe you?

I am described by friends as an honest person that stays true to my character no matter the situation. My family describes me as outgoing, focused, driven and caring.
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Picture Postcards: Food van in Daejeon, South Korea

Today’s photo of a food van in Daejeon, South Korea was taken by Hern42 on Flickr.

Read more:
Food van in Toronto, Canada
Korea: It’s superfast!
From Malaysia to Korea and Back

From our contributors: week of September 27th

Here’s our bi-weekly roundup of articles written by some members of our contributors team on their personal blogs. Happy reading!

LeX, our contributor from Malaysia, writes about the 10 festivals visitors to Korea shouldn’t miss this autumn. From the Icheon Ceramics Festival to the Andong Mask Dance Festival to the Gyeongju Traditional Drink & Rice Cake Festival, LeX provides interesting and useful information for visitors.

“After a hot steaming summer, autumn is on its way. The floras started to shrink back to its buds, some of the flowers may start to wilt and fall drop to prepare the coming of cold season. The tree of the leaves will start to turn into maple leaves where various attracting colours such yellow, orange, red maple leaves can be seen everywhere in Korea. So, what can you do if you want to visit Korea in this refreshing fall season? ” (more…)

Korea: it’s superfast!

“Things are crazy over here!” says Taewoo Danny Kim, in a post explaining Korea’s Pali Pali (빨리빨리) culture of speed.

He’s also the author of one of Korea’s most widely-read tech blogs and the English-language TechnoKimchi explains both Korean culture and digital topics to non-Korean speaking outsiders. More on the name here.

If you’re fascinated by Asia’s digital generation, this is your blog. If you’re more interested in Korean culture, well there’s probably something for you here too.

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