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Korean Make Up Trash, Treat or Stash: Etude House's Real Art Cleansing Oil

Wed, 06/19/2013 - 14:54 — Lamblet
Trash, Treat or Stash. The products I've discovered are better off in the bin, the ones you should treat yourself to every now and again, and the ones that are so good that you should definitely make sure you have a stash of them.
Real Art
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Our Weekend: My First Experience of Korean Hospitals

Mon, 06/17/2013 - 14:17 — Lamblet
This weekend turned out to be overly chaotic and tiring.

Nick had an accident on Friday night that left him with severed tendons in his hand and he was unable to move his fingers. We spent many hours in one hospital, before we were told that they wouldn't be able to do anything for him. So we got a taxi to a specialised hospital about 30 minutes north where we were told that they would have to operate on him the next morning and he would have to stay in for a week to recover. I got home at 8am on Saturday morning and was absolutely worn out.
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♥ Cute Korea: Cake Decorating Cafe

Fri, 06/14/2013 - 14:25 — Lamblet
I'd read about I Make Cake Cafe on Busan Awesome. As soon as I saw it I decided to take Nick for his birthday. The directions on the original article are perfect so we found it really quickly.

We walked in a little apprehensively, especially as I'd made Nick close his eyes and had dragged him up three flights of stairs. The walls were covered in pictures of amazingly decorated cakes, which made me think that it must be pretty easy. How wrong could I be?! It was Nick's birthday so I decided not to really have much input and see what his creative juices would produce.
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Happy Birthday Nick!

Thu, 06/13/2013 - 14:59 — Lamblet
Nick Birthday

A year ago, give or take a couple of days, Nick and I had our first date. He agreed to let me decide where to go, so the obvious choice was With Cat, the cat cafe in KSU. I think he regretted it as soon as we arrived. As it was a day or two before his birthday, I took along some presents and a party hat.

It resulted in a hilarious hour of the cats doing everything they can to make Nick never want to return. He looks like he wants to throttle me in the picture. It included me making him wear a party hat, a cat spraying on his gift bag, another one taking a leak right near his foot, and all but the ugliest cat shunning him.
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Biking in Gyeongju, the Best Way to Spend Korean Memorial Day

Wed, 06/12/2013 - 11:31 — arieldrosen

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven’t posted in awhile, I’ve gotten super busy with social media marketing ever since my new post at Aclipse as International Marketing Assistant. Check out my blog posts here, and follow me on twitter at @arieldrosen for more Korea updates!

Anyway, Thursday was Korean Memorial Day, so everyone got off work! My friends and I decided to travel to Gyeongju to ride bikes and check out some historical sites. Gyeongju was the capital of Silla, an ancient Korean dynasty, (57 BC – 935 AD). There is also an amusement park there! But we’re saving that for another trip. It takes about an hour and half to drive there from Busan, but the drive was beautiful so no worries. Ok, here come the photos!

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Haps Interview: American Pitcher Shane Youman Reacts to Controversial Remarks

Wed, 06/12/2013 - 00:20 — busanhaps

From: BusanHaps.com
 

 

It’s been an interesting 24-hours for Lotte Giants pitcher, Shane Youman. The 33-year-old starting pitcher from New Iberia, Louisiana unsuspectedly was at the center of controversy yesterday, when Hanwha Eagles’ slugger Kim Tae-kyun was asked during an appearance on an Internet baseball radio broadcast about difficulties batting with the Giants’ ace on the mound.

The star Korean slugger replied:

“The Lotte Giants’ Youman is the most difficult player to play against. His face is too black, so it is hard to bat because his white teeth and the ball confuses me when he smiles on the mound. So, I suffered a lot."

He then went on to add, “There’s no particularly difficult pitcher, but when I play against Youman, I screw up because of his white teeth.”

An eruption of negative comments ensued on Korean baseball forums as Korean netizens charged Kyun with making racist statements. The outpouring from fans caused both Kim and the Eagles to immediately issue personal apologies to Youman.

In an exclusive e-mail interview with Haps, Youman gives his take on the comments, the controversy and to baseball life for an African-American journeyman in Korea.

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Geoje and Oedo Island

Tue, 06/11/2013 - 21:53 — Lamblet
Last Thursday was memorial day in Korea. It's a public holiday where people remember those who fought for Korea's freedom. Many of my students went to the UN Memorial Park in KSU with their families. I love it there when it's sunny. There's not so much green left in Korea, so it's nice that they spare that one bit in the middle of the city to commemorate their dead.

