Category Archives: shopping

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Slideshow: Autumn in Namsan-dong (남산동) Village

10/14/2011 – 13:44
Muryangsa Temple, Namsan-dong, Gyeognju

Muryangsa Temple, Namsan-dong, Gyeognju

To be honest the Korean urban lifestyle doesn’t really do much for me.  Sure, I sometimes miss the art and culture, the night clubs and the convenience.  But after living in London, Berlin and Barcelona, there’s really not anything new that I get out of big cities in Korea.  All it takes is a walk through one of the many quaint and quiet farm villages near Gyeongju to remind me why I like living with the Korean countryside so close at hand.   One of my favorite places to visit is Namsan-dong (남산동);  a string of farming villages just 15 minutes outside of town tucked in the shadow of Gyeongju’s historic Mt. Namsan (남산). read more »

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2011 Gyeongju Ceramics Festival Photos

05/05/2011 – 11:10
Gyeongju Ceramics Festival

Gyeongju Ceramics Festival

Somehow I always forget about the annual Gyeongju Shilla Ceramics Festival. It’s not that I hate Korean pottery or anything. (In fact, I’m a proud owner of several Korean tea sets). Rather, the fine folks over at Gyeongju’s City Hall always double book the Ceramics Festival along side other big events (which actually isn’t as daft as it might seem since it helps draw in the crowds). In years past it ran literally next to the Liquor and Rice Cake Festival in Hwanseong Park. This year however it’s providing a nice cultural courter point to the adrenaline fueled Taekwondo Championships next door in Hwangseong Gymnasium. There seem to be a lot more artists at the Ceramics Festival then in years past and they’ve got a few hands on activities for the youngsters, as well as other types of traditional crafts for sale. The Ceramics Festival runs through this weekend and finishes up on Sunday the May 8th, a few days longer then the WTF Championships. If your around, check it out as it’s a great opportunity for some early Christmas (or belated Mother’s Day) shopping. read more »

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Book Reviews: Winter Reading from Seoul Selection Bookstore

01/27/2011 – 00:01

Front cover of “Korean Tea Classics”

Front cover of “Korean Tea Classics”

Seems like it’s been ages since I’ve posted any book reviews here on the blog.  But last month I scored a passel of books from Seoul Selection Online Bookshop for a bit of light reading over winter vacation.   Not to get to promotional here (and no, I’m not getting paid for this), but if you’re looking for books about Korea, Seoul Selection is a great resource.   They have a knack for carrying a lot of books that simply are not available on Amazon or whatthebook.com, not to mention they self-publish a lot of titles which sell for very reasonable prices.  So without further adieu, here are a few books that might help you while away your time in front of the space heater this winter:

“Korean Tea Classics” by Hanjae Yi Mok and the Venerable Cho-ui:  Ever since my friend and local tea aficionado, Don Baumhart, published his two-part introduction to the Way of Tea in Korea here on this blog, I’ve made a point of exploring more of Korean and East-Asian tea culture.  Turns out this year Seoul Selection has made the timely decision to publish English translations three classic Korean tomes on tea and tea culture:  “Rhapsody to Tea” by Hanjae Yi Mok (1471 – 1498) and “A Chronicle of the Spirit of Tea” and “Hymn in Praise of Korean Tea” both by the Venerable Cho-ui (1786 – 1866).  In fact it was Ven. Cho-ui who earned himself the nick-name Dasan or “Tea Mountain” was responsible of the revival and restoration of the tea ceremony in Korea.  Translated by Brother Anthony of Taize (author of “The Korean Way of Tea” ) among others, this book is not simply a dry, academic  translation of obscure historical texts.  Rather it is an object de art itself, with impeccable design and choke full of beautiful color pictures of tea, ceramics, temples and ancient paintings.   Plus, for students of classical Chinese, the original “Hanja” is printed alongside the English.   Not merely an obtuse historical artifact, this book would be of interest to anyone with a love for Asian tea culture, and of course it’s a lovely accompaniment to a lazy afternoon sipping tea. read more »

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Gyeongju Shopping Guide: Part 2 What to buy?

11/28/2010 – 09:46

Continued from Part 1…

Pottery Shop, Gyeongju

Pottery Shop, Gyeongju

If you’re shopping for gifts or personal mementos in Korea, there are a lot of options.  You could get something functional, like a hand-made tea pot or a brass ware dinner set.  Or, if you’re searching for something ornamental, take a look at the calligraphy scrolls or hand-carved wood work.  The fashion conscious might want to try a Korean “Handbok” dyed with traditional Korean pigments, like Je-ju mud.  However, if you’re looking for something more unique or unusual, here are a few suggestions: read more »

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Gyeongju Shopping Guide: Part 1 Where to Shop?

