A Day in Seoul

The great thing about Seoul is I never get tired of visiting it. Maybe that's because growing up, I was far removed from cities (or major urban centers of any kind, for that matter) and now that I have near unlimited access to one of the largest metropolises in the world I find myself easily excited by what I'm sure most city folk take for granted. For example, Seoul is incredibly convenient. Not only is it a piece of cake to navigate thanks to its excellent mass transit system, the city will grant you just about anything you may desire with only a modicum of effort on your end. This past weekend I wanted a hamburger: a big, juicy, messy hamburger. A friend recommended me a place where I could get such a meal, and with my girlfriend on board we went on a burger quest.

The restaurant he directed us towards (Brooklyn Burger Joint) is actually part of a larger food court (Gourmet 494) underneath one of Seoul's numerous luxury-brand department stores (specifically the Galleria in Apgujeong). While the Galleria offered nothing of interest to me, the burger itself was fantastic. I ordered the cheese skirt hamburger: I would have preferred if it had been a tad messier, but the skirt of crispy grilled cheese that gives the burger it's name was immensely satisfying. The Joint does not sell beer, but fortunately the Gourmet 494 grocery store surrounding the food court does. If you have a burger craving of your own that demands attention, Brooklyn Burger Joint can be reached via the yellow line: just pop off the metro at Apgujeong Rodeo Station, walk to the underground exit 7, and you'll be able to figure out the rest from there.

Back to reasons I love Seoul: the variety of scenery! One moment you can be underground, below a massive department store enjoying a burger, and the next you'll be taking a pleasant afternoon stroll along the mighty Han River that cuts through the city. Getting to the Han from the Galleria meant a quick ten minute stroll north; once we reached the river my girl and I could walk alongside it by following a well-maintained pedestrian trail. Though it was wonderfully warm this past weekend, benevolent China saw we were cursed with pleasant weather and graciously sent over a lovely cloud of yellow dust. Seoul denizens brave enough to leave their homes and attempt to enjoy an otherwise glorious weekend did so with surgical masks over their faces to protect themselves from any hazardous toxic chemicals in the air. Myself, I figure what doesn't kill me makes me stronger (plus I don't buy into the hype) so I didn't bother dressing up like a doctor, even if my girlfriend did.

A third reason Seoul is so much fun: I never know what I'm going to stumble across next! After heading south and leaving the Han behind, my girlfriend and I ventured into the artsy and cosmopolitan neighborhood of Garosugil, an area full of fine (expensive) dining, hip (expensive) cafes and name-brand (...) shops. We wandered around for a bit, enjoying the sights and glancing at menus to see how much rich people spend on a plate of pasta, before turning a corner and finding a small gallery exhibiting artwork based on blockbuster movies using Legos to reconstruct famous scenes and posters. This kind of discovery is the sort of unscripted event that makes exploring Seoul a delight! How could I have known such a marvelous exhibition was right where it was? The art itself was beyond impressive: I was fascinated by the level of imagination, patience, and sheer dedication each piece displayed.

I could go on listing reasons why I maintain high regard for Seoul, but I think I've made my point. Let me just end by saying I venture into Seoul at least once a week, and even though I've been doing so for the past three years, I still find and experience something new and remarkable every time I do.

One more reason why Seoul is the best. No, three more reasons: the Yongsan Gundam Base, the Coex Gundam Base, and the Gangnam Gundam Base. Especially the Gangnam Gundam Base, for being so easy to reach!

Gunpla: 00 Raiser (a long time coming)

This particular Gunpla I'm quite fond of: it was the first Gunpla I built after a long hiatus from building Gundam models. Or, more specifically, the 00 Gundam is what I originally built. In this post, I present to you the 00 Gundam Raiser, a model that represents how far I've come since getting back into this hobby.

When I was in high school, I built a lot of no-grade Gundam Wing model kits. Eventually, I did a few High Grades, then I got into Master Grades, but when I started college I stopped building. I kept the models on display in my childhood room in my parents' home, resplendent in their shoddy assembly and poorly applied stickers, and I never looked back.

Fast forward to 2013. It was my second year in Korea, and I needed a hobby. I had seen Gundam models on sale at my local supermarket, and with nothing better to do I figured I could just buy a cheap, modest-looking kit and have a go at it. That's how I ended up with the 00 Gundam. Building it was a blast, and at the time I was satisfied to call it finished without applying any extra details or markings. It looked plain, bare, and hardly complete by any standards at all, but I was happy with it.

