Apologies

Everyone,

My intention was to start uploading various art photos from my South Korean road trip and my Hong Kong stint. But I feel that this will now have to wait until my return to the US.

My laptop is currently acting extremely strange. Internet connection is as good as ever, and I can find and connect to all the websites and load text with amazing speed. However, binaries - even tiny image files - take forever to load; I can easily wait 10 minutes for a 50K JPG. Some websites that I need for sightseeing research, such as Wikipedia and some of the Seoul subway operators, connect immediately - but never load; they are useless to me as a result.

I did not have this problem before my departure to Hong Kong, and even within Hong Kong, I did just fine. I am very well convinced that the Republican colonial government's supporters, either here in South Korea or in the Korean-American community, decided to plant a virus in my laptop. Since there is little identifying information that I have online which will allow them to trace me (unlike the average South Korean, who must put his/her National ID number on the line, which in turn connects to a massive government database containing your current address and more), attacking my laptop is the next best thing they can do. I'll blame myself for inadequate antivirus protection on my heavy junk laptop anyway. At least this beats someone reporting me to the thought police as a "left-wing activist" for a USD $20K reward, and me rotting in some jail. (Left-wing activism was legal for the past 20 years, but now is again illegal and may be punishable by death.)

The bad news is that I must come back to Seoul again. The good news is that I can wait until the spring. It also is encouraging that the vast majority of people hate their Republican colonial government as much as I do. I'll make sure to come back with a new computer, probably a MacBook, and give it the best antivirus protection that I can buy. As nobody in South Korea uses Macs, nobody writes viruses that can attack Macs anyway. (On the other hand, some websites don't work properly unless you use MSIE - which runs only on Windows.) I hate the idea of having to spend more money in this crappy economy, especially when I am already shelling out a fortune to replace my Nazi BMW, but I may not have a choice. My intention to replace the Nazi with a Hyundai remains unchanged, and is stronger than ever, due to the goodness of the everyday South Koreans.

Meanwhile, the Republican colonial government, and its supporters which make up much of the South Korean social elite and the ENTIRE Korean-American community, have proven themselves to be the worst enemies of world peace, democracy, and prosperity, with their outspoken support of the neocon agenda and the Moonies. We must ensure that the new Obama Administration will make all of them pay dearly.

Again, don't expect the rest of my South Korea and Hong Kong photos for another two weeks. I apologize again.

Kwan Yin throughout South Korea

After ten exhausting days and 2,600 kilometers, I've given up driving. But I am very glad to have spent time on the road - my first-ever drive on the Eurasian landmass, and one that took me to lots of different Buddhist sites and art.

Now that it's less hectic, it's time to start sharing the spoils of my hard work. I'll start with things that are related to our transgender matron saint. These photos are only a small teaser of tons of great art photos I've taken during the road trip.

Before I start, however, let me introduce you to my travel companion. This is a silver 2006 Hyundai Sonata N20, which is as common and anonymous as any car can get in South Korea. The N20 trim denotes that the car has a 2.0L gasoline engine, which powers almost all domestic market Sonatas. By contrast, the US-market Sonata starts at 2.4L.

With this car, Hyundai becomes the first manufacturer whose cars I've gotten to drive on two different continents.

Also, this is also the first car that I ever get to name. I will refer to it as Gwaneum Zero. Gwaneum, of course, is the Korean pronunciation of Kwan Yin. Gwaneum One will be the Hyundai Genesis that I'll buy when I return to the US next month. Its future replacements will be Gwaneum Two, Gwaneum Three, and so on.

In this photo, I've just taken possession of Gwaneum Zero, and have brought her to my Seoul apartment, so that I can load her up and get going. Here are some specifications for her:

• 16-inch wheels
  
• 4-wheel disc brakes with ABS
• 4-speed automatic transmission
• Heated leather front seats
• CD player with MP3
• Fog lights
• Trip computer
  
• Dual-zone climate control
• Power folding mirrors, power windows, power locks
• Full-size spare tire and tool kit - just like BMWs costing over twice as much
• South Korean governmental fuel economy rating of 10.7 kilometers per liter, combined. South Korea uses the old US EPA test simulating 1970s Los Angeles; multiply by about 2.5 for a ballpark figure in miles per US gallon.

One downside: South Korean rental cars can get quite high-mileage. Gwaneum Zero already has 85,000 kilometers (53,000 miles) on it. But given that South Korea sees almost no violent crimes, and that the nation is compact enough that roadside assistance can reach you anytime and anywhere in a hurry, it's not as bad as it sounds. At least I rented from the nation's most reputable rental agency (Kumho Rent-A-Car, which is a Hertz franchisee and owned by Asiana Airlines), so roadside assistance is excellent, and the car is maintained well enough that breakdown is unlikely anyway. As you know, a Hyundai with 50,000 miles on it used to be a pile of junk, but now it's much better than a Chrysler or a Ford with 50,000 miles on it, and feels good as new - in fact, Hyundai's US warranty is now 60,000 miles for the whole car, and 100,000 miles for the engine and the transmission.

