Tigers and Cranes

Origami, the art of folding paper is strangely therapeutic.

Long time ago, after I “graduated” from college and was a wastrel because I had no marketable skills, I whiled away my time in my studio apartment throwing playing cards into a hat(try it… it’s very addicting), and folding origami animals to pass time.

I sometimes miss those simpler times.

On another subject, it’s no secret that Koreans are absolutely bonkers over a computer game called “Starcraft”, made by a company in Irvine called Blizzard. I used to work for this company at one point, and even so, I could never understand the total fanatical devotion Koreans have for this game.

Flipping on the TV in Seoul, and wading through hundreds of cable channels that hey have over there, I came across some strange channels, such ones devoted to Go, or Baduk, fishing channel(two of them), a kung fu channel, and to my disbelief, two channels…TWO CHANNELS devoted to broadcasting Starcraft matches 24 hours a day. And this was couple of months ago.

Do you realize this game was released over seven years ago? That is ancient history in computer terms, let alone a video game. You’ve heard of a dude dying because he played some game for over three days straight without eating? Starcraft.

I recently received a call from an old coworker who still works at Blizzard. He was telling me he was traveling to Seoul, in what I assumed was a leisure travel.

“So, do you know where I can meet hot Korean girls?”
“Hm. You’re asking the wrong person. Why are you going to Seoul anyway?” I asked.
“We’re releasing Starcraft Two, and the launch event is in Korea…”
“Geez, you’re announcing the game in Korea? Why?”
“Well, you know how devoted Koreans are to our game, so we decided to reward them by making the announcement and showing the game there before anywhere else.”

I present you with some pictures origami, which I can only assume are made by a Korean otaku. In case you’re not familiar, all of the paper foldings here are units and things from the game, Starcraft. Made with such care and attention to detail, it made my jaw drop.

What, did you think Japan is the only country with nerdy fanatics?

A “Hydralisk”

A “Scout”

An “Ultralisk”

From Z Design Studios

There, for a time being was a big hoopla over a limited edition “Cucumber Pepsi” that were sold in Japanese conbinis. Apparently a marketing gimmick, Pepsi of Japan marketed the drink for a limited run, and then, in a bid to perhaps to create an aura of legend behind(if one can indeed create a legend around a sody-pop), stopped making any more of the stuff.

In the latest issue of Business Week, there’s an article about it:

“Only a lucky few ever got to try Pepsi’s Ice Cucumber soda. The pale green drink began appearing on shelves at Japanese convenience stores in early June… A couple of weeks later, all 4.8million bottles of Ice Cucumber had sold out. But instead of ratcheting up production, Pepsi brand managers in Japan did the unthinkable: They discontinued the drink. “We didn’t want it on the market past the summer,” says Keiko Ishihara, who oversees PepsiCo Inc. (PEP ) sales for Suntory, the Tokyo beverage maker that markets the soda giant’s products in Japan. “The value of Ice Cucumber is that it’s gone already.”

It might seem strange to kill off a product at the peak of its popularity. But for Pepsi, Ice Cucumber was largely a marketing stunt: a way to generate buzz for the brand in what is arguably the world’s most cutthroat beverage market. It’s a $30 billion-a-year business in Japan, spanning everything from run-of-the-mill brown colas to drinks derived from green tea, coffee, and even kimchee, the spicy cabbage mix that is a staple of Korean cuisine. Of the estimated 1,500 drinks that come to market each year, only a handful survive long enough to win a loyal following.”

This is what I find most perplexing. Not the fact that the drink was on the market for a couple of weeks, but rather, this writer of the article mentions a “drink derived from ‘kimchee’, the spicy cabbage mix that is a staple of Korean cuisine.”

I suspect the reporter has never traveled to Japan, and certainly not for this story, since the whole “Kimchi Drink” thing is a hoax, perpetrated first here, at good ol’ Tigers and Cranes. Here’s the article from September of last year, where I talk about “Kimchi Coolpis”, a non-existent beverage thought to be found in Korea, and certainly not in Japan.

Don’t believe everything you hear…

In this issue of Ray’s Diary, Ray discusses the fact that there are numerous bicycle riders in Japan, a sharp contrast to Korea, where it’s usually college students who own and ride bikes around.

In Japan, however, it seems everyone rides, men, women, children, highschool kids, grandmas, businessmen, I mean everyone. It’s not an uncommon sight to see a housewife with a kid in the back, pedaling while holding an umbrella in the rain.

I posit that in Korea, it’s not as prevalent, since it’s so cheap to get around, and there are buses aplenty, as well as low cab fares and subway fares.

In the final pane of this comic, Ray and his younger brother are using archaic Japanese, easily identified with the use of “gozaru” (a form of “desu”), and terms such as Sessha[拙者]せっしゃ, meaning I or me used humbly, and Wagahai[我輩]わがはい, which is another archaic “I”, but with perhaps a hint of arrogance.

Thanks once again to Ray for great comic.

“Ray’s Diary” is drawn and written by a Korean expatriate named Han Yong Jong, living in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan. I find his drawing style and humor strangely captivating, as he chronicles his daily life living in Japan as a Korean.

