The Journey

It’s now 12 days since I left SK and I’m enjoying the liberation. I can’t say I miss the over zealous and misguided delusion regarding their national pride or the bizarre way in which business and work operate. I do miss my real Korean friends of which there are maybe 3 and the Westerners who became good friends during my stay. Frank Oh Bok Young has been a star first offering g me residence with Mrs Oh and himself for my final 10 days and going the extra mile to sort out the money transfer that the Koreans blame the English for not working. Blame that’s what Koreans do best!

Anyway SK is the past and the friends will stay with me forever as will the memories of times spent with my charges.

Beijing warmed me and clogged my lungs at the same time. My accommodation the Leo Courtyard Hostel which whilst formerly grand was cheap, decaying and bohemian and for $7 a night just what I expected. I suspect it’s myriad rooms had seen a maelström of seedy activities over the last couple of centuries. My first night was hell! A screaming banshee, who would be best placed on the floor of Canal Street at kick out time, decided he would put on a show that delivered aural hell. Needless to say my arrival at his door with a pair of scissors and at the Chinese translation of eunuch did the trick. The next 3 night proved to be perfect.

I awoke early and sampled the local dumplings and boiled eggs before crossing over to Quinine Street. Thankfully this shoppers paradise does not spark into life until 11am but I did get some interesting street snaps. What I have observed here is that the cult of Beckham shows no sign of waning.  He advertises everything from fashion to batteries and insurance. What I do admire is that there’s no air brushing of wrinkles :-).

20 minutes later I arrived at the North Gate of Tiantian Park home to the Temple of Heaven. The parks free to Beijingers but 35 yuan gives full access to foreigner visitors. At £3.78 a bargain and it’s worth the ticket price just o see the day-to-day activities of the cities senior citizens. You can read historical stuff here but I’ll just lay down my experiences.

The first of the days entertainment was the mass troops of ballroom dancers who choose their spots carefully so the sounds of the ghetto blasters don’t mix. There is always a leader whose male and often incredibly camp. Maybe staying in the room next door to me? The participants glide in effortless harmony across the tarmac and the pleasure the emirate is immense. Further along another all girl group were performing to ABBA. Their performance was a mix of Disco and Tai Chi. The next act were playing keep puppy with the ballasted shuttlecock. It’s called Ti Jian Zi – The Ancient Art of Shuttlecock Kicking. They demonstrate awesome skills as the shuttle goes over their heads they simply back heal it into play.

At the Corridor of Longevity some octogenarians chatted intensely while others listened to outdoor performances of what I assumed to be songs from the Cultural Revolution. Each rendition was met with hearty applause and appreciation. Some 10 minutes further on the skills of the Top spinner were on display. They lash the conical object continuously to make it spin on ice or smooth ground. Various names are given to the sport in Chinese. In 1926, a pottery top was unearthed from the Huituling Cultural Ruins in Xiyin Village, Xiaxian County, Shanxi, which is evidence that tops had existed in China over 4000 years ago. Its become a popular sport again across all age ranges.

I forgot to mention that I also visited all the historical attractions and as its low season nothing was too overcrowded. The obvious highlight is the Temple of Heaven itself, on this occasion four soon to be wed couple were posing for album portfolios. I also enjoyed the Long Corridor where a variety of craft stalls are set up and the aged go-go dancers continue their performances.

I exited at the East Gate and headed north in search of wi-fi. The bastard Koreans charged me a penalty fee for paying off my account. Yea I said off the remaining seven months but incurred a penalty for doing so.  I was intending to buy a global sim but shelved the idea in the wake of my financial rape! Fortunately I found a Cafe Bene which you may or may not know is a Korean company. The coffee price mirrored Korea i.e. too much but the wi-fi was free and a strong connection. I discovered by good fortune that the collection agency was 5 minutes walk away in the Beijing Business Centre. I negotiated the dumb struck security guard and headed up to the 5th floor, it was 1:00pm. All the staff were asleep at their desks but a woman stirred as I coughed. “Lunch”, “yes please”, “no, sleep time”, “ok”. The man who appeared to be in charge entered the room, rubbed his eyes, took my passport and produced my Trans-Mongolian first leg tickets. With that I was on my way to the Forbidden City.

