Online Exhibit

Just wanted to showcase some of my paintings good enough to give to family and friends....

I would like to introduce you to my very encouraging and ever so patient teacher, Prof. Joo! He never fails to tell me every class that I have a gift and I am very skillful with the paintbrush (blush) ... but of course, all teachers say that to encourage their students.


In case you find yourself in Seoul and you want to learn oriental painting, you can get in touch with Prof. Joo at 010-5715-5535.

Korean Food

15 more days to go before we leave Seoul... I thought i would post my favorite Korean dished so i could use this as reference in case i forget their names in the future. Please excuse some of the food shots. They might not look appetizing at all because most of the time i only remember to take photos halfway through the meal.

1. Bibimbap - Traditional Korean rice bowl with lots of veggies, seaweed, egg and your choice of meat or seafood topping seasoned with sesame oil and red pepper paste.


2. Pajeong - Savoury pancake with either seafood or kimchi filling. Served with sesame and soy dipping sauce.

3. Dakgalbi - "Dak" means chicken in Korean. It's a Sweet and Spicy chicken dish with red pepper sauce and lots of vegetables cooked in an iron grill right on your table.


4. Galbi - Beef shortrib barbecued on a charcoal grill at the center of the table. The way to eat the barbecued meat is to put in on the center of a lettuce or sesame leaf, smear some doenjang (fermented soybean paste) on the meat, top it with pickled radish and grilled garlic, fold the leaf over and take a bite. Yummmm....


5. Jjeyopukum - Sweet and spicy pork cooked with red pepper sauce very similar to Dakgalbi. Usually served with coleslaw or macaroni salad.


6. Gyeran Mali - literally translated means "rolled eggs". It's like a fried egg crepe with fried rice filling. Other variations include cheese, vegetable or kimchi fillings.


7. Mandu - Korean dumplings. Like the Chinese dumplings there are different types of Mandu - fried, steamed and boiled. The mandu i enjoy the most is the bun kind from Shinsegae food court. It looks like siopao but with spring roll filling.


I realized most of the popular Korean dishes in Manila have already been "filipinized" and adjusted to suit the Pinoy palette. The Korean food they serve in Kaya and Kimchi are mostly soy-based while authentic Korean food are mostly cooked with the red pepper paste. I guess the red pepper paste may be too spicy for most Pinoys. Another difference I noticed is that authentic Korean stews and barbecues are always served with some kind of vegetable which is not the case back home. It's not to say I have any complaints with the Filipino version. I'm just simply pointing out the differences so you won't get surprised if you don't find the same Kimchi beef stew here in Seoul.

The Art of Reproduction

I never considered myself creative but my Korean painting teacher is very encouraging. He told me that i have a gift for "copying" artworks and that i have very skillful hands. I don't know about skillful but i do know that i can copy. That's all i can do given my limited imagination!

Can you tell which ones are mine?

Vintage or poor taste?

I’ve always wondered where I could find shoes that were within my humble Pinoy budget. Alas, a neighbor of mine told me that there is shoe arcade in Dongdaemun Market which she described is as an alley lined with (affordable) shoes as far as your eyes can see! My eyes brightened and I started to salivate at the thought of SHOES, SHOES, SHOES. I felt like Charlie about to enter Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory!

The next day I went on a little shoe hunting expedition in famous shoe arcade in Dongdaemun Market. Indeed, it was an alley filled with shoes! But to my dismay, the shoes were not exactly my style. They were a bit too Korean for my taste. Still, I walked to the end of the market. Then on my walk back, a pair of flats caught my eye. It was made of woven fabric with wooden accent rings in front. I asked for the price and what a delight, it was only W14,000 or roughly P750. What a bargain! I hesitated for a second and asked myself if I really needed a new pair of shoes. But what the heck, I bought it anyway. Shoes are like pieces of art, you need to appreciate them. This pair needed an owner who would appreciate it for its creative value.

Upon returning home from my bargain hunt, I tried on the pair to check if I could wear it with any of my clothes. I decided that it would go well with the plain shirts that I have. I was so pleased with my new art piece until P came home and teased if the housekeeper left her old shoes in our apartment! It made me wonder…did he not appreciate the vintage design of the shoes or did I just have poor taste? Hmph…