Our trip to Korea September 2010: Day 3 - Hongdae & Sinchon

On our third day in Korea, we went to Hongdae and Sinchon.We were aware that Hongdae (홍대) was famous for its entertainment and chilled out vibe through dramas and variety shows. There are lots of clubs and cafe in the area. Lots of indie singers are actually discovered in Hongdae, such as 10cm. (If you've never heard of them before, check out the videos below)

10cm - Americano

 

10cm - Hug Me Once 

First we went to Sinchon as my friend had told us a lot about it. The streems of Shinchon were bustling whith people and it kind of reminded me of London, except it had more life to it. We had a look at some of the shops in the area and there had such cute items.

In Sinchon

After all that shopping we got a little bit hungry so we popped into a Korean restaurant. Our friend recommended we try naengmyun (냉면). It is which is basically cold noodle made of handmade noodles. It was our first time and we were curious as to how it would taste. Unnie showed us how to cut the noodle and mix them and we had trouble doing it so it did it for us

Although naengmyun was tasty it was too cold for my mouth but I've heard the more you have it, the more accustomed you become to it so we'll try it again when we have the chance.

Naengmyun

Unni showing us how to mix the naengmyun and Afsana carefully watching

Our table with the free mandos the waiter gave us

Reshma & Tamanna posing with their naengmyun

All our energy had to be put to us so we decided to do karoke in Hongdae. We had done karoke in London so we wanted to see how the experience was different in Korea and there was a big difference.
The karoke room we went to seemed familiar to one we'd seem 2PM go to on one of their shows.As soon as we entered the karoke building, we were greeeted by staff who then offered us ice cream and then shown to the karoke room.
The room was far bigger than any karoke room we'd see in London at the time. There was a big sofa, chairs, a mini stage and maracas in the room. The perfect place to sing our favourite Korean songs off key. Haha.
The room next to us even had disco lights as well. How awesome is that?

Dancing on stage in karoke

Sisters With Seoul with unnie

Once an hour and so of singing out hearts out had ended we wanted to walk around Hongdae but it was raining like mad so we quickly ran to station as we had to be up early the next morning. One our way back to the station we saw a kebab shop. They have kebab shops in Korea~! o.O Haha. Awesome.


Useful websites:

Korean Subway
http://visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264152

Visit Korea (Hongdae)
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=309690

Korean Food: Dong San

A few weeks ago, my friend and I visited Dong San  (동산), a Korean restaurant in London.

Dong San

73 Charing Cross Road 

London 

WC2H 0NE

The interior was really pretty and the decor was arranged nicely. This thing that caught my eye was the display of plastic food at the front of the restaurant that looks almost undistinguishable from real food. They had Korean newspapers under the display so feel free to take one if you visit this restaurant.

The restaurant floor looked big in comparison to some of the other Korean restaurants I've been to so it could be an ideal place to go if you go with a large group of people.

Display of plastic food

 

We ordered vegetable pancake, soybean stew with rice and seafood noodle. As my friend had tried Korean food once before and enjoyed the vegetable pancake I was curious to see what she thought of the vegetable pancake from Dong San. I guess I'll have to order it at every Korean restaurant I go to now so I can compare it. Haha.


The food took a while to come but it looked appetizing. 

Vegetable pancake

  My friend and I both agreed that the vetegable pancake was a bit oily and it preferred the crunchier ones in Assa. Having said that, they were still delicious and we ended up finishing it all.

Kimchi

My friend loved the kimchi. It was slightly different to the kimchi I've had in the past as they were mixed with a type of chilli paste which enhanced the taste.

Soybean soup with rice

 Also the soybean soup was tasty too, it was a bit too salty for my liking, but I'm told that it is usually quite salty.

Seafood noodles

The seafood noodles was my favourite. It had a kick to it which I really liked. The soup actually tasted like a Bengali dish my mother cooks.

Our table filled with food

Overall, the food was quite good but the service was not really the best as there were not many staff on the restaurant floor and we had to wait a while to be served. However, friends have told me that the korean barbecued meat at Dong San is rather delicious. Maybe I should try something like that at the next Korean restaurant I go to?