Little did I know but the Asian Economic Convention was taking place adjacent to Tiananmen Square. have you ever experienced Chinese Security? Even on the subway every bag is x-rayed but this was worse. The whole north side of the square was sealed off with only access to the underpass after passing through security.  The queue for the initial testicle frisk was 300 metres long and took 40 minutes.  This merely gave you access to the spilt underpass, to the left Tiananmen, to the right The Forbidden City, it was like Wembley Way but 3 times worse. This was the queue for the baggage x-ray and we were allowed through in batches of 30 or so. some 35 minutes later I exited the underpass having spend 75 minutes crossing 50 metres. That being said the actual place itself was much more user-friendly than on my previous visits in 1990 and 2013, the crowds around 50% of normal volume.

I had taken the centre and right routes in the past for this reason and the fact that the sun was high in the West I took the left or West path through. The Chinese have expunged all memory of the Mongols from Beijing but its was they who originally constructed a palace here. Genghis Khan captured Beijing in 1241. By 1264 Genghis Khan’s grandson,  Kublai Khan became the Great Khan and moved the Mongolian capital to Beijing. Tired of raping and pillaging China Kublai Khan decided to rule it. He became the Emperor of China and started the Yuan Dynasty. They designed the walled city as a Mongolian cultural haven free from Chinese cultural influence. From the safety of the walls, the Mongols would rule China through dictating orders to Chinese Imperial officials to carry out.  A hundred years later a Chinese peasant, Chu Yuan-Chan created a very large bandit army and evicted the Yuan, declared himself the new Emperor of China. He moved into the Forbidden City and started the Ming Dynasty.  Three hundred years later, the Manchurians conquered China and became the last residents of the Forbidden City.  The Qing Dynasty lasted until 1911, when Dr. Sun Yat-Sen ended Imperial rule with the formation of the Chinese Republic. In 1949, Mao Tse-Tung declared the People’s republic of China from the Gate.  Now his portrait is placed there to commemorate that historic event.  Long live Chairman Mao!

So my first full day in Beijing came to a close and after a hearty dinner of pork, green beans and egg fried rice I retired exhausted for an early night.

Day two began with an early breakfast of dumplings and the focus was a trip to the Great Wall which has been a tourist magnet since China opened up and devoured foreign currency post 1989. The first popular section was at Badaling due to its proximity to Beijing. I’d visited there in 1992 to observe Americans practising their golf swings. Two years ago I’d gone to Mutanyu a little further afield, commercialised yes but less so with fewer people. This time I decided on the Jinshanling to Simatai section which involves a 3 hour drive and offered a 6.5km trek along the wall, which has been renovated but less so than the other tourist areas.

Our group was only 8 people and other than 3 swedes and 3 Chinese we saw no other visitors. The climb to tower 5 caught the breath as the air felt thin, we were to trek to the highest point at tower 26. The sections here were especially steeper and a greater challenge than the other places I’d visited and my companions were good fun. The views were spectacular and the lack of crowds only added to the experience. Most of us napped on the way back, a tiring but fulfilling day.

My final full day in Beijing started with a stroll around Shichahai which is aa area North West of the Forbidden City which includes three lakes (Qian Hai, meaning Front Sea; Hou Hai, meaning Back Sea and Xi Hai, meaning Western Sea), it covers a large area of 146.7 hectares (about 363 acres). So I emerged from Line 2 to face a polluted 4 lane highway but doubling back behind the station I emerged at the lake shore. The Back Lakes area is known as Shicha Hai and combined with other man-made pools to the south, these lakes were once part of a system used to transport grain by barge from the Grand Canal to the Forbidden City. Prior to 1911, this was an exclusive area, and only people with connections to the imperial family were permitted to maintain houses here (a situation that seems destined to return). A profusion of bars and cafes has sprung up around the lakes in recent years, providing ample opportunities to take breaks from your walk.

Beyond the lakes, stretching out to the east and west is the city’s best-maintained network of hutong. Many families have lived in these lanes for generations, their insular
communities a last link to Old Beijing. This early morning it was awash with folk giving their pets a daily constitutional, people engaged in many activities (Table tennis, gym, fishing). Rickshaws picked up the days first customers, a woman and her husband braved the sub-zero temperatures ably protected by their snapping pet pooch. Butchers prepared meat for the locals and many restauranteurs and the bakers could not keep up with demand.  It took around three hours strolling to circumnavigate back to the station were I retraced my steps towards the Drum and Bell Towers. Wandering through the maze of hutong’s is a fascinating way to see life pass by.

