tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78448356537867887072011-12-21T17:15:35.735+08:00Jottings from a Korean/American duo in southeast AsiaErikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.comBlogger341100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-23101289869439535512010-12-17T15:18:00.001+08:002010-12-17T15:18:10.757+08:00

I found a drink stall on my campus selling this beverage: 珍珠豆奶 bandung. It seemed like a good idea: combine parts from 3 nice drinks to make a new one, a nice SE Asian fusion. Good idea, terrible taste.

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-37306307658577347282010-11-04T21:59:00.001+08:002010-11-04T21:59:32.682+08:00

A while back I received a ballot for the mid-term elections in the US. The envelope is written in both English and Chinese. I guess this has been the practice in the Seattle area for some time. I thought it was rather interesting.

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-8196695610790518692010-11-02T08:03:00.001+08:002010-11-02T08:03:35.501+08:00

We were recently in Taiwan for a conference. Our visit overlapped with the campaign period for local elections. It was interesting to see how politicians campaign. Posters for candidates were of course common. Campaign vans drove around. Helpers jumped out and stood on street corners with placards. Outside a temple we received a packet of tissues with a candidate’s face on it. Later we saw her

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-33380995681751843502010-09-24T19:56:00.001+08:002010-09-24T19:56:16.227+08:00

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend an event at the old City Hall and Supreme Court buildings. The site is to be converted into The National Art Gallery of Singapore, due to open in some five years time. Before massive renovation begins, the new tenants will be giving an open house on 9-10 October to share the plans for the gallery. And before the open house, the premises were opened

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-24199844413570550752010-09-22T15:15:00.001+08:002010-09-22T15:15:03.176+08:00

Today is chusok (추석) or Moon Festival. I'm in Korea for research and my trip overlaps with the holiday. Pretty much everything is shut down for the day. Yesterday massive rainfall came to Seoul and the streets flooded badly. Families gather with paternal relatives at the home of the senior male. For most families the main event today is ancestor worship or jesa (제사). Today we had jesa at 9am. The

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-66478709868612352832010-08-26T23:33:00.001+08:002010-08-26T23:33:45.469+08:00

I've been missing the Sheng Siong supermarket across the street from where we used to stay. It is always so lively there. That got me thinking about how different the clientele is at the various supermarkets in Singapore. If I taught sociology I would encourage a student to do a sociological study of customers and behavior at various stores. Here are some generalizations based on my experiences

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-47951231370232367602010-08-23T21:29:00.002+08:002010-08-23T22:06:14.868+08:00

Over the weekend Katong Couple attended a friend's wedding in Bangalore. The only other place we've been in India is Delhi (and Agra). One of first impressions of Bangalore was how familiar it was coming from southeast Asia. For many reasons, south India felt much more familiar than north India. And I suppose it's not surprising given the different climates, and the north's closer connections to

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-63996406810837662002009-05-23T22:18:00.003+08:002009-05-24T16:28:31.997+08:00

The suicide of former Korean president Roh Moo Hyun this morning is a national tragedy. The event became a lead story in the international news. International media reports of Roh's passing reflect the poor state of foreign news reporting. International news sources quote from news wires or overseas correspondents who get their information from local journalists. The message given by the BBC and

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-17297893142083960572009-04-26T21:29:00.003+08:002009-04-26T21:48:14.976+08:00

Today we attended the launch of a new bookshop in Singapore. GOHD Books, located in a cozy second-floor space on Serangoon Road near Lavender, sells new and used books and is also a venue for events. GOHD Books is the creation of Deyana Goh, a recent NUS Political Science graduate who opted to follow her dream of opening a bookshop and community space. It's great to see one of our graduates

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-26239333889020533212009-04-23T22:03:00.002+08:002009-04-23T22:43:59.507+08:00

I recently read *Children of Kali* by Kevin Rushby. It's a gripping, entertaining travel essay on crime and the mythology surrounding it in India. Really, it reads like a research journal. The first ten pages set up the problem brilliantly and impel you to follow Rushby's journey for answers. After discovering Rushby, I'm inspired to make a short list of some favorite travel books.In no

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-86938963038163081132009-04-19T21:13:00.003+08:002009-04-19T22:01:09.100+08:00

Today we joined a group led by Preetam Rai to the Japanese Cemetery Park, located in a quiet residential area on Chuan Hoe Ave. just off of the junction of Yio Chu Kang Rd and Philip. The cemetery was used up until the end of the war for the Japanese community in Singapore. There are many interesting graves here. Many Japanese women who served as prostitutes are buried here. In fact, according to

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-55961075770873491852009-04-18T23:50:00.004+08:002009-04-19T00:12:52.254+08:00

Among the pleasures of living in Katong are Friday night walks in Joo Chiat. The street is full of people. Men, each with a girl at his sat, crowd around the plastic tables along the walkway. Music thumps out of bars with names like "The Web" (where the theme is more Halloween than internet). Vietnamese bar girls shake incense sticks at wall-mounted shrines. Drunken friends greet each other