If I really want to pinch pennies, I can even specify a previous-generation Hyundai Sonata, with even higher odometer readings, for a discount, though that's more than I can take. At least all cars are reservable by make, model, and fuel type (gasoline, diesel, and liquid propane gas), and all cars at this rental agency come with automatic transmission and unlimited kilometers.

In fact, if you want to save money, take a diesel-powered car, as diesel costs slightly less than gasoline, is available at every gas station, and is far more efficient, though you'll probably suffer on the expressways. LPG is dirt-cheap, clean, and common, but inefficient, and must be bought at designated charging stations; it also tends to kill your trunk space, and explodes and fries you when your car gets rear-ended. Don't rent fancy foreign cars (BMWs, etc.), as they are prohibitively expensive, and require premium gasoline, which can only be found in major cities.

I am visiting Naksansa, a temple on the eastern coastline dedicated to Kwan Yin. Naksansa is located in the township of Yangyang, a 4-hour drive east of Seoul.

This fairly tall statue (about 60 feet) proves the point. Her name is Haesugwaneum (Seawater Kwan Yin), and she stands on top of a cliff overlooking the Sea of Japan (or as the Koreans prefer to call it, the East Sea), facing east and greeting sunrise.

It's an awe-inspiring sight. I went up to the offering box, put in a 1,000-won (70 US cents) banknote, and asked Kwan Yin to send her mercy to me as I continue to drive away on US interstates.

This is Naksansa's Gwaneumjeon (Hall of Kwan Yin), which is unusual. Normally, a Gwaneumjeon houses a gold-plated statue of Kwan Yin. But this one doesn't. Instead, it has a glass roof to the rear, so that when you walk up to the altar (open door), Haesugwaneum statue, visible in the upper left corner here, simply towers over, and looks down at you through the glass roof.

I also visited a point an hour north of Yangyang. I am at the Unification Observatory, the northernmost point in South Korea, with a great view of North Korea's scenic Diamond Mountains. A number of religious figures stare north and pray for a peaceful unification of the Korean peninsula, and among them is this Kwan Yin.

This place is so far up to the north, that I am north of the Civilian Limit Line. To get here, it was necessary to do some simple paperwork, stating my name, passport number, local address and telephone, and vehicle information. Even then, they managed to guide me to a wrong road - which would've blasted me right through South Korean immigration, the Southern Limit Line (end of South Korean jurisdiction), the inter-Korean border, and into North Korea, causing a major international incident. North Korea is already pissed about South Korea's current right-wing government, and will find any excuse to pick a fight with both South Korea and the US.

A long drive (six hours from Yangyang, to be exact) brought me down to the ancient thousand-year capital of Gyeongju, in southeastern South Korea. I stayed at the luxurious Hilton, and while my room came with the requisite Gideons Bible, it also came with a Korean/English Buddhist scripture book, reflecting Gyeongju's strong Buddhist heritage.

The next morning, I started off at Bulguksa (Temple of Buddhist Kingdom), the nation's most famous temple. This is the back side of Daeungjeon (Hall of Great Hero), the main hall; it's a close-up of Kwan Yin riding a blue tiger. I don't know what the significance of blue tiger is in Korean mythology, though a blue dragon is traditionally the king.

I walked toward the far right corner of the temple. This sign, from the Korea Tourism Authority and the Korea Buddhist History Society, hangs on Bulguksa's own Gwaneumjeon. It states that among the thirty-three pilgrimage sites to Kwan Yin scattered throughout South Korea, this spot is No. 23.

And here's a good look at the rest of Gwaneumjeon, as a monk shows his devotion to her inside.

It's absolutely forbidden to shove my camera inside, so I had to keep my distance. Here's a description of the gold-plated Kwan Yin statue inside. She has a feminine hourglass body shape, but her torso is masculine, with nearly flat breasts. Her robe has a very open bodice front, and her torso - including her nipples - are exposed.

Christy, I tell you again - I don't want you getting any sick ideas from this description!

Nearby signs remind me that Kwan Yin has the ability to grow a thousand arms and hands, as well as eleven faces, in order to better do her work.

Later in the day, I am driving into downtown Gyeongju. Right now, I am visiting Bunhwangsa, another temple just southeast of downtown. Aside from a partial restoration of a brick pagoda, there is little standing here. But I was very inspired by this sight. Stacked rocks, placed there for good luck, surround the rather small statue of a seated Kwan Yin, who, in this application, is certainly NOT guilty of indecent exposure.

Let me backtrack for a minute. Before I headed for downtown, I drove another 5 miles from Bulguksa, over a treacherous mountain road, to reach Seokguram, a very famous grotto. It's a 20-minute drive; my alternative was a 1.5-mile steep walk taking 50 minutes.

In the very back of that grotto is this image of the Eleven-Faced Kwan Yin.

This is a replica whose photo I took at a private museum elsewhere in the city. At the real grotto, I am not allowed to enter the interior of the grotto itself, nor take any photos. All I can do is watch the whole thing through a glass wall.

I also spent lots of time and took lots of photos when I got to the city's National Museum, with free admissions for this year.

