Zofona > Zofona Seoul > Weblog South Korea > Archive weblog 2006 > weblog Korea May 06

weblog Korea May 06

Last year we went to Japan for the first time. At that time our impression of Osaka and Kyoto was very positive. This week I went to Japan for the second time, now on a business trip to Tokyo.

I made pictures of Tokyo to show you my first impression. I tried to compare Tokyo to Seoul. The only way I can explain it in short; if the Koreans are the Italians of North East Asia, the Japanese are for sure the Germans. Cleaner city, more balanced architecture (even though it's a concrete jungle), more polite and above all, everything is working and always on schedule. Don't get me wrong on this, both cultures have positive and negative aspects. I think the strange thing is that Japanese and Korean people are very different and very much alike at the same time (although they will never admit it). (posted by Jitze, 25/05/06)
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Today I had lunch at Sanchon restaurant and I added some extra information on our restaurant reviews. (posted by Christina, 23/05/06)
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I repaired our zofona headquarters page, check it if you want to see what kind of music we play. We also broadcast live on internet if we play something when sitting behind our computer. Try to listen, read the instructions here. I discovered that besides winamp some other media players also work. And we also play on request, use msn, skype or mail to ask for even better music. :) (even classical) :) (posted by Jitze, 20/05/06)
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Subway Assault Highlight Perils of Youthful Looks

Police on Saturday booked a man in his 50s over a scuffle with a woman on Line 2 of the Seoul subway.
The man identified as Park got on the train at Seoul National University Station at around 7 p.m. when he saw the woman identified as Ju sitting in a seat reserved for the elderly. “You're young, what do you think you’re doing sitting here? Get out of the way,” he was quoted as shouting. When Ju refused to budge, Park pulled her out of the seat by her arm and slapped her in the face.

However, police investigation revealed that Park, a carpenter by trade, was in fact the younger of the two at the age of 55, while his hapless victim was 56. Police quoted Park as saying Ju’s face looked so fresh he was convinced she was younger. He has been booked for assault.

(englishnews@chosun.com )

Not to my surprise. First of all the attitude of especially older Korean man, they think they rule the world. I heard stories about older men slapping cigarettes out of women's mouth. Just because they think it is inappropriate to smoke in public. Second, make-up country. Probably this lady was covered with a layer of make-up which could easily be used to paint a crossover on a 6 lane street. (posted by Jitze, 20/05/06)
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I believe it is better to write about whatever bothers me instead of not telling it. Therefore read my constructive review of the Steff Hotdog chain including a conspiracy theory. (posted by Jitze, 14/05/06)
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Coen just gave me a link of a really nice website. Songtapper.com, incredible but just try it. Tap a song on the space bar of your keyboard and the website will try to fill the gap in your memory. My first test with an AC/DC song immediately worked. After this my tapping was not so good (maybe because I drank beer) but after several more tests I am convinced. The perfect tool to figure out which artist made that stupid song which keeps popping up in your head. Good luck with the tapping!. If you don't believe it, start with an easy song you know very well. (posted by Jitze, 12/05/06)
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I know this picture is not only typical for Korea, you can find examples like this in almost every country in the world. But in my opinion things like this are true examples of stupidness, lack of thinking for yourself and being a little bit to obedient when the boss tells you to do something (how stupid it seems). Admire this wheelchair access next to the Kyobo building where I work. I guess they made it to secretly train disabled people for the next paralympics. (posted by Jitze, 12/05/06)

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I just read a story which I found quite amazing. It's about a guy suffering from asthma and hey fever and the solution he came up with. In short, he got himself infected with hookworm on purpose. The idea is that the hookworm somehow interacts with the body to avoid being attacked by your autoimmune system. Reducing response from the autoimmune system also means reducing symptomes of other autoimmune diseases like asthma and hey fever. I found his story very interesting to read although I don't even have asthma or hey fever. (posted by Jitze, 10/05/06)
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Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt is one of those names I always forget to mention if you ask me for my favourite artists.
But she was the first female singer I liked. It started way back in the seventies, 1977, with her album called 'Sweet forgiveness' and the single 'Runaway'.
On April 30 this year I saw her for the third time live on stage at 'de Oosterpoort' in Groningen, the Netherlands. The first time was a long time ago when she played with Elton John and Eric Clapton at the Feijenoord stadium in Rotterdam the Netherlands. The second time was two years ago, also in Groningen.

