Seoul, Nat'l Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

Trying to fit some high culture into my winter vacation/Seollal holiday, I dropped by NMMCA, and spent over two hours there: it is quite large with a about eight galleries, and had several things of interest. Best photo of the day:


One of the first parts of the first gallery is an exhibit of an art group's working area, including just a bunch of stuff in storage:


The next exhibit was a two room mixed media presentation (and the green hallway between them which makes odd whispering sounds) was about the nature of identity in a world of passports and DNA; it was quite interesting, but like much of art today relies heavily on video.


Speaking of video, this artist recording himself building a 1 pyeong (about 3 sq. meter) hut, or trying to, as it kept getting blown over, swept out to sea, etc.


This artist had images representing her fears on the glass cylinders (which were spinning) and projecting their shadows outward; the next one was about the impossibility of capturing the fluid motion of ocean waves in concrete.


In the center of this installation "Barefoot", a mechanical thing which makes squeaking noises representing Siddhartha, already in the state of nirvana, extending his feet toward his beloved disciple Gasupjonja. This is surrounded by "Gathering", a series of animals mourning the death of Siddhartha (incl. details).


A work called Kyon-Woo-JickNyo, which has a model earth suspended between North and South Korea. As sunshine energizes the solar panel, the model moves between the two, inspired by the "Sunshine Policy" of former president Kim Dae-Jung.


A toy tiger in some leaves and model buildings made of giveaway cards.


And finally:

Seoul World Cup Stadium Tour

For years I've wanted to take the World Cup stadium tour, but I generally only get over there on game days, when of course they don't offer the tour. I finally made it, and it cost a minimal 1,000W for an hour--including a not too rah-rah 13 minute video of the 2002 World Cup. In the waiting room, I was thrilled to meet K-Pop sensations and Seoul Tourism ambassadors BTS:


The field was being prepared for the upcoming ACL game on the 28th. I learned the turf is Kentucky bluegrass, and the import [mumble] square feet of it from the states each year.


Here is the player tunnel.


FC Seoul locker rooms, showers (note the fresh soap) and massage room:


Manager's meeting room, with me managering:


Warm-up room that visitors are allowed to sign on the wall. And


The young lady tour guide was very nice, and since I was the only person in attendance, she took lots of photos:

Seoul Lotte Tower

I'm spending my winter vacation/Seollal holiday in Seoul, doing some of those things I never seem to get around to. First up was a visit to the recently completed Lotte Tower, world's sixth tallest building, and the observation deck located therein. A foreigner promotion was on, so the ticket was 18,000W, down from the regular price of 27,000. The building was designed by New York firm Kohn Pedersen Fox. They also designed the Shanghai World Finance Center, which I visited in 2010.

First, inside the elevator on the way up. It was superfast.


Here are some of the best shots I got.


There was a rotating art display around the inside walls of one floor of the observation deck, featuring artists' homages to Charles Shultz. This one quite took my fancy:





Above is my "kitty", two mouse pads at 4,000W each, and the "framed" photo op was a pricey 15,000.


Next up: World Cup stadium tour, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Christmas Cake 2019 ... and stuff

Ah, Korea's Christmas cakes! Gotta love 'em, and so I do. This year's iteration harkens back to my first Christmas cake, back in 2008.


Today at school, we had an elaborate afternoon snack, which I at first assumed had something to do with Christmas. But it was actually a "workshop" for the school's "educational program". I suppose this is the elementary school version of the semi-to-quite drunken committee meetings we had in the high school.


Saturday evening, I went to dinner and drinks with some pals in Hongdae. But before any of them showed up, I made a new friend, a blood donation mascot who gave me a cookie:


After dinner, we went to a bar called Gopchang Jeongol, which means Offal Chowder.


But it is a bar, a really cool bar, a really packed, really cool bar. It focuses on a retro atmosphere and retro music. Many guests sang (and danced) along, and a good time was had by all.


Tonight is Christmas Eve eve, and in case I don't post anything else in the next two days, Merry Christmas, Everybody!

새로미 who?

Regular visitors to my patch of Seoul know I am a sucker for a photo op with a mascot. I have shots with dozens of characters, from sports mascots 턱돌이 (Mr. Stone Jaw) to the Doosan Bear to the FC Seoul 도깨비 (goblin), from a perfume atomizer bottle to a loaf of bread to a frosty mug of Kloud beer, from Pororo to Crong, from … well, you get the idea. So, yesterday, I snagged this beauty:


(S)he is wearing a chest badge of the official Gangseo-gu (my district of the city) logo, and is therefore, I assumed, the gu mascot. A trip to the website (https://www.gangseo.seoul.kr/site/english_new/contents/gangseo/symbol.htm) informed me that the character's name is 새로미, Saeromi, "representing a friendly and warm-hearted image, is a forever friend of the people of Gangseo, and represents perennial glad tidings."

But not quite. As you can see from the image there, Saeromi is a male bird (?) of some description.


And, wearing a skirt and a hair bow, my new friend is clearly a chick. I don't know if they are siblings, a married couple, or just friends.

Furthermore, I wondered, exactly what kind of bird is Saeromi? Not enough bill to be a duck, which was my first thought. Her plumage is mostly black, suggesting a crow, but one with a white face. Looking further down the webpage, I saw that the official bird of Gangseo is the magpie. I would say mystery solved, but magpies don't have white faces either … On the other hand, while magpies symbolize trickery, meaningless chatter and bad luck in the West, Asians see them as bringers of good fortune.

Indeed, ggachi figures prominently in Korean minhwa folk art and folktales with the tiger, horangi (together ggachi and horangi, 까치와호랑이):


Stay tuned.