Cooking Cooking~

Yes Yes this week's topic was Korean Cuision, the one I had been looking forward to the most in Kpop Academy. Unfortunately, this was also the one I missed *damn you London transport >:(* , a route which normally takes 40 minus took me 3 hours, as you can imagine by the time I reached the venue, the class had already ended :(

However, my friends told me that there was a cooking competition between the groups, and the group who won, received a prize of spicy Kimchi.

The homework was to cook a Korean dish. Can you guess what my dish is?

...짜장면

Jajjangmyun is a Korean interpretation of a Chinese food. It is available in Chinese takeaways in Korea. It consists of  thick black bean sauce, minced pork and vegetables. Eating it is meant to be a very messy process as the black sauce gets all over the person. 

Following the instruction of Maangchi, I was brave enough to make the black bean noodle I've always wanted to try.

Watching Korean shows made me really curious to how the taste would be, since they eat it so 맛없어요 - ly . After watching the video I realised it's not too difficult to cook.

Jajjangmyun made at home following the general instruction of Eat my Kimchi and Maangchi

Although I couldn't find Black Bean sauce by itself, I used Chilli Black Bean sauce ( can be bought in Tesco), that explains why its not the thick dark colour Jajjangmyun usually has. My whole family tasted the dish and agreed it was Delicious. My picky younger sister even asked for seconds, which is definitely a big thumbs up in my book.

Sonsoo Jajjangmyun

However, I really wanted to try how Jajjangmyun originally tasted. I haven't really found any korean restaurants which sell Jajjangmyun in London, so I was really excited when I found Sonsoo instant Jajjangmyun in  K-mart near me. The instructions were all in Hangul, so the staff helped me interpret it.

All I had to do was microwave it. 

Although it looked aesthetically pleasing, once it was heated, there was a pungent sweet smell that I could not get over (this sweet smell, taste was also in the shop bought instant Ddeokbboki I tried earlier) . Unfortunately the taste was also so so. Perhaps I did not prepare it right, perhaps it was adapted to more western taste. Hopefully the real Jajjangmyun does not taste like this.

In conclusion....I like my cooking better : D

 Jokes apart I can't wait to try Jajjangmyun when I finally get to Korea.

Kpop Fashion

In this post, I'm going to break down the Kpop fashion, from head to toe ... 머리부터 발끝까지 :D



머리The beanie hat which has become Cara Delevigne's trademark is also loved by Kpop Idols

Teen Top Member L.joe Rocking
the beanie on the way to their tour in Taiwan

Dara sporting the beanie in 2NE1's recent comeback
Comeback Home. Credit: YGLadies

Others who have been seen following the trend: Exo, T-ara, G-Dragon, IU, Girls Generation, Fx, Mblaq

상단  A statement printed t-shirt is a must in Kpop

Exo members wearing shirts with their nick name for
their Wolf stage

T-ara N4 with their gold accent outfit for
Jeon won Diary stage

Others who have been seen following the trend: Got7, Gdragon, SHINee, Teen Top

다리 As you may have noticed, legs are an important feature for female kpop idols, from SNSD Genie to Hyuna Bubblepop. A look which has been very trendy is the split skirt.

Sistar sported the mature leather slit skit
 look during their Alone promotion

Girls day with an elegant yet sexy feel to their
split skirt for Something

Others who have been seen following the trend: AOA, 4minute, Spica, 2NE1

발가락 - Its seems Doc Martens are a must in kpop music. Check to see if your favorite group has sported it.

F(x) wearing the Doc Marten boots in
Electric Shock mv

Boy group Boyfriend are seen wearing the famous
boots in Boyfriend mv

Others who have been seen following the trend: SHINee, Big Bang, Kara, TVXQ, Exo, Girls Generation,JYJ

An overall look that has been repeatedly seen nowadays is the look of a fresh student- School Uniform~

Hangul and Hunminjeongeum

Hangeul is the Korean Script
Hunminjeongeum or Hangeukeo is the Korean Language

There are 4 theories of the origin of the Korean Language.
East - That it originated from Japan.
West - it was influenced by western language. As there are some korean words which is similar to western              ones for e.g "만히 (mani)"- Many
South - influenced from Polynesian language
North- This is also called the Altaic theory, related to Turkish, Mangolian, Manchu and sometimes Japanese             too.This theory is the most convincing, however it is still disputable.

However these are just theories as some also believe that Korean language may also be isolated like the Japanese language.

