A Saturday afternoon

Seoul became cold, outside activities become sometimes painful, especially when you want to take photos.

I started after getting up very late before 1 pm to my date at the Hwanghakjeoung for my archery training. The Gyeongbokgung subway station, where I get out, has some funny art elements, which I wanted to shoot since long time. 

the mirrors are a good opportunity for a selfie of a special kind

The archery training room at the Hwanghakjeoung is quite spacy and decorated with different bows from all over the world. The training arrows are fixed to a rope, therefore cannot hit roof or wall. Helpful to control ones position is the mirror on the front of the room. Today I learned a lot on the right position. Not easy to control the body for several different movements, which are necessary to tension the bow properly. 

After the trainig I was invited for a Tibetanian tee, a chai with milk and different spices. The cosy tea house supports Tibetanian refugees and beneath the tea house is a shop with Tibetanian arts and crafts. Now I have my first Tibetanian jews harp!

Following photos are some architectural impressions of Chebu-Dong, an area with fine architecture style mix and many restaurants. All on my way back to the subway - somehow circuitous certainly.

Canon EOS analog and digital

The Canon EOS 1Ds was the first professional full frame digital camera from Canon and was introduced in September 2002. This 11.1 megapixel camera is still very similar to the last analog Canon professional camera, the EOS 1V. Nearly all analog setting knobs are at the same place as at the digital sibling. The EOS 1Ds was replaced in September 2004 by the Mark II.

Both cameras, the EOS 1V and the EOS 1Ds I found here quite cheap and they are both still a joy to use. The following photos shall illustrate the near relationship between the analog and the digital Canon professional ‘workhorses’.
 

right: EOS 1V, left: EOS 1Ds

Canon EOS 1Ds with EF 1.4/35

testphoto with EOS 1Ds and EF 1.4/35

Further readings:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/eos/1v.htm

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos1ds

Harold and Maude

The movie of 1971 I like very much, a play on this story will begin in January in Small Hall ‘Dal’ of National Theatre of Korea.

Yong Geum Oak - third oldest Korean restaurant in Seoul

Yong Geum Oak is the third oldest Korean restaurant in Seoul which first opened in 1932. It specializes in chueotang (mudfish soup). First I discovered a chueotang restaurant in the area of  the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Founded by a family member of the original Yong Gum Oak restaurant it is famous too, but I wanted to try the original old one. This is situated in Da Dong, surrounded by many other restaurants and not easy to find. Korean colleagues told me of the special and exquisite taste of the chueotang.

This Korean fish soup is said to make you strong and it is healthy too. It's full of calcium, proteins and vitamins that Koreans believe make the complexion sparkly, smooth and fresh. This is a big bonus for eating something that sounds ugly – mudfish. The restaurant offers two styles of this soup.
Seoul-style chueotang is made with a beef bone broth and flavoured with red chili pepper powder and gochujang (chili pepper paste). Whole mudfish are added along with a variety of ingredients, such as fried bean curd, tofu, and mushrooms.

Namwon-style chueotang is flavoured with doenjang (soybean paste) instead of gochujang, so it tastes savory and rich. The mudfish is first boiled and then ground up before it is added to the soup along with siraegi (dried radish greens). Unlike Seoul-style chueotang, the soup is not made with whole mudfish, so it is more appealing to people who try it for the first time. What gives Namwon its special flavour is the deulkkae powder and jaenpi powder.

Since many decades the Yong Geum Oak is visited by important and famous Korean writers, sportsperson, polititians and artists.

I ate the Namwon-Style soup and can recommend it. The Makgeolli was bad supermarket quality and did not fit to the high standard of the Yong Geum Oak.

cosy guest room

Further readings:

http://wayne0579.blogspot.kr/

http://www.trazy.com/theme/oldest_restaurants

http://english.whatsonkorea.com/main.ph?code=N&scode=N-14&pst=L

Seoul Lantern Festival 2014

Last year I have seen the figures only during the day, this year I could not miss the Lantern Festival it the dark. 

Austrian National Day in Seoul

For Tuesday, the 21st of October I was invited by the Austrian Embassy to the official Austria National Celebration at the Grand Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel Seoul. This event promised to be a musically interesting one, the childhood violin of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was announced to be played.

The musical program was indeed a fine one. Especially the eight year old Ko, Soltyun who played the Mozart violin was outstanding. She was accompanied by Dr. Johannes Honsig-Erlenburg, President of the Mozarteum Foundation. They presented music by Mozart and Johann Sebastian Bach.

The rich buffet brought some delicious long missed Austrian specialities, like Erdäpfelpüree, Liptauer or Kaiserschmarrn with Zwetschkenröster. The Executive Chef of the Hyatt Hotel, Stefan Mörth is Austrian, therefore authenticity was guarenteed. 

interiour of the Great Ballroom

The Austrian Abassador Dr. Elisabeth Bertagnoli and the Governor of Salzburg, Dr. Wilfried Haslauer

elegant visitor

Ko, Soltyun before the performance

Liptauer