Author: Melvin Tan 🇲🇾

Categories
Review Travel

OraeGage: Discovering The Culture Gems in Jongno District, Seoul.

Seoul is the most popular tourism city among the foreigners who make their travel to South Korea. As foreigners, we often take reference from travel blogs and social media to typical tourist attractions, but we have missed the core culture that exists in the city for a very long time.

This morning, I attended a virtual tour by Local Travel Lab in Trazy with the title ‘Seoul Virtual Tour – Step into the Bukchon Hanok Doors‘. I chose this virtual tour because I have been to Bukchon Hanok Village once, and I’m curious on what did I actually missed in that beautiful village in Seoul.

For your information, OraeGage series of virtual tours are still available in Trazy, with free of charge promotion! Dony, the host is a professional tour guide with excellent English and bright personality. So, please don’t hesitate to join the free virtual tours from now until November 2021!

SPECIAL PROMO CODE: ORAEGAGE1
Join now!

Seoul City Council specially selected stores with huge cultural values and great history in the Jongno district region, and these stores are called ‘Oraegage’, meaning the olden stores. Many of them are art and cultural masters who are widely recognized by the people of Korean. In this post, I’m going to summarize a small part from the tour of Oraegage in Insadong and Bukchon Hanok Village of the Jongno district.

Full tour please sign up for the virtual tour here: sign up now!

Get your stone stamp here at Myungsindang Pilbang

Pilbang literally means ‘pencil gallery’, therefore it is not surprising to see many different calligraphy brushes in this traditional store. The beautiful experience you can get from here is to make your own stone stamp! This is a great souvenir for yourself and your loved ones.

The price is very worthy from 30000 to 50000 KRW and you can get your stamp specially hand crafted with your name. Even the Queen Elizabeth and Pope Francis came to this store and get their special Korean stamp!

Enjoy a traditional tea session at Jidaebang Tea Cafe

If coffee is not something you look for today, how about a peaceful traditional tea session in beautiful hanok interior cafe at Insadong? This special cafe serves different types of Korean tea which can bring you peace in inner minds. You can experience the tea ceremony together with the experienced tea master while having some traditional Korean desserts and red beans shaved ice!

Experience natural dyeing experience at Haneulmulbit Traditional Natural Dyeing Lab

It was such a surprise to know that even natural dyeing still exist in this world! The items we used today many are colored with synthetic dyes, but at this OraeGage called Haneulmulbit Traditional Natural Dyeing Lab in the area of Bukchon Hanok Village, you can get to experience how to dye cloth in natural plant coloring of starry blue color. Bring home your own dyed scarf and clothing as a souvenir of this wonderful trip in Seoul.

Learn Korean Traditional Knot at Donglim Knot Workshop

If you are an art lover, you must not miss this experience in learning the Korean traditional knot. Traditionally, the knots were used primarily to hold hunting tools around the waist and their usage was initially limited to royal families, spreading later to common people in their jewelries, accessories, and decorations.

Learn the Korean knot with the Master Park Jin Young and bring home as a souvenirs. Don’t worry if you scared you can’t catch up, as it is not that complicated as what we think!

I hope this post truly helps you in planning your experiential trip in Seoul later!

Please catch up more free virtual tours in Trazy and win prizes as you participated and give reviews!

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Visiting the Largest Seafood Market in Busan City with Busan Cooking Class X Trazy!

I’m so fortunate to join the Virtual Tour organized by Busan Cooking Class available in the Trazy website this afternoon, exploring the largest seafood market in Busan City, Jagalchi Market! Busan Cooking Class is offering free virtual tours in this month of October to bring you different authentic experience of the local Busan foods, places…

by Melvin Tan 🇲🇾
Categories
K-foods Travel

Visiting the Largest Seafood Market in Busan City with Busan Cooking Class X Trazy!

I’m so fortunate to join the Virtual Tour organized by Busan Cooking Class available in the Trazy website this afternoon, exploring the largest seafood market in Busan City, Jagalchi Market!

Busan Cooking Class is offering free virtual tours in this month of October to bring you different authentic experience of the local Busan foods, places and cultures! Don’t miss the chance to grab your free experience with very friendly Korean speaking tour guide!