Here's a fairly tall (10 feet) statue of the Eleven-Faced Kwan Yin. The other ten faces grow from her crown.

Also at the museum: two bodhisattva statues. The left is generic, while the right is a Kwan Yin, only a few inches tall.

A bodhisattva is basically a Buddha-in-training, someone who has gained some enlightenment and has some of the powers of a Buddha, but not quite there yet. All Buddhas are male, and so are all bodhisattvas. At least they originally were. Then China decided that Kwan Yin should be female instead, creating the one and only (transgender) female bodhisattva.

Also at the National Museum. The museum owned the head of this Kwan Yin for decades. But the body remained half-buried on a nearby mountainside for years. In 1997, it was determined that the head and the body came from the same statue, so the two were mated together and erected on the museum grounds.

Many of her features have worn away, but the few remaining features do identify her as Kwan Yin.

A few miles to the south of the museum, there is a series of hills with lots of hiking opportunities. I took one of the hills' rugged trails.

This is a Kwan Yin carved into a boulder, about as tall as me.

These hills are strewn with Buddhist relics all over. And every one of them has an enclosed altar where the faithful light candles, make offerings, and pray.

Time to leave Gyeongju and spend 13 hours driving back to Seoul (including rest stops, and sightseeing at three Buddhist temples).

This is the first of the three temples. It's Haeinsa, located 1 1/2 hours west of Gyeongju, and most famous as the home of Tripitaka Koreana. Temperature is well below freezing this morning, and I had to walk a mile from my car to get here. It's brutal.

This is Haeinsa's Gwaneumjeon. It's kind of plain, but that's the way I like it. Unfortunately, I can't take a look inside, or even approach the building.

About an hour to the north, there is Jikjisa, my second temple stop. It's located exactly halfway between Seoul and the southeastern extreme corner of Busan, the nation's largest port city. This is a fairly well-appointed temple, and as it is off the beaten path, it's quite nice in its ambience.

Here is Jikjisa's Gwaneumjeon, with a glimpse of its own gold-plated Kwan Yin. Again, she has plunging necklines and exposed masculine breasts, though fortunately, her nipples are covered. She also sports a lovely necklace.

Another hour north, and getting closer to Seoul (though still two hours away at least), is Beopjusa, the most unique temple I've ever visited. Here's Beopjusa's own Hall of Kwan Yin, though its name is not the typical Gwaneumjeon. It is, in this application, called Wontongbojeon.

Unfortunately, it's closed too, and I can't get a look at my matron saint.

The banner across the front does say, however, that Kwan Yin has been given a new gold plating.

A look at Beopjusa's courtyard, with a tall 5-story wooden pagoda to the left (the tallest pagoda in South Korea, and the last surviving wooden pagoda in the nation) and a 100-foot Maitreya Buddha in the center. Again, this is the most unique temple I've seen, and I loved being here.

You may ask where Kwan Yin is in this photo. Look right; there is a peak behind the Maitreya. It rises 985 meters above sea level (not all that tall, as the courtyard is already several hundred meters above sea level). The peak's name is Gwaneumbong (Kwan Yin Peak). A few altars exist at its base.

An entry gate of Beopjusa has this interesting wooden statue of Kwan Yin guarding the temple. Interestingly, she sports a mustache. She also rides an elephant - and you know I hate elephants due to their status as a symbol of a certain American political party.

Several days later, the day before I returned Gwaneum Zero to the rental agency, I took her over to the large island of Ganghwa, on the Yellow Sea coast and an hour from Seoul. While Ganghwa can be accessed by a pair of bridges from the mainland, another large island to the west of it, Seongmo, requires a ferry ride. It cost 2,000 won (USD $1.40) for me, and another 14,000 won (USD $10) for Gwaneum Zero, to reach the island, and visit its Buddhist temple - Bomunsa.

Here is an altar made of a grinding stone. You can see baby monk figurines, Buddhas, and even a statue of harubang (phallic human figurine made of volcanic rock) from faraway Jeju Island. But most importantly, on the lower right, there is a lovely Kwan Yin portrait.

Bomunsa itself is yet another temple dedicated to Kwan Yin.

By now, I've seen so many turtle tombstones around South Korea that they no longer look exotic at all. But this one, also at Bomunsa, is special. Its head is that of a monster I can't identify. More importantly, it also states that I am headed for yet another Kwan Yin pilgrimage site.

This turtle tombstone guards the entrance to a long staircase that starts at the back of the temple courtyard. It is a 419-step climb to the pilgrimage site, or about 30 stories. And it's already been another 30-story steep hike to the courtyard already. Try climbing a 60-story skyscaper on foot in a hurry!

This is the pilgrimage site. Yet another image of Kwan Yin. This one is fairly recent - it dates from only 1928 - and it's more symbolic and less artistic. Kwan Yin looks very genderless here. As she is being scrubbed, I am not allowed to enter the altar area, and must suffice with this view.

This tuxedo cat is Kwan Yin's companion here. Cats are not a common sight in South Korea, as most Koreans, unlike me, don't seem to like cats.

