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In this video we take a trip to the Bank of Korea and learn about currency!

To learn more about the Museum, read the blog: http://blog.korea.net/?p=8003

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Take a peek inside Busan’s largest aquarium, opened in 2001.

For the text, visit: http://wp.me/p1hnjj-1kt

Address: Busan-si Haeundae-gu Haeundaehaebyeon-ro 266
(Jung 1-dong 1411~4)

Phone: +82-51-1330 or +82-51-740-1700

Web: http://www.busanaquarium.com/eng/index.html

Hours: Mon.-Thu.: 10:00-20:00; Fri.-Sun. & Holidays: 09:00-22:00

Admission: Adults (ages 19 and up): 19,000 won / Group: 15,000 won
Youths (ages 13-18): 17,000 won / Group: 12,000 won
Children (ages 3-12): 15,000 won / Group: 10,000 won
* Group: 20 people or more

Directions:
[Subway]
Haeundae Station (Busan Subway Line 2), Exit 3 or 5.
Walk 10min towards Haeundae Beach.

[Bus]
From Busan Station, take bus 139 or 1001 to Haeundae.

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Noryangjin fish market, located on line one , provides Seoul residents with a steady supply of fresh seafood as well as an innumerable variety. With sales available 24 hours, auctions are held in the early morning hours to the highest bidders.  Additionally, there are restaurants located on the bottom floors, where the fish can be delivered in mere minutes after choosing them.

So you’re in Korea and ready to travel? When booking a train ticket you typically have three options. In this video I explain them all.

To read more: http://wp.me/p1hnjj-1jo

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Learning about a neighborhood is always better when you go straight to the source and ask a local. In this YNOTW episode we traveled to Guro, in the south of Seoul to meet a good friend, Seokjin, to learn about his area. What made this trip special is that he’s fully immersed in the community and was able to provide some great insights.

Seokjin: http://youtube.com/jinseokjin
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jinseokjin
http://talktomeinkorean.com

To read more: http://wp.me/p1hnjj-1j8

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Twitter: http://twitter.com/qiranger
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/qiranger
Blog: http://qiranger.com
The Travel Channel: http://youtube.com/qiranger
The Vlog Channel: http://youtube.com/theqirangervlog
Podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-qiranger-adventures/id451881376

Podcasting is gaining popularity as more people have begun broadcasting their conversations on various topics.  Food podcasts are also gaining traction; however, there are not so many.  Korean food is becoming popular, but although there are websites and even some programs to help promote it, its existence in the podcasting world is minimal.

Because Korean food is now becoming widely popular, I feel well in presenting a new podcast about Korean food for all the foodies.

Go! Kfood

Now there are two episodes released, but many more have been recorded. Additionally, following each recording session, there is a video portion.

The audio can be found free on itunes – Go! Kfood

Here is a video from the first recorded session:

Although Themselves was released just last year, chances are that you have not heard of it.  It is a low-budget film that received a very limited release. I was interested in seeing it because of actress Ko Soo-hee.  You may remember her as the woman who cooked and ate her husband in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance and more recently in a supporting role in the film Sunny.  Her performances have always been memorable and her characters are interesting, even when just playing bit parts. I looked forward to seeing her in a leading role.  I was far less familar with her co-stars..The first is Jeon Ji-hwan aka Jay who plays the blind Tae-seong in this film.  “Jay” is a singer in a struggling boy band, The Boys of Super Space (DaeGuk Nama) that has been around for a while and has released two albums, but has not yet made it big. This is his first film. The other main character is played by Kim Jin-yi whose last film was Rush back in 1999– a film I owned on VHS at one point but for the life of me I can remember nothing about it…   I was not familiar with director Yoon Tae-shik either as he had only two short films to his name prior to Themselves.  So the presence of Ms Ko was really the only reason I was interested in this film.  Unfortunately, while her acting is as excellent as always, it was her character that was the only problematic area of an otherwise satisfying film. Continue Reading

With the following editorial, I think it is important that I remind readers that the opinions expressed were written by the editor of the Independent in 1896, nearly 120 years ago and are definitely not shared by me. Unfortunately, the attitudes reflected here are accurate examples of how many in western nations viewed the east at that time.– Tom

Editorial

There are many papers in the home land which ridicule the idea that Japan is or will soon be a serious competitor in the markets of the world. <We saw an example of the ridicule in the April 30th issue of the Independent via an excerpt from the New York Maritime Register> We think differently and can show more or less reason for our belief.