Wonderful explanation from Ms. Hee-young Jang

We were welcomed by the friendly Korean, Ms. Hee-young Jang who teaches Korean cooking to foreigners in Busan! She interacted with us through the chat section and she had a very friendly ‘unnie’ vibe to me. Through the virtual tour, you can ask any questions and express your thoughts along the 1-hour session!

Introduction to Busan

We started off with brief introduction of the Busan city. As we all know, Busan is popular with its beautiful beaches, fresh seafoods, and of course the birthplace of many popular Korean artists like Gong Yoo, BTS Jungkook and Jimin! Ms. Hee Young recommended two must-eat cuisines as we visit the city, which are Dwaeji Gukbap (Pork Soup) and Milmyeon (Cold Wheat Noodles).

Into the Largest Seafood Market: Jagalchi Market

We came to the highlight of the tour, which is the Jagalchi Market. Jagalchi Market is ‘humungous’ as described by Ms. Hee Young as the market spans up to 3 kilometers along the coastline, selling different fresh and dry seafoods indoor and outdoor.

Normally, wholesalers will bid for fresh seafoods from the sea in the midnight, while they will be available right away in the morning for public to purchase any seafoods and fishes you desired. There are many weird seafoods that I have never seen before along the tour, while truly open up my horizon! From this market, you can easily purchase some of the most common seafoods that are being cooked in the local Korean cuisine. One of it will be the grilled mackarel!

Grilled/Fried Mackerel that truly stimulating my taste buds!

Dip into the seafood paradise

A tour can’t be completed with a wonderful seafood meal if you have a visit to Jagalchi Market. You can hand pick what seafoods you will like to have for your meal in the freshest condition! The most popular cuisine will be raw octopus (moving ones) and fish (something like sashimi)! It might sounds scary at first, but Ms. Hee Young reassured us that we will like it very much as we try them!

Fish soups are must try as well, eating together with rice and other side dishes like white kimchi! Korean rice wine (soju) will be always the best drink to fit into this meal.

Explore yourself the Virtual Tour with Ms Hee Yong!

Make a booking through trazy.com and enter promo code ‘busancookingclass’ for 4 selected virtual tour to experience live explained tour experience in the city of Busan! Exclusively on October only!

REDEEM YOUR FREE TOUR NOW!
Categories
Entertainment

Style Yourself with Hong Du Sik (Kim Seon Ho) in K-drama ‘Hometown Cha Cha Cha’

Since the romcom drama ‘Hometown Cha Cha Cha’ was aired in tvN and Netflix, all fans agreed the new definition of ‘healing‘ because of this cute drama.

https://twitter.com/seonshinesmiles/status/1444330487271419905
g: homcha | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs | Tumgir
The perfect neighborhood boy in the drama

I was already a fan of actor Kim Seon Ho since the drama ‘Start Up’ in which he played as the handsome mentor, Han Jipyeong! The second lead syndrom was hard after he was turned down by Suzy in the drama. Finally, our Good Boy shows his charming Good Boy side to the right girl in the on-going drama ‘Hometown Cha Cha Cha’ with actor Shin Min Ah!

Reasons Why We Love Start-Up's Han Ji-pyeong (and Kim Seon-ho) - KKday Blog
Dimple love from Good Boy Han Jipyeong!

I really like the concept of this character Hong Du Sik, who is a handsome, smart and helpful chief of village in Gongjin. He is always neatly dressed with bright and comfortable looks. Although Hye Jin mentioned he was a ‘fashion terrorist’, but I got so inspired by his outfit concept in the drama.

In this post, I will share some of the looks from the drama and recommend to you where to get them through YesStyle, the best place to get stylish men and women clothes!

Disclaimer: The views, opinions and recommendations of brands written in this post are those of the author and do not reflect the position of MyDaehan official body.

Checked (Flannel) Shirt

Du Sik wardrobe has at least 10 different colors and pattern of checked shirt which he always styles it as a outer layer of his daily look. Checked shirt is perfect for summer, while it gives some color into your outfits which give a brighter impression to your friends!

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Get similar style like Du Sik from YesStyle
Use reward code (JOMMAWEN88) to get discount up to 10%!
CLICK TO GET IT HERE!