After a tasty Szechuan lunch I traversed to the main shopping area of Wanfujing (my idea of hell) but did a quick hop back to see the Galaxy Soho Complex designed by Zaha Hadid.  Here from a distance everything looked well but on closer inspection it was another failed implementation of a futuristic design.  Miss H’s firm need to get a grip of these projects (ass the DDP in Seoul) which are often late and badly finished or not finished at all (in this case); this one is predominantly empty after 3 years!

And so my fourth trip to Beijing was over and after a few beers at Beers 89 near to my hostel I retired ready for the first leg of my Trans-Mongolian Adventure.

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Street snapping in Sinchon and Hongdae

We were blessed with a Saturday drenched in sunshine and this weekend I intended not to venture too far from the circle line number 2.

I began my pottering at the Ehwa Womans University Campus in Sinchon. The  campus centre accommodates around 20 000 students and was designed by Dominique Perrault Architecture (2008) who I expect hail  from France. The scale is phenomenal and the cavernous building contains 3 types of facility. For the academic programs there are learning and sport-term project spaces, libraries and a range of cafeteria. The building also has the colleges administration department and commercial areas which contain a cinema, theatre and shops as well as external sporting spaces and car parks (20 000 m²).

Above and below the land previously occupied by Ewha Square and the athletic field the new “Campus Valley” provides both Ewhaians and prospective female leaders with much-needed extra space for continuing education and student services. The campus has become a tourist attraction in itself because of the landmark building that the architects bestowed. On Saturday I exchanged banter with Indonesians, Malaysians and a group from Frankfurt.

“A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.” (Robertson Davies)

“Bad architecture is in the end as much a failure of psychology as of design. It is an example expressed through materials of the same tendencies which in other domains will lead us to marry the wrong people, choose inappropriate jobs and book unsuccessful holidays: the tendency not to understand who we are and what will satisfy us.” (Alain de Botton, The Architecture of Happiness)

Good architecture is like a strong marriage its merits are often undefinable but it makes us feel good, it inspires and changes our mood, this building succeeds in all this; it’s certainly the finest modern academic building I have ever come across.

Leaving the campus the contrast is immense, the litany of architectural carbuncles that represent over zealous catalytic development are there for all to see. This whole area deserves better but the positive aspect of the mucky streets and expanse of cables straddling the poorly constructed topography just highlights what an exceptional building the campus is. I continued past the monstrous half derelict Sinchon Station and Megabox and planted myself outside the foot tunnel that links the area to Yonsei University. There is a continual refreshing of the street art; as one mural disintegrates it is replaced by another sometimes political statement made through the medium of graffitti.

Graffiti is often a beautiful thing, a splash of the soul in unlikely places, displaying to us character and development, engendering ideas of hardship and victory. Then in an instance it is no more, often of its time and that time is fleeting, before its renewed and replenished by a more relevant piece of art. The spray can pirates in South Korea are much more palatable than those who strive to save the hillside slums by painting child-like populist murals that resemble Hallmark cards, I say keep up the good work soldiers of the working class!

I stopped and was salivated on by an over amorous Golden Retriever. I chatted to the two young brothers who owned him and were convinced he was just one month old. I suggested he must be at least a year plus but no, he is one month old :-). I suggested removing his manhood to calm him down but that was simply met with puzzled expressions and so I moved on for an injection of caffeine. A Saturday morning in Seoul fools you into thinking that the city may never wake up but around 11am folk stagger from their sojued slumber and take to the streets for their hangover cures. It is at this time I tend to find a peaceful park or simply wander through a new dong. Today was no exception, I would be staying in Hapjeong tonight but I had a bit of flaneuring to do before then.

Climbing up through Nogosan-dong I came to Wausan-ro and my eyes popped out as I stumbled upon another headphone dealer. I wanted the fix of euphoria that only confirming the “value” of my last weeks cans purchase would bring. I was successful they too were 40% more expensive than the price I actually paid. Wausan road provides the shortest route to Hongik University but it is the streets north of here leading down to Hongik University station that are most interesting for the street snapper.

This area contrasts wildly with the area opposite the university gates.  There are smaller crowds and affordable dining opportunities. I noticed an abundance of Vespa’s and a notable number of Mini Coopers. Bar names relate to New York and London Covent Garden as well as the usual titles that are difficult to decipher. The area is a neighborhood known for its youthful and Koreans say romantic ambiance, underground culture, and freedom of self-expression. Unique cafes, cozy galleries, accessory stores, fashion shops, live cafés and jazz clubs, art markets, and gourmet eateries make this a popular hang-out for locals in their 20s and 30s and a fascinating place to walk around. I mooched around for a couple of hours taking the occasional shot to boost my by now flagging constitution.