They do like dogs, however, but sometimes for the wrong reasons. Dog meat soup - boshintang - is considered by some to be a delicacy and an aphrodisiac. However, plenty of people are appalled at the very concept - me included - so the only places to eat it are in clearly marked restaurants in rural areas. You won't eat dog meat unless you actively seek out for it. And in any case, meat-grade dogs are different from pet dogs anyway. Contrary to urban legends, they won't kidnap your beloved Fido, cook him, and serve him on your table.

Looking west from Kwan Yin's vantage point. Near the shoreline is the temple's entryway village - where I parked Gwaneum Zero at a pay lot - about the equivalent of 60 stories below. Beyond lies the Yellow Sea. Since 2001, however, some unwelcome changes have happened, as Incheon Airport opened as South Korea's main gateway, and the flight path to/from the airport passes right over here. On the other hand, if you fly into Incheon, you'll probably share some of this wonderful view.

It was also special to walk back down to the courtyard, passing by an elderly woman who was chanting "관세음보살" (Gwan-se-eum Bosal, or Bodhisattva Kwan Shih Yin, the full name of Kwan Yin) repeatedly as she took every step.

Remember - even though these are all the Kwan Yin-related photos I have, they nevertheless are only teasers, really, for the rest of the art photos I am about to share. You'll be in for a treat.

Korean art update

Everyone,

I've had two exhausting yet exciting days in Korea's thousand-year ancient capital, Gyeongju. Even though there is an Arctic blast of cold air that is freezing my butt (literally), I am loving it here.

I am too exhausted to blog about it, however, as a long drive back to Seoul awaits me tomorrow, and I must visit even more Buddhist sites on the way. I need to get going the first thing in the morning (it's 10PM right now).

In the meantime, I've made my latest post on my personal blog, and it took me two hours. Lots of art in that post, as well as yesterday's post. 110 photos in total.

• Gyeongju, Day 2 (National Museum, hiking, Exposition Park, King Munmu Underwater Tomb)
  
• Gyeongju, Day 1 (Bulguksa Temple, Seokguram Grotto, Bunhwangsa Temple Site, Anapji Pond, Cheomseongdae Observatory, Banwolseong Fortress, Tumuli Park, King Muyeol Tomb)

I will make an official post of highlights at this blog a few days after I return to Seoul, when I have some time.

I must tell you this. Gyeongju is an amazing city, and even though it's less than optimal for the English speaker (you are strongly encouraged to hire a guide or bring a Korean friend), to miss it out is to really deprive yourself of some serious art and history. While I did the city in two days, it was possible only because of my rental car and my breakneck pace; otherwise, even a week may not be enough depending on your tastes.

Sure, Gyeongju is difficult to get to from overseas, unlike Seoul or Busan. Gyeongju doesn't even have an airport (though two neighboring cities have domestic airports, and the nearest international airport, in Busan, is only 50 miles away). But you know what? Xi'an in China is much less accessible than Beijing or Shanghai, and Nara and Kyoto in Japan are certainly less accessible than Tokyo or Osaka. To see real art and history, you do need to get off the beaten path.

P.S. I came across a Kwan Yin statue sporting a robe with an open front bodice. Sure, the body shape was feminine, but the exposed torso had definitely male breasts. The English-language caption continues to use Avalokitesvara, her Indian male name.

Christy, if you ever take a sick clue from this, and do a portrait of me in my infamous pink mini, but topless, sporting flat male breasts, and captioned with a male name, I will never forgive you!

Korean road trip update

Hello everyone, quick update.

It's 11:15 PM on Sunday the 16th in Korea, and I got into the historic capital of Gyeongju a few hours ago. I've had my rental car since noon yesterday, and I've covered over 500 miles with it so far; considering that the longest one-way trip you can do in South Korea is well under 300 miles, and that gasoline is quite expensive at 1450 to 1600 won per liter (about $4 to $4.50 per US gallon), I've been driving like there's no tomorrow.

I've seen lots of things, even though I was forced to miss a few of my intended sights due to lack of time and freak factors beyond my control. I was misguided to a wrong road at a sight near the inter-Korean border this morning, and that road would've taken me straight into North Korea (and gotten Kim Jong-il quite pissed off, as neither an American nor anyone with a cell phone may enter North Korea, and I am both); fortunately, I asked for directions at the South Korean immigration checkpoint and was guided the correct way.

500 miles over two days (and lots of wasted time as well, due to Seoul's notorious weekend traffic) has really gotten me knocked out, however. I won't post any art tonight, even though I do have some to share. I will post everything together when I am done with my Gyeongju sightseeing and have tons of extra art from here to upload. Besides, my own blog takes enough time to update too.

Keep your fingers crossed. You'll be in for a real treat. My road trip ends on Wednesday, but I will continue to have my car for four more days, and will certainly make lots of weird day trips out of Seoul.

P.S. My first sight in Gyeongju tomorrow will be Bulguksa, the greatest Buddhist temple in all of Korea. Its name (佛國寺) means "Temple for a Buddhist Kingdom." It's where Dabotap (Tower of Many Treasures), that delicate stone pagoda that I shared initially, is located. Tomorrow is three years to the very day that W visited and desecrated that temple; I remember, because when W was there, I was headed for nearby Busan. I'll make sure to drive W's evil spirits out and bring Obama's good ones in.

