크리스마스 선물

My Christmas's present this year - Pentax K-5 II DSLR. It is not a full frame DSLR but still an awesome camera with awesome picture quality. Its low light sensitivity is mind-blowing. I like that it can operate at extremely low temperature, down to -10°C. Will have that check out soon, meanwhile, some pictures from my night out with my new camera. (Click image to enlarge.)

Double Helix bridge

Avalon - floating South Crystal Pavilion of the Marina Bay Sands

The Fullerton Bay Hotel

살고 있는 곳

A famous quote from the Korean movie "Architecture 101" - "자기가 살고 있는 곳에 대해 애정을 가지고 이해를 시작하는 것, 이게 바로 건축학개론의 시작입니다."(When you begin to understand and have feeling for the place you live in, that's the start of architecture 101.)

I don't think this quote applies only to architecture students, it is applicable to everyone. We should all understand and develop feeling for the place where we live, work, play, interact and love. What eventually comes out of it is beauty - the beauty of our living space.

There was a time when building was built to last.

Building with curved corner is rare these days.

Bird cage is now an ornamental piece. The birds are free at last.

What was once a wooden staircase inside a house is reused as part of a decor.

A pot of green plant is all that is required to liven up a run-down back alley.

Behind the spalled concrete wall is a new owner.

The shop has seen better days. Tri-circle lock and the teal green paint are so 70s.

The once ubiquitous hand-made mailbox is moving into history. 

The glory days of books and prints are over or are they?

Be a vintage but don't fade into history.

여유

어떻게 인형은 인간보다 더 잘 살아?

평화의 전당

Grand Peace Palace (평화의 전당, 和平殿堂)

Standing at a vantage point inside Kyunghee University's Seoul campus is a Gothic-inspired ornate building, which to the the uninitiated, could easily be mistaken as a cathedral. The Peace Palace (평화의 전당), as it is named, has a "stormy past", quite opposite of what its name may suggest.

Construction of the Peace Palace started on June 1976 but it was not until October 1999 that the building was officially open. From the start to completion, two decades was a long time to wait and the reason was not that of magnitude or difficulty in construction. According to my teacher, construction was halted due to security concern. Some classified building was said to be in the vicinity and the height of the Peace Palace was assessed a security threat. It was not until the classified building was moved that the construction was allowed to resume. The Peace Palace stood half-complete and unchange for many years and for that, it earned itself the nickname, "봉비누". "봉비누" is a kind of soap bar commonly seen in toilets in Korea. It is normally blue in colour and has a hole in the centre meant for insertion onto a metal holder. The interesting thing about this soap is, its egg-shape (except its size) does not change, no matter how much it is being used.

The Peace Palace occupying the vantage point in the campus

The Peace Palace is a prime venue for graduation ceremony, arts and cultural performance. With a seating capacity of 4,500, it is billed as the largest performance venue in Asia. The irony about this building is the public uses it more than the students of KHU. The only time I got to see the interior of the building was when I bought a ticket to a musical staged there. As I entered the building, I was instantly overwhelmed. Everything about it, was nothing short of grandeur and splendour. Above the main entrance, which led into the grand hall, were these wordings - 《인간에겐 사랑을 인류에겐 평화를》 (Love to Human, Peace to Humanity).

Interior of the Peace Palace

For a good view of the building's interior, you can watch the following music video, by a new duet group, 15&, which was filmed there.

"I dream" by 15&

(Some thought after watching the video: How do you nurture talents? Give them a stage.)

전환

Season repeats itself but life doesn't

Season changes, so do things in life. Though a long time supporter of LG, I have since moved on. LCD TV has been changed to Panasonic and notebook to Hewlett Packard. Now, who dare say I am Korean brand bias? Ok, I confess, I just change my handphone from Iphone to Samsung Note.

무슨 실수?

그래도 되요? 그러면 안돼요~ (Like that, OK? If like that, not OK~)

When I first saw the above screen capture in a news article, I was wondering, "Is there an error?" I knew there was because of the title says so, but I did not know what mistake it was, really.

Now that I know, it becomes laughable that I did not spot the grammatical error at the first instance. "그래도 되요?" should be written as "그래도 돼요?". I guess, I am equally capable of making such boo boo. My Korean language teacher would have shown her disapproval by saying, "그러면 안돼요~". Well, my excuse will be, "외국인이니까요." (I am a foreigner, you know.)

 

The context of the article can be found in one of the scenes in episode 18 of the SBS's Mon-Tue drama, The Great Doctor (신의), shown on Oct 9. In an attempt to cheer Choi Yung (Lee Min-ho) up after the death of his brothers, Yoo Eun-soo (Kim Hee-sun) did a sudden proposal, placard-flipping style. In order of sequence:

괜찮아요. (It's OK)
옆에 있을게요. (I'll be by your side)
그날까지 (Until the end)
그래도 되요?" (Is that OK?)

To rub it in, Oct 9 was Hangeul Day. Anyway, don't be too hard on a silly mistake. As the Korean proverb says, "원숭이도 나무에서 떨어질 때 있다" (There will be a time when monkey also falls from tree). At the end, it's always the heart that counts.