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-76784540410786265472009-04-08T21:46:00.004+08:002009-04-08T22:15:05.314+08:00

At the end of March Air Asia opened a direct flight from Singapore to Bandung. We got return fare for S$90 each (all included). This route will open up Bandung, which is already a major destination within Indonesia, for those in Singapore. The city has all the infrastructure for visitors, because of all the Jakarta people driving in on weekends, but has few foreign tourists.Even though everything

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-38747418637684662082009-01-24T15:37:00.004+08:002009-01-24T16:21:59.167+08:00

I recently took a walk on Hong Kong island, from Wan Chai to Happy Valley, which was suggested by National Geographic. The walk starts at the Tai Yuen Market...And continues past the old Hong Kong post office. This building was constructed in 1912 or 1913.  This blue building is also quite old, and has terraces which apparently used to be common. The Pak Tai Temple next door is 140 years old,

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-48053163612895855132008-11-09T10:03:00.002+08:002008-11-09T10:47:16.510+08:00

We recently watched *Charlie Wilson's War*. I thought about another American movie from the past year which also dealt with foreign politics -- Adam Sandler's *Don't Mess with the Zohan*. Charlie Wilson's War pretends to thoughtfulness, but it's the Zohan which has a responsible political message.From the beginning of Charlie Wilson's War, I was shocked. That the US should intervene (covertly) in

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-7804637232351992132008-10-05T20:57:00.005+08:002008-10-05T22:50:27.825+08:00

We were inspired today to learn a little about Singapore's Parsi community, Zoroastrians who settled in India for many century. We couldn't find a book or website which assembled what is known about Parsis in Singapore. After poking around, we've put some information together as a starting point.Which places in Singapore are associated with Parsis? There's Parsi Road, in the Tanjong Pagar area,

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-41160488492841370202008-09-27T15:28:00.008+08:002008-09-27T16:50:58.118+08:00

We recently visited Kluang in Johor, Malaysia. One discovery we made was the cafe, Old Taste: Ipoh White Coffee. The name is not the only similarity with the much more famous "Old Town: Ipoh White Coffee." When we first saw the sign in the shopping centre, we assumed it was Old Town. It turns out Old Town is across the street.Old Taste with Old Town across the street A quick web search made it

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-25641935825356677922008-09-06T23:39:00.000+08:002008-09-06T23:39:46.895+08:00

We are "Katong Couple" but I realize now that I have yet to explain what Katong is for those who don't know. So what is Katong? Or rather, where is it?Shophouses at East Coast RdKatong is the neighbourhood where we live in Singapore, on the eastern side of the island.Actually, Katong doesn't really exist. You won't find it on official maps of Singapore. Instead, you will find the area is divided

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-41814247680326965612008-08-10T20:25:00.004+08:002008-08-10T21:31:40.054+08:00

I've been hooked on reading travel writing for some time now. I especially like the model where the writer follows in the footsteps of a historical traveller or explorer. Examples are Nigel Barley's book on Raffles and Mishi Saran's "In the Monk's Shadow," which followed the 7th century Chinese monk Xuanzang to India. Many of these books are by writers who follow historical Englishmen or other

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-74279554616056792682008-07-29T09:10:00.012+08:002008-12-09T17:59:39.857+08:00

I was in Korea over the last couple of weeks for a research trip. As I have been reading about Korean gangsters past and present, I decided to try to track down some of the places associated with gangsters of yore. Here's what I found.Stop 1: Sup'yo Bridge (수표교) , central Seoul. The notorious gangster-turned-politician Kim Tu-han supposedly started his career under this bridge. In the early part

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-17150256404948027232008-05-06T22:25:00.005+08:002008-12-09T17:59:40.608+08:00

What are Koreans up to in Cambodia (besides touring Angkor sites in droves)?Korea has sold off old machinery, especially trucks and buses, to Cambodia. Here is one of the many delivery trucks from Korea we saw in Phnom Penh. Korea sells other old products in Cambodia as well. This "Korean market" in a shopping mall in Cambodia doesn't sell food products -- it sells cosmetics and other things for

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-87224475622419280822008-04-07T23:05:00.003+08:002008-04-07T23:53:25.076+08:00

Okay, it can't be helped: it's time to say something about Tibet, especially now that the Olympic torch has been extinguished twice in Paris. Even the BBC has lost patience, after being blacked out in China, and put a video about media control on its website which finishes with the line, "It's a kind of ostrich strategy, people may be looking up, but tonight the government's made sure their heads

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-71181533139825610812008-02-15T20:36:00.002+08:002008-02-15T21:18:38.369+08:00

We're in Yogyakarta this week, studying some bahasa Indonesia, traveling a bit, and just finding out what it's like to stay in an Indonesian town. We came with virtually no background in the language and signed up for a week of half-day classes at a private institute here in Jogja. The amazing thing about bahasa Indonesia is that after leaving the first class, we could negotiate a bit in the