Later it took me 45 minutes, 5 Koreans, 3 phone calls and a stroke of luck to find my hostel for the night.  The unfortunately named Ho-hotel was around 300 metres from its location shown on booking.com. I was lucky as my kindly 5th Korean wanted to practice his English and so he took over the transport arrangements, calling the hotel and delivering me in person. The hotel itself was modern and clean though the wi-fi was unpredictable and the “clean” bedding had the usual mild stench of fag smoke. It’s a ritual of mine now to spray the bedding with 4711 Mandarin Orange cologne before I take to my pit.

After a nap I planned my night-time activities which included 2 World Cup games before the boys played Italy at 7 am. For those regular readers you’ll probably know that watching football on Korean TV is a trial but I had a genius solution. I would turn the sound down on the TV and use my iPad supported by VPN to listen to Radio 5 Live as the games began.

I couldn’t resist my usual Fish & Chips treat at Beegers washed down by the immaculate, and strong, IPA. The owner also kindly let me sample their new Porter from Daejon which was much more of a palatable experience that that endured when I have to work with my Daejon co-teacher. Whilst sat on the outdoor terrace seduced by the none-smoking atmosphere I came across a lovely quote from Jamie Ayres:

“You say (the British public) that the BBC are winning the soccer punditry wars, but surely ITV never stood a chance as having Adrian Chiles, up front and centre, is akin to starting the season with a 12 point deduction.” Fantastic!

I then became a victim of a US invasion on the next table. Of course they were expert pundits themselves. It’s great to know that Yanks who never watch and know sweet FA about football suddenly become expert pundits during the World Cup, I’d endured this for the past 40 years since Germany 1974; the worst occasions being when I worked in New York during the 1994 tournament. Apparently Spain lost because the manager is too old! I suppose if the USA lose it will because they have a German manager. In saying this they love German rocket scientists at NASA so perhaps he’ll be OK? I was getting excited only 10 hours to go to England vs Italy and listening to Radio 5 without a “mida” or strangled “shooting” I’d hoped would bring joy to my ears. What this numpty had not realised was that because of the weak w-fi I would have to endure a two-minute time delay between the pictures in South Korea and the commentary from the UK, aghhhhhhh!

I left Beegers and found another outdoor terrace on which to imbibe a few more craft beers. Opposite me a very loud Korean girl flounced in with blue hair and a tangerine top, loud and with skin the quality of the Sea of Tranquility she was fueled by an extremely large bottle of Makgeolli which she was demolishing through a  straw. She was accompanied by an extremely camp Englishman who sported golden curly hair, a string vest and he too sucked on his Makgeolli through a straw. Sorry if these persona insults are irritating teh reader but this self depreciating mid 50s, overweight, glutton for punishment writer was nervous and only an England win would serve to extinguish my fire of mickey-taking. At this juncture a positive thought entered my cerebral cortex, because of Sean’s leg I only had two classes on Monday, I would enjoy Monday if England win, if! My dream-scape became reality when the string vest fellow started to used his chopsticks as tooth picks, at this moment I thought its heaven help me go back to your hotel room and take a nap before footie. As I left Mr. string vest was all flailing arms and twisted tongue and I reflected that he’d be quite possibly be the spawn of Tory party sperm. One this for sure is he’d go down well with the Eaton Rifles in public school.

On the way back I noticed that the over-priced no atmosphere Irish bar had closed (during a World Cup!). How sad, they should have employed some Irish folk and not charged 10k won for a pint of Guinness.

Now the England game, Sterling was selected and Roy’s currency was at an all-time high. When in the opening exchanges he burst forward and drove a shot goal-ward, I rose from my seat believing we’d taken the lead and so did half the stadium. Unfortunately it skirted the outside of the post ruffling the side netting just at it would if it had been 6 inches to the left and a goal.  This was what we’d been waiting for young English guns to run the legs off the ageing Pirlo, how wrong we were to be.