첫사랑 보관소

Archive First Love (첫사랑 보관소, 初戀保管所) is a 20-min 3-D Korean short film which explores the universal theme of first love. It makes its premier at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) 2012.

Synopsis: One day, out of the blue, writer Hyun-woo, started receiving parcels at his doorstep. The parcels contained items and memories of someone else's first love. Initially, he was at a loss of what to do with the stuff. Since he could neither throw away nor return them to their respective owners, he decided to set up an archive and be their keeper. He labelled and arranged each item neatly in his little archive so that their owners, if they want to, are able to retrieve them one day. However, little did he know that his first love's memories would soon occupy a place in his own Archive of First Love. 

 

Short film "Archive First Love (2012)" - 2D version 

First love always comes with inexperience and clumsiness. There will be many minor misunderstandings because everyone is only starting to love. As much as each first love is unique, they have a common point, that is, they give you pain. When first love has to end for the sake of a new-found love, the latter will never be as pure, as passionate and as painful as the former. 

There are a few scenes in the film I like:

Scene 1: Hyun-woo 'listening' to other's memories with a stethoscope

The 'voices' which Hyun-woo seems to hear:

M: Do you mean, all the things I did for you are meaningless?
F: You didn't do anything for me. You're only doing them for yourself.

F: I don't want to see you anymore.
M: Can't you think it over again?

M: You're right, it seems like you were not happy when you were with me.
F: I'm sorry, I was rash. I want to restart over again. I miss you.

These are conversations which we would also likely to hear prior to a break-off. 


Scene 2: Hyun-woo talking to his grandma about her first love

Hyun-woo: Grandma, that's nice music you're listening to.

Grandma: It's the music I listen to whenever I think of my first love.

Hyun-woo: I didn't know grandma also has first love. It seems like grandpa is not the one.

Grandma: Where do you find someone who doesn't have first love? Even now, when I think of that person, my heart aches... and... I miss him.

Hyun-woo: You still think of that person... even after all these years?

Grandma: I have never for once forgotten about him, although it's natural that with time, things fade away and people grow old. Do you know what is the hardest thing to endure with the passage of time? Your body ages but your heart doesn't. There is no way you can erase away those memories that are in your heart. Especially, those that were already there at the beginning.


Scene 3: Hyun-woo talking to his girlfriend prior to their break-off

Hyun-woo:  A man would just focus on the things he does for his woman. A woman could decide to leave her man without even knowing his feeling for her. Why is it that woman can't sense a man's feeling without him saying it out?

So-ri: Oppa, a woman cannot sense everything by just "I love you" alone. If you don't say it, there are many things that will not be known.

If you can't get enough of first love's story in this short film, you can enjoy more of it in "Introduction to Architecture" (건축학 개론, 建築學 槪論). But do take note, the pain in the movie may resonate in you even though you are just an audience. It seems, people are more alike than different when it concerns matter of the heart.

궁금하면 500원

Flower beggar: Are you curious? If you are curious, 500 won (Credit: Nocut News)

A gentleman has his dignity so does a beggar. A new corner in "Gag Concert", called "A Beggar's Dignity" (parody of the Korean drama "A Gentleman's Dignity) is cracking me up every Sunday. Gagman Heo Gyeong-huan plays the role of "flower begger" (꽃거지). 

Not all beggars are the same. There is a different between a beggar and a flower beggar; a beggar begs but a flower beggar does not. "How then does a flower beggar earns his keep?", you may ask. 궁금해요? 궁금하면 500원 (Are you curious? If you are curious, 500won). Yes, that is how a flower beggar earns his money - by answering one's curiosity. By the way, if you are not curious, he will still "charge" 200won. This new corner is really hilarious. 강추 (strongly recommend).

Interview with the "flower beggar"

Theme song of flower beggar (1:19) - "Dear" by Mad Soul Child

추석 앞둠

My friend, a Vietnamese, has landed a job, as an event marketing executive, with the Lotte Department Store (Myeongdong). This is her first job after completing her Masters in Hotel Tourism Management at Kyunghee University last fall.

She was recently seen promoting her company's limited-edition shopping vouchers for the coming Chuseok in Yonhap News.

With the biggest Korean festival, Chuseok just around the corner, Lotte Department Store, a dominant player in the market of shopping vouchers, introduced its "Beat-the-Recession-Small-Value Shopping Voucher Package" (KRW 3 million) on the 3rd of September.

Lotte Department Store is also running an event to give away 1,000 limited edition shopping vouchers, which has three 10,000-won vouchers printed on one sheet, on a first-come-first serve basis, to customers who purchase the package.

한 여름 밤의 꿈

봄이 사랑을 시작하기에 좋은 계절이라면, 가을은 지나간 옛사랑이 생각나는 계절

떠나는 파도를 보며 한 여름 밤의 꿈도 함께 보낸다

한 여름 밤의 꿈은 바람처럼 다시 돌아오지 않을 그곳으로 떠나가버렸다

A Midsummer Night's Dream - Acoustic Collabo