K-POP Lovers' Party [28-12-11]

This Wednesday I went to the K-Pop Lovers Party in New Malden. They have started holding karoke (노래방) sessions for 2 hours every Wednesday courtesy of The East.

Unfortunately we couldn't attend the first session they held on the 14th December so I was excited to see what all the hype was about.

The event started at 6pm but I attended the Han Resturant at around 6.20pm, fashionably late.When I arrived we were warmly welcomed by Romeo, the event organiser. We went downstairs to the karoke area and there were about 5 doors leading to different karoke rooms.

I opened each door in turn to see which one my friends were in. I must say, all the rooms were far nicer than any of the other karoke rooms I have been to in London. The biggest room was crammed with about 20 people so I stuck in that room for a while.

The atmosphere was great. Even though I didn't know half of the people in the room, everyone was having a great time singing and dancing so 2 hours flew by in a flash.
Once we'd finished we all headed to the ground floor where food and drinks were being served.

We were talking to Romeo about KPop culture in the UK and the possibility of language exchanges being held between us and Korean people studying the the UK so we could help each other have a better understanding the others culture. It was very insightful.
We even got KPop magazines which had awesome pictures of KPop idols.

Overall, I had a blast. I really enoyed it and I'll definitely be going again next year.

If you want to find out more about future KPop Lovers' Partys then join their Facebook group or check out their website.

-Tamanna

Drama review: Poseidon

Finally come to the end of Poseidon. Another drama to add to my Kdrama list!
I really enjoyed this drama, especially Siwon's acting which drew me in instantly, but I couldn't help thinking that something was missing. I've already watched IRIS and Athena and I was totally hooked on those dramas. Unlike this one, there were some moments where I didn't quite understand the story or it didn't draw me in as much and other bits where I had my eyes peeled to the screen!

I think this drama is worth watching, I had to see what all the fuss was about. The storyline was a little confusing at times and I think 16 episodes seemed too rushed. I felt like the drama was getting interesting around episode 10/11 and then realised that it would finish soon. I think more episodes would've helped the storyline. Althought it wasn't the best, it was interesting to watch. Especially the relationship between Siwon (Gim Seon U) and Lee Si-Young (Lee Su Yun.) I was disappointed to not see Yunho towards the end, I was expecting him to reappear towards the later episodes but that was not the case. His character could have been used more efficiently.

For those of you who have watched Poseidon or are watching Poseidon, let me know your views!

Another helping of B2ST in the UK?

We've only just about got over the CUBE United Concert in London but we've heard that B2ST will be returning for another concert. 2012 hasn't even arrived yet but we're sure it will bring amazing things. B2ST will be going on 21-city tour in February and London happens to be one of the lucky cities.

If you missed them the first time round, here's your chance to see them.

We'll keep you updated when we find out more. ^^

Merry Christmas~

It's Christmas today. Hope you're all having a merry Seoulful Christmas.. =)

메리 크리스마스 여러분. 좋은 날 되세요~.. ^^

K R&B [One Way]

We've been a fan of R&B music since we were young so we were excited to hear Korean R&B songs. One of our favourite K R&B groups has to be One Way. Although it's been almost 2 years since they've debuted, I still feel like they're underrated.
One Way (원웨이) consists of three members: Chance (leader & vocalist), Peter (vocalist) and Young Sky (rapper).

From left to right: Peter, Chance and Young Sky

Their debut song back in March 2010 was 'One Way' however, it was actually their song 'Magic' that made us love them. It has the perfect blend of soul and emotion. Seriously, we had it one repeat for months, even copying the choreography for the chorus (although we looked rather silly doing it). Check it out below:

Another song on their first album that caught our eye, or ear for that matter, was 'U Drag'. As all the members are fluent English speakers we have no trouble understanding them when they speak English. I find it hard to class this song in a particular genre, it's a bit of everything which is why we grew to love it.

