Hello! My name is Karamina Samulo and I'm one of the lucky person to be a part of 12th K-Pop academy 2017. This blog will be a medium of my personal documentation throughout the weeks during the program. Please look forward to it! ❤
I kind of afraid that I might not enjoy this session at the beginning but it turns out to be one of my favourite week! Brigadier Brian Parritt was the guest lecture and he was a part of British army who fight alongside South Korea for the war in 1953! I don’t actually realise that until he shown us the slides of his picture that he took during the war. And from a photographer myself (amateur one lol) it’s a really good picture! Every picture that he took has meaning and it just struck me, like literally. Plus he was so kind and nice, not just being a really good story teller, but also he wrote a book and signed it for all of us <3
The activity we did was watching a Korean War film. I watched the first hour and continue the rest at home. It’s called ‘The Front Line’. I personally love it as it’s a really funny film yet meaningful. Try to watch it when you have time!
Last week will be our last week and I prepare something for our graduation. If you by any chance follow this post of mine then you’re lucky to see this before anybody else (LOL!) I’ll post it on my next post so please look forward to it!
So yeah, that’s all for this week’s diary entry! Please look forward to my next week diary!
If you want to see my weekly diary entry, click here
Soooo... no. I didn’t attend last week class because of my shift that finished late. I’m so expecting this week as it is located in British Museum (where I used to live for the past year) and I never know about having a room for Korean arts. I tried to ask Yasmin about last week class but apparently she didn’t attend the class as well :( so I only can look at pictures and others diary entry about what they did last week and it was stunning! I saw they have miniature of Korean palace (?)
I wonder if I will have a chance to go to the place without needing special occasion because I might visit them myself sometime next week.
This is something that I never done before. I really have a bad voice and to be honest, if you by any chance found this please keep the feedback by yourself okay? It took a lot of courage for me to do this, but it’s not that I have any choice due to tight schedule and barely slept in the past 2 weeks, so I’m doing something that can I can do within an hour or less.
I actually covered 2 songs, this and Modern Times by IU. But somehow I can’t sync with the song properly and accidentally my boyfriend found out that I covered a song (I was so embarrassed!!) though he said that he will help me to masterize the cover and send it to me next week (ah yes, he’s a sound director slash sound editor slash composer). He even said that he could make my voice sounds like IU (I’m laughing so hard at this) but anyways, I’ll try to post it next week once he send it to me.
Once again, as this cover really matter for me (I feel like this does relate with my privacy life kind of thing LOL no jk) please do not use this for any other use but just to let you know how much I love IU and her songs :’)
Here with me again! Updating you about last week meeting for KPop academy. Last week class was probably one of the most classes that everyone’s looking for. It’s a dance class (and it’s a KPop dance wohoo!). After 3 weeks of vote (I guess? I don't actually remember) Winner’s Really Really dance was chosen to be covered. I personally never listen to that song until I’m about to making my way to the class, it’s not going to be good if I don’t even know the song right? Though apparently I’ve heard of that song couple of times in Korean restaurant or any other places but never know the title LOL!
Anyways, the class was conducted with Tammy Jane, who’ve been covering so many kpop dances and joined competitions internationally as well (omg she’s awesome). I’m having a great time, sweating, learning new dance after I have to stop covering kpop dance a few years ago. My first impression of the song is, the dance is not going to be hard. Well it is, except of one part of it. And the craziest part of it was, the activity of the week is making our own group and covering the dance (and you’re allowed to add creativity etc). I don’t expect our group to be win to be honest (and I’m sure all my group mates are too as we saw the other two groups dance so great and it just make us feel small lol). But turns out that we win! I still don’t understand why but I’m so happy (thanks to everyone’s ideas about how to make the dance more creative).
It’s my first (and probably the only one) win during the week / homework since everyone’s are so good and dedicated while I’m getting more and more busy and cannot even update my diary and working on my homework on time anymore. So last week had the best experience because I won something haha
So yeah, that’s all for this week’s diary entry! Please look forward to my next week diary!