I had the pleasure of him emailing me and we corresponded a bit, and I hope he won’t mind my reprinting his old comics here with my translation of his Japanese and Korean into English, so those who can’t read either Korean or Japanese can also enjoy these comic strips.

Also, the author even includes mini Japanese lessons on the bottom.

You can view his latest comics online at his website (warning, it’s kind of hard to navigate, since it’s Cyworld, a notoriously insular and difficult to navigate website, kind of like Korean version of Myspace or something.)

In this installment of Ray’s Diary, he talks about those ubiquitous tissue dispensing people that are all over large cities in Japan. They’re mighty handy, since you can practically solve all your noseblowing needs just by strolling through some busy intersections and looking for these tissue giver-outers. At close to 100 yen each for a pack of “handy tissues” in Japan, they’re practically giving away money on the street.

And what are they advertising? It seems almost anything and everything, but mostly pachinko parlors, from the ones that I’ve received.

Earlier I wrote about really creative bento (Japanese lunch box) art by a Korean. Granted, the previous ones I highlighted were rather cute (to the point where if I was given one for lunch, I really wouldn’t want to eat it), but this time around, I present you with some creepy bento from a Japanese bento maker.

I mean, what?

I’ve taken somewhat liking to historical Korean dramas.

I think maybe it’s because I’ve always thought Yi Soon Shin is pretty cool, and there was a drama called “The Immortal Yi Soon Shin”, that I downloaded a few episodes and began watching. It’s fascinating to watch the period costumes, military uniforms, ships, and architecture of the Joseon era in Korea.

I’ve always been fascinated with old, traditional Korean buildings, from the thatched huts that the commoners lived in to palaces where the king dude hung out with his crew.

I’d notice that each time the show is on TV, a little graphic would pop up informing the viewers that the location has been furnished by “한국민속촌”[Korean Folk Village].

This got me thinking… What exactly is it? How big is it? Where is it? (in Korea, obviously, but)

So I decided to go and find out what this place is all about.

First of all, it’s not in Seoul, which kind of bummed me out, since the subway/train ride there is pretty damn long. Okay, it was like an hour from Jamsil station, but I was standing most of the way there, since Korean trains sure do get packed.

After reaching a city called Suwon, south of Seoul, I headed into the tourist information building where I paid in advance for the ticket as well as receiving maps(in Korean, English, and Japanese). Buying the entrance ticket entitles one to a free ride on the shuttle to and from the Folk Village, so at least I didn’t have to worry about what bus to take.

It being a weekday, and a rainy one at that, the shuttle was pretty empty save for an Older Japanese couple. The Shuttle ride took about thirty minutes, and I marveled at how many protestant churches there were in this city en route.

I couldn’t help but wonder, as the shuttle bus was trundling along, where exactly could one locate a folk village in this metropolis. Everywhere was tall modern buildings and busy streets, and it certainly didn’t look like any place one would film a historical drama like the “Immortal”.

Stepping out of the shuttle, I headed towards the entrance gate, which sort of reminded me of Magic Mountain in L.A, but mucho Koreanified. All around us were lunatic Korean kids screaming and running around, which again reminded me the critical need for Korean parents to beat their kids.

The site of the folk village is apparently very cleverly designed, so that despite the fact all around the place is a big, bustling city, nowhere from within the vantage point of the village it self does anyone get the notion that they’re not in 17 century Korea.

Once you get past the unruly kids, the place is extremely charming and seemingly authentic to the last detail, to the point where all the people who live here(yes, people do live here, I’ve been told) all must wear authentic Joseon era clothes, as well as if they are engaged in a craft like say, making spoons or crack pipes, they must use traditional material and methods.

Just regular tobacco pipes, all hand made by this gentleman

There are a countless number of thatched roof huts and houses, along with many tile-roofed patios where one can just sit around and take in the surrounding. Parts of the walls of this village are apparently made here as well, as I saw many mud bricks drying out in the sun(in this day’s case, getting wet by rain).

I saw plots of farmland where the inhabitant/owner was apparently growing herbs(not that kind, you fiend) for medicinal purposes, as well as fields of barley, vegetables for who knows what, and many charming stalls selling everything from traditional tea to “yuht”, kind of Korean sweet taffy that is very sticky and chewy, and excellent for denture and loose tooth removal. Oh, and grilled dried squids. Gotta have the squid.

It being a rainy day, all the lazy Korean entertainers decided to take the day off, which was a total bummer since I was looking forward to seeing horse mounted acrobats and the traditional wedding.

The village is sectioned by the region in Korea, i.e., a part of the village represents the lifestyles of southern parts of Korea, some east, some north.

What is really cool about the place is all the nifty livestocks. It’s like getting a free ticket to the petting zoo! There are horses(of course) roosters, donkeys, geese, goats(their pupil is a rectangle! I thought this was just a myth.) as well as my favorite, bunnies.

A goat. With its rectangular pupils. Weird.

The horse had the day off today.

I know I shouldn’t have done this, but I snuck into one of the farm plots to ah, “harvest” some greenery for the rabbits to much on. Man, they must’ve been starving, because I almost created a mini rabbit riot, as they were battling each other to get at my sprigs of some herb that I’d picked.