11/16/2010 – 23:44
Folkcraft Village, Gyeongju

Folkcraft Village, Gyeongju

Christmas time is just a few months away, which means (for a lot of folks in my country anyways) that it’s time to start shopping for presents.  Korea offers some very unique and interesting gift options for folks back home and I’m not just talking about the kimchi chocolate or plastic fans that you can buy in the airport.  In places like Insa-dong in Seoul you can find everything from Korean antiques and calligraphy to hand-made pottery and high quality green tea.  What you may not know is that Gyeongju is also a great place for gift shopping, and you can usually find things here for a lot cheaper than in the big cities.  The trick is knowing where to shop and what to buy. read more »

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Restaurant Review #14: Ah Sa Ga Tea House (아사가찻집)

10/17/2010 – 07:27
Ah Sa Ga Tea house, Downtown Gyeongju

Ah Sa Ga Teahouse, Downtown Gyeongju

As we’ve been on the topic of tea lately, I figure it’s about time that I post on Ah Sa Ga Tea House (아사가찻집).  Ah Sa Ga is in the middle of Gyeongju’s downtown shopping district, on Bonhwang-ro Culture Street (봉황로).    It’s been open for almost a decade, though I only discovered it a little bit ago myself.   For years, I thought it was a pottery shop, which I hope is excusable as they do actually display and sell tea sets in the front of their shop. read more »

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The Korean Way of Tea (다례) Part 2: The Ceremony

08/27/2010 – 22:23

By Don Baumhart

Continued from Part 1…

Boseong Tea Plantation (from www.absoluteshinhwa.wordpress.com)

Boseong Tea Plantation (from www.absoluteshinhwa.wordpress.com)

Harvesting Tea

Unlike the powdered tea used in the Japanese tea ceremonies, the Korean ceremonies use loose leaf green tea. Traditionally, this tea is referred to as “Jakseol-cha” (작설차) which literally means as “sparrow’s tongue tea,” as the small curled leaves resemble the tongues of sparrows.  This “sparrow’s tongue” tea is well known for its exquisite flavor but, like everything involved the Korean tea ceremony, this depends a lot on timing. In his written guide to the tea ceremony, the 19th century monk Cho Ui (조의) noted that the flavor of the tea is adversely affected if the leaves are not picked at exactly the right time. It’s for this reason that Korean green tea is harvested in 4 different stages, which in turn determine the quality and thus the price of the tea.

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Itinerary: 10 Days in Gyeongju

08/06/2010 – 15:35
Tongdosa Temple, South of Gyeongju

Tongdosa Temple, South of Gyeongju

Not to become a broken record or anything, but most tourists just bounce down to Gyeongju for a long weekend, hit up the big tourist sites, and head home Sunday night. It’s a shame really. You can barely even scratch the surface of what Gyeonju has to offer in 2 days. To finally prove what I’ve been harping on so long, I’ve cooked up a 10 day itinerary for visitors to Gyeongju. That’s right: over a week and a half of things to see and do in the area.  If you don’t have 10 days, feel free to pick and choose what suites your liking.  But here are some ideas for exploring a deeper side of Gyeongju and Korea as a whole. read more »

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Even More Links

03/22/2010 – 23:58

It’s been a while since I’ve updated the links here on Gyeongjublog, so here’s a quick run down on sites I’ve run across lately that are worth checking out. To kick things off, it seems the KTO’s (Korean Tourism Organization) got a new interactive map of Korea  that kicks Google Map’s butt. It looks prettier, has more information, and most importantly: it’s in English! Unfortunately, you can’t do cool things with it like plot your hiking routes on it or imbed it in your website, so I guess I’ll be sticking with Google Maps here for a little while longer.

For a lot of Westerners Feng Shui, or Pungsu-jiri (풍수지리) in Korean, ranks right up there with fan death and acid rain causing baldness. For most Koreans, however, it governs matters as serious as where to bury your parents and wheather or not Seoul’s colonial era City Hall should be demolished. Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, David Mason has a fascinating page on the history and basic concepts governing Korean Pungsu-jiri . It’s part of his broader website: san-shin.org , which is so cool that I’ll be giving it a more indepth review here shortly. read more »

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Phoenix Street of Traditional Culture (봉황로)

03/17/2010 – 00:00

Phoenix Street of Traditional Culture, Downtown Gyeongju

Phoenix Street of Traditional Culture, Downtown Gyeongju

With the KTX slated to start running to Gyeongju by next Winter(fingers crossed), there’s been a lot of hustle and bustle around town lately  If you’re local you may have noticed there’s been a lot of construction downtown over this last year.  Seems the city decided to give a serious makeover to the pottery and antiques street, just a block over from McDonalds and Baskin Robbins. read more »

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