A teaser for the upcoming Korean road trip

In a week, I am answering the call of the open road - my first-ever drive on the Eurasian landmass. My drive will have a very Buddhist focus, so expect a lot of Kwan Yins, Maitreyas, and more.

For today, I have some teasers. These photos were taken at Bongeunsa Temple in southern Seoul, next to COEX Mall, Asia's largest shopping mall. Due to the mall (which is also attached to Hotel Intercontinental), many Westerners visit here. I am pretty sure that many of them, particularly Americans who are used to the Christian extremism in the Korean-American community, find the resilience and the influence of Korean Buddhism surprising.

Entrance stone for Bongeunsa, which is topped off by an elephant. Of course, this American cringes at the sight of an elephant, which also symbolizes a certain political party as well. The elephant is the work of a German sculptor named Markus Kuehn.

Two traditional Korean drums. Yes, that fish is a drum too.

The left drum has a symbol called Samtaegeuk (삼태극). Normally, a Taegeuk (태극) is a two-part yin-yang symbol, which is red and blue in the Korean application (as evidenced in the South Korean national flag). The "sam" prefix means three, and Samtaegeuk is a three-part Taegeuk which also adds yellow.

Other uses of the word "sam" to denote the number three (三) include:

• Samsung (三星), "Three Stars," the neoliberal corporation best known for its electronics division
• Samseong (三成), "Three Accomplishments," same pronunciation as Samsung, and the name of the district this temple is located in
  
• Sambo (三寶), "Three Gems," officially written as Trigem in English, a major computer manufacturer that sells in the US under the EMachines brand
  

Every Korean Buddhist temple has its own main hall, named Hall of Great Hero (Daeungjeon, 大雄殿). Here's Bongeunsa's Daeungjeon. The banner identifies this year as the Year 2552 in the Buddhist calendar.

The faithful pray here today for good scores for their children's college entrance examination, which will be in five days. The score from the exam (which plays the role that SAT does in the US, but carries far more weight) pretty much determines your eligibility for admission to a 4-year university. Ideally, you want to enter a Seoul-based university. And if at all possible, you want to enter a prestigious university, like Seoul National University, Korea University, or Yonsei University, to guarantee yourself success. It all comes down to your exam score.

The result is that your high school years in South Korea are a living hell, as every waking moment must be dedicated to your success in the college entrance exam. Even meal breaks and bathroom breaks waste precious seconds that can better be used to boost your score by a point or two. Once in college, however, your undergrad years are party time; university neighborhoods in Seoul have plenty of karaokes, bars, and PC rooms, but very few bookstores. After all, you have to unwind and reward yourself for all the crap you had to endure in high school. Graduation is nearly automatic anyway.

As there is so little focus on actual academics, South Korean universities - even the most prestigious - tend to be little more than the paper the diplomas are printed on. The true academics will enter graduate studies and/or study abroad, preferably at a prestigious Japanese university, in the US Ivy League, or at Oxford or Cambridge in England.

The Maitreya tends to be the biggest statue in Korean Buddhist temples. This stone Maitreya in the back of the temple is about 50-60 feet tall. When I go on my road trip, I will visit a 100-foot bronze Maitreya.

The expanse of marble in front is the praying area. You must take off your shoes to enter.

In the middle of a circular pond is this circular island with a life-giving water spring, guarded by none other than our beloved transgender matron saint, Kwan Yin. You may drink the water (though you'd bow to the statue first). I didn't drink, and feel really bad about it.

DiAnne will also love to see the presence of two turtles flanking the lotus pedestal.

Now that I have decided to name my new car after Kwan Yin, and carry her spirit onto the American interstate highways, every sight of Kwan Yin here in South Korea carries even more meaning.

Christy: I bought a cheap wooden mini-statue of the Happy Buddha, just for you. I could've spent more money for a bigger version, but don't think he would survive the journey to Louisiana. If you can email me your Louisiana address, I will talk to a local post office or Fedex-Kinko's to arrange shipping to you.

For Christy

Christy, we know you love Korean building color schemes - so I am sharing this detailed close-up. Study this closely so that we can apply the same scheme to our Asian villa in Nova Scotia.

This photo was taken at National Science Museum, located in Daejeon, a major city 100 miles south of Seoul. The bullet train makes the trip in 50 minutes. (And for those of you who have traveled in France, yes, South Korea runs the exact same TGV bullet train.)

This exhibit told me what the colors all mean (except for the green background, anyway). The meanings are as follows:

• Blue: east
• White: west
• Red: south
• Black: north
• Yellow: center

One more thing. North-south-east-west is the standard order of directions in English. But in Korean, the standard order is east-west-south-north in South Korea, and east-west-north-south in North Korea.

Personal updates:

• My road trip will start earlier than originally scheduled. In just over a week, I will start flooding this blog with lots of weird rural Korean artwork.
• I will also confirm my Hong Kong trip within the next week. I expect to travel there in early December.
  