Colored Plain T-shirt

Instagram: @seonho__kim

T-shirts are essential for all the men out there in the summer, but what Du Sik prefers are simple plain cotton T-shirts without any designs. He loves bright colors like pink, orange, yellow and white which give another fresh-up look that matches with his bright character!

Get similar style like Du Sik from YesStyle
Use reward code (JOMMAWEN88) to get discount up to 10%!
CLICK TO GET IT HERE

Stripe T-shirt

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Not only plain T-shirts suit this charming villager, but he also likes stripes pattern especially when he was at home. Du-sik looks calm and warm with these palette-colored oversized stripe T-shirt which can be your reference as a ‘good boyfriend’ look even when you’re at home.

Get similar style like Du Sik from YesStyle
Use reward code (JOMMAWEN88) to get discount up to 10%!
CLICK TO GET IT HERE!

I guess all the guys out there are just like the PD. We can’t stop being ‘fond’ of the charming Du-sik in the drama.

More styling content with YesStyle, can catch up my videos below!

Melvin Tan

Online Supporter for Mission of Korea to ASEAN 2021


Bio-science student in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Korean Enthusiasts
Korean learner for 10 years, but still amateur

Instagram: @tanmawen
YouTube: Jom with Mawen

Categories
Entertainment K-culture 101

Squid Game 101: The Korean Childhood Games Played in Netflix Drama, Squid Game

I’m very sure all our readers here have joined the crazy thrilling game event in the latest Netflix Korean Series, Squid Game (오징어게임) together with 456 people in an isolated island. Full with blood and suspense, I can feel the rollercoaster ride myself in the game with different plot twists and excellent screenplay in the short 9 episodes series.

Four hundred and fifty-six people, who have all struggled financially in life, are invited to play a mysterious survival competition. Competing in a series of traditional children’s games but with deadly twists, they risk their lives to compete for a ₩45.6 billion (US$38.5 million) prize.

WIKIPEDIA
Squid Game GIF - Squid Game - Discover & Share GIFs

The main characteristic of this game event is by using Korean childhood games as the missions to select the winners and ‘eliminate’ those who fail to complete. Different with the other similar dramas (like Japanese series Alice in Borderland), using Korean childhood games as the main concept of the drama is a BIG move from the producers to create resonance among the Korean viewers. This explained why Squid Game is such a HIT as it was premiered in less than 3 days!

In this post, I will introduce the Korean childhood games that were featured in the drama. There might be some spoilers ahead, so please be aware for those who haven’t finish the series!

Ddakji (딱지)

The first game that all the invited players involved was the traditional game Ddakji! The ‘man in suit’ (played by Gong Yoo) invited Seong Gi Hun (played by Lee Jung Jae) to play Ddakji with him in the subway station. If Gi Hun win by flipping the opponent’s card, then he will be rewarded cash. This is a classic scene where many fans mentioned they are waiting for the man to approach them so they can be invited to the main game.

Ddakji 딱지 is a traditional South Korean game that uses folded paper tiles or Ddakji tiles. It is similar to the game Pogs (America), Menko (Japan), or Teks where the players take turns in flipping a tile. However, in Ddakji, there is no need for a slammer piece. The popular Korean variety shows Running Man featured this game often in their missions. Thus, it may have contributed to the widespread popularity of the game internationally. 

Korea.net

How to play Ddakji?

To win the game, simply you just have to slap the opponent’s Ddakji hard on the floor, in order for it to flip. As the opponent’s Ddakji is flipped, then you will win the game!

Actually it’s not hard to do Ddakji even at home! Watch this video from Kat on how she make them creatively!

Green Light, Red Light

‘무궁화 꽃 이 피었 습니다!’ (mul-gong-hwa kkot i pi-eot-sseup-ni-da)

The song of this game ‘Green Light/Red Light’ kept playing on my mind since the day I watched this episode. Many of us remembered very much the HUGE ‘patung’ (figure) with laser scanning eyes that are somehow creepy even though it is a very common childhood game for most of us!

This game is played by many people in different countries. For Western, it’s called ‘Green Light Red Light’; for Chinese, it’s called ‘1,2,3 mu-tou-ren’; for Koreans, the sentence literally means ‘The hibiscus is blooming!’.

