Sambo in Seoul

The Itaewon Global Village Festival is happening soon, and from the banners that have been put up along my daily walk to the subway, I see that Little Black Sambo will be part of the celebration. Furthering my theory that you aren't anything in Korea unless you have a ridiculous cartoon mascot, at least the organizers seem to have equally embraced other racial caricatures. Any guesses who the other two are supposed to represent?

Seattle in Seoul

Turns out I didn't need to fly across the pacific to visit Seattle! I came across this bar on the weekend and had to take a picture (notice the little Space Needle on the right!) I don't know what the liquor laws are like here in Korea, but they must be a little looser than back home. Drinking establishments like this seem to be everywhere, in every neighbourhood. Called "Hofs," they are usually small, dark, and more often than not seem to serve grilled chicken with the beer and soju. The name Hof is derived from the German word "Hoffbrau"—if someone can explain how Koreans latched on to the term I would love to hear it.

A bowl of poured concrete

"On hazy days, this city looks like nothing as much as a bowl of poured concrete topped by a noxious yellow cloud. The surrounding mountainsides have been blasted away to build grim slabs of high-rise apartments with the names of the conglomerates Samsung or Hyundai stamped on the sides."

I couldn't agree more.

This quote is from an interesting article on the Minneapolis Star-Tribune's web site (of all places!) Apparently Seoul's mayor is trying to rehabilitate the city's image with an ambitious plan to green the city, including a scheme to turn the Yongsan Garrison land into Seoul's version of Central Park. I say more power to him! Seoul needs all the green space it can get.

Food, food, food

Those that know me best know I live to eat. Coming home to Vancouver meant a chance to eat a lot of great food that is either not available in Korea or is prohibitively expensive in Seoul.

I had worked up the list of places I wanted to hit in the weeks before leaving Korea. That list included two of my favourite Seattle spots, Red Mill Burgers, and Super Bowl Noodle House. I'm not alone with the opinion that Red Mill has quite possibly the best burgers in the entire world. I was really looking forward to this, and I'm happy to report I wasn't disappointed!

Back in Vancouver I had fantastic meals at Capilano Heights Chinese Restaurant, and a surprisingly tasty dinner at Taylor's Crossing. Of course, the meals I had been most highly anticipating came from my Mom's own kitchen. There is no better welcome home than a fantastic meal of my favourite foods!

One of the highlight meals of my brief visit was all-you-can-eat sushi at Tanpopo . The are a lot of raw fish restaurants in Seoul, but it is hard to confuse what they offer with succulent sushi like in this picture. Raw fish Korean style means choosing your meal from the tank outside and then having it killed at your table and digging in for tasty meal while the fish is still squirming. Mmm, appealing. Don't you agree?

Sweet sounds in Seattle

When I went to Korea in March I opted for the cheapest flight available, which happened to be a web special fare on Singapore Airlines. I knew it was only a six month ticket, and didn't really have any intention of using the return leg of the ticket. When I realized I would be able to get the time off work to go home, I hatched a plan that would get me home for a quick visit, and engineered it so that my return would coincide with my favourite event of the year, Bumbershoot.

On paper the lineup this year looked a little lackluster, but I still managed to pack four full days with non-stop music. That is the great thing about Bumbershoot—even when it seems like there is nothing worth seeing, you always stumble upon somebody that you've never heard of before that proves to be at the very least interesting, and many times fantastic.

If there was any doubt beforehand, this year's festival confirmed that my musical tastes have changed noticeably in recent years. I made it to the Main Stage only once the entire weekend (site of the most mainstream acts). Instead, I basically camped out at the Backyard Stage and soaked up the alt.country goodness. Highlights of the festival for me this year included: the legendary Mavis Staples and Bo Diddley, the always outstanding Waybacks, the sweet sounds of The Be Good Tanyas, and infectious enthusiasm and energy of Buckwheat Zydeco.

The No Depression 10th Anniversary Show on Saturday night introduced me to Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, and I promptly got in line to buy their excellent CD. Billy Joe Shaver didn't disappoint with a spirited performance, and Tift Merritt's set alone made the trip across the Pacific worth the effort. Son Volt packed the lush McCaw Hall Sunday night, and I finally got to see Jay Farrar live.

It seems every year I stumble upon an act that I have never heard of, but I end up needing to learn more about. This year's discovery was DeVotchKa. Wow, what can I say about a group that features a tuba, an accordion, and a lead singer with a voice that would be right at home on a David Lynch soundtrack? I bought their CD, and look forward to giving it a good listen.

For the most part the weather cooperated (in any case, I wasn't going to complain since anything was a relief after escaping the stifling Seoul summer), and Bumbershoot 2005 was another fantastic experience.

I won the Raffle(s)!

First, I need to apologize to my loyal readers for the dearth of updates lately. As some of you know, I decided to make use of the return leg of my plane ticket before it expired and jet home for a quick end of summer visit. The rush to get things finished before leaving meant I had to neglect my blog. The rush, rush since I've been home has meant I haven't had a chance to post anything before now.

On September 1, I took the day off work to get ready in the morning, and then leisurely make my way out to the airport for my 6:30 pm flight to Vancouver. With my Japan fiasco still fresh in my mind, I wanted to check in for my flight with plenty of time to avoid any chance of missing my flight. This strategy would end up paying great dividends, but I didn't know that at the time.

With a few hours to kill, I wandered around the airport, looking forward to my flight on the always excellent Singapore Airlines. As I made my way to the gate when they called my flight I saw a cute Korean woman coming towards me. I realized after she greeted me by name that she was the same woman that had checked me in at the desk earlier. I guess my charm and charisma made quite the impression because she informed me that they needed to upgrade someone to Raffles Class, and that "I selected you." She took my economy class boarding pass from me, and put a shiny silver "Raffles Class" pass in my hand, and led me to the First Class/Raffles Class boarding gate. I was so shocked and momentarily stunned, not quite realizing what was going on, that I didn't really have a chance to thank her properly. I really regret that, because the following ten hours was quite possibly the most fantastic experience I have ever had!

The experience began when I was greeted by name and shown to my seat. And what a seat it was! I sat down and almost lost myself in all the room. It was like a La-z-boy in the sky! In this picture you can get an idea for how much leg room there was. Before, I was impressed with how each seat in economy had its own television screen and on-demand movies. Well, that screen now seems absolutely puny after enjoying the monstrous 15" beauties in Raffles Class. Oh, and the headsets were Bose noise-callelling full size plush headphones. Amazing!

There were five flight attendants in Raffles Class (aka business class) to look after the every need of myself and my 29 fellow Raffles Class passengers. The nonstop attention began before take-off when we were offered pre-departure drinks. After the five course meal, served on china and linen table cloth, I was stuffed, and ready for a snooze. That was when I was really blown away, and started laughing out loud at my incredible good fortune. I discovered that a magic button on my console converted my seat into a fully reclining bed! Unbelievable! With the full size pillow and blanket, I couldn't have been more comfortable.


Called the "SpaceBed," Raffles Class seats are apparently the longest business class beds available on any airline flying. The seat cushion was developed for NASA and conforms to contours of a passenger's body, and when fully deployed are 6.5 feet in length. Truly a thing of beauty!

After getting this sweet taste of how incredible flying can be, it is going to be really rough having to take my seat in economy for the flight back to Korea. At least when I get the tray table shoved in my face as the person in front of me reclines his seat I'll be able to savour the sweet memories of my time in Raffles Class!