• As a protest against the Repuke's negativity as shown in the McCain-Palin campaign and in California's successful gay marriage ban, I will be retiring my BMW when I return to Los Angeles. I will not only buy the Hyundai Genesis luxury car as a replacement, but I will order a vanity plate for it too. The plate will read GWAN EUM (Korean for Kwan Yin), and that will be the name I will give the car itself. I normally never name my cars, but I must take an exception this time. I've already checked California DMV for the availability, and yes, it tells me I can take the plate.
  
• During my road trip, I will certainly be on the lookout for automotive Kwan Yin ornaments, in the form of either a dashboard figurine or a necklace hanging from the rearview mirror. If I am gonna name my car after Kwan Yin, I better have ornaments to that effect. And yes, Kwan Yin is the Goddess of Safe Voyages as well, at least in southern China.
• Expect photos when I get the ornaments, when I get the car, and when I get the vanity plate.
  

Korea update

Everyone,

I am back in Seoul as of two days ago, and I intend to stick around into the New Year, except for maybe 3-4 nights in Hong Kong sometime in December.

I have just made reservations for my road trip. I will have a midsize car (I asked for a Hyundai Sonata) for eight days, starting three weeks from now; since Korean drivers are bullies and the size/price tag of your car means everything, I need to get a needlessly big car, just so that BMW drivers, SUV drivers, and truckers won't shove me over. Nevertheless, since I want to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time, and since I am making point-to-point journeys outside large cities, driving makes a lot of sense.

This will be my first drive on the Eurasian landmass, and I look forward to it.

I will report on lots of Korean art from my drive. The following are on my agenda, in the order that I will most likely visit them, where I'll be reporting on art:

• Hwajinpo, north of Sokcho, Gangwon Province. This is a lake next to the Sea of Japan, and is the northernmost beach resort in South Korea. It's so scenic that Kim Il-sung built a vacation home there when North Korea was founded; when South Korea captured the area during the war, President Syngman Rhee built another vacation home there. My father's family frequently vacationed here as well, because this was as close as they could get to their North Korean home (without actually entering North Korea, anyway).
  
• Naksansa, Yangyang, Gangwon Province. It's mostly destroyed and being rebuilt, but as a temple dedicated to our transgender matron saint Kwan Yin, with a stone statue of her overlooking the Sea of Japan, I must stop by.
• Ojukheon, Gangneung, Gangwon Province. It's the home of neo-Confucian philosopher Yi Yi and his mother Shin Saimdang. The two grace the 5,000-won and next year's 50,000-won banknotes respectively; Shin Saimdang is the first woman to grace a South Korean banknote. (Actually, there was a generic mother who was on a 1962 banknote, but that one only lasted 24 days!) I hate neo-Confucians, but I'll stop anyway and report.
• Hahoe Folk Village, Andong, North Gyeongsang Province. Nice old-fashioned traditional nobility village, best known for mask dances but offering lots more.
• Gyeongju, the ancient capital full of Buddhist relics. I will spend three nights there. Remember that delicate stone pagoda I shared when I initially announced my travel plans? It's right there.
• Haeinsa, Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province. Home of Tripitaka Koreana.
• Beopjusa, Mt. Songnisan, North Chungcheong Province. It's famous for a huge bronze Maitreya Buddha, and also known as a place where Bruce Lee shot a movie shortly before death.
• Ganghwa Island, City of Incheon. Lots of ancient dolmens there, as well as royal-era defensive structures used to defend isolationist Korea against French and American intruders in the 1860s.
• A DMZ observatory where I can look across a river into North Korea, just a mile away. It has some exhibits that allow me to experience the life of a modern-day North Korean.
• Independence Hall, Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. Mostly historical artifacts dealing with the Japanese colonial rule, though I might find some art to share here.
• Korean Folk Village, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. It's a living museum where I can experience all sorts of stuff and buy art and handicraft. My writing mentor Gayle Brandeis used the Folk Village as a key setting in her first novel, The Book of Dead Birds, so I will look for a few souvenirs to give to her.

South Korea may be compact, but my eight-day car rental may still not be enough. I may cut out a destination or two. I may also add some other destination in the unlikely case that I have leftover time.

Looking forward to giving you more great Korean art!

A brief pause

Everyone,

Be advised that my stream of art photos from South Korea will stop briefly.

Later this week, I am returning to Los Angeles, to take care of a few items at work that require my in-person attention. But as my meditation regimen is far from over, this return will only be temporary. As soon as I am able, and most likely before Election Day, I will be back in Seoul to continue where I left off.

At that time, I will be even more aggressive in chasing down all kinds of art all over South Korea. As my meditation will continue at a slower pace, I will have more time to travel - and that means I will finally get to drive over to Gyeongju, the ancient capital. (Remember when I initially announced my travel plans - and previewed the most delicate stone pagoda you've ever seen?)

