03.30.06
Manseongni Beach
I found this information on the KBS Global website:
Manseongni Beach, the only black sand beach in South Korea
Manseongni Beach, five kilometers off from the Yeosu station, is the only black sand beach in South Korea. Taking a sand bath in this beach is said to be particularly effective to alleviate neuralgia and a variety of gynecologic diseases. In particular, on April 20 in the lunar calendar, so-called "the day when the black sand open its eyes," a tremendous number of people flock to the place because the effect of the sand bath is said to be the maximum at the moment.
Black sand, huh? Sounded cool, so I decided to check it out. I never took any art classes in university so I hardly qualify as an expert in these matters, but the sand didn't look black to me.
Okay, so the beach is a very light shade of black. Still, it looks like it'll be a lot of fun to hang out there in the summer. Swim, suntan, barbeque sam gyup sal, drink soju, and eat fish. Every locale in Korea has some food that it is famous for. Yeosu's specialty is "hoi" (sashimi). The sign below displays the variety of fish in the waters near Yeosu and the best time of year to eat them.
If you travel up the road just a bit you can get some fantastic views of the beach and sea from an overlooking hillside.
Manseongni Beach was devoid of life on this day, presumably because the black sand's eyes were closed. I'll return on April 20 (lunar calendar), when it awakes and the masses are alleviating their neuralgia and gynecologic diseases. That should be somethin'. Hope I don't encounter any crabs.
Get your motor runnin’
I'm officially a bad-ass (in my own mind).
I bought myself a scooter the other day. Yeosu, being a relatively small city, doesn't provide much in the way of public transportation. There is no subway and you usually find yourself waiting 15 or 20 minutes for a bus. Sure, there are taxis (and the meter starts at 1500 won), but it adds up when you take a taxi everywhere. So I did what most of the foreign community does down here and got myself a "hog".
Okay, okay. It's more like a piglet, but it gets me around. It has a 50cc engine, which means I don't need to license it. The government considers anything that small a "toy". This baby accelerates from 0-100 in, umm, in, well, check back with me later. Anyway, traffic in Yeosu is pretty reasonable, so I'm not too worried about being run over by a taxi or bus. I am a little worried about the wind though. God, the wind is strong here. Nearly blew me over this morning. So, if someday there are no further updates to this blog, you'll know that I am either lying dead on the street somewhere in Yeosu – or I have taken a job delivering Chinese food.
Here are some more photos of the beast.
The girls of Hankook Tire
Following up on yesterday's post, I present to you – Hankook Tire's Racing Girls. If someone has posted these before, my sincerest apologies.
03.29.06
Burning rubber
Automotive parts companies are once again taking the lead in stretching the sexual mores of Korean culture. This clever new Hankook Tire ad campaign takes the double-entendre approach to selling its tires. Safe driving, everyone! (And enjoy the ride.)
03.27.06
Learning how-to from the animals
"Elephant, penguin, wolf, dog, duck, frog, fish: any one of these animals has something to teach those suffering from terminal confusion in today’s world — and aren’t we all?"
Inspired by these wise words from the Chosun-Ilbo, this woman takes time out from the article to observe lesson one.
03.26.06
Bust out yer Boobi Boobi Dance
Club dancing in Korea has come a long way. Many many years ago, Korean songs were accompanied by their own choreographed dance that native clubbers would rehearse at home before taking their act to the dance floor. The result was that you'd see hundreds of people dancing in unison like performers in a Michael Jackson video. After a set of about five or six Korean hits the DJ would play an English-language dance song, which signaled dancers to sit down and sip their Cokes. They wouldn't dance to the music because, well, there wasn't a dance for it. A couple of years later Koreans finally gave up the choreography and started to dance freely to the rhythm of the music.
But that doesn't mean that there haven't been trends. Choreographed dancing evolved into free-style dancing. Free-style dancing was (unfortunately) interrupted by techno. (Those of you who've been in Korea for awhile surely remember seeing people turning their heads back and forth while waving their hand in front of their face. The "Look, I'm slapping myself" dance.) Then hip hop dancing squeezed its way onto the scene. And currently, Koreans are going gaga over the Boobi Boobi Dance (two boobis naturally being better than one).
What is the Boobi Boobi dance? I'm glad you asked. Though singer Yoon Eun-hye (Banana Girl, no joke) is often credited with introducing the dance to Korean culture, it's essentially an ass-grinding extension of hip hop inspired by performers like Beyonce or Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas. Or perhaps it was Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell.
So now that we've been introduced to the background of the dance, let's dive face-first into the Boobi Boobi scene. We'll start with the basic Boobi Boobi. Kudos to these two girls for cranking up their computer speakers to show us how to move. Moving on from there we can see Boobi Boobi has firmly established itself in the nightclubs. Once clubbers grabbed hold of the Boobi Boobi trend, it wasn't long before it bounced its way onto television, where amateurs either taught us how to make a Boobi Boobi sandwich or confused it with the Booty Booty. Of course, when the Boobi Boobi is exposed to television audiences, then celebrities want to get in on the act. Though this lovely lady wasn't exactly doing the Boobi Boobi, she deserves an "A" for effort. Later, the true professionals took over and put the boobi in the Boobi Boobi dance. Lastly the transgenders produced a somewhat artificial version of the Boobi Boobi. (Check out Harisu's man voice).
That's it. Your guided tour of the Boobi Boobi dance is over. Now get out there and show everyone your Boobi Boobi.
UPDATE: (The transgender link has changed.)
More Boobi Boobi
Yikes! Hallyu makes front page of Yahoo US
Yahoo US has run an AP story reporting that now middle-aged women in the U.S. are into Korean dramas. Don't believe me? Here it is.
Kimchi chosen one of world’s five healthiest foods
Scoff no more. Health Magazine listed Korean kimchi among its top-five healthiest foods.
Kimchi was chosen due to its possession of essential vitamins (A,B,C) and a healthy bacteria called lactobacilli - which helps with digestion.
However, no matter what any Korean might tell you, there is still no scientific evidence that kimchi prevents SARS. Read more on kimchi and SARS at The Party Pooper’s blog.
03.25.06
Speaking of Hyori
I know I’m stating the obvious, but Yeosu certainly cannot compete with Seoul when it comes to nightlife. Though I can’t say I’ve been out and about enough to start a travel guide, so far I’ve only come across two bars that wouldn’t fall under the category of “hof”. The same is true for nightclubs as well. There is no shortage of nightclubs, but the only ones I’ve seen are of the “booking” variety. That said, I visited one Friday night and discovered a performer doing a passable rendition of Hyori’s “Get Ya”. I apologize in advance for the excessive movement of the camera. I blame it on the alcohol.
03.24.06
Britney songwriters complain of Hyori “plagiarism”
from the Chosun Ilbo
“Representatives for the writers of the Britney Spears song “Do Something” have written to the producers of K-pop star Lee Hyo-lee saying “parts” of the title song in Lee’s latest album “Get ya” are plagiarized. While this is not the first time the Korean pop industry has been accused of pilfering, it is the first time the copyright holder has formally complained.”
Personally, I can’t understand why the “songwriters” would complain. I mean, Britney Spears’ music sucks! I would think they would be flattered that anyone would want to copy her music. To be fair, Hyori’s music sucks too. Let’s be honest. Excluding the teen-age girl market, the reason for Britney and Hyori’s popularity is not because of the quality of their music. It’s because of the way they shake it on stage. Take that away and you’ve got nothing. Lighten up Britney. Do you really want to deny us this? (Note: Turn the sound down.)
