Hae-Jang-Gook is spiced just right with a mix of pepper, peppers, herbs, miso paste, green onion, beef and pork bone stock. The centrepiece of course is the chunks of seasoned pork spine that you must pry the tender meat from. Not for the queasy, but incredibly tender meat comes from the spine which has a very low fat content and a nice steak texture. Most restaurants that serve this dish provide big bone buckets for you to deposit your spinal column chunks into. So not only is it delicious but there is a little work to the meal.

The restaurants which specialize in Hae-Jang-Gook are open 24 hours a day which is perfect for me as I get off work at 11pm. The reason for this is that, like everything Koreans eat, there is a superstition that this will make your penis bigger, no that’s dog soup/snake soup/ginseng chicken soup…… Koreans think that this will kill a hangover which might be true as Koreans are expert at getting drunk and in turn being hungover so it is a possibility. I myself have never put this to the test, but it is obvious by the midnight crowds in the Hae-Jang-Gook shop near my work that many drunk old boys are scarfing this down in hopes of killing the eventual soju nightmare they will live through tomorrow.

In any case, go to a local Korean restaurant and ask for a steaming bowl of pork spine (Hae-Jang-Gook) you will not be disappointed, or at least you might ward off a hangover.

Recently I have been to Jeju-do for a week-long cycling summer adventure. I have attended baseball games with friends in Daegu. I have revisited Hahoe traditional village and Gyeongju many times. In September a group of us went to the remote island of Ulleung in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) for an incredible camping and hiking trip. This was followed by another hiking trip to the rugged Jiri-san national park where we saw a large wildcat, drank-ate-and were medically treated by a mountain man, and ended up in the ancient Daoist village of Chong-Hak-Dong,

There was a crazy election, the Korean president went to North Korea for the first time in history, Christmas, Tight neon clothing parties, hiking ancient mountains in search of buddhist relics, going to Seoul to see some nightlife and much more has transpired. I got a new job in central Ulsan, Jackie and I went to Hong Kong for a vacation and many friends have left. There has been so much and it all feels so far off. With so many friends departed and things transpired and visited I am starting to feel worn out. My senses are urging me to flee this place like all my friends have done. I know I could make some more friends but I also want to start cutting ties to speed up the process to when I can get off THE PENINSULA.

So I sound like a quitter, maybe I am, but as many interesting things as I have seen, as many great things that I have had the opportunity to do here in Korea I need to flee. The culture is often just too much, all there is to eat is Korean food (not that I do not enjoy it its just that is all that there is), the people are very superficial and overly modernized. I have not made any real Korean friends, but have tried. Most young men my age are all in the military/locked in a study room somewhere/studying abroad/severly tied to some corporation working 15 hour days six days a week. Other than that its a land full of greedy superficial tarts in high heels who only want to giggle at the foreigner.

 Every time I get close to a Korean friend (which is not easy to accomplish) I feel like I am drowning in their company. Hanging out with your Korean friends in Korea is a lot like hanging out with your friend’s parents. There is extreme otherness and judgement coming from Koreans toward foreigners which is constantly reinforced: You are a foreigner and they are the Great Korean Race.

This does not underline everything, it just gets to you after a while. It builds up and the only urge it leaves you with is “flee this place”; exactly what I plan to do. So I shall bide my time, see as much as I can and try to make some more connection with the Koreans I am friends with now but I have to say I need to set my sights on leaving to keep myself sane.

Till next time

GypsyJosh signing out.

This from KBS Global “The plan to restore the Hwangryongsa Temple in Gyeongju is progressing at full speed.The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage chose to restore Hwangryongsa Temple as part of its program to turn Gyeongju into the nation’s premier cultural and historic city. The NRICH held an international conference on the Hwangryongsa Temple restoration in Gyeongju in April, followed by a public hearing on the basic restoration plan in Seoul on Thursday.

The first academic conference probed the feasibility of the temple restoration beginning with the repair of the nine-story wooden pagoda, while the latest hearing signaled the official launch of the project. Gam Woo-bang, the former director of the Gyeongju National Museum, repeatedly stressed at the hearing that it was impossible to restore the Hwangryongsa Temple, saying the nine-story wooden pagoda could be erected at a site in Gyeongju rather than the current temple site.Former director general of the NRICH, Kim Dong-hyun, supported Gam’s argument. Having headed not only the Hwangryongsa site excavation team, but also the restoration project of Bulguksa Temple 35 years ago, Kim now admitted that he had many regrets about the Bulguksa restoration project.