A few months later I was visiting my friend in America, during my winter vacation. He introduced me to a new Gundam animation that had a heavy focus on the model aspect of the franchise, and he showed me the custom model he had been working on. Frankly, I was impressed, and it pushed me to want to dive deeper into the hobby.

This past year, I revisited my 00 Gundam and spent some time giving it the attention it deserved. I sanded it properly, inked it, painted on extra details, and gave it a nice topcoat to seal everything in. It looked so much better than before, but there was still something missing...

In the Gundam 00 animation, 00 is upgraded after combining with a space fighter, the 0 Raiser. It was difficult to find a model kit of the 0 Raiser, as none of the Gundam Bases in Seoul carried it anymore, but eventually I was able to locate one online through the Korean equivalent of Amazon, Gmarket.

Now the 0 Raiser is built, and after combining it with the 00 Gundam, I can finally say my Gundam 00 Raiser is complete. I'm not going to pretend like my modest model is some great accomplishment for the hobby at large; what it is is a personal triumph, a benchmark showing how much my skills have grown, and a promise to myself that I'll continue to work hard to improve even more.

Little Russia: Good Food and Strong Beer

Hidden inside Seoul, near Dongdaemun, is a small neighborhood of Eastern Europeans and ethnic Koreans. These immigrants came from countries like Uzbekistan and Russia, and many are descended from Koreans who fled from Korea for one reason or another. Though the neighborhood is easy to overlook and pass by without ever even noticing, it's well worth a visit for food alone.

The first time I visited was about four years ago, when a couple of fellow ESL teachers caught me on a day I had nothing planned and invited me to go with them. It wasn't until last year I remembered my trip and felt compelled to visit what I refer to as "Little Russia", and since then I try to go a bit more often.

Personally, though I love Korean food, every now and then I need a break from kimchi, and when that time comes I make a journey to Little Russia. There are a good number of Uzbek restaurants dotting the neighborhood, and after trying a handful my favorite so far has to be Samarkand. My girlfriend and I went there this weekend (she's in love with their lamb kebabs) and we proceeded to gorge ourselves on meat. The menu offers a wide variety of Uzbek dishes, and we ordered a compliment of dishes that looked most appealing to us: samsa, bread stuffed with meat; golubsy, cabbage stuffed with meat; borscht, a beet soup (with meat); and lamb kebabs (meat). To top it off, we had a bottle of Baltika, a decent Russian pilsner.

After finishing our meal (and giving ourselves ample time to recover), we rolled down the street towards the small and modest-looking Russian Mart, the only store that I know of in Seoul where I can buy Baltika beer. Like I said before, the taste itself is decent, but what I really like about it is it's strong. Baltika comes in numbers, not flavors: Baltika 3 through 9. Baltika 9 is the strongest, while Baltika 3 is barely worth your time. Personally, I usually prefer drinking number 7, but every now and then having a 9 is fun for the novelty of drinking a beer so potent.

Our final stop was the Imperia Market and Bakery, one of my favorite places in Seoul to pick up fresh bread. The sandwich bread sold at my local market is of the starchy, white variety, so walking into Imperia and smelling all of the freshly baked bread is a divine experience. Imperia also has a small cafe in the back which I have yet to try (though I've heard their borscht is excellent), and a generous selection of imported liquors (mainly vodka and vodka varieties).

To reach Little Russia, take the metro and get off at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station, exit 5. Turn right and walk towards the Paris Baguette, and after crossing the street hook a left and go straight. Once you begin to see signs in Cyrillic, you'll know you're in the right place.

Gunpla Builders Challenge 2015, Coex

This weekend I went to Seoul's third and newest Gundam Base, located within the massive sprawling underground Coex shopping mall, to see if it too was showcasing entrants in the citywide Gunpla building competition. Sure enough it was, though honestly I walked past the single display window featuring contestant Gunpla several times before noticing it, its contents so meager in comparison to what the Gangnam and Yongsan Gundam Bases had.

Everything I wanted to say about this Gunpla contest I did in my previous blog posts, so let's cut to the photos and wrap this little adventure up! Bear in mind the majority of the entries exhibited at the Coex Gundam Base were submitted by grade school students, so try not to judge too harshly.