The game rules are simple. The contestants have to reach to the end line from a distance, however, you only can move when the ‘game master’ in front are saying the specific verse, facing backwards with the others. As the game master turns over after each verse, everyone must freeze at the spot until the game master continues for another round.

This is a very common game that ALL KOREANS once played before. Check out how TXT played this game!

Tug Of War (Tarik Tali)/(줄다리기)

Tug of War (simply tarik tali in Malay) is another common childhood game for Koreans and also most of us. Tug of War in Korean is called 줄다리기 (jul-da-ri-gi) which traditionally played as a ritual and praying purpose in the agricultural communities. It is played in two teams, competing of strength of each team which can consists from few people to few hundreds people.

UNESCO_Tug_of_war_01.jpg
Farmers take part in a traditional juldarigi tug of war, praying for a good harvest. The juldarigi has now been listed as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage item. (Source: Korea.net)

Juldarigi is not all about strength, but also about strategy, teamwork and unity, just like how the old man (player 001) suggested in the drama. This game represents the unity and solidarity across the community, win or lose.

Marble Game (구슬치기)

The marble game mission was introduced at the 6th episode. This episode for me is the most touching one especially the scene between Sae-byeok and Ji-hyeon. Two members make into each team and they were instructed to play marble games with each other. The one who gets all the marbles (10 marbles) wins.

There are many ways to play marbles in Korean culture. The most common one is 홀짝과 쌈치기 (hol-jak-gwa ssam-chi-gi), by guessing the marbles in the opponents’ hand if they are in odd or even number. If you guess it correctly, you will get the marbles from your opponent with the number of marble you holding in that round. If you guess it wrongly, you will handover the marbles to the opponents.

Squid Game (오징어 놀이)

The last game determines who is the winner in the drama, which is the ‘Squid Game’ itself. Squid game (오징어 놀이) is a popular Korean school backyard game back in the 80s. The players will be tagged as ‘offender’ or ‘defender’. Defense will stay inside the line, while offense will be outside the line, target to attack into the ‘squid’.

Squid Game' Season 1: Ending, Explained - Why Mastermind 'Il-nam' Created Survival Squid Game? | DMT

From the drama explanation, once the game starts, the defense can run around on two feet in bounds, while the offense outside the lines are only allowed to hop on one foot. But if an attacker cuts through the waist of the squid past the defense, they are given the freedom to use both feet (which is how Gi Hun enter the squid by attacking Sang Woo with the sand).

In order to win, the attackers must tap the small closed off space on the squid’s head with their foot. But if someone on the defense manages to push you outside the squid’s boundary, the defense will fail the game.

The Trending Dalgona Candy

Viral Squid Game, Ini 5 Fakta Permen Dalgona yang Jadi Tantangan Mematikan

Another mission game that worth to mention here is the Dalgona Candy game! Back in childhood time, the Dalgona candy is the favorite after school snacks among Korean children. It is common the stall selling Dalgona candy will challenge their buyers to ‘poke’ out the shapes in the candy with just a needle.

There is a trend in Malaysia and all around the world to make Dalgona Candy at home and try the game by ourselves. Indeed it’s very easy to make at home!

Are you all confident to survive in the Squid Game if you decided to join? Share us what is the game that you most CONFIDENT about.
People Have Been Calling The Phone Number From "Squid Game" And Here's What The Actual Owner Of The Number Has To Say - Koreaboo
Categories
K-culture 101 K-info

Chuseok 2021: All About Chuseok Gifts that Koreans Like

The once-a-year national festival of Koreans, Chuseok is finally back in year 2021! Chuseok is celebrated to express our gratitude and appreciation to our families, friends and colleagues! Therefore, Chuseok gift culture is very common in the Korean community.
BTS Being BTS In Their "Happy Chuseok" Message Is What We're Grateful For This Year - Koreaboo

What is ‘Chuseok Festival’ : Chuseok (추석) is another great Korean holidays after Seollal in the beginning of the year. It is originated from a Harvest Festival in celebrating a great harvest of their agriculture after the summer since Silla Dynasty (57 BC). Modern Koreans are now celebrating by visiting their hometown to reunite with the family and perform ancestral memorial rites (Charye) at home.

In this post, we are going to explore what gifts do Koreans often prefer during the Chuseok festival!

Before you buy!