If you want to see my weekly diary entry, click here
Okay so I don’t know what happened but all my post last Thursday (the diary update + the homework) is gone! I remember to post it but I can’t find it anywhere (sigh). So I’ll just make a new one here :(
Firstly, sorry for being so late. It was supposed to be posted last Thursday but like I said, it’s not there. Anyways, let’s get back to the diary post for our 6th week of K-Pop academy!
So yeah, exactly as written on the title, it’s about Taekwondo (yay!). With master Jongho Kim who have been doing Taekwondo for more than 20 years, yet he said he’s still not categorised as senior ones (I wonder how long does it take to be considered one). With his assistant that helped me a lot as well as I’m struggling to remember the movement though I’ve done martial arts for 2 years during primary school.
It was so fun and I even forgot to take my own pictures and had to asked Yasmin to send me our pictures that she posted on Instagram (thank you you’re my saviour!). I’m an introvert yet I have to shout while doing sparing with people. I have to put my courage to be able to do that (and I’m glad that I did). Because it’s not just about the movement, but also your brain and heart have to work together to do Taekwondo, something that I really admire from it.
So yeah, that’s all for this week’s diary entry! Please look forward to my next week diary!
If you want to see my weekly diary entry, click here
If you find this recipe different with other recipe that you find in other website, just to let you know that I never make food following a recipe, I cook all my food based on how I taste it (if you’re curious why lol).
Hello! This week was such a hell week for me. I had so many issues that I need to deal & coping up with + I almost passed out yesterday during work. So apologies for the late post (sob). Anyways, after managed to get up from my bed this late afternoon (and realise that I need to eat something) I started to look on my cupboard and drawers and see what I could make with all available ingredients for this week homework. Thankfully I have appropriate ingredients to make tofu soup (though I need to get out to get the vegetables in the end but it’s only 2 minutes walk to nearest shop).
I personally never made this one, but I’ve been wanted to since months ago (that’s why you might spot some ingredients that people barely use but for this particular dish. Making this kind of soup suits my condition as well since I need something warm (and of course you can make this food as it’s winter is coming up soon!).
So first of all, these are the ingredients that I use to make Spicy Tofu Soup (for 2-3 person):
1. Sesame Oil (5tbs)
2. Red Pepper Powder (1tbs)
3. Sweet Soy Sauce (2tbs)
4. Chilli Red Paste / Gochujang (2tbs)
5. Onion (1/4pcs)
6. Garlic (1/8 clover)
7. Salt (1tbs)
8. Egg (1pcs)
9. Seaweed / Nori (optional - add as much as you want)
10. Chinese Cabbage (70gr)
11. Beansprout (50gr)
12. Mushroom (1/2 pack)
13. Soft Tofu (1/2 pack)
14. Assorted Seafood (50gr)
15. Spring Onion (10gr)
16. Water (500ml)
So after preparing all the Ingredients into necessary amount, here are the steps to make the dish :
1. Add the sesame oil (1) to the pot / pan
2. Insert the garlic (6) and onion (5) into the pot, fried them with medium low heat for a few minutes until you see the the colour of the onion slightly changing (not brown but more into yellowish)
3. Add the assorted seafood (14) and cook in medium heat for about 3-5 minutes (you’ll spot some bubbles from this step on your pot but that’s normal since the water from the seafood will get mixed with the oil - so it’s different with frying them, and you will have soft texture instead of crispy texture)
4. Add the water (16) into the pot, cook in medium high heat before you add the chilli red paste (4), red paper powder (2), sweet soy sauce (3) and salt (7). Stir them altogether and let the soup boiled for about 2-3 minutes (if you see to much bubbles on top, you can get rid of it with spoon)
5. Turn the heat into medium/medium low before you add the Chinese Cabbage (10), Beansprouts (11) and Mushroom (12), stir them slowly
6. Turn the heat into low before adding the tofu (13) and egg (8). Finish it off with spring onion (15)
7. Add seaweed (9) at the end when you’re about to serve it!
I personally enjoy the taste and reminds me of the tofu soup that I usually buy in Korean restaurant. Try this out and let me know if you like it!