In the first place notice that in these days of minute division of labor the manufacturer of even delicate instruments is largely a matter of turning the crank. Machinery does it all and there is less call for that all-round, intelligent skill in the individual that was found a century ago. Now the Japanese are celebrated for their deftness and they can learn to run machinery and they have learned to run it about as well as the Westerner.  They have not as yet gotten machinery of a fine enough quality to begin to compete seriously with English or American goods that are shipped from Europe to supply eastern peoples who are not extremely particular as to the finish of the goods so long as they can get them cheap. Here is where the Japanese competition has already been felt.  For instance, Japanese matches are not quite up to standard of the Austrian matches in the point of finish but they light a fire about as well and are astonishingly cheap.  It did not take the East long to decide between the two. These Eastern peoples are not going to pay a large bonus for a little extra finish.

In the second place, no enlightened people can at present compete with the Asiatic in the cost of living. Why is it that the Japanese can live on so much less than the American? Simply because the Japanese people have for centuries been schooled in the matter of economy, their population being so large compared with the arable area of their country, while the American people have been living like a young man who has just fallen heir to a great fortune and doesn’t know how to spend it fast enough. Among the rural population of France or Germany we should probably find the cost of living much nearer the Japanese figure for there too populations is relatively great. This factor in the problem will right itself gradually for we see a constant tendency in the U.S. to a reduction in the cost of the necessities of life while in Japan the tendency toward manufacturing has resulted in a rise all along the line of wages. Every commodity has appreciated in value so that we find a gradual equalizing tendency at work. The more Japan advances the more numerous will be her needs for civilization is nothing more than a creation of needs to be supplied.

We are in sympathy with the demand along the Pacific coast of the U.S. that American labor shall not be called upon to compete with Japanese labor in America. It would mean that the American laborer would have to give up some of his legitimate needs and descend in grade of civilization where he would eat, work and sleep and little else. <This offhand reference refers to a particularly shameful period of American History which attempted to ban Asian immigrants from entering the US after the railroads were completed. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banned Chinese, and later all Asians (1924), from owning land in the US, marrying whites and, eventually, from legally entering the US even if they had been living there for years. Japanese and other Asians were included in this act which was strengthened several times over the decades but were not specifically targeted until the Gentleman’s Agreement Act of 1907 which banned the immigration of Japanese men–women were still allowed to enter, often as ‘picture’ (mail-order) brides.  These acts were not repealed until after WWII. With his attitude, it is easy to forget that editor and founder of the Independent, Philip Jaisohn, was a US immigrant himself from Korea albeit not of the laboring class and living on the Atlantic coast where Asian immigrants were relatively rare.>

The Eastern market is so vast and the demand is increasing so rapidly that Japan can never supply it and in the effort to do so the cost of wages will be so enhanced that European goods will still be able to hold their place.

Brief Notices

Rev. H.G. Appenzeller returned on Continue Reading

Sometimes the stress of living in Seoul can be too much and getting away from it all might be as easy as taking a stroll through Boramae Park.  Turning right out of Sindaebang exit 1, and taking an immediate right will take you towards this nice location. It is also the home to Korea’s Air museum, a water works show, skate park, and almost all sports courts outdoors.

I grew up watching cartoons on Saturday mornings. Since that young age, I’ve always had a fondness for animation. On this adventure, we take you to the Seoul Animation Center to see what they have in store.

To read more, check out my article on The Korea Blog: http://blog.korea.net/?p=7241

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Podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-qiranger-adventures/id451881376