It’s not so easy to choose an ‘appropriate gift’ during the Chuseok festival. It requires much more thinking before you make the purchase! Before you buy the gift, here are some considerations you should take first:

  1. The Gift Receiver: This is the most important factor because it decides want kind of gifts you should choose for the person. For instance, if you buying for your parents, maybe health products like supplement might be a good choice.
  2. Your budget: The budget should be depending on ‘how important’ the receiver is to you. As it’s a thanksgiving day, you can choose a more expensive gifts to your parents/parents-in-law to show your sincerity and gratitude. (but well, it still depends. We should not so materialistic somehow!)
  3. Packaging do matters: Koreans care a lot about the beauty of the products in terms of its packaging. It’s not so appropriate (or polite) to give the gifts without any ‘wrapping’. Present paper might work best, but many Korean just purchase products which are nicely wrapped already specially for Chuseok.
20200928_Chuseok Gift
It’s quite surprising to see ‘Chuseok Gift Set’ with self protection products like face masks, hand sanitizer and soap last year when COVID-19 attacked. (Source: Korea.net)

Gifts for Chuseok in Korea

Cash

Nothing is more valuable than just cash! Some people do give cash during Chuseok to show appreciation. However, this is not appropriate for all people. You may only consider giving cash to your own parents or people you close with.

my strange hero discovered by .ɴᴏᴠᴇɴɪɪ. on We Heart It

Luncheon Meat

It’s quite strange for me when I learnt that SPAM, which is a brand of ham/luncheon meat, is the top choice of Koreans in giving them as Chuseok gifts! There will be all sort of different Chuseok Gift Set from SPAM in the market, and I think I will be happy to receive that. No one will hate luncheon meat!

Gift sets comprising of spam and cooking oil (Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald)
Many gift sets available with different combination of SPAM hams and kitchen ingredients! (Source: The Korea Herald)

Self Care Products

It’s very common for Koreans to choose self care beauty products as gifts for their friends and family in Chuseok. As Koreans take serious care about their hygiene and beauty, these daily necessities like shampoo, toothbrush, cosmetics can be a great Chuseok gifts that widely available in the market.

A real product I found in the Gmarket platform, with LG ‘Tiger’ Brand Shampoo, Body Soap and Toothbrush! (Source: Gmarket)

‘Comfort’ Products

Something that brings comfort and relieve stress like massage chairs and anything related to body and health are also among the most common Chuseok gifts for Koreans. This can be a good choice for your ‘bosses’ or seniors in the workplace. (yes, it’s important to impress your boss in Chuseok as well, to show your gratitude towards their guidance)

Curble Chairs which can help to correct your sitting posture is actually a very practical gifts for your colleagues who sit in office for hours! (Source: Gmarket)

Fruits

Nothing will go wrong with ‘premium fresh fruits’ as Chuseok gifts for all characters and seniority of people. It is considered the most traditional Chuseok gifts that were practiced since before. In major supermarket and shopping platform, you can find all sorts of fruit gift set with different budget range.

Most fruits used in Chuseok gifts are from premium source. These apples cost nearly $4 (~RM16) each. (Source: Gmarket)

There are actually many other types of Korean gifts for Chuseok! If you want to explore more, you can click the link below in Gmarket (Search: Chuseok Gift)

Explore chuseok gifts

Categories
K-community K-foods K-info

YouTuber BLIMEY Exploring Korean Foods in Malaysia with Korean Embassy Online Supporters!

Korean YouTuber BLIMEY has been doing video contents about Malaysian culture since years ago starting with making reaction videos to bigger projects like Blind Date and Dosirak! BLIMEY definitely is the ambassador of Malaysian culture among the Korean community.
Check Out BLIMEY Channel

In one of the latest video, BLIMEY invited some Online Supporters of Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to share with viewers what are some Korean foods you can easily get in Malaysia. They also shared traces of Malaysian food in the local Korean community.

Emart24 in Malaysia is BETTER than in Korea?

Alisya (also the MC of our Podcast Project!) brought Blimey to the newly open Emart24 outlet in Kuala Lumpur to show how a Korean convenience store looks like in Malaysia.