As for voting in the elections, there will be a way for me to vote - though it will be far from graceful, and possibility of tampering exists. I will have to fax in my marked sample ballot to the Los Angeles County registrar (I must also include a sworn affidavit with signature in that fax), where a poll worker will transcribe my votes onto a real ballot. There is a good chance that my "No" vote on the California gay marriage ban will be "mistakenly" transcribed as a "Yes" vote, "in the name of God" - while this is unlikely in San Francisco, it's very possible in heavily Catholic Los Angeles. I do expect my vote for Obama-Biden to count properly, however. But even with this, I must vote; it will otherwise be a disgrace for the South Korean President and the Moonies to spend billions of dollars (the very US dollars that South Korean banks and businesses need) buying votes in America, and for me to not cast my vote at all.

Looking forward to giving you several more months of great Korean art.

UPDATE: I will most likely visit Hong Kong as well, when I come back to Seoul. Flying 15+ hours from Los Angeles for just a few nights in Hong Kong is a lunacy, but flying a few hours from Seoul makes a lot more sense. Besides, when Seoul freezes, Hong Kong will really help. Also, if I stick around in South Korea for too long, the McCarthyism will poison me, so I need to step away once in a while! Expect some Cantonese art if/when I get to Hong Kong.

Still too PO'd to sleep

On a lighter subject:

The complete box set collection of Ally McLesbian! You can't get these in the US and Canada due to copyright issues over all the music used in the show. But outside North America, the copyright issues have been settled, so they are available. These are Region 3, NTSC, applicable to South Korea and Taiwan. At home, I have the British box sets, which are Region 2, PAL; I have a code-free DVD player with PAL-to-NTSC converter at home, so I can play them.

Another nude art from South Korea

Well, if Christy can upload South Korean nude sculptures, so can I.

Photo taken on Monday, October 6, 2008, on my way to Children's Grand Park (where I shared some folk tales).

Title: Toward the Space
Artist: Kim Young-won
Year: 2002
Location: Seoul Forest

Seoul Design Olympiad

Greetings again from Seoul!

I went to the city's Olympic Stadium today. Twenty years ago, it hosted the Summer Olympic Games, which also happened to be the last appearance for the Soviet and East German powerhouses; today, it is hosting the Seoul Design Olympiad, which celebrates Seoul's designation as the World Design Capital for the year 2010. The huge stadium - able to seat 100,000 - was turned into a huge art museum in all nooks and crannies; I was dead tired by the time I was finished in four hours. Here are a few finds today; these don't do the event justice, due to the huge depth of topics covered.

This isn't part of the Design Olympiad; this is a permanent bronze statue of Sohn Kee-chung (1912-2002), whose story I previously shared. In the 1936 Berlin Games, he won the men's marathon event, though since Korea was part of Japan at that time, he had to run as a Japanese athlete under the name of Kitei Son, and his gold medal was added to the Japanese tally.

World War II canceled the next two Olympics, but when the Games resumed in London in 1948, South Korea finally fielded its own team. Another gold medal wouldn't come until 1976, however. Monuments toward the rear honor the various South Korean medalists of all the summer Olympics since 1948 London, though as South Korea has been winning lots of medals in the past decade or two, the later years don't have a complete list of medalists.

I am entering the stadium from the south. On the pavement can be seen an image of Hodori, the baby tiger who was the mascot of the 1988 Games.

The stadium is covered with various plastic discards from Seoul's citizens, forming "the world's largest plastic stadium." Some statistics, according to a sign at the entrance:

• 1,763,360 objects
• 75,680 kilograms of total weight
• 3,638 workers needed to install
• 488 trucks involved
• 40 days of installation
• 4 elements: fire, water, air, earth

The field level had some corporate pavilions lining the running tracks; I checked out a few of them, but didn't find much of interest. Behind the lower bleachers were long-term plans for Seoul's beautification through 2030.

There are some pieces of art behind the lower and upper bleachers. I ended up circling the stadium four times to see them all.

These urinals (non-functional, art only) are at different heights to accommodate men of various heights. The unusually height of the rightmost urinal is to accommodate the following:

• You are over 2.5 meters tall.
• You are of any height, and have overeaten or had too many drinks.
• Your name is Mann Coulter, and you really wanna show that you do have a big dick under your mini. (Okay, I made that one up.)
  

This artwork, by Cha Ilgu, is called "Trace of Time." It's actually a whiteboard which can handle erasable pen messages. The clock hand is the eraser.

This animated art by No Seungkwan shows a puzzle of Korean letters, being shuffled around to form different words here and there.

Kwon Sunhan has this animated art, named "Time Look." This is a digital clock in the form of four sexy women. When a digit changes, the appropriate woman takes her shirt off, to reveal a new shirt with the new digit. I liked this one.

A detailed look at some of the plastic objects hanging on the wall. They include water and soda bottles, motor oil bottles, pans, and all sorts of other containers.

Some of the areas showcase art from other cities around the world. For example, this is a proposal for a "Waterfront Tower" near New York's South Street Seaport, in the shape of a long pier that has been lifted out of the East River and stood on its end.

Some Parisian fashion. I like this one too.

Beijing also had some nice offerings. Here is an actual torch used in this year's Olympic torch relay. I'd love to be back in Beijing soon; for now, I'll settle for this.

