We visited a friend at his pottery studio. Aside from making beautiful things, he also hosts tea ceremonies. We took part in what amounted to a tea marathon. Teas from China, Korea and Japan were carefully steeped and poured one after another and we drank while being regaled by our host until we brimmed with caffeine and stories.




The studio kitchen is also kind of awesome.



And has a resident slug.

Big city equals big parade. Buddha's birthday is coming up and this is the warm up party. Lanterns to infinity.

If you didn't know, a fixed-gear bicycle lacks the freewheel mechanism, which means it cannot coast -- if the wheels are turning, so are the pedals. Most bikes of this type are also single-speed. The combination makes them lighter, but also more challenging to ride. It's a purist thing.

It's also a cool kids thing; the bikes have recently become potent signifiers. Ride one and what you're saying is "Hey, check out my social milieu!"

Ayyyhnnyway. Guess what I came across in Seoul, near the artsy Hongik University, at that parkette frequented by a mix of punks, hip-hop thugs and club kids that is often venue to live music and booze picnics.













I got to ride one. The owner's sole instruction: "Slow." These machines are not cheap. They were definitely being shown off more than they were being ridden. If you're sexy and you know it...



We got treated to some noraebang nearby, and of course the bikes joined us. They parked right in the song room, no questions asked. It was another example of a certain laxness exercised here that I really, really want to export to North America.

Korea Sparkling? How about Korea, Yeah Dude Whateeevs, Just Take Your Shoes Off When Appropriate.



If you have any tips for cyclists in Incheon/Seoul (where to buy, where to ride), let me know.

November 11th, lest we forget...

Not to steal Remembrance Day's solemn thunder, but here in South Korea it is Pepero Day. Pepero are cookie sticks dipped in chocolate. Some may be more familiar with the Japanese analogue, Pocky.

The logic of Pepero Day? The date, 11/11, looks like a bunch of Pepero sticks. Children, let us shower each other with chocolate snacks! Yes, yes, insidious marketing... and Santa looks like a Coke can, ho ho hum.

If you are an English teacher here, your students will probably ply you with these today. Me, I went and bought my own. I'm not missing out on Pepero Day, are you crazy?

With October ends peak festival season in Seoul. The city has been host to kimchi, drumming, photography, fashion, Korean wine, and dance festivals to name a few.

A couple of weeks back we caught a free show at Seoul City Plaza. It was part of the government sponsored Hi Seoul mega-festival.

We sat on the grass and watched men spin ribbons of fabric via pendulums attached to their heads. Next was some traditional Korean drumming, followed by Native American musicians. Then they combined forces to cover Simon and Garfunkel, "Apache", and Ennio Morricone. Is this what they call World Music? Because it's kind of awesome.

The fun didn't stop there; they had to throw in a wildcard. The emcee of the night introduced and interviewed a tall Korean man with long black hair, Confucius-goatee and a rumbling baritone voice. He was dressed in something flowing, white and sequined. I burst out laughing when it dawned on me that, wait, uh, this man is amazing.

What happened was: Drumming. DRUMMING! Fog. Breakdancing. Graceful dancing with fans. Lasers. FIRE! DRUMMING WITH FIRE! DRUMMING WITH WATER! ALL AT ONCE! BRING BACK THE RIBBON-HEADED PLATE SPINNERS! ADD THE KOREAN DRUMMERS! THE NATIVE AMERICANS TOO!

This show is free?

We looked around at the meagre turnout in disbelief. Hey, people of Seoul, your government has genetically combined Andrew WK, Criss Angel and pyrotechnics and 200 of you show up?



I looked him up. He is Choi So Ri, and apparently "started his musical career as drummer of BaekDuSan, one of the first Heavy Metal bands in 80s." I can believe that. Here are someone's photos of the troupe he's performing with, and him drumming with some pop'n'lock guy.

While we're on the topic of Korean drummers stealing the show, have you seen this?

We discovered the area just South of the entrance to Jongmyo Park to be old man central! There was enough Brylcreem to grease an army tank, dentures to pave a plaza, Old Spice to fog up half of Seoul... Games of baduk and janggi were in progress all over the place. Boards and pieces were available for anyone to start up a match. Here were senior citizens, not hidden away, not slowly growing frail in rocking chairs, but socializing vigorously and thriving in a public space. Inspiring! A kerfuffle broke out while we were there (not over games, but politics or religion, we think). This was interesting as both the first real confrontation we've witnessed in Korea, and as further exhibition of some senior-citizen brio. Go old men, go!

One sculpture of many by the Cheonggyecheon. I like the Cheonggyecheon.

We have a long weekend and have been walking Seoul until our feet said "NO."

The Seoul Design Olympiad is an expo held at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium. There are some big names on exhibit, and visiting for conferences. We strolled around the exhibits, took a gander at designs in competition, saw some fireworks, and ran into Oh Se-hoon, the current mayor of Seoul (he said "Hi"). It was fun! Info: http://sdo.seoul.go.kr/eng/ Song: Ellen Allien - Erdbeermund

I've started visiting The Korea Herald and came across the Pentaport Rock Festival.

This annual festival has featured Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes, The Chemical Brothers, Tricky, Underworld and many other acts I'm not hip enough to know. It is also held right in my future city, Incheon, most likely because it is industrial enough to provide a sizable expanse of concrete as a venue.

Hey, maybe next year they'll have, like, Fatboy Slim...