Emart24 in the Bangsar South outlet sells all sorts of Korean snacks, food products and street snacks. What surprises BLIMEY is that they also sell Korean cosmetic products here with mask packs from different big Korean beauty brands, which is NOT happening in Korea! Jade was quite ‘dissatisfied’ why Malaysian Emart24 is even better than in Korea!

Jazreen from KL later brought us to another Korean convenience store, CU. This surprises BLIMEY as well because the store just looks like the CU in front of their house! Jade said that even she felt homesick in Malaysia later (even though she never felt that way), she definitely will go CU to solve her craving!

Malaysia Delivery Apps have more Korean food choices now!

Later in the video, Haslina (which is one of our co-founder!) shared with BLIMEY some Korean street foods you can order from food delivery apps. These apps are important for Malaysians in this hard time as most of us are encouraged to stay at home and restricted to dine in the restaurant! Because of this, more and more Korean restaurants can be found in the food delivery app.

Haslina ordered Braised Mackerel and Kimbap (rice rolls) from a local Halal Korean restaurant and they just look so delicious even they were being ‘tapau’. Yerin was happy that Malaysians can get Korean foods easily from these food apps, which I totally agreed as often I solve my Korean food craving just by ordering food online to my doorsteps.

How Malaysians enjoy cooking Korean foods casually at home

Other Online Supporters showed how they casually prepared Korean foods at their house kitchen as well! As Korean ingredients can be easily found in Malaysia market, it’s not difficult for Malaysians to prepare authentic Korean cuisine for their friends and families!

Different local Korean brands of Ramyun, sauces, seaweeds and other food ingredients can be found in AEON supermarket! Even me myself bought many Korean products from AEON too.

Aisyah showed her ‘ultimate’ cooking skills in preparing all the Koreans favorite food, Tteokbokki and Kimchi Jeon using Korean brands ingredients! I’m slurping and craving for a nice Tteokbokki already.

Other Malaysian friends are making their Korean dosirak (container food) and Jollypong latte! Want to watch more, remember to check out BLIMEY’s latest video!

BLIMEY searching for traces of Malaysian foods in Seoul, Korea!

As the Malaysians have showed many Korean culture in the community, BLIMEY also took the challenge to show some Malaysian foods available in Korea right now. And yes, there are actually Malaysian snacks found in local supermarket and also Malaysian food restaurants in the city of Seoul.

Da-ol feeling happy to find some of the Malaysian made snacks in a store in Korea! She enjoyed them especially the fish snacks (yes the Malaysians love it too!)

BLIMEY also went to two Malaysian restaurants in Seoul which are both very popular among the Koreans as well! They visited Agak Agak and The Makan to experience the most authentic Malaysian foods, Nasi Lemak, Char Kuey Tiaw and Laksa!

Watch the full video here and remember to hit a like for this video in promoting close relationship of Korea and Malaysia!

Categories
Entertainment

Who is Yang Do Hyeok in the Korean Drama ‘Nevertheless’?

If anyone here is watching the current hit K-drama ‘Nevertheless’, you should be like me who can’t help myself but fall in love with the warm and gentleman ‘Do-hyeok’ in the drama!

Netflix and JTBC’s romance drama ‘Nevertheless’ is a webtoon remake series which tells the stories of a university couple who are attracted to each other but are skeptical about love, owing to their past relationships. Park Jae Eon (by Song Kang) was perceived as a ‘flower boy’ who loves to interact with girls but dare not to be committed in real relationships. Yoo Na-bi (by Han So Hee) was so loved with Jae Eon but always pulled back because of trust issues with Jae Eon.

Towards the middle of the story, a new male character Do Hyeok joined in the chemistry making a scene of love triangle. Do-hyeok character is in contrast with Jae Eon, which he loves Na-bi since high school and serious about being in relationship with Na-bi.

Fans are really loving Do Hyeok the character as he is definitely a boyfriend material who is loyal and kind to the girl he loved. He definitely wins my heart during the Episode 6 when Nabi met him back in hometown.

Nevertheless Episode 6 Release Date Spoilers Alert K-Dram Netflix
How can Na-bi not fall in love with the little cute puppy looking boy!

The story continues even though Do Hyeok was ‘rejected’ by Na-bi when he was trying to confess his feeling to her one night, simply because it’s the wrong timing (after having an argument with Jae Eon). Will Do Hyeok become a real man in the eyes of Na-bi after that? Let us watch until the end of the drama!