We decided to make a trip to Geoje Island which is in the South of Korea. We got up bright and early, even earlier than I usually get up for school, and headed to Sasang to get a bus. Having missed one we managed to sneak in a cheeky McDonald's breakfast while we waited, one of my guilty pleasures!

The bus took about an hour and a half to get there, and the irritating loose screw which allowed the whole curtain rail to vibrate noisily right by my ear was made up for by the amazing fews as we got closer to the island.
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If You Don’t Have Anything Good to Say about My Country, Just…

Mon, 06/10/2013 - 19:18 — chrissantosra

A couple of weeks ago, I was hurt, guilty, furious. I was hurt because of the offensive things said about my country over dinner with other 외국인 (foreigners); guilty because I just sat there speechless, pretending that I wasn’t listening, and I didn’t even try to refute their crude remarks. I was furious because of their insensitivity and my silence. I don’t know why I didn’t say anything to defend my country and my fellow Filipinos, when in fact, I always speak my mind. Maybe I kept mum because, I didn’t want to cause a hullabaloo. Once I start talking, there’s no stopping me until everybody listens and understands my point. In college, I was a debate queen, and until now, on several occasions, I don’t mind debating with someone who thinks he knows EVERYTHING about where I come from… well, except that day. Maybe another reason for my silence is that some of what they were saying is true.

“The Philippines is incredible! People here are so wonderful. They don’t realize that. There’s this kind of warmth I see everywhere! I notice it in the street vendor who can’t give you anything but a warm smile and a lot of love.” ~~~ Vin Diesel

 

“The Philippines is incredible! People here are so wonderful. They don’t realize that. There’s this kind of warmth I see everywhere! I notice it in the street vendor who can’t give you anything but a warm smile and a lot of love.” ~~~ Vin Diesel

 

 

 

 

Yes, the Philippines is not a rich country, but to say that the country is “so poor that people beg for money everywhere” is a mere exaggeration. One of the tactless foreigners said that even taxi drivers beg for money. It’s called asking for a tip, not begging. In the Philippines, it is common courtesy to give a tip to show appreciation for good service. We Filipinos usually tip taxi drivers. Foreigners do that, too. The kind ones even tip tricycle drivers. An American friend who visited the Philippines for the first time gave a tricycle driver 400 php for a tip. That’s almost 10 USD! The fare cost only 100 php (2.37 USD). The driver was giving her back 400 php for the 500 bill that she gave, but my friend told him to keep the change. I told her it was too much. She smiled and said that she doesn’t mind giving big tips to those who deserve it. That day, no tricycle driver wanted to drive us to where we were headed, because it was raining cats and dogs and the road going to our destination was flooded, but one tricycle driver took pity on us, cold and dripping wet from the rain.

You don’t have to give a big tip to a taxi or tricycle driver (20 to 50 php is enough), but at least have the courtesy and the heart to give a tip to someone who was of service to you, someone whose job is (probably) more taxing than yours.

Most foreigners who visit my country don’t need to be told that giving a tip is not the same as giving alms, because they take time to learn some Filipino customs before going to the Philippines, and isn’t tipping also a custom in the US?

In South Korea, tipping is not customary and is considered demeaning at times; however, my husband, who is Korean, and most of the Koreans I know don’t mind giving a tip when they go to the Philippines, and I’ve never heard them complain about it.

The foreigners went on and on about how poverty-stricken the Philippines is. They also talked aboutVietnam, being worse. I started wondering why the heck they go to other countries if they only criticize. When people travel, what is their main purpose? Isn’t it to discover, learn about other countries’ culture? to enjoy, to relax, to have wonderful memories to share with friends back home? I’m pretty sure that what these foreigners experienced in my country (or in Vietnam) wasn’t all that bad, but they made it sound as if they have been to the most abominable place in this world. Anywhere you go, even in the richest countries, there will always be poor people, people who beg for food or for a penny, people with no homes, people who need help. Should you criticize them? One of the foreigners was telling the others about “dirty street kids” following and annoying her because she is “a foreigner”. She is not being followed, because the kids think she is a celebrity; she is being followed, because the kids are hoping that she would give them coins that can buy them lunch or dinner, maybe their first meal of the day.