However, most of the presenters at the hearing were all in support of the restoration, detailing a number of case studies, procedures, and application technologies. A presenter from the Cultural Heritage Administration even proclaimed that it is a “national project.” Professor Kim Hong-shik of Myungji University, the most ardent supporter of the Hwangryongsa Temple restoration project, asked why the nine-story wooden pagoda should be rebuilt to its original height of only 80 meters and not 200 meters. He added that it was time for the city of Gyeongju to become a beautiful cultural icon.Buddhism and Korean history scholar Kim Bok-soon was also against putting up the pagoda at a site other than its original location, claiming that the pagoda only carries meaning when it stands at the initial place.A member of the audience accused the panel for dragging on the historical debates for the last three decades and demanded the complete restoration of the Hwangryongsa Temple. The moderator for the hearing even suggested that a luxury hotel based on the nine-story wooden pagoda be built near the new KTX station in Gyeongju.”

Lets hope it all goes through as soon as possible.

One traveling or living in Korea is often overwhelmed by stress and the bustle of modern Korea. Thank God this country has many national holidays to get out of the routine and out of the cities! There is nothing like the feeling of leaving a Korean city. They are messy, ramshackle, unattractive places to say the least. Where should one go on a holiday in Korea? To see what modernity did not completely ruin……yet. There are few places left that fit this description in South Korea and the small village of Hahoe (pronounced Ha-Hway) in Northern Gyong-Sang Province fits this criteria to a tee and is well worth the long journey into the  it.

Hahoe is a small village perched between an S curve in the Nak-dong river facing a gorgeous cliff face nestled into an area little touched by Korean modernity. This village is significant to Korea because it is one of the few villages who did not sign onto the dictatorship of Park Chung Hee’s “Saemaeul” (New Village Movement) modernization and industrialization scheme. Time has worn long and steady in this near perfect example of what life was like before Hyundai, Samsung, SK, LG, Doosan, CJ, KIA, and Daewoo became synonomous with Korea. Time seems to move slowly in this traditional village where the hurried movements of urbanites are nowhere to be found. It seems that, besides the busy planting and harvesting season, the Hahoenes’ main occupation is relaxation, roof-thatching, family duties, walking and watching the fields ripen. Truly the way mankind should live.

Hahoe has been largely unchanged in its 600 year history. The Ryu clan of “yangban” (elites) still own most of the farmland and houses, and their houses are still larger and in the centre of the town as they have been for hundreds of years. These large tile roofed clan houses are surrounded by the thatched roof mud houses of the commoners, placed in the circular pattern that the river’s bend affords. Only 550 people live here as was the case in the 1500′s. Unlike most cities there are no square pre-meditated plans to this village, whose streets meander and follow the bend of the river to a tune all their own.

Hahoe is home to the traditional Hahoe Mask dances and the beautifully carved masks so well known throughout Korea. This dance is an incredible 500 year old tradition that is used as a fertility ritual, village spirit guardian incantation, and a social lubricant among the classes. The dance and play features the wood masks carved by an artist implored by the village spirits to create a play that would bring wholeness and end the calamities the early village was experiencing. The characters featured are the Yangban elite, a serene and devoted woman, the fools, the angry and guilt feeling butcher, the unsatisfied intellectual, the meddler, the fallen monk, the cantankerous old widow, and the beautiful town flirt. The play continues unchanged like Hahoe as a cultural asset and community. I was sure to buy a beautiful Yangban mask, the symbol of the province I live in and even sent one home to my father.

One’s soul is warmed by the quaintness and slow pace of the Hahoenese when walking through its uncluttered paths and clean streets, seeing masks and corn for sale everywhere. Unlike a Korean city, Hahoe has no garbage strewn about everywhere, only pebbles and rocks. While there is a certain isolatedness to Hahoe, modernity does appear in the form of cars being owned by some people, gas powered implements for farming, plastic field coverings for crops, sattelite TV, minbak signs (family run pensions) and tourist vending booths, but who can blame them for enjoying those few things. None of these really affect the soul and feel of this small shelter from the modern world.

May Hahoe stand for another 600 years the way it always has, and may humanity everywhere learn from their laid back ways. I know that this is how I would love to live my days out, and will make sure I incorporate what I have seen and felt in this village into my everyday perspective. I am sure I will return, and I urge anyone who comes to Korea to take the time to visit this special little place and let its big spirit change you at least a bit.