Despite more passing and enterprise from an English team than we had seen since 1998 Italy took the lead. A corner pulled back and then a dummy by the imperial Pirlo led to a low driven shot by Claudio Marchisio which seemed to pass though someones legs, while un-sighting Hart and nestled in the bottom corner. 1-0 to the Azurri. England did not capitulate, we have a new breed of hungry players who believe in their ability, it is promising and Daniel Sturridge equalises after a fine assist from Wayne Rooney, I am in heaven! Half-time arrives with the writer convinced that the young guns would out-fire the ageing Italian canons in the second half but it was not to be. They of course have SuperMario and we have a suspect defence, Mario Balotelli’s header made it 2-1 to Italy early on in the second half. The imperious Pirlo gave a masterclass in possession football and with Rooney’s missed “sitter”, England’s hopes were dashed. This will be a great England team once the defensive deficiency is addressed and there is much to admire now in an offensive sense, we can still qualify if we beat Uruguay and Costa RIca. Do not repent Roy,  keep the faith and eventually these young boys will deliver.

Disappointed but far from despondent I boarded the line 2 train to Mullae-dong to snap some hanging shutters painted in street art. From here I walked through the dong to Sindorim and the D-Cube complex. Seoul FC were planning a promotional event and as the complex hadn’t yet opened folk snoozed in the Skate-board park style entrance area. After taking more snaps I took a coffee and bagel before heading for an early departure back to Dullju, snaps attached.

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Exceptional Architectural Design, Less Than Perfect Finish!

Ms Hadid is fêted for her innovative, curved architectural statements and this is exemplified by her London Aquatics Centre, the Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion and the Guangzhou Opera House. It is unfeasible to argue against the fact that her architectural approach remains unique. Now the Iraqi born architect has added Seoul’s Dongdaemun Design Plaza to her team’s portfolio.  The structure provides Seoul with a hub for art, design and technology, plus a landscaped park that serves as a much-needed green oasis, and a public plaza linking the two.

“The design is the specific result of how the context, local culture, programmatic requirements and innovative engineering come together – allowing the architecture, city and landscape to combine in both form and spatial experience – creating a whole new civic space for the city”  – Zaha Hadid.

Located on the site of a former baseball stadium in Dongdaemun; a historic district known for its 24 hour shopping and cafes, Zaha Hadid’s new Design Plaza includes aspects of the city’s ancient walls and cultural artifacts. The building features an undulating facade made up of 45,000 aluminium panels of varying sizes and curvatures. This was achieved by means of advanced 3-dimensional digital design and construction, making DDP the first public building in Korea to utilise the technology. The backlit facade is stippled with diminutive perforations that permit the edifice to convert from a solid body by day into an animated light show by night.

The multifaceted building consists of eight storey’s, of which four sit above ground level and four are set below the plaza. Amenities include exhibition galleries, convention and seminar rooms, a design museum, and a library and education centre.

Throughout the minimalistic interior, the use of glass and light wood enhances the design and the central staircase is a triumph.

Now for my criticisms; all are related to the finish of the building in certain places. Quality workmanship is important in today’s construction industry as the high quality achieved in building projects ensures future marketability and enhances the confidence of clients. I noticed white paint on wooden stair treads, poorly finished window seals, badly ground granite floor slabs and mismatched panels this unfortunately is common place in a country that does not value trades but deadlines. This building is three years late for political and financial reasons but that should mean the finish is exemplary and it is not. For the layman everything probably looks fine but for me as a former engineer it left me disappointed. I believe the building may age badly if snagging is not attended to in order to meet Ms. Hadid’s vision.

The Dongdaemun Design Plaza officially opened to the public March 21 as part of Seoul Fashion Week but I hear that the future events schedule is sparse to say the least. I truly hope that the Seoul government attends to this landmark buildings failings immediately to ensure its longer term success. This is a statement building, it defines Seoul internationally and is unlike any in the rest of Asia. Zaha’s design deserves success and only time will tell if that success materialises.

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The Spaceship has Landed and Opens on Saturday

Aesthetically pleasing, gratifying, rich, sumptuous, luxurious, sensory, sensorial; all can be lauded at the majestic Dondaemun Design Plaza by Zaha Hadid that opens on Saturday in Seoul. Last Friday my “pop up” day off was spent meandering amid the sensuous curvaceous  architectural masterpiece tantalisingly kept at arms length by a frustrating line of green construction fences. This coming Saturday I will make another pilgrimage to the official “Grand Open”. In the meantime heres a taster of “Dame” Zaha’s iconic construction along with some more captures at the Museum Of Contemporary Art and the Korea National Museum. All pics iPhone 5S or Olympus Pen EPL-5.

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