This week is the chance for me to learn how to cook Korean cuisine. with Hyungsoo Yim (Korean Food Researcher) as our guest lecture, he explained and demonstrate 4 Korean cuisine from meat (my favourite!) to kimchi. I was so amazed on how he could finish prepare and make all the four types of food in an hour while still engaging with us. But this week class feels a bit noisy, probably because they’re having the same feeling as I do (like muttering the words and talking to each other on how could that be possible) well, we’re talking about someone who owns a restaurant in New Malden so there’s no doubt that he can cook in such a professional level.
I have a big interest with cooking (but not pastries since I couldn’t make any of them lol). So I’ve been looking forward to this class ever since I applied for K-Pop Academy. Since I’m working as a kitchen staff in Japanese restaurant which serves Korean food as well, plus I cook my meal by myself it’s such a great opportunity to finally cook Korean food myself (as in, the only Korean food I ever made was bibimbap, which probably the easiest food you could ever make). And this week activity was making our own Korean food! We formed a team of two (me and Ildi worked together at this time) and we made seafood pancake and tofu salad!
Though sadly we didn’t win this week’s activity but I’m having a lot of fun! Working with her was such a bless too since she’s really good at platting while I’m really suck at it lol!
So yeah, that’s all for this week’s diary entry! Please look forward to my next week diary!
If you want to see my weekly diary entry, click here
For this week homework, I decided to do something different and do something that interest me the most, creating my own Hanbok. The theme for this Hanbok is pretty unique, which is ‘K-Pop Academy’ so I decided to combine the traditional (such as clothing shape and the colour) and modern (embroidery and printing motives) concept on this Hanbok that I created.
Male Hanbok
While keeping the design as similar as the traditional hanbok, I decided to make it as multifunctional clothes. The top cloth could be functioned as a thin jacket for the male, by detaching the ribbon (or keep it as it is if they want to), and by adding the zipper under the black lining to make it easier to wear (this could help if the weather is too windy and keep the clothes stay unlike the traditional Hanbok and usually get blown with the wind due to the material of the clothes).
Not forgetting the theme given for this Hanbok, I decided to make a few motives related to the classes that we have throughout the 10 weeks of K-Pop academy, as seen below, there are 3 different motives printed on the male top cloth; the Note resembling the Music / K-Pop class, Fist resembling the Sport / Taekwondo class, and the Disco Light resembling the Dancing Class.
Last but not least, I decided to put hangul writing on the side garment on the pants, “한국을 사랑해” means “I love Korea” as another concept that I applied on the clothes related to the theme itself.
Female Hanbok
Keeping the design matches with the Male, Female Hanbok have pretty much similar concept with the Male version. Detachable ribbon so you can use it as your wish, and get a button down for the top part of the cloth. This top part could also be used as an outer jacket, keeping the multifunctions idea of the clothing.
However, the top part doesn’t necessarily need to be wear if you don’t wish to keep the top part of the cloth, as instead of making it as a skirt and top combination, I make it as a dress and top combination. Again, this idea come from the multifunctional clothes for different occasions.
Like the Male Hanbok, Female Hanbok also have several motives on the dress to keep the theme arise. Cake motive resembles the Cooking Class, Phone with Note on Screen motive resembles the Music / K-Pop, and Diamond motive resembles the Fashion.
Last but not least, I decided to put hangul writing on the lining of the dress, “나는 케이팝 팬이야” means “I’m a K-Pop Fan” as another concept that I applied on the clothes related to the theme itself.
I almost late for this session (thankfully I didn’t lol). After had a year end party (annual party from my course ; we celebrating the final project / dissertation before the graduation basically) and went home at 6am, I overslept until noon ish and I have to rush preparing myself (was about to not take shower but I’m not going to do that because of this week’s activity LOL).
So yeah, this week we learned about the History of Hanbok or traditional clothes from South Korea with Dr. Jungtaek Lee (Dept. of the History of Art and Archeology, SOAS). The most interesting part of this lesson is finally I get to know what are the differences for each hanbok that resembles the class and the occasion (been wondering about this since ages ago). Also, the transition between hanbok in 15th century to nowadays; plus I get to see how this traditional clothes manage to collaborate with modern clothes and make it suitable to not just in special occasion but also for daily clothes (the reason why I decided to work on the design your own Hanbok for this week’s homework). During this week, I learn and gain another interest related with Korean traditional clothes, which is the motives and the printing on the clothes ; include the meaning behind the colours (never thought that they actually have certain meaning for each picture and each colour, and that is super awesome!)