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-24547168191598475052008-02-12T16:27:00.000+08:002008-12-09T17:59:41.023+08:00

Yesterday Seoul's South Gate, Namdaemun (남대문), was destroyed in a fire. We are quite fond of the city wall, which has been in the process of restoration (the gate on the north side of the city wall was just re-opened to the public last year), and so it's of course terrible to see the most famous part of it destroyed. International media including the BBC picked up on the story of the fire, and

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-79098233645247786902007-12-21T22:09:00.000+08:002007-12-22T04:56:44.937+08:00

So, the election in Korea is over and the winner is no surprise. The international media haven't quite hit the significance of the election. A CNN article (to which I can't link now because I'm using a Changi Airport terminal), for example, emphasizes that Lee will get tougher on North Korea. But "tougher" sounds like "George Bush" tougher. The international media doesn't quite understand how

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-89315749325251091472007-12-18T16:44:00.000+08:002007-12-18T16:48:18.159+08:00

A review of Jia has just come out in Asiance Magazine. It starts like this...A Small Voice from the RealityEverybody talks about North Korea, but nobody knows about that closed country. When we’re asked whether we are from the South or the North, South Koreans (we) are very shocked by the ignorance – isn’t it common knowledge that it is almost impossible for North Koreans to leave their country?

Hyejin Kim's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16770272627766739631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-72150212739047554672007-12-18T13:40:00.001+08:002007-12-18T13:51:07.298+08:00

Top China hands Anita Chan and Jonathan Unger have written a piece in YaleGlobal Online about toy manufacturing in China and who is to blame for problems. Chan and Unger point out that responsibility for production of hazardous goods is shared by a number of players, not just "China." Goods that harm consumers are also likely to be even more harmful to workers, though that issue receives less

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-3100721094963190262007-12-18T13:23:00.000+08:002007-12-18T13:38:18.689+08:00

A dry report in the Korea Herald on the fascinating topic of education reform in Korea emphasizes the importance of improving English-language instruction.In the increasingly global and digitalized workplace settings, the importance of foreign languages, especially English, is profound. The need to become proficient in English has been a trigger of the learning competition both domestically and

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-25776601351189262172007-12-14T16:53:00.000+08:002008-12-09T17:59:41.166+08:00

Many indoor food courts in Singapore have a Korean food stall (though I haven't seen an outdoor hawker center with one). I usually don't eat at Korean stalls in Singapore, not because the food isn't good but because we usually have homemade Korean food. But the last few weeks we've been experiencing a kimchi drought and so I went out for kimchi jjigae at a food court.The taste was fine but can

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-48559484360501066832007-12-10T21:22:00.000+08:002008-12-09T17:59:41.643+08:00

A couple of weeks ago now we went up to KL to see Federer and Sampras play in the "Clash of Times." Our seats were in the back but that was no problem. The main point was to see Federer in person, and Sampras, and just seeing them standing together in person was amazing. The match itself was not terrific tennis but how could it be with Sampras 5 years retired? Sampras made a lot of unforced

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-71200695562655782472007-11-20T23:44:00.000+08:002007-11-21T00:14:37.230+08:00

I found a North Korean website that sells DPRK items, from books and music to traditional medicines. You can purchase a movie or television series episode -- for example from the 50-part animated series, "The Boy General" -- for US $1 or 2. Or, for even less, download your favorite revolutionary ditty as a mobile phone ringtone. Yes, that's right, the DPRK is in the business of selling

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-32374677314158503552007-11-14T16:08:00.000+08:002008-12-09T17:59:41.805+08:00

On Sunday we went with our friends Preetam and Kayoko to the Asian Civilisations Museum special exhibit, "On the Nalanda Trail: Buddhism in India, China and Southeast Asia." The exhibit has many nice artifacts, many from the National Museum in Delhi (which seemed to quite sparse when we went), and describes Chinese and Indian monks who travelled to study or spread Buddhism. We could also see how

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-25168104821422453682007-10-02T00:11:00.000+08:002007-10-02T00:38:52.157+08:00

Responses to Jia keep appearing. A brief review was done here last week. Jia has also been reviewed thoughtfully by a critic on the Pop and Politics blog and In These Times. In traditional media, the publication of Jia has been announced in The Observer and the Chicago Tribune.

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844835653786788707.post-68926614276108862152007-10-01T21:08:00.000+08:002008-12-09T17:59:42.134+08:00

A major benefit of living in Singapore is being able to visit other places in the region quickly and easily. This past weekend we went to Jakarta, just an hour and 40 minutes away by air. Flying out of JB (Johor Bahru) across the border in Malaysia is cheaper than going from Singapore. Plus the flight times are such that we could leave Fri. night and return Sun. night without missing any

Erikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046830266765257661noreply@blogger.com0