Leeum Museum
I went on a date, which included a trip to the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art. Well, it wasn't technically a date. More of a let's-get-to-know-each-other-better-and-see-where-it-goes excursion. (I mentioned the outing before.) I've always wanted to go to the Leeum Museum, but just never actually made the time before. It definitely did not disappoint. We only got to see one of the three galleries. As I understand it, the first gallery include traditional Korean art (that's the one I went to), while the second gallery focus more on modern Korean art, while the third gallery is for special exhibits. I'll definitely go back to visit the second gallery, hopefully soon. Unfortunately were we not allowed to take photos of the artifacts, so the photos below are from areas where I were allowed to take photos.
Salon Du Chocolat
The French founded annual international chocolate trade fair known as Salon Du Chocolat had an exhibit in Seoul, Korea and of course being the dark chocolate chocoholic that I am, I just had to go. I did not splurge -- only bought one tin of quality coco powder. I did, however, get the business cards of some of the prominent chocolatiers in Seoul, and plan to visit their shops one by one.
Some of the photos I took at the exhibit below includes "clothes", and even "shoes", made of chocolate.
Immigration Office
The day before yesterday I went to the immigration office to re-issue my identity card which I lost a couple of months ago. During the semester I just never had the time to go by the immigration office, knowing that it is a time consuming ordeal. Well, I arrived at what I thought to be the office a little after 10 am in the morning just to find that the office has relocated so I had to go search for the new location. Luckily it was within a 10 minute walking distance. I guess I got there, say, around 10:30am, and had my forms filled out within maybe 5 minutes. But then I waited until close to 2pm before they got to help me. By then I was ravishingly hungry and bougth a foot long sandwich which I devoured in under five minutes. I need to return in two weeks to pick up my ID card.
At least my ID photo came out nice.
Photo shoot
A good friend of mine is getting married and had his photo shoot tonight, so he asked me to go by so that I can take some photos with them. I took some selfies in between shoots and sneakily got some of them as well. The photo studio don't allow visitors to take photos.
Restaurants
I didn't take photos of all the restaurants I visited over the last month. I don't eat out particularly much -- usually I cook at home. Nonetheless, seeing as I'm on vacation I went to a restaurant probably about twice a week. Some of the restaurants I went to included a Thai restaurant, an authentic Chinese restaurant (most Chinese restaurants in Korea are Korean-Chinese, rather than authentic Chinese), a fusion restaurant, a beef buffet (after which I came down of a flu -- my body is not used to much meat), and at least two Italian restaurants, the South African restaurant (yes "the" -- there is only one in Korea), and one of those chocolatiers I mentioned earlier. Below are some pictures.
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Blues Concert
This past Saturday night I went to a blues concert. Blues being one of my favourite genres of music I couldn't let this one pass, but the real reason I was excited to go was to see one of my all time favourite Korean rock musicians for the first time, Kang-San Eh, 강산에. I've posted about Kang-San Eh on this blog before, shortly after being introduced to his music, and has since accrued a number of his albums. (Watch Kang-San Eh on YouTube.) While the concert included a number of acts, Kang-San Eh's was undeniably the best (I might be subjective). Man, that guy knows how to enchant his audience! Apart for Kang-San Eh, the concert which was titled The Blues Again included Kim Ganju & Ha Hunjin, Jeon Seonggi, Seoul Blues, Lim Jihoon, and Lowdown 30. The photos below are of Kang-San Eh.
Movies
I also went to see four movies. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which I saw in 3D and can highly recommend, particularly to watch on the big screen. Two animations I saw were Tarzan and Frozen. Do not waste your time or money on Tarzan. While the CGI is good, the story is terrible and I found it awfully sexist. Disney's Frozen, on the other hand, was a great treat. The fourth movie I saw was a Korean action, called 용의자 / The Suspect. This was an excellent action movie that keeps its own well along the best of what Hollywood spews out. The lead Gong Yoo who I first took note of in the excellent and disturbing 2011 drama 도가니 / Silenced, and who is generally known for his drama and romantic roles, did a brilliant job at crossing over to the action genre. The film is full of suspense, great chase scenes, and well choreographed fights scenes. Slightly over the top, but in a good way.
Books
I'm currently reading:
- Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution -- a very thought provoking treatise on the plight of bisexuals.
- Tao Te Ching (SkyLight Illuminations) -- an annotated exploration of the main Taoist text.
- Tomas Transtromer: Selected Poems, 1954-1986 -- officially one of my new favourite poets
- The Tao of Pooh -- an explanation of Taoism by Winnie the Pooh
with illustrations.
- Good Omens
-- a fantasy fiction about Armageddon.
- The Pleasures of the Damned: Poems, 1951-1993
-- excellent collection of Charles Bukowski's poetry.
- I Was Just Wondering
-- a collection of the Christian author Philip Yancey's essays.
Friends
I also spent some quality time with friends -- one of the great pleasures in life.
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