This week activity excites me the most because I can try on Hanbok (finally!). I took the most pictures on this week (probably the upcoming week too!)like I mentioned before, I have my own hanbok at home from my friend who lives in Korea but last time I wear it was when I was 90kgs; and now’s my chance to wear it again with my new weight (been lost almost 30kgs now heh). But again, I’m a bit worried because I’m still considerably big and tall, I don’t know if I could find any hanbok that fits on my body and height. Since I'm on the second batch to get the Hanbok (and there’s barely any choice) I just pick the one that looks big enough and change with it straight away. Turns out I took the most complicated & special one (LOL!). I ended up wearing a wedding dress in Hanbok version. There’s 5 layers of it (plus my shirt under because I’m too lazy to take it off) and I got the wig like those lady you can see on the royal family (you’ll see what I mean by that by watching the video). It was great fun though! Except it was so hot but other than that I’m glad that I pick that one; probably the most extravagant clothes that I’d ever wear throughout my whole life (except my real wedding that I don’t know when).
All the compilation of the polaroids <3
And me with the wedding dress + the wig
That’s all for this week’s diary entry! Please look forward to my next week diary!
If you want to see my weekly diary entry, click here
“Hangul [n] \ ˈhän-ˌgül \ : the alphabetic script in which Korean is written”
This is the second part of K-Pop 101 (Which also a part of my homework). Last week I talked about Culture and Cuisine. This week will be about Hangul or Korean Alphabets - Do not mistake this as Korean Language.
History
Before this letters created by King Sejong in mid fifteenth, Korea used Chinese characters to write. As Chinese characters are widely known as one of the most complicated letters to write, not many people in Korea know how to write; Only people with certain class (usually middle high class or government level) who can write. Even so, there’s barely people who mastered all Chinese characters back then. The fourth king of Joseon Dynasty, Sejong the Great decided to create a new alphabets in order to let people from every class to learn and understand how to write faster and easier than learning Chinese characters. The alphabets was completed in 1443 and published in a document titled ‘Hunmin Jongeum’ (훈민정음) or The Proper Sounds to Instruct the People in 1446. Even so, this new alphabets still not used as an official letters until the independence of Korea after world war II.
Hangul in Modern Society
The number of letters that Korean people use in these days are not exactly the same with the first time it was created. There was 28 characters / letters that created. But a few of them are not used anymore and there is only 24 letters in official Hangul nowadays. Though there is a different opinion on how the alphabets should be count. This has become one of debatable question in Korea. While 24 is the number of alphabets that Korea have, these are excluding the combined letters (two or more letter combined to make one sound). If these letters are combined, there will be 40 alphabets in total. Though the number itself seems to confused people, all the 40 alphabets are used in modern society.
How to Write Hangul
While it seems easy to write hangul (picking up the letter and write it one by one), there is some rules that need to keep in mind before you start writing your name in Hangul.
The way hangul write is by stacking the letters into little blocks for each syllable. So. for example, HANGUL have two syllables, which are HAN and GUL. So, Instead of writing it as ‘ᄒㅏᄂᄀㅡᄅ’ you write it as ‘한글’. Or if you try to write you name down (I’ll use my name as example) ‘KARAMINA SAMULO’ and we try to break the syllables (KA-RA-MI-NA SA-MU-LO) it’ll turn like this : 가라미나 사무로.
Another thing to remember when you write hangul, vowel cannot stand by themselves. So if a word starts with a vowel, you need to add a silent character or ‘ng’ (ㅇ) in front of the vowel. So for example (I'm using my name again), INA, and we break the word into syllables, I-NA, it will turns to be ‘이나’.
Usually in one block, there will be 2 letters (1 consonant + 1 vowel) or 3 letters (1 consonant + 1 vowel + 1 consonant). However, don’t be surprised if you see 4 letters in one block because it is possible (but don’t worry, it’s pretty uncommon to find).
