Hello & welcome to my humble cyber abode. I write about many things - My life as an English teacher, finding my path in life, gadgets, travel, friends, food, love...anything & everything! Thanks for visiting, and please don't leave without leaving a message for me!
This was my 3rd time watching Nanta and it seems to get better every time. It's set in a kitchen where chefs are working towards a deadline to prepare a meal. It's a non-verbal performance where kitchen utensils are used to create music.It's full of energy and will have you in tears from laughter!
We spent Saturday organizing and packing things in my apartment. Darmesh and I got ready to go out clubbing in the evening. We first stopped over in Itaewon, which I'll say again...is not my favourite place to hang out at. We just had a bite to eat and walked around. There's a Taco Bell which opened a couple of months ago in Itaewon, to the delight of my American friends.
Taco Bell in Itaewon
When we arrived in Hongdae, it started raining. There were two particular clubs (in the same complex) I wanted us to go to. The first, which is in a basement is called M2 and they play House music, while upstairs there is Q-Vo where they play Hip Hop. I've been to both these clubs a few times and had great fun in both of them. As we approached the club to join the queue, one of the bouncers dressed in a suit approached us and asked me, "Where are you from?" to which I obviously replied, "South Africa". He went inside and spoke to an older looking man. He came out again and said, "I'm sorry, but Africans and Asians cannot come into this club." He was kidding, right? Hell no. I asked him what he meant by that and he said it had nothing to do with him. "It's order from management," he told me.
I was infuriated. He asked to see my ID. I told him that I work and live in Korea and that my brother was visiting me (he had his South African ID as well). The older man then came out and told me the same thing. I demanded to know why, but of course, he wouldn't give me a reason. Meanwhile, looking over his shoulder there was a group of foreign girls walking in with no problem. I pointed to them and asked, "So those Caucasian girls are allowed in, but WE are not?" I wanted him to say it again. Africans and Asians are not allowed in this club. I told him I'd been there many times before (In my mind I realized that I'd been there with either Korean or white friends - which is why I probably didn't have a problem).
The two men told me to wait a moment while they went inside, and when they came back out, they gestured towards the queue which we could now suddenly join. I was pissed off, to say the least. Did I really want to spend money at this club? A club that discriminated against Africans and Asians?
We left, and thought we'd try the club upstairs. Besides, it was raining and I was not prepared to walk around getting wet looking for a club. Q-Vo used to be my favourite club because of its music. The area of Hongdae is populated with students, so clubs are jam-packed with 19-year olds who dress like 50 Cent. I kid you not!
Standing on the stairs to get into Q-Vo, my eyes met with the bouncer standing on the staircase. We exchanged half a smile and I noticed he lifted the collar of his suit blazer to speak into a little microphone. Immediately I knew that he was alerting people inside about us. I kept my cool. By the time we reached the top of the stairs to get in, there was a guy who suddenly appeared and asked where we were from and wanted to see our ID's. He said something to another guy and we were let in.
Itaewon
Our mood was already spoiled and I just wasn't feeling the vibe of the club. As I anticipated, it was full of young university students. The DJ was just mediocre dropping pretty old tunes. One thing I have to give the club props for is their cleanliness. There are people hovering around the bar area constantly wiping the counter and removing empty glasses.
Darmesh and I hung around at the bar for a while, before we were separated. I went outside to look for him and the bouncer told me he'd gone across the road. Anyway, to cut a long story short, we eventually found each other and went for a waffle at 2:30am. By this time, it was pouring with rain.
When I'd been in Hongdae before (with Korean friends), I had absolutely no problem getting a cab to go home. The street was lined with cabs, yet it took me over 30 minutes to find one to take us home. Now when you're a foreigner in Korea, believe me when I say you stick out like a sore thumb. So I couldn't help but notice an African guy who was also trying to hail a cab. He wanted to go to Itaewon (maybe 10-15 minutes from where we were) whereas my destination was about an hour away. This guy called out "ajjosshi" (meaning "uncle" in Korea) and with my own eyes I saw every cab driver ignore him or roll up their window and drive away...stopping just a few meters away for Korean people who got in with no hassle.
This pissed me off even more. A conversation with a friend, Grace kept replaying in my mind. "Some Korean people don't like African people," she told me. She even went as far as telling me that she once had a co-teacher who was African-American and apparently, the people in his apartment building wouldn't get into the elevator if he was in it.
This bothered me for quite some time. Koreans don't like black people? So why are people like Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Tyra Banks so popular amongst Koreans? Grace told me, "...because they have status. They are rich."
I wrote a guest blog for Grubstreet on this very topic. Because of that blog, titled Racism and Stereotypes in South Korea, I received dozens of emails from around the world. While it's not surprising that it ruffled a few feathers, many people thanked me for bringing such a topic to the surface. If you have a chance, do take a look and let me hear your opinion.