For almost 10 minutes of disparaging conversation about the Philippines (and Vietnam), they didn’t even consider how I and my fellow Filipina companion would feel… or maybe, they forgot that there were Filipinos present during that time. Even if there weren’t Filipinos (or Vietnamese) present, should they have talked like that about other countries in front of other foreigners?

When I started writing this post, I thought of naming all the good things about the Philippines that I can think of and have observed living there for 29 years… but I’m not going to do that. Instead, I invite you to visit the Philippines, travel around the country, get to know its people, discover its culture and if you want, you can even learn the national language. I’m sure that if you do all these things and free your mind from prejudice, you will have wonderful things to say about the Philippines. Who knows, you may even fall in love with my country, like the other foreigners who have stayed there or who keep coming back?

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Our Weekend: Busan Sand Festival 2013

Mon, 06/10/2013 - 14:49 — Lamblet
It was that time of year again where people congregate in Busan to see what amazing things can be done with sand. Haeundae was really, really busy. When we first arrived, we'd just missed the big water fight that they had arranged. We headed straight to the beach to check out the sculptures, as we missed them last year.

This year's theme was Hollywood. As soon as we reached the sculptures, we were greeted by one that looked like a roll of film, with all the characters from recent blockbusters. There was Spider Man, Hulk, Batman, Gollum and... PSY. I didn't know he had magical powers. I also liked the fact that there was someone dressed in a kigu whose job it was to maintain the sculpture.

There was an E.T one, a mermaid one, Marilyn Monroe, Frankenstein and many, many more.
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Just Get Out and Shoot!

Mon, 06/10/2013 - 08:00 — jt

IMG_8158_HDR

These days I have less and less time to shoot. I have so many things on the go that I pretty much don’t have time unless I shoot inside of classrooms or from the driver’s seat of my car. However, I have started taking my camera everywhere with me just in case something pops up and I can pull over and shoot. This is a different strategy than the weekends of shooting that I normally did. At any rate, last night was one of those “Screw it! I gotta get some shots” nights.

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2013 Ulsan International Photography Festival

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 15:01 — jt
IMG_8081-Edit

Ribbon cutting ceremony

With great pleasure I announce that my photos will be a part of this years Ulsan International Photography Festival. This is an event that I have paid money to just look at the amazing photos and now my photos will be there! As you can tell, I am quite excited about this.

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Love to Hate Korea: Costco

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 12:12 — conor_o_reilly

It’s no secret that Costco in Korea is the epitome of a modern hellhole designed to rip your soul out, divvy it up with a rusty and blunt axe, chew it, then spit it right back at you, so you you put it back inside, then turn around and do it all over again. This place steals so much attention and causes so much heartbreak and frustration, but let’s not forget that all it is is a bloody supermarket!

But why is the place just destined to constantly infuritate me? I blame people. Because, let’s face it, all the ills of the world are brought about by our fellow humans, and Costco in Korea is a perfect example of this.

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Busan's Children's Park, Seomyeon

Fri, 06/07/2013 - 15:52 — Lamblet
We found ourselves having a couple of hours to spare around Seomyeon of Saturday afternoon, so we decided to have a walk around the Children's Park in Seomyeon.

I'd been before a few months ago, as there's a free museum in the middle of the park, and we went to do some research for the space themed event day that we had at school last year. Most of the information is in Korean, but there are lots of fun, hands on things to do that you don't need to read to figure out. Including a set of scales that tells you how much you would weigh on each planet. I'm just happy that I live on Earth rather than Jupiter! It is definitely worth a walk around on a rainy afternoon.
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현충일: Memorial Day in South Korea

Thu, 06/06/2013 - 22:24 — chrissantosra
Today is 현충일 (Memorial Day) in South Korea. June 6th is a public holiday dedicated to soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their country and civilians who died during the Korean war. The Korean War began on June 25th, 1950 when South Korea was invaded by North Korea. The war that lasted for three years and …
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Korean Make Up Trash, Treat or Stash: Daiso's Nose Clean Pack

Wed, 06/05/2013 - 15:54 — Lamblet
Trash, Treat or Stash. The products I've discovered are better off in the bin, the ones you should treat yourself to every now and again, and the ones that are so good that you should definitely make sure you have a stash of them.
Daiso Nose Pack
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