Click here if you’d like to have a little exercise to write hangul
BONUS : Hangul for Daily Life
Watching Korean drama could be the best option for you to learn Korean language by yourself. But you could also probably pick up some words from this table below (thanks to 90 days Korean for the list!) if you want to start talking a word or two with Korean language :)
Feel free to leave me a message if you would like to know more about Korean language and how to write Hangul.
Another class that I’m looking for the most! (this might be my opening sentence for every diary entry to be honest). In this week, we learn about the history of hangul with Prof. Jae Hoon Yeon (Dept. of Languages and Cultures of Japan and Korea, SOAS).
I could say I learned a lot in this week. I learned about the history of Hangul a little bit after watching some colossal k-drama, which seems to be one of my favourite drama genre in k-drama. (Jewel in the Palace, Sungkyunkwan Scandal and Scarlet Heart: Ryeo are my favourites. I recommend these drama if you have time to watch it!). But I’m glad that I get to know more about the origins of Hangul, though it’s a bit overwhelming at that time since there’s so many information that we received and I’d like to know more but again, one hour is really a short time to cover all the information. So I would suggest to have this session extended or limit the information that is going to be deliver - focusing in a specific area and discuss in depth about it. It could be more interesting if we’re involved with writing during the lesson as well; As I notice that not all people in this program understand how to write Hangul.
The activity is pretty interesting, though! I finally able to saw traditional palette along with the stone to mix the ink (though we’re not using the traditional ink but it’s pretty awesome) and we got the calligraphy’s paper! (I love it) but since it’s all about creativity (and I’m really bad at it) I just write my name on it and I don’t know what else to write :’) but at least I experienced writing my name in hangul with brush and ink than my pen or pencil. I talked to more people too (not all but at least I get to know more people). Sadly I have to leave earlier than the others, I hope I don’t missed anything though! Next week entry will be about Hanbok ; Oh my god I can’t wait to wear one here! I have one back in my country but I remember how fat I was until last year (still fat though, LOL!) so hopefully I can get a nice pictures on the next meeting!
Please look forward to my next week diary!
If you want to see my weekly diary entry, click here
“101 [adj] /ˌwʌn.əʊˈwʌn/ : showing the most basic knowledge about the subject”
I wish I have more time to actually make a proper and full guidance for this but this entry will give you some insights of what to do and where to go (specifically in London and its’ surroundings) if you would like to have a Korean-related experiences.
I probably don’t have as much knowledge as people who originally from the UK but I can share you places that I’d like to recommend from my one year experience in the UK
Introduction
There is no doubt that Korean culture has gone to every countries that I ever visited, including UK. Eventhough the crowd doesn’t seem to be as big as Asian countries, but it’s pretty amazing since I know Korean Artist barely visit countries like Europe and America as it might be too far from them (plus with harder competitor in the music industry as well). However, I’m pretty surprised that there is K-town in London (which I’ll explain about it further). I don’t think there is any Korean town in any countries that I visited except UK (and I travelled a lot, too!). Also, it’s not hard to find Korean restaurant in the UK as well. Plus, having a culture centre in central of London has given another prove how big the influence of Korean culture throughout the world right now.
Culture
Probably the most well known culture from Korea is their music (known as K-Pop). While K-Pop probably expand around Asia earlier than other continents, Gangnam Style by Psy probably one of the key of K-Pop to finally enter Europe and other continents such as America, Australia and Africa. Nowadays, many K-Pop artists starts to expand their promotion to Europe as well, especially in the UK. G-Dragon is the latest Korean Artist that came to have solo concert in London and Birmingham, with Hyukoh coming on the last weekend of October (if you’re interested to attend their concert, click here for more information and ticket sales). Even though there is no sites that could give the latest update of K-Pop concert in the UK (which become a hassle since you don’t know who’s coming and when, and you probably missed it), United K-Pop probably one of the UK website that could give a little bit updates and post some discussions regarding Korean culture and music.
While this site created by K-Pop fans, Korean Culture Centre is the official site and organisation, affiliated with Korean Government to promote Korean culture in the UK. Korean events such as Korean Music Festival, Korean Film Festival and also K-Pop Academy are being held regularly to gives people who lives in the UK a chance to know more about Korean (not just limited to the music, but also the history and the culture in general). Their office building are open for everyone so feel free to give the place a visit here.