Origin of Hangul.

In the records of Volume 102 Annals of King Sejong 1443, it is said the King personally invented the writing. However whether it was 'personally' made, ordered the scholars to make it 'command hypothesis' or worked alongside a team of scholars 'cooperation hypothesis'; it is unclear.

Korean letters are called as being 'scientific' because the characters look like how the sound is made.
This image here explains this clearly

For this week's homework, I chose the option of drawing an idol's face with the Hangul characters.

The idol I chose was L.joe from Teen Top

L.joe from Teen Top
The hair has Teen Top songs. His features has nicknames, songs he has composed and the collar has information about him ( name, d.o.b, group members,family,ambitions etc)

I'm really enjoying the lessons and have met wonderful people.

Really looking forward to this weekend, where the topic is Traditional Clothing.

Till next time :D

P.S 

some extra shots from KCCUK

Learning about Hangul

Writing our name in Hangul

Some great people from the class. (Hope you guys don't mind :P)

The coat on the right was born by Gdragon on Crooked mv which was filmed in London.

Project no. 1 - Sam il Jeol 삼일절 and Taegukgi 태극기

What is Sam il Jeol , you may ask ?
Sam il Jeol is a Korean National Holiday held on the 1st of March (a.k.a March 1st Movement), it is to commemorate one of the earliest public displays of a movement against the Japanese rule over Korea.
The name Sam il Jeol (meaning Three-One Movement) refers to to an event on March 1st 1919, where 7,000 people were killed and 16,000 wounded by the Japanese police and soldiers throughout Korea.

Though the movement failed to reach its goal of bringing about national independence, it was significant in making the national unity stronger.

source: seoulmania.blogspot.com

Sam Il Jeol is celebrated both in North and South Korea. On this national holiday, the public pray for the patriots who gave their life during the event. Whilst the president holds a ceremony to thank and remember them.

Along with this homework we are asked to make a Korean flag. We could be creative as we want and.. this is my version.

Instead of the usual block colours of blue and red, I descided to fill it in with the 4 elements. Therefore signifying that the 4 elements balance the universe. Each element is repeated 17 times representing the 17 divisions of South Korea ( Seoul, Daegu, Incheon etc)

In the  태극기, the white represents purity and peace.

The middle being the ying and yang; balance of the universe.

The 4 surrounding characters represent the 4 elements.

geon  건 means Sky it signifies Justice

 ri     리 means Sun signifies Fruition

gam  감 means Moon signifies Wisdom

   gon  곤 means Earth signifies Vitality

    

Ch 1- The introduction

Last Saturday I joined the Kpop Academy in KCCUK. There were 30 of us selected via online application. When I first went into the Korean Centre, I felt awkward. I didn't know anyone there and hoped the class would start already. When I signed in I was given my name tag and also a welcome gift, which is a beautiful Diary.

Inside the diary.

               
Our first homework was to prepare a presentation, video or a 2 minute talk to introduce ourselves to the class. I enjoyed getting to know everyone. It was interesting to hear how everyone was introduced to Kpop. There were people of all backgrounds, different nationalities, knowledge about kpop, and age.Honestly I thought I would be the oldest there, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a father and also professionals there. Proves that the Hallyu wave is not only for teenage girls.

Playing games was the highlight of the class. We played a true and false game about Korea and also a group charades. The groups all draw-ed so instead of doing Rock, Paper, Scissors we were all proclaimed winners and will be receiving our prize today.

The KCCUK took care of us really well, even giving us snacks and drinks during the break. I am really thankful for the hospitality and looking forward to 11 weeks more with the new friends I made in class.

Prologue

I have been a consistent fan of Kpop for over 8 years now.  I have learnt so much about the industry- the good, the bad and the ugly. I wanted to start a blog, where I can share my opinions and also my journey/experience with the korean culture.

I have recently started a course in Korean Culture Centre (KCCUK), called Kpop Academy. I am aware that nowadays when people think about Korea, they think kpop...or Psy. But there is much more to that little country then just the good looking dancing singing idols. So this is a great opportunity to learn more about their culture and traditions.

I do admire the korean culture. How hard working they are, how passionate they are about they are and how disciplined they are. Honestly I wish more people embraced their culture and were proud of it, as they are. 

So I thought this would be a good time to share my opinions, as someone who's been with kpop since the flourishing of Hallyu-wave. 

Disclaimer- this blog will be about my personal opinions on kpop matter and also my kpopacademy homework :P