Together with Nicolette Larson, who passed away in 1997, she's still one of my favourite female singers. (posted by Addy, 10/05/06)
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I was busy with other things like playing battlefield2 most of the time. That's why I only now publish some of our pictures of the lotus lantern festival. This festival is the celebration of Buddha's Birthday and this year the lantern parade was held at April 30. For a video impression choose multimedia at this lotus lantern festival website. (posted by Jitze, 08/05/06)

8.30 pm, parade at Jongno Area.

Yde wanted to join the parade with his lantern.

The Buddhist temple close to our house.

Like the 2002 Lonely Planet Korea cover.

Me and lanterns.
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While cleaning up my "Favorites" I saw some nice websites which I never used for our site. But they are really nice so I added some links on North Korea Tourism. Interesting stories, pictures, songs and a 10 minute video included. All stories are written by Dutch People. (posted by Christina, 08/05/06)
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Happy Birthday Anja!
(posted by Yde, Vibeke, Jitze and Christina, 07/05/06)
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Last week Yde went to a birthday party and came back with a party bag. In this bag were some very nice things for little children including a small package with very beautiful Animal Paterns Emboss Twin Colored Paper. Today Yde wanted to use it and he made me a "triangle". I noticed the web address on the package and decided to take a look. I was shocked, not because of the content, but I could click on a button which said "English" and it worked. Most of the Korean websites I visited in the past four years were for Korean readers only. Nice guy, the boss of Jong Ie Nara, he made my day! By the way, jong ie nara means paper country. (posted by Christina,07/05/06)
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While reading an article about the Danish Price Hendrik (the honorary president of the Danish Dachshund Club) who loves dogs "delicately sliced, lightly fried and served on a plate" I thought of an article I read "Wok the Dog: What's wrong with eating man's best friend?" written by William Saletan. Let's see if I get again angry emails from people accusing me of eating dogs just because I live in South Korea and putting dog-eating related articles on this weblog;)) (posted by Christina, 05/05/06)
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I added a new page to this website: other useful information located under City Information Seoul. It contains information, like art supply stores or the address of someone who can upholster your old chairs, which I cannot put on one of the other existing pages. (posted by Christina, 04/05/06)
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During the past weeks I did many things which I have not put on this weblog. I visited Gallery Himalaya, located #170 Insadong (a side street from the big Insadong street). The owner, Mr. Lee, is a very nice man who speaks english well enough to tell you stories about the antiques he sells in his shop. He frequently visits countries like China, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal to search for nice antiques and other treasures. It was really worth visiting his gallery, many beautiful things to see but unfortunately a little too expensive to fit in my budget. (posted by Christina, 04/05/06)
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Yesterday evening we went out with our Dutch friends from Osaka. They lived in Seoul for a while and they wanted to eat at Bennigan's. Well in our (almost) four years Korea we never had dinner there so we decided to go to the Hyewha branch of this world famous restaurant. The food was good but best of all was the happy birthday song the waiters performed for Jitze. Before they came to our table Jitze looked already at them with abhorrence because he really doesn't like this kind of entertainment. And then it was his turn to put on the party hat and smile...... We received a picture as a nice memory of our diner. Then we decided to go for a drink and we ended up in a bar called The Flair. We had a good time there, we were entertained by the barkeepers who did magnificient tricks with bottles and cocktails. Their slogan "Those Who Make Party" is correct in every way. Even Jitze smiled when they asked his name and where he was from. Of course they mentioned our famous Dutch trainers in Korea: Hiddink and Advocaat, but after four years we are used to that. It was a nice bar and I hope we will visit it again before we leave. (posted by Christina, 04/05/06)