Cuisine
As mentioned before, it’s not hard to find Korean restaurant from the budget level restaurant to a fancy one. It’s also not hard to find Korean supermarket around, even though I’d like you to suggest to go to New Malden if you want to feel the Korean vibe while enjoying their cuisine, and probably get some souvenirs from their wide range of shops, too!
New Malden, or known as Korean Town, located in Southwest London. This suburb has turned into one of the most dense Korean population in Europe after the ambassador of South Korea lives in this area in 1950 and slowly turn this area into one of the biggest Korean Community with around 20,000 Koreans lives there, including 600 North Koreans in it. So it is not a shocked if you can find some pieces of resemblance of Gangnam in South Korea, where the centre of restaurant and entertainment is (pretty much like Soho in London).
Back to traditional food from Korea, just like typical Asian countries, South Korea is no different. Their main meal most likely include rice on it (which probably unusual for British people to eat rice). But what distinguish Korean food with other Asian Countries is right on spot when people try Korean food and Compare it with Japanese or Chinese food, even with similar shape or look, the taste could be different. The easiest example, is between Kimbap from Korea and Makizushi from Japan. While it’s looks identically the same, the taste is totally different, which is not hard for people to know the difference between them once they eat.
The taste difference with other Asian foods seems to be welcome by non Asian countries, especially by people in the UK. This could be seen by how many Korean restaurants all around UK, even in central of London itself. Here are the list of Korean Restaurant located in London that I’d love to recommend
1. Seoul Bakery (£)
Probably the cheapest place of Korean food you could ever get. With £10, you can easily get a portion of Kimbap + Ramen + Mandu each. Located near Tottenham Court Road, it’s pretty central and simply accessible with everyone. But you need to be careful to missed it as the place is really small (compare with buildings that surrounds it). But again, I don’t think you will miss it, as people always queue outside the restaurant so it’ll be easily spotted. My personal favourite is their beef kimbap. (you should try it if you have a chance to). This place is quite unique as they let their visitors to decorate their walls (aka write something on the wall about their experiences with the restaurant or Korea in general). Plus, they also sell some Korean snacks, albums, merchandises and magazines, too! So it’s like a one stop shop where you can get your food and souvenirs from the same place!
(note: they only accept cash so make sure to bring your cash with you)
2. Wing Wing (£/££)
Another favourite place to eat of mine. Located near Russell Square, this place always crowded with students as it’s also closed to Bedford, where several universities such as UCL, SOAS, UAL, and others located (and I used to live right across this place too, so I almost go there everyday at that time haha). This place is well known with their chicken wings, inspired by a combination of chicken and beer (what Korean usually eat and drink for snack), they sell 6 wings with fries and drink for £7. And you can get 2 pint of beer for £5. I personally have tried all of their foods and there’s nothing that I don’t like so it’s a tough call to say which one is my favourite. You will have options of what kind of flavours for your wings, and the same for your fries. Since I love to eat rice, I usually get their seafood with rice, then a meal of wings, plus a banana caramel sweet bun (it’s a lot and I never can finish it myself since it’s probably a portion of 2-3) and it only cost me £20 to get all those food!
(note: you will enjoy K-Pop music video being played in their big TVs on both sides of the place and it’s a cozy place to hang out with your friends, too!)
3. Bibimbap (££)
I’m a rice person (yes, I’m Asian that’s why!) and this restaurant could be one of my favourite as they’re specialized with Bibimbap. With a range price around £7 to £13 for each portion of Bibimbap, they give a wide range of choices of it. You can also create your own bibimbap here! From choosing the what kind of rice, topping that would you like to put in (might be useful for picky eater), and what kind of egg you would like to have in it. They also have a delicious soup to eat along with your bibimbap as well! I usually get beef bibimbap with seafood soup + drink which cost me £25 in total. This place still considerably small, but they quite a lot of seat so even if you need to queue, you’re not going to wait more than 15 minutes (usually).