All that walking around sure makes one hungry and thirsty, and this is Korea, after all, and no one goes hungry or thirsty for long here. Stumbling upon an open market, I approached a very untraditional ticket booth to purchase meal tickets and bought some traditional noodles. Man, it wasn’t very good. Take my advice: if you come here, go for the “잔치국수”[Jahn Chi Gooc Soo](”festival noodles”) not 칼국수[Kahl Gooc Soo](noodles cut with knives). That stuff sucks.

Having taken lunch, and seeing the most of the park, it was time to leave. As a dessert, I had the very untraditional “Dippin’ Dots” ice cream. Who knows, maybe it was invented here.

There are souvenirs galore to purchase here, although most of the school kids seemed like they were interested in plastic weapons to beat each other with. All in all, it was a very pleasant trip a little aways from Seoul, and after having toured the premises, I can see why “The Immortal Yi Soon Shin” and other historical dramas are filmed here.

A Couple of weeks ago, my friends and I went to an all-you-can-eat Korean meat grill… not really a BBQ, because if I learned anything from “Good Eats” with Alton Brown, it’s that to qualify as a BBQ, meat must be cooked with smoke.

So, at this all you can eat yakiniku place, which, by the way, is jam packed with people enjoying endless parade of meat, my friends and I were loitering in the lobby, since we had to wait at least an hour before our party could be seated.

As I glanced at the party that was leaving their table and heading towards us, I noticed a rather familiar face, and I realized that it was this dude my friend who pointed out “Hey, see that big guy? He’s a K-1 fighter!” at a birthday party a few weeks back.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with K-1, it’s a type of “mixed martial art” fighting organization, rather similar to UFC(Ultimate Fighting Championship), or IFC. It’s similar to kickboxing, and it’s popular in Japan where it started, and also in Korea.

So I was glancing at the large, mean-ish looking dude walking towards us, and behind him was an absolute giant, no other than Choi Hong Man. He’s a 7ft 2in(2.18 m) K-1 fighter from Korea, who’s popular, obviously, in Korea, but also Japan as well, where he’s appeared in several commercials, befittingly, as an ogre who grabs people by their ankles and hoist them upside down. I forget what the commercial was selling.

He’s also a pretty good fighter, as he’s won the World 2005 GP in Seoul. I watched a fight with him and some undefeated American fighter who stood 5ft. 10in, and the guy practically had to jump to try to hit him in the face. He spent most of the fight running away from this goliath, eventually getting a vicious knee kick to his face and getting knocked out.

Anyway, as he and his entourage was filing past us in the lobby, I whisper to one of my friends “That’s Choi Hong Man!”
“I know! we should take pictures!”

So we rush out to the parking lot where he’s already mobbed by people posing with him and taking pictures. He was pretty good humored about it, so I borrowed a camera, and took pictures of one of my friends. She’s pretty tall, and he’s hunching, so you can get a pretty good idea just how big he is.

Alas, before I could stand next to him to get my picture taken(maybe he could have grabbed me by the ankles and held me upside down), he disappeared into his van and the driver drove off.

Trolling through Flickr one day, I came across this disturbing image.

According to the person who took this picture, these weirdos would stand absolutely still and when passersby walk by, would scare the bejeezus out of them by grabbing them.

Kinda enough to make me swear Pepsi off forever, but hey, I’m no marketing genius…

There’s a tradition in Korea where giving a soap to your host when you visit is seen as a tasteful and pragmatic gift. After all, who can’t use more soap? Who doesn’t like soap?
“Oh, no, not soap! I prefer to remain filthy”.

During Korean new year celebrations, many people play some sort of traditional Korean board game called “Yut”, as well as card games, and the prize for winners sometimes will consists of big box of soap.

Here’s another bit of trivia: LG, that famous Korean brand that makes cellphones and deluxe washing machines is a combo of two companies, “Lucky” and “Goldstar”. While Goldstar is an electronics company, Lucky was well known for their toothpaste and, yup, soap.

Here’s a picture of box of soap made with 24K gold flakes.

Made with palm and coconut oil, along with some really good glycerine, it sez, it’s good for some one who desires clean and healthy skin(who doesn’t?), and those who’ve messed up their face due to excessive use of make up.

Everything is pretty cool about this box set of soaps, but they really need to work on the name.

“Asso”?

From Fusionpia

Onigiri, or those triangular shaped balls of rice is pretty ubiquitous in both Korea and Japan. Simple to make, easy to carry, and eat a few of them, and you’re pretty much set for lunch.

You can’t avoid them, especially in Japan, as they are sold in all the convenience stores and most markets. They, of course, come in different flavors, from the all-time classic umeboshi, the ones with salted, sour plum in the middle, to bonito fish flakes, sea weed, etc.

The ubiquitous “conbini onigiri”

Many people just make em at home, as I tried, but I just ended up making a mess everywhere. I might need more practice.

For those parents who want their little kid to have a special onigiri at school, here’s a “soccer-nori” packaging, in which all you have to do is apply carefully these sea laver on to a really round ball of rice.

wish I had some as a kid.