They released their second album in January 2011 and it was just as amazing as the first.
My personal favourite on the album is the title song, 'Rainy Day's' which features JunSu from 2PM. I absolutely adore 2PM and JunSu is my favourite member so I was ecstatic that two of my favourite bands were collaboratining. (Yes, I am overusing the word 'favourite'. Lol. But honestly I love them both)

As well as Chance's solo track 'A Thousand Words'.

As well as the amazing songs that One Way make, which they actually compose and write themselves, they have been making many other songs for various KPop idols. Chance has composed a few songs for Super Junior, B1A4 and others. Recently, Peter and Sky actually wrote Super Junior's Donghae and Eunhyuks addictive song 떳다 오빠 (Oppa Has Risen). You can even see them at the start of the MV:

Keep your eye out for One Way in the near future guys~! ^^

If you like their songs, you can buy their album from YesAsia

Decoding Korean [ㅂㅂ] #8

Recently my friend keeps ending her emails with :

ㅂㅂ

So I asked her what it meant and it turns out it stands for 'bye bye'.

ㅂㅂ is an abbreviation of 바이 바이 [pronounced: ba-ee ba-ee] which is basically 'bye bye'.
Pretty cool, right?
^^

K-Pop Academy in the UK

OK, so I've just heard that the Korean Cultural Centre UK is planning on making a K-Pop Academy in the UK because of the growing popularity of KPop.

Click here to read the KBS article mentioning how popular KPop is in the UK.

I'll keep you updated when I find out more about it.

LoKo KPop Dance Workshop [18-12-11]

A couple of days ago I went to a KPop danceshop organised by LoKo. It was actually the first KPop workshop I have been to and I must say it was amazing.. =)

 

I had been meaning to go to a dance workshop for so long so I was really excited because I heard great things about the previous workshops held by LoKo. At the last workshop an SM choreographer actually taught the students. Amazing, right?

We were told we were going to learn a mash up of popular KPop songs of 2011 which consisted of:

Mr. Simple - Super Junior
Dr. Feel Good - Rania
I am the Best - 2ne1
Fiction - Beast
Neverland - UKiss
Hot Summer - F(x)
Cry Cry - T-ara
The Boys - Girls Generation
Paradise - Infinite 

Honestly I love all those songs and I've even tried to copy some of the choreography via YouTube but it was a disaster.

After a quick warm up, the teachers showed up the choreography we were going to learn. While watching them I was thinking 'I really don't think I can remember all of that'. o.O

The teachers were really friendly and helpful as they talked us through each routine at a steady speed. Even during our breaks they were happy to go through any move that we didn't quite catch which made me feel really comfortable.

At the end of the day, after 5 hours dancing, I found that I remember more of the routine that I could have even managed on my own.

I've been going over the choreography at home so hopefully I shall have a video of me attempting the routine up soon.

Awesome dance class with our amazing teachers

 

Thanks LoKo~!

-Tamanna

Our trip to Korea September 2010: Day 2 - Lotte World

One the second day we decided to go to Lotte World, the weather wasn't that nice it started to rain just before we got out. Nevertheless we were not going to let the weather ruin our plans for the day, we were told that Lotte World had rides and activities which were located indoors so we wouldn't have to stay outside all day.

Lotte World is one of the places which we wanted to go to after seeing it in lots of variety shows and dramas it was a must that we go to the Lotte World amusement park while we were in Korea. Lotte World is alot bigger and has alot more attractions then the theme amusement parks in England. 

Lotte World is worlds largest indoor theme park, there are also rides which are situated outsidem this is called 'Magic Land'. Some of the rides which can be found indoors are the viking ride, a balloon ride which shows you a view of the indoor park from above. In the outdoor theme park you can find rides such as the Gyro Drop, Gyro Swing, Atlantis, bumper cars and more. 

The closet station to Lotte World is Jamsil Station which is located on line 2 and line 8.

Lotte World is a popular place for couples to come we saw alot of couples wearing couple tees and other matching clothing it was quite surprising because you wouldn't really see couples wearing identical or matching clothing in England.