Back online and taking it slow and calm, Josh

Keep your spirits up, Josh

Tongdosa is an all wood temple complex and considered one of the three “Jewel Temples of Korea” high on the list of international pilgrims and Koreans alike. Founded by monk Jajang in 646 as one of the largest compounds in Korea, it hosts a 1307 year old eternal flame, and several of the relics of Buddha himself: A begging bowl, one of his skull bones and ashes, as well as a robe, all of which are guarded and revered by the monks at the complex. These items and the other relics and wise people of the complex complement the unique architecture and spiritual serenity of the valley it sits in.

The temple itself is known as the Buddhaless temple as there are no statue of him on the grounds except for the new fat Buddha outside the museum which is not on the temple grounds. The grounds survived all the tumult of empire changes through the years but most structures did not survive the 16th century Japanese raids of Toyotomi Hideyoshi except for the main hall “Daeungjeon hall”. Nothing is sacred in war and sadly Korea shows this time and time again. Before these raids it is estimated that the dozens of buildings at present were accompanied by around 1000 others given archaeological evidence. In any case the stone stuppas and pagodas on the grounds are quite historical and unique, especially considering how relatively intact the compound is.

When we were there they monks had been preparing for the Buddha’s birthday adorning the place in lotus lanterns and rows of coloured lanterns which will all be ignited on the 24th of May.  It was truly magical to follow the lanterns strung up the mountain pass from the road to the temple. I have always hoped to walk under a canopy of colour and light into a beautiful building, something I thought could only be achieved by drugs before coming to Korea. Olly said he would like to steal one and so did I but then I thought about what I was told about how the faithful bring lanterns as gifts to the temple along with money gifts, how western of us to want to nab one. Luckily we are going to the grand Seoul Buddha festival next Saturday and can make one ourselves there.

I am sure glad that I was able to spend this time with such a mellow guy as Olly, it was nice to be here and just appreciate the serenity of the temple and the trickling river in front without the usual weigookin (foreigner) sharp remarks and needs to be witty and look unimpressed. I hope everyone can get out, humble themselves and experience this festival at your nearest Buddhist temple if not for faith but aesthetic or calming reasons then you will be all the wealthier a person. Happy birthday Buddha!

Ilju-mun Gate
Main entrance to the temple constructed in 1305. 

Jackie and I on the main temple bridge.

The lanterns leading the faithful to the temple for the Buddha’s birthday.

The 1350 year old wooden structure Daeungjeon hall.

Jackie standing beside the Temple belfry, which is quite new for the temple, built in 1686 for the “salvation of pitiable beings who wander among earth water and air” like us humans.

Olly checking out the gate of the shrine to the temple’s founder Jajang.

The main low pagoda of the temple which houses Buddhas ashes built in 645 this pagoda is quite impressive but hidden from the tourists.

Sachonwang Guardians at the gates to the temple. These are demigods who represent the four directions and rule much of the human world letting out reward and punishments.

Another shot of the Belfry.

Another shot of the belfry with the Hwaseon pagoda in front dating to 880 this is an old pagoda.

Jackie giving the museum Buddha a rub.

The pillars marking past abbots of the temple get truly reverent placemarkers.

Lovers talking on the small bridge of hong-gyun-gyo, the temple is surrounded by bridges and nice meditation points.

So go out and explore a temple all you here in Korea and those in Canada and elsewhere look for the beauty and spiritual points in the land you live. Make a connection deeper and more aesthetic than material and sarcastic pursuits. Humans can make serene and beautiful things and revere them when we give it some patience and care.

Well I figure I should be posting more information about what I do here in Korea and what it is like to be a teacher in the “land of morning calm.” As an English teacher, like many of my comrades here, I have been tossed head over heels into a position with little explanation about teaching methods and information about the school. As rapidly as I recieved the job (2 days after applying for it) I was thrust into teaching by a woman who can barely speak English into a school whose teacher’s materials are all written to the teacher in Korean. At first it felt like I was just told “go do it” and some magical form of osmosis would transmit English to the children from my valuable Canadian university education. To say the least, it did not and has not happened like that at all, Teaching is difficult!

