the dog eaters say
respect our culture
and i respect yours

South Koreans love eating dogs. Our tourist guide told us chicken are reared for eggs and dogs for their meat especially during the war years. Sensing the repulsement that some of us might have towards Koreans, she said: 'respect o...ur culture and I respect yours.. What say you cow, pig and chick eaters?

too familiar
too new to be casual
i fear to strip

It is in a Koeran spa that I found myself such a shy person. The only other instances I bathed naked in front of others was in some Japanese bathhouses. Then everyone was just about anybody as I did not know them. But this time, officials from the Korea Tourism Organisation took us around and then the spa. One of them sensed the embarrassment of mine and one other friend and immediately stripped himself encouraging us to join in. I just felt strange to bare myself in front of people I already knew. Perhaps, it is not in our culture.

Seoul
it looks like it is made
for love

Everywhere you turn in this city, you see flowers, the most common being azalea of white, purple and pink. Many streets are lined with gingko trees. Cafes are all over. I saw one shopping mall where every storey is fronted with the glass sign of a cafe...either coffee bean or starsbucks or some branded cafe. Lovers walk around hand in hand especially at Hongdae, an enclave around Korea's most famous fine art and design university Hongik. The place has lots of art stalls, quaint cafes, restaurants, and performance places where undergraduates try out their songs and music. The famous singer Rain used to live around here.