Don’t be sad, Do Hyeok! I will get that flower!

So who is ‘Do Hyeok’ really in real life?

Many don’t know about him until this drama! His name is Chae Jong Hyeop from Seoul. He debuted as an actor since 2017 in a webtoon television series and also made his appearance in the popular drama Sisyphus: The Myth! Before he was debuted as an actor, he is a model as he actually graduated with Fashion Model Art in Seoul Arts College.

With that height of his and great appearance, it is not surprise he was a model before! However, he is now committed to the acting industry under the agency of YNK Entertainment with other popular actors and actress like Shin Hae Sun and Kim In Kwon.

This character of ‘Do-Hyeok’ really suits his concept as a sunny and caring boyfriend, which somehow reminds me of Han Jipyeong in Start Up! Second lead syndrome can be serious in some dramas~ But let us remember Jong Hyeop this name and give him more attention by waiting his new drama with another fresh character!

He also made appearance as a character in the new drama ‘The Witch Dinner’ with Song Ji-Hyo! Do catch him up in that drama as well!

As the drama ‘Nevertheless’ almost come to an end, we really hope it’s a nice ending for Jae Eon, Na-bi and even Do-hyuk!

Read more about the drama ‘Nevertheless’ here:

Style Yourself with Park Jae Eon (Song Kang) in Nevertheless

Park Jae Eon in the recent Netflix K-drama, Nevertheless has been a ‘hot topic’ among the drama fans of how ‘smart’ this guy in playing feelings of the girls, especially towards Na-bi, the female lead. Despite of the fact that he is an ultimate ‘playboy’, we can’t deny his visuals. I mean who won’t fall…

by Melvin Tan 🇲🇾
Categories
K-info

K-Info | About Korean Liberation Day (광복절) : The Independence of Korea from the Japanese Ruling

Malaysia celebrates National Day on the 31st of August every year as a mark of independence of Malaya from the British colonization. For Koreans, this day of nation victory is celebrated every year on the 15th of August!

Why is the Korean Liberation Day celebrated every year?

Korean Liberation Day, also known as Gwang-bok-cheol (광복절) falls on August 15 every year, to celebrate the day when the Japan colonial rule was ended in the peninsula of Korea from 1910 – 1945 on 15th August 1945. This day was also marked the end of second World War when the U.S. and Soviet forces helped ended the Japanese occupation in different states of Asia.

National Liberation Day of Korea, Korean liberation activists released 1945
(Source: Korelimited)
The meaning behind ‘Gwang-bok-cheol’ ( 광복절 / 光復節 )

South Koreans refer this holiday as ‘광복절’ (gwang-bok-jeol) in Hangul, literally meaning the day when light was restored. This symbolizes the meaning of independence from darkness (sufferings) during the Japanese colonization.

This holiday is one of the most important and meaningful day to remember as the citizen of Koreans. This day is also celebrated by the North Koreans, but with another name in their language called ‘조국해방의 날’ (jo-guk-hae-bang-ei nal), literally meaning ‘Liberation of Fatherland Day’.

How Koreans are celebrating the Korean Liberation Day?

During this holiday, an official ceremony is organized every year with the President attending at the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan or the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. Korean public is encouraged to decorate their houses and shops with Korean national flag, Taegukgi.

Pompeo congratulates South Korea on Liberation Day
Korean children appreciating the holiday by waving the Taegeukgi! (Source: The Korea Times)
Yu Gwan-Su, the lady who once fight for the independence

Many Koreans fight for independence during the Japanese occupation and a teenage girl Yu Gwan-Su was among the most popular figure of Korean fighting for their nation.

Yu Gwan-Su started March 1 Movement in year 1919 to have a peace demonstration in public to gather the nation together against the Japanese occupation. She called doors by doors to invite people of her town to join the movement which happened at the Aunae Marketplace.

Due to the March Movement, she was imprisoned while her parents were killed by the Japanese authority. She died in the young age due to harsh torture.

The statue of young activist Yu Gwan-su (Source: Korea.net)
It is truly an important date to remember and appreciate all the activists and soldiers who sacrificed for the independence of the nation to create the Korea today!