Red is a very good color in China, in the form of luck and wealth. On the other hand, red is a very bad color in Korea, in the form of blood (death), and in South Korea, in the form of communism. Red is so bad that Line 1 on Seoul's subway system had to switch its color to dark blue, after using red for a few decades. Strangely enough, South Korea's soccer team, and its fans, do use/love red.

A local bonsai club had this beautiful display.

Turin, Italy also had a display. These photos are from the 2006 Winter Olympics held there. Notice the skirt on the woman on the left, which is in the shape of an Alpine mountain with villages.

Italian automotive art. Most people associate Italian automotive art with the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati. Most South Koreans also associate Italian automotive art with South Korea's own automotive industry, as firms like Italdesign were responsible for designing the exteriors of countless South Korean cars over the years. The Italians designed the Hyundai Pony, South Korea's first homegrown car; the Hyundai Excel, the first South Korean car in the US; and the Daewoo Lanos, Nubira, and Leganza trio, Daewoo's failed attempt to carve a slice out of the US market.

Prague sent these beautiful glasses. Warnings were everywhere around this gallery; these pieces are fragile, and if you break any, you must buy them.

I have tons more pictures, but I won't share them here, as they are not as relevant at this blog.

Hello Kitty

Greetings again from Seoul!

I just spent this evening attending a special exhibition on art related to Hello Kitty, a feline character first introduced in Japan over three decades ago. Seoul is the third stop of this exhibition, after Tokyo and Hong Kong. The exhibition took place on the top floor of 63 Building, which was the tallest building in Asia when first completed in 1985, and still is one of the taller buildings of Seoul.

This is by Nam Kong of Hong Kong; this trio of photos shows three teenage girls dressed in Lolita style, with Hello Kitty faces in different moods superimposed. Lolita is a very frilly, lacy, popular style in Japan, sometimes mixed with gothic themes. The point of this art: Hello Kitty expresses teeny bopper emotions well.

I don't see Lolita girls here in Seoul. On the other hand, the Koreans make great hosiery/legwear (here, you can buy the best pair of tights you've ever had, for 3,000 won, or USD $2.50), and most women express themselves through their hosiery choices. That also makes Ally McLesbian miniskirts (or cute, comfortable tunics) must-have items, so that you can showcase as much of your hosiery-clad legs as possible (hopefully without flashing your bums).

This Hello Kitty unicorn is by Keiko Itakura of Japan. She says that this is something Hello Kitty brought back from her dream, and also adds that for Kitty, dream and reality are one and the same.

Behind me, there is a series of four photos showing a newborn boy wearing nothing but a Hello Kitty mask. As I said in my post two days ago, it's a good thing in Korean culture to showcase baby boys naked. But I didn't capture them, as to the American eye, it's child porn, and I can't afford to get Christy and myself in trouble. We are in enough trouble over our opposition to the W regime already!

Kim Hyeon-seong took this photo of a naughty young woman wearing a Kitty bra. Her love of Hello Kitty shows an innocent side of her.

Ahn Mi-hyeon asked 32 questions to Hello Kitty, and here are four of the answers.

Byeon Dae-yong showcases these two Hello Kitties. The left Kitty has a scar on her forehead, and both Kitties have round ears instead of the normal triangular ears. The meaning of this art: it's okay to be different, something well forgotten in the homogeneous, conformist South Korean society.

Shin Myeong-hwan has several pieces of art here. This drawing shows King Kong scaling the 63 Building, to attend the Hello Kitty exhibition on the top floor and show his love for Hello Kitty.

The 63 Building is located in Yeouido, an island which is nicknamed "Seoul's Manhattan" due to its preponderance of skyscrapers and financial institutions, and lack of single-story buildings. That would make the 63 Building Seoul's answer to both the Empire State Building and the now-destroyed World Trade Center, though the 63 Building is more cramped than either.

Here's another sketch. A man loved Hello Kitty so much, that when he reported for his required two years of military service, he showed up in a pink uniform and an assortment of Hello Kitty gear.

The same artist also did an animation art. In "Find Hello Kitty," Kitty hides among the lines of snowmen at the ice cream factory. The snowman in the front stall is crapping into the empty cones, so that the ice cream can be sold to you - and you will eat it.

This animation is being shown on a flat-panel PAVV TV. In the South Korean domestic market, all Samsung flat-panels carry the PAVV brand, while LG models carry the XCanvas brand; export versions use the standard Samsung and LG brands.

Disco Kitty, artist unknown. Kitty enjoys high fashion.

Lee Wa-shin did this "Kitty's Garden." The images on the back screen portray the Seoul riverside view in accelerated time.

A "thrill floor," where Hello Kitty stands guard over a raised section of glass floor, with mirrors underneath.

There are warning messages for visitors wearing skirts and dresses, for obvious reasons. Seriously, I have better things to do than remind everyone else on this floor that I look like Mann Coulter under my Ally McLesbian mini. (Fortunately, I was in slacks.)

On a few windows are examples of how to portray Hello Kitty in ASCII, using various popular fonts. This is the OCR font.

Instructions on how to draw Hello Kitty, straight from the creator.

That's all, folks!