Gunpla Builders Challenge 2015, Yongsan

Since the Gangnam Gundam Base was showcasing the entries in a Korean Gunpla building competition, I figured that the Yongsan Gundam Base would probably be doing the same. The Yongsan Gundam Base, located in the Yongsan iPark shopping mall next to Yongsan Station and the largest of Seoul's Gundam Bases, is north of the Han River that cuts through the center of Seoul; in other words, it's considerably farther from my home than the Gangnam Gundam Base. I definitely couldn't visit there on a weekday, but since I had date plans with my girlfriend in Seoul on Saturday I woke up early and made a detour to Yongsan in the morning before meeting up with her in the afternoon. I didn't dare drag her to yet another Gunpla exhibition. That would just be cruel.

Anyway, sure enough, there were Gunpla on display at Yongsan, and a good deal more than the few at Gangnam. Again the quality of the Gunpla didn't compare to anything I saw during the 2014 world tournament, but there were a few gems hidden here and there. However in all fairness, most of the contestants are middle- or elementary-school aged, so it would be wrong to judge them by world-class standards. Above all else, props to the young builders for making the effort and putting their work out in a public venue.

Now having seen the entries at Gangnam and Yongsan, that just leaves checking out the Coex Gundam Base. Hopefully the Seoul Gundam Bases will host another building contest this year, because I'm really kicking myself for not having entered this competition. In the meantime, I should start working on whatever Gunpla I'll want to submit...!

Gunpla: Cherudim, or however you spell it

It's already March and I've only finished two models this year, but here we go: this time, the Gunpla I present to you is the HG 1/144 Cherudim Gundam GNHW/R (quite the mouthful). I finished this Gunpla before my trip to America, but only recently had a chance to conduct a proper photo shoot. The Cherudim is the next piece in the Gundam 00 diorama I've been slowly working on, and since I want my Gundam 00 models to resemble their anime counterparts for the sake of the diorama I didn't make any outstanding modifications to my Cherudim. However, in order to make the building experience a little more interesting I did use Cherudim to test out some new paints and painting techniques. The most significant modification I made to Cherudim was subtly modifying a key portion of his original color scheme. Instead of having a Gunpla with a plasticky green apperance, I gave Cheridum a more muted two-tone color pattern, hand brushing over the model's green pieces with alternating dark and light green paints. I was skeptical of my choice at first, but upon seeing the final results I'm very satisfied. Other changes I made to Cherudim include adding a few gold and silver metallic details and sharpening and painting his pistols to better resemble hand axes.

The photoshoot itself also provided an opprotunity to try and develop my photography skills. For the first few photos, I placed Cherudim inside a homemade lightbox, with miniature lamps to the left and right of it. Although I still see noise in the pictures, I think that may just be the result of not having a strong enough light source. I'll have to experiment with that in the future. For the second set of photos, I placed Cherudim on a stand outside of the box and in front of a backdrop. I like the composition of my photos, but I'm not a fan of the way my backdrop reflects light. I should try to acquire a backdrop made of a less reflective material.

In the end, I'm pleased to have Cherudim up on my shelf. With each Gunpla I complete, I get a little more skillful, and Cheridum is a good sign of the progress I've made since last year.

Gunpla Builders Challenge 2015, Gangnam

In South Korea, the new school year starts in March, after a short spring vacation at the end of February. This year, spring break coincided with the Lunar New Year, giving me a nice extended holiday long enough to travel back to my home country and get my fill of all of the foods I had been missing, namely my mom's home cooking. I returned to Korea a bit fuller in face and rounder in belly, but also eager to see what was new at the Gangnam Gundam Base.

To my surprise, quite a bit. While I was gone, the Gundam Bases in Seoul had hosted a Gunpla Building Contest, the discovery of which distressed my greatly. I would have loved to enter such a competition, but it seems that every time the Seoul Gundam Bases hold an event, I remain totally unaware or unavailable, despite my best efforts to be the contrary.

Better luck next time, I suppose. Either way, I took some photos of the contestants on display at the Gangnam Gundam Base. Though none compare with the models I saw during last year's Gunpla World Cup, there were still a decent number of skillfully put-together Gunpla being showcased.

It's already March, but I'm excited to see what Gunpla has in store for 2016! I get excited just thinking about the possibilities. Looking at the well-used cutting mat on my desk and my trusty pair of nippers waiting on standby, I feel eager to get started on my next model.