Read more here:

Categories
Language

#MyDaehanStories | How I started learning Korean because of K-pop

The Korean language has been very popular among the foreigners since the K-wave hits the globe! I believe everyone has their own stories of how they started learning the language.

I wasn’t that into new languages when I was in middle school. As a typical Malaysian students, you have to master at least 2 languages at school, and to make sure you ‘excel’ in school results, I have been quite ‘language’-phobic with all the writing and memorizing. I was learning languages because I was told to do so in school, rather than just for ‘survival’ or ‘interest’.

Korean was the first language that I finally understood how someone can learn the language because of interest. Language is the door to one’s culture. Because of K-wave, I always wanted to feel a type of ‘intimacy’ with the K-pop idols and dramas. Many times we understand them through their music, but as a fan, we always wanted to know more about their personality, their speech, their culture and background. I think that’s the main reason why many K-pop fans started to learn Korean and understand the culture.

To be honest, the main motivation I started learning Korean was to able to read the Korean lyrics appeared at the bottom right during live music shows like Inkigayo and Music Bank. Not sure if it’s only me, I often refer to the lyrics down the screen and sing along with the idols. That’s a really good reason for K-pop fans to learn ‘Hangeul’ and practice it in every music shows!

GIF] 2PM - Interview + 우리집@150621 SBS Inkigayo
Notice the Korean lines at the bottom left of the Inkigayo screen! Those are real time lyrics 😀

I started learning Korean around 2010s when I started following 2PM (during ‘I’ll be back’ era). There were not much learning material compared to now in YouTube and social media. The Korean learning website, Talk To Me In Korean (TTMIK) was the pioneer of online Korean learning! The website was already well published with different levels, and most importantly the lessons are all free with notes and recording from teachers!

Self-study can be quite slow in mastering a language because of discipline. But learning basic Korean through TTMIK was very fun, and the teachers Hyun-Woo and Kyung-Eun were very engaging in their lesson recording. I enjoyed all the lessons so much that I can finish 5 to 6 lesson in a day! It was that period I found myself learning and improving the language very fast.

Just some tips to learn Korean as a beginner, firstly you should practice Hangeul and familiarize with it. Practice your reading at first without knowing the meaning. As you’re fast in reading, you can start with basic sentence structure and tenses. I spent quite some time in familiarizing with the sequences in Korean sentences and I am always bad in tenses. Start to get input of vocabulary slowly as you are learning more advanced grammar in Korean.

I still have so many to learn in Korean, especially the grammar, vocabulary and speech! I believe these can’t be mastered without long time practices. Therefore, if you’re demotivated in learning the language, just hang in there and also input language knowledge every time you watching a drama, listening to songs and music shows!

Korean Fighting GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY
Do you have any stories like Melvin in learning Korean? Submit to us through our email mydaehan2020@gmail.com!

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Start learning Korean alphabets now! #JomKoreanwithMawen

Categories
Korea X ASEAN

Together celebrate the 54th ASEAN Day: stronger bonds with the Koreans

Today is the 54th ASEAN Day in celebration of the establishment of the The Association of Southeast Asian Nations since 1967.

ASEAN is an economic union consisting of 10 South East Asia member countries in initiating intergovernmental corporation and promote regional development in economic, social and politic.

ASEAN is now comprising of 10 countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The population of ASEAN countries was about 655 million, represented 8.5% of the world population. Total GDP of the member countries increases over the years, remarking the region as a highly potential economic block among the investors.

South Korea is among the first partner countries of ASEAN in promoting closer relationship with other countries. Korea is the first dialogue partner of ASEAN and three special commemorative summits were being held every 10 years. The close bilateral relationship of South Korea to ASEAN enable benefits of both parties in social development, free trade and other economic corporation. The New Southern Policy initiated by the current South Korea President Moon Jae-In helps strengthened the relationship further by 3P concept (People, Peace, Prosperity).

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To all the ASEAN citizens, Happy ASEAN Day and may all of us work together for peace and prosperity until forever!

We also hope the relationship between South Korea and ASEAN remain strong and relevant for the development of the countries.

Melvin Tan

Online Supporter for Mission of Korea to ASEAN 2021


Bio-science student in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Korean Enthusiasts
Korean learner for 10 years, but still amateur

Instagram: @tanmawen
YouTube: Jom with Mawen