I feel everyday like the supply teacher in junior high where the kids come up with sadistic games to play on me and try as best they can to ignore me. Don’t get me wrong I have several classes that I teach with no problem and they love and treat me really well. I will say that my first week shattered any myths about “hard working studious Asians” I may have harboured, Korean children are just like children in Canada in every respect. Some of these students make me think of friends of mine when I was young, some make me think of enemies I have had, but this is all made more complicated as I do not speak the language well.

I have found many ways of keeping the student’s attention through making the readings, from books I forced the director to buy,  seem more relevant (how I hate this word, what is not relevant?)  and humourous, realizing that I had to keep things simple and repetative for foreign language speakers. I am constantly confronted by the terrible method of Korean, and Japanese, education which is to force something into a student’s head by constant droning repetition. Nothing sinks into your head this way it only ever burns into your short-term memory only to be erased a few weeks after the test is over. Needless to say, this is no way to learn a language! Another problem is that Koreans are given a Korean short hand version of English to start them off which handicaps students as they continue their education. In Korean one cannot say F, X, V, Th, Z or end things in a consonant, also most consonants are not compatible in Korean so when speaking English an “eu” is slipped in between consonants. So what ends up happening is that F becomes P, X becomes Ch, Th becomes S, Z becomes a hard J and consonant pairs get split and consonant endings get vowels added to them. Here is what some words sound like: Seuteurawberry, Keuriseumaseu, Hoteu, Joshi, Lettuseu, Viruseu. These form a huge obstacle with which I fight daily.

One hilarious and very imperialist thing about teaching here in Korea is the fact that teachers have to invent names of an English persuasion for the students. This is humourous because most children forget the spellings of their names and do not use them outside of Hagwon (private english school). I think is is incredibly odd considering the Koreans fought against the Japanese renaming of Koreans explored so vividly in the novel “Lost Names” but are willing to have their children given English names. I can see that it is hard to remember Korean names they are all so similar and difficult to pronounce but a name is a name and people should really stick by them. So to mock this system I have given the kids really funny names because they are easy to remember and make me laugh at the absurdity of calling them invented names. So I have students I named Optimus Prime, The Weed, The Brain, Princess Leah, Yoda, Golum, Spark, Super Mario, Doctor Roboto, Jenga, HeMan, Stalin, Ghostface, Shyness, Captain Hook, Peter Pan, John Lenon, Ringo, Eureka, Tito and many more which I get a chuckle out of daily.

On another note I have the trouble of dealing with a WonJonNim, a korean boss. She feels I am a piece of her property and my bum is an object to slapped weekly. I do not mind her terribly but I do have trouble with her version of communicating in broken English, which makes her resort to “you are a always a so happys and I likes very muchs de yous Joshi” and a slap on the ass while she gets back to her work. This is an odd relationship but better than what most are subject to here in Korea, Korean bosses are absolute and quite authoritarian. There is a reason Kin Jong Il is in control in the north! But my relationship with Won Jon Nim is okay and overall she is a funny if overly greedy person.

The students have begun to take to me but still manage to find endless distractions and time wasting methods which start trouble with me quite often but kids are kids where ever they are. My students are numerous but on the whole pretty good people. What this experience with Korean children has highlighted for me is that I do not want to have children so soon, and if I do they better not be assholes and I pray they are not stupid. The thing I have learned the most form these students is that patience must be maintained on the part of a teacher and that a teacher can not show when they are being upset. Oh and I have learned a lot of Korean language from these kids they are a cute and funny people with endless energy. I do enjoy my job and think I can handle it for a year longer but when I get back a key bonus will be communicating with students in my own language, something that I am sure I will be strong at after having endured five months of half communicating with 126 Korean children.

This entire mission is a folly and wrong thing for Canadian citizens to be participating in. It is a piece of a larger Imperial grand strategy by the USA and the corporations that rule it which is a cheap imitation what the Soviets were trying to achieve in the region through the 1970s & 80s, a large reason for the collapse of that empire, trying to modernize and “democratize” a region long poisoned by proxy war and intervening interests, namely the UK and the USA. The Canada I know and love is not a military state of overseas aggression, bring the soldiers home and stop turning boys into killers!