Useful wesbites:

Korean Subway
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/TR/TR_EN_5_1_4.jsp

Lotte World
http://www.lotteworld.com/Global_eng/Main.asp


http://visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264152

United Cube & Infinitely yours, Seoul

Here are some bits and bobs that we recieved at the United Cube concert in London. When we were waiting in the queue to go into the concert people were walking down the queue handing out leaflets and giving out chop sticks and little sticky notes promoting Yeosu. Inside the concert hall they were also giving away free polaroids.

Post-its advertising United Cube

Advertising Seoul

A polaroid Tamanna took beside the Infinitely yours, Seoul mascot

Chopsticks

BEAST & 4minute CD's

A friend of ours was coming to England and asked us if we wanted anything from Korea so we  thought we ask her to get us some KPop CD's. It's quite hard to buy the Korean music CD's in England, but now you can find some KPop CD's at HMV but they are quite expensive.We decided to get BEAST's albums and 4minute's album seeing as we were going to United Cube concert in London.

Alternatively, you can purchase the albums from yesasia.com there you can find a wide range of KPop albums as well as dramas and movies.

BEAST 1st Mini Album - Beast Is The B2ST 

This album is BEAST's first mini album, it was released in October 2009, its sold over 20,000 copies within the first month alone. The title track to this album is 'Bad girl' and has 5 songs in total on the album.

 

BEAST Mini Album Vol. 3 - Mastermind

This album is BEAST's 3rd mini - album which was released in September 2010. The first song to be released from this mini-album was Clenching a Tight  Fist (주먹을 꽉 쥐고). BEAST later went on to release Breath (숨). The mini- album has 5 songs in total.

BEAST Vol. 1 - Fiction and Fact

This is album is BEAST's first full length album, it has 10 songs in total including an unplugged version of Lightless and an orchestral version of Fiction. This full length album was released in May 2011 and became number 1 on Gaon's Monthly Chart having sold 90,000 copies.

BEAST 1st Mini Album - Beast Is The B2ST  

http://www.yesasia.com/global/beast-1st-mini-album-beast-is-the-b2st/1021445892-0-0-0-en/info.html

BEAST Mini Album Vol. 3 - Mastermind 

http://www.yesasia.com/global/beast-mini-album-vol-3-mastermind/1023501221-0-0-0-en/info.html

BEAST Vol. 1 - Fiction and Fact

http://www.yesasia.com/global/beast-vol-1-fiction-and-fact-normal-edition/1024397509-0-0-0-en/info.html

 

4Minute Mini Album - For Muzik

This album is 4minute's debut album which was released in August 2009 which includes their debut single 'Hot Issue' and their title track 'Muzik'. 

4Minute Mini Album - For Muzik

http://www.yesasia.com/global/4minute-mini-album-for-muzik/1021067296-0-0-0-en/info.html

 

Fun Way To Learn Korean: WebToon (웹툰)

Learning a new language is always a little difficult. Although learning Korean through dramas and Korean music has been pretty helpful as well as attending Korean language classes in the Sejong Institute in the KCCUK, we wanted to find a new way to improve our Korean language skills.

So my friend recommended Webtoon (웹툰).
It's an popular online cartoon which is a enjoyable way to learn Korean.

It was written by a Korean women who wanted to help her non-Korean speaking husband improve his Korean. Currently there are 123 episodes and I've been hooked to this fun cartoon since I found out about it.

Check it out by clicking on the cute cartoon below: 

Christmas Songs

KPop artists have been releasing Christmas themed songs to get us into the mood for Christmas. In the past artists and label mates have come together to release Christmas songs. One of my favorite Christmas songs are JYP Nation - This Christmas. Here are some of the songs released this Christmas, which one is your favorite?

SM Town - Santa You Are The One

Infinite - White Confession

CHEEZE - Home Alone

T-ara & Davichi -We Were In Love


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xWEse9w3FMg

KPop Calenders

Pop down to the Korean Cultural Centre UK between 28th to 30th December and if you're one of the first 100 KPop fans there, you can get a free KPop calender like the one below.

Don't miss you're chance to get an amazing free KPop calender.

Click on the link to access the KCCUK Facebook page.