Cupid

Some snapshots from the Valentine's Weekend.

Hosang Park

I came across some great shots by Korean photographer, Hosang Park. The title of this collection is "A Square" and he aims to reveal what he calls the "band-aid of nature" in areas of high-density development.

I like these photos because I see these parks everywhere in Korea. Public parks, apartment complexes, and rest areas in Korea are built very quickly and all seem to embody similiar physical and spatial elements. These places are usually overdesigned and crammed full of visual data in what Park describes as "landscape as signage:"

"their presence in Korea is both a reassurance and an investment: the trees, paths, and water features, no matter how artificial, push up property prices by providing an implicit guarantee of the 'environmental' benefits of a place where they belong...crammed together as visual shorthand for endless leisure. They are landscape as signage, a placeholder for the possibilities of a park."

Check out the rest of Park's photographs here.

Sepak Takraw

Sepak Takraw is a popular game played in South Korea and much of Southeast Asia. It is played with 3-4 players on either side of the court and is pretty much a combination of soccer and volleyball. You can only use your feet and your team gets three hits to kick the ball onto the other side.



We caught these guys playing at the courts in Citizens Park in SangMu. They were not as hardcore as some of the Thai players in the video below, but its fun to play and requires alot of flying spin kicks. It's unfortunate that I only have a limited supply of flying spin kicks or else I would be awesome at this game. I rarely dish one out, only if I am in an emergency situation or someone is mean muggin' me.



Shane made the mistake of wearing the Koala Hat not knowing this little kid was going to beat him up for copying his outfit.

Halfway

Five months down. Five to go.

Phillies Spring Training

My dad has just informed me that the 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies started their Spring Training schedule at Bright House Field in Clearwater, FL. To get you back into the spirit of the game, here is a picture of my phanatic mother at the final game of the World Series with her handmade rally poster. She's 5'2".

Korean Ginger Tea

I tried my hand at making the Korean ginger & cinnamon tea that is commonly served here as an after-dinner drink. After eating fermented kimchi, savory soups, spicy red sauce, and cooked vegetables this is a sweet drink to cleanse your mouth. It is served cold and has a nice cinnamon taste to it with a kick of ginger that gets you in the throat. This is why it also good to drink warm when you have a sore throat or cough.


I added jujubes in addition to the cinnamon [kyepi], ginger root, and pine nut garnish. You have to break up the cinnamon stick, peel and slice the ginger, and chop the jujube before adding them to water and bringing it to a boil. Then you let it simmer on low heat for about 25-30 minutes before taking off the range and allowing the liquid to cool. While it is still warm you can add honey or sugar to sweeten [I prefer honey]. I also sliced up some asian pear and added it to the liquid before putting it in the fridge to cool so that some extra fruity sweetness would seep in.

Biking the Gwangju Stream

The weather on Saturday hit the 50s so we went for a lil spin around Gwangju. Here is a video while riding next to the Gwangju Stream. The path curls around the entire city and we can ride from our Dong to Sangmu [where Leah and Stu live] in less than an hour.


Down the path we stumbled upon Kite Man. He was in the middle of releasing what must have been close to 800m [half mile] worth of strand. Half of the kites were birds and the other were diamonds. He would release one kite about every 15 seconds from a box at his feet. The entire span of the kites reached up and over the roof of the city. It was something spectacular to watch and one of those moments you only get once.


Happening upon Kite Man.




"Hey...that's my box of kites."

Check out the rest of the bike adventure and Kite Man photos here.