Please read this from the Global research centre…

It is now five years since Canadian troops were first deployed to Afghanistan, entering from the outset into a combat position. Canada moved into a war in Afghanistan without any Parliamentary sanction or debate. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Jean Chretien engineered both an endorsement and accommodation to the American ‘war on terror’ by moving into Afghanistan without directly supporting the American invasion and occupation of Iraq. The policy was a classic case of Canada trying to have it both ways. The Canadian mission in Afghanistan was thus begun with neither wide discussion and even minimal accountability nor strategic thought. It was undertaken to affirm Canada as the American empire’s key ally. In this case, Canada would act would support U.S. and western imperialism under the rubric of a NATO mission given legitimacy by a resolution rammed through the UN Security Council in the wake of 9/11, when rational and calm debate and analysis was completely foregone.

Prime Ministers Paul Martin and Stephen Harper both subsequently raised Canada’s commitments to the Afghanistan mission in terms of troop levels, arms expenditures, and operational deployments. Notably, Canada moved into a forward combat position in Southern Afghanistan in the winter of 2006 to directly engage Taliban forces. Canada is scheduled to play a larger role in the NATO command structure. Relative to domestic population levels, more Canadians have been killed in Afghanistan than any other of the NATO allies. And more Canadian soldiers, as well as civilian officials, will be killed in the coming months, given the chaos that is continuing to spiral upward in Afghanistan and, indeed, across the Middle East.

There are other disturbing aspects of the Canadian deployment that the government of Canada has been less than forthcoming about. Canada will soon be at war in Afghanistan as long as any war Canada has fought in, notably WW II. The Canadian mission is primarily combat and not development-related, with only about 10 percent of expenditures being related to development work. The Karzai government in Kabul being defended has no real democratic mandate. It is a cesspool of corruption, with aid moneys transferred and taxes collected soon vanishing into any number of pockets. The so-called Afghan parliament is full of ex-Taliban and warlords. The government is making next to no progress on women’s and human rights. The Canadian Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence, in its February report, Canadian Troops in Afghanistan: Taking a Hard Look at A Hard Mission, came to most of these same conclusions. It all but admitted that the war cannot be ‘won’ (in the eyes of a foreign military force intervening in another country). But the Senators then illogically concluded that Canada must stick it out because of the need to support NATO allies and for peace and security. Yet, the Senate Report itself had just observed what is apparent to all but the willfully ignorant: the war and conflict is spreading, as is the range and violence of various terrorist acts. It is the ideological need to support NATO, as one of the foremost institutions of western militarism and imperialism, re-engineered in the post-cold war period to project military power into wayward states in the ‘global south’, that remains at the heart of the Canadian intervention in Afghanistan. When a mission lacks justification and is faltering, as with the Canadian and NATO mission in Afghanistan, all that is left is for the bankrupt rulers to assert, as they so often have in the past, that ‘war is peace’.

The Canadian war in Afghanistan has been barely discussed in Parliament, with only the briefest debate in May 2006 on a motion extending the Canadian mission. A much deeper process of discussion, education, and mobilization needs to ensue across Canada. The Canadian Peace Alliance and other peace groups have called for nation-wide demonstrations across Canada and have recieved much support though with an almost total media blackout. We must begin to work toward that now in our workplaces and communities across the country.

We are calling on university, college and high school campuses across Canada to engage in teach-ins. Anti-war activists, students and professors, workers and all citizens simply concerned with democracy, peace, international restraints on militarism, and democratic sovereignty must work to build a wide opposition against the war. We need to bring Canadian troops home and get them out of Afghanistan, and hopefully one day out of the aggressive organization of NATO.

I make no apologies here this is what war does….

Lets stand up and stop this thing.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=region&regionId=2

Banners unfurled, let’s go Ulsan Tigers!

So now back to some sports. I am enthralled with the fact that Korea has quite a large array of professional sports to check out on those down days or when you just need something to do. I know this is not really “cultural” Korea or a deep activity to be writing about but I feel the need to talk about this given the amount of emails I get treating Korea like some backwater and impoverished land. Believe it or not the Koreans maintain and enjoy the strongest and highest level football (Soccer to the north Americans out there) league in all of Asia, including India/Pakistan/Bangladesh and the Middle East. The K-League K1 division is actually pretty good football compared to what we get in Canada or the states and is in my opinion a worthy waste of time.