After my brother shared our incident with some of his DJ friends back in South Africa, we both agreed to just brush it off and take it as a proverbial "life lesson" or simply say, "shit happens". I could have kicked up a bigger fuss. At the time, I was fuming and they could see it, but what else could I say or do? One thing to remember in a situation like this is that the language barrier is very strong, so in a country like a Korea where I am a guest, I felt pretty helpless.
I could very well say things like, "How can things like this happen in 2010?" but the reality of it is that it does happen.
What would you have done if this happened to you? Let me know!
On Friday, my mum and Darmesh had no idea where we were going or how long it would take to get there. After the hour-long bus ride, we arrived at Times Square to watch Toy Story 3...in 4D! The last movie I watched in 4D was How to Train Your Dragon. It goes without saying that my mum and brother were blown away. Read more about my previous 4D experience here.
My brother and I killed the idea of clubbing that night. There was always the next day!
On Sunday, July 25 2010 my friend, I visited the COEX Aquarium in Seoul with my friend Hye-jin and her family. Aquarium's are very cool, so here are a few photo's to share with you!
On Saturday, July 3 2010 it was all about USHER, baby! The singer was in Seoul for a one-night-only concert.
Truth be told, I've never really been crazy about him, but have appreciated his hits - namely Yeah, Burn, Love in the Club and more recently, OMG.
I was disappointed with our seats (I didn't book the tickets). We were the first row in the upper level which means that there was constant traffic in front of us.
The concert started about 15 minutes late and up to an hour later, people were only just arriving...and not even trying to duck for the people they were blocking.
The concert was sponsored by Hyundai Card Super Concert - same promoters who brought the likes of Beyonce, Craig David and Whitney Houston. Beyonce and Whitney's concerts were great - in terms of stage and production. Whitney's performance, however was downright disappointing.
Usher was accompanied by sexy male and female dancers who I thought could put The Pussycat Dolls to shame.
Dressed in all white throughout the concert (except for the finale), he took off his jacket after a couple of songs leaving him with only a white vest. This, of course, resulted in shrieks of delight. He gave the audience a peak of his washboard abs while giving his signature smile.
Usher singing Burn.
His microphone failed as he was just about to belt out Love in this Club, but picked it up quite nicely.
One of the sexier songs was definitely Hey Daddy.
I was waiting for this....Yeah!
The finale was OMG which got the crowd really pumped.
I was really surprised that there was no encore, though. There's been an encore at every single concert I've been to so far.
In terms of audience interaction, I thought there was very little of it. Granted, the Flo Rida concert I went to in May was on a much smaller scale, and Flo even jumped into the audience a couple of times.
Usher's concert seemed to be strictly choreographed. He came. He did his thing. And he left. Just like that.
After concerts I'm usually so pumped up from the artists performance, but after this one, I felt (to say it in Kong-lish for a lack of a better expression) so-so ^_^*
I was given tickets for a performance called CHEF! so on Wednesday, June 23 2010 Joo-hyeon and I went to Yeongdeungpo after work. The show featured traditional Korean instruments, B-Boying and acrobatics all while making bi-bim-bap. It's very similar to the famous Nanta production. No camera's were allowed, so unfortunately I have no photos or videos.
Picture this: You're watching a movie. The opening scene is of a sea. Would you you feel sea sick watching it? Probably not. What if your seat was rocking back and forth and swerving to the left and right according to the camera angles?
What if you actually felt the water spray on your face?!
Now imagine this: The scene is in a forest. The camera pans over green grass, tall trees and flowers. Would you think you're going crazy if suddenly you're able to smell the grass and flowers?!
This is the future of cinema.
This, my friends...is 4D!
On Tuesday, June 1 I watched How to Train Your Dragon in 4D at Times Square in Seoul. My friend, Sarah and I thought the most that would happen would be that our seats moved. Before the movie started, a CGV staff member announced that it was advisable not to eat or drink during the movie as the seats would rock.
As the as lights dimmed, Sarah said to me - "Please don't scream!" but as it turns out, she was shrieking more than me! It was an incredibly cinematic experience and definitely worth the money (double the price of a regular movie ticket).
We think the scents come from the back of the seats
On Saturday evening (March 6 2010), I ventured out to Seoul. After traveling for about 1.5 hours, I arrived at my destination. A friend invited me to a social gathering of his English Club. I met a couple of people, including someone who asked me, "Are you from India?" to which I replied "No" and she went on to ask, "So why are you wearing a bindi?" She was American.
Another girl (American) came over me to me and said, "I've been wanting to talk to you - I miss my Indian friends so much." I said to her, "Who said I was Indian?" She then asked if I was Pakistani, but I made her believe I was Egyptian for a while. Ha!
Why must people assume instead of just asking?
I also met two elementary school girls. One of their dads belong to the English Club. I was blown away by their level of English - they were able to converse with me. Ahhh what a dream if my students could do that!
I hardly took photos - just have this one lousy one which isn't really of anything - just the food table (and some people in the background).
I took a cab home and bargained with the cab driver on a set and reasonable price. It was quite amusing - I was sitting in the backseat while the driver was trying to find my destination on his navigation. He couldn't find my city or area...so I looked (it's in Korean) and found it! An hour later, I was home safe and sound.
Diva, Whitney Houston kicks off world tour in Seoul
by Sheetal Makhan
America’s Comeback Diva, Whitney Houston kicked off her Nothing but Love World Tour right here in Seoul on Saturday evening, February 6 2010. This is the singer’s first international tour after ten years and screaming fans didn’t have to wait long before she appeared on stage. It was also the first time she performed in the country.
Dressed in all black, she opened with a track from her latest album, I Look to You. The crowd went crazy when in her husky voice, she said, ‘Gam-sa-ham-ni-da’ (Thank You in Korean). She complimented her band and backup singers on how good they were looking and then spoke briefly about the late Michael Jackson, who ‘gave’ her two of his backup dancers who were performing with her on stage.
Before singing My Love is Your Love, she told the audience that the song was written by Wyclef Jean, whose family has been affected by the Haiti earthquake disaster. She asked everyone to keep those in Haiti in their prayers.
“Ya’ll got soul,” she said – playing on the city’s name (Seoul) and a few times when someone yelled, “I love you, Whitney”, she replied, “I love you much more”.
Halfway during the show, she needed a costume change and said, “I’m wet. It’s cool up here, I need to change so that I don’t catch a cold.” For the next ten minutes, the audience watched a montage of clips from her music videos dating back to the ‘80s, with big hair, pink lips and neon clothes with shoulder pads.
Her return on stage for the second half of the show was nothing spectacular. She stood waiting patiently for the props to be organized on stage and said, “Those guys are doing a lot of work out there.”
This time, dressed in a long white coat under a black pants and top, Whitney took her seat on a high chair and said, “I want to sing with you, be intimate with you, take my time and sing songs that go back 25 years ago.”
Said to be the reigning Queen of the pop and R&B genre, Whitney made her comeback last year with her latest album, I Look to You which commemorates 25 years since her debut album.
“I don’t know if I should tell you this, but it’s been 30 years since I’ve been in this industry”.
“It seems like just yesterday,” she crooned and went on to remember her friends who’ve passed on over the years, notably the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson.
Whitney sat perched on her chair as she sang a few of her hit numbers from over the years including Greatest Love of All and Exhale from the 1995 film Waiting to Exhale which she starred in opposite Angela Bassett and Loretta Devine.
The entire mood of the show took a 360 degree turn when Whitney said, “I wanna dance” before she lit the stage on fire with her hit number, I Wanna Dance with Somebody from the 1987 album, Whitney.
For me, the show took another surprising turn when she said, “I don’t know if you know this, but I love the Lord” as she sang a gospel song walking from each side of the stage to the other flailing her arms in the air and throwing her head down. I didn’t know that growing up, Whitney was a member of the Junior Gospel Choir at her church.
She made mention again about the breeze moving across the stage and said, “Whitney doesn’t like to sing in the cold, but I’ll stay here for you.” This was just before she broke into her second dance number for the night, Step by Step from the 1996 film, The Preacher’s Wife which she starred in opposite Denzel Washington. This got the crowd on their feet and some even gave her a standing ovation.
There were a few times when she coughed during her songs. One could tell this was her first concert after a decade and she can’t be blamed for feeling nervous about this, right? There were no particular choreographed moves or dances. Many times, she just walked across the stage waving her arms at the audience as she relied on her backup singers and dancers to carry some tunes.
For the show’s finale, Whitney belted out her famous number, I Will Always Love You from her film debut, The Body Guard – a romantic thriller starring Kevin Costner. As the show ended, she got on one knee with her hands clasped together and head bowed down.
She said that even though Korea was cold (weather wise), she appreciated the warmth of the people.
After a few minutes, she came back with an encore of Million Dollar Bill.
Whitney will give another performance on Sunday evening, February 7 2010 in Seoul before moving to Japan for next leg of her tour.
Charlotte Theater is located in Jamsil-dong, Seoul. Now I've never been to New York, but this area (especially the building) reminds me of NYC buildings - think Sex & the City :)
On Saturday, April 11 2009 my friend, Joo-hyeon & I went shopping in Insa-dong ~ one of my favourite places in Seoul. It's traditional and modern at the same time...
This is the only Starbucks in Korea where the name is written in Hangul (Korean lettering)