(note: If you’re old enough to drink, get your bibimbap with soju might be a good idea ;))
4. Kimchi Village (££/£££)
Calling all meat lovers here! Yes, the heaven of Korean BBQ as you can eat as much as you want here (aka Buffet). Located in New Malden, with a range of price around £10 to £20, which is considerably cheap for a buffet restaurant, I suggest you to book your table to avoid disappointment as you might need to queue for at least half an hour if you didn’t book your table before you come here. Not only the meat, they also gives you unlimited fried food and rice as well! Though you need to pay if you want to get a beer (LOL!).
(Note :While there is a lot of Korean BBQ in New Malden, this place probably the cheapest but still provides you a good quality of food. But if you would like to try a BBQ restaurant with Korean vibe inside the restaurant, you could go to BBQ restaurant nearby. You're in Korean Town anyways, so I could say most of their foods are authentic (or at least cooked by Korean who know exactly how the taste is))
5. Kimchee (£££)
Last but not least Korean Restaurant that you could visit. This probably the fanciest Korean restaurant in London. So you will always spot people with dress and suit come here for lunch and dinner. Their restaurant is stunning, with a very beautiful decoration, probably that’s why this place is a little bit more expensive than the other restaurants. Their food is not bad, though! They have a wide range of Korean food, from Bibimbap, Grilled meat, Soup, Fried Foods, and more. I personally always get a Beef Bibimbap and Grilled Beef Tongue, plus drink and spend around £25 in this restaurant. Don’t get it wrong, even though the price is higher than other Korean restaurants, this place still crowded at Lunch and Dinner time, and you probably need to wait for at least 30 minutes if you don’t book at table during this hour.
(note: probably the best place to have a date with your partner while still enjoying Korean cuisine though ;)
Feel free to leave me a message if you would like to know more about Korean Culture and Cuisine in London!
Technically this is my first class (since I didn’t attend the first week) and I came 1.5 hours too early, before I decided to just go to a café across the street and enjoy a cream tea. It’s quite delicious (especially their plain scones) and considerably cheap as well (£10) click here if you’re interested to visit the place.
So the lecture starts at 14:00 with Dr. Haekyung Um (Dept. of Music, University of Liverpool) as a guest lecture for this week. This week, we learned about K-Pop history, which probably one of the best topic to be brought on this program. I’m more than happy because of the fact that by learning the history of K-Pop, it gives people broader insights of Korean music industry. As a K-Popers from second generation, sometimes I feel bad when people who acknowledge themselves as a K-Pop fans only care about one specific boy band / girl band and don’t put any respect with other groups or singers just because of they are coming from different generation. And that ignorance sometimes create a fan war, which I couldn’t appreciate at all. I wish this kind of lectures or topic could be brought up sometimes to be introduced to especially international fans so that they know how hard it is to be an idol or singer and start to give more appreciation towards everybody that associates with K-Pop industry.
We had a very interesting (and really fun) activity afterward. We have to create our own K-Pop group (insert laughing emoji here). We are divided into 5 groups of 6 (though there’s one group consists with 4 member and my group consist of 5). We wish we could have more time to work on it (as 15 minutes clearly not enough - but time is just too limited so we can’t help it). Mine’s probably not the winning group (but the winning group presentation was so awesome though) and there’s only two of us left to do the presentation from my group, but it was a pure fun and I feel like it’s my first ice breaking since I don’t know anyone (and I sat at the back corner as well) so it allows me to interact and introduce myself (finally!) to them. Probably not all, but hopefully I can do that on the next meeting (I can’t wait to finally learn hangul though!)
Please look forward to my next week diary!
If you want to see my weekly diary entry, click here
In the end I missed the first meeting! When I’m super excited and looking forward to it a lot.It’s the introduction week and I missed it due to my trip with my family in Europe (well, the trip was awesome though).
In this week we’re expected to do a little presentation about ourself as a part of introduction. since I couldn’t come, I decided to make this ugly poster while describing myself as simple as possible and ask Ruby’s help to show this to everyone who attend (Thanks Ruby!). If you’re interested to look at my full biodata regarding K-Pop, click here!
I feel a little bit nervous for the upcoming Saturday since I don’t know anyone (probably the only one who’s not coming on the first week) while everyone pretty much know each other already. Hopefully I can still make some friends there!