Jackie, a bunch of friends and I recently spent a beautiful sunday afternoon out in the sun watching our city’s team (The Ulsan Hyundai Tigers) play the Cheonam Dragons to a great draw match of 2-2. On a side note, What is not owned by Hyundai in Korea? still guessing? Me too, maybe North Korea, LG and Samsung are the last independent things left. Ulsan Hyundai is lucky to be the league’s most well funded team and has the advantage of Korea’s national team star player Lee-Chun Soo, a “free-kick master” best known for his beautiful opening goal against Togo in the 2006 World Cup. Chun Soo is a showboating loudmouth who has made several attempts at European leagues and hopes to go to Fulham next year but right now he has made Ulsan a team to be reckoned with. He earned the K-league MVP in 2005 and helped Ulsan to win the league championship last year with a hat-trick in the first leg of the finals. The day we were there Chun-Soo opened the scoring with a clean long pass up the middle in the opening minutes of the game.

Lee Chon Soo works some more free kick magic, the announcers constantly chanted for him and the fans love the guy, wonder what Ulsan will do when he goes to the big British leagues.

Overall the team is quite well played, despite having weaknesses not found in many European leagues, one has to remember they are the the highest ranked team in Asia and it is great to be able to watch them for only $8 in a World Cup stadium! While there is attendance problems in Korea given the long hours people work and the newness of the sport in Asia (the league is the oldest in all of Asia being founded in 1983, suffice to say I am older than it). Some teams in the league draw near capacity crowds and have a huge community base of support and loyal players on the field from the region they play for, espescially the Suwon Blue Wings. For a sunny afternoon there was an eerily empty feeling to the stadium, but I have to say it was also the basketball championship that day, which makes me want to get the foreigner crowd out to some games, we could really make a big presence there!

Despite these problems there were a loyal bunch there with all the regalia of a good football game. Banners and slogans unfurled, chants and drumming, paraphenalia vendors and the like were all there which gave the whole thing a real fun flavour. The game turned out to be a real nail-biter with Ulsan opening up the scoring in flagrant manner, right up the middle, and also potting a great penalty kick on Cheonnam. But Cheonnam would not be outdone and came up with some incredible defense, dominated the possession and flow of the game and earned on in regular time and a dramatic equalizer in the last 10seconds of penalty time. All in all it was a good show and something I am going to make a regular spectacle to attend. Go out and catch a football game, they are quite exciting to see, come on you skeptical north Americans there is more than hockey to explore, plus the leafs are out now.

Yang Don Hyun makes it a 2 nill game on the penalty kick here, this game had it all: breakaway, penalty kick, defensive saves, top corner, and penalty time equalizer!

Look at those mean pink away kicks for the chunam dragons, scare the shit out of the faint at heart!

You can find these delightful “toys” in many shops around Korea, they are produced in Japan by Japanese artists and based on an historical Chinese novel considered by many to be one of the most foremost literary works of Chinese history “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義”. Not only have I begun reading the story but the toy series by Horico is based on the main characters involved in the drama of the novel that recounts the final days of the Han Dynasty circa 220-275. While it is hard to separate the myths of this time period from the reality, it serves as a seminal event in modern Chinese history. To just keep it short for the time being, a peasant rebellion (the revolt of the yellow turbans) sparks an intense war between the factions remaining of the Han Empire-the three kingdoms-Wu, Shu, Wei-of which the story follows the intrigues of the factions and covers some of the seminal battles of Chinese history-The battle of the Red Cliffs (208),  The Battle of Guandu (200), The Battle of Yiling (222)-and the aspirations of Liu Bei and Cao Cao to become Emperor and unseat the tyrant Dong Zhou.

The story is massively convoluted and shows the futility of trying to exert such control, and the strife men bring to the earth when seeking ultimate power. But one thing stands out for me, the strife shows the characters of the novel in such dramatic and creative light that they take on lives that the period of strife could only serve as a just background for.

I have been lucky enough to find the charachter of Zhou Yu (Gong Jin) the artful and respected scholar-general who defeated Cao Cao at the battle of the red cliffs by setting his ships ablaze and ramming Cao Cao’s fleet then seiging the city of Nanjun. Zhou Yu’s blue and white outfit are way more intricate than most miniatures I have ever seen and his mid motion pose was what made me want to start collecting the set! His character is one of romance and tragedy as he died at age 35 and was revered as not only attractive and intelligent but quite humble as well.

I Also found the character of Guan Yu (Yun Chang) a military general of Liu Bei of the Shu Kingdom.  He is one of the most revered and recognized figures in East Asian history, and his beard is as legendary in plastic as the novel speaks of. Although much exaggerated and practically sainted in Hong Kong as a symbol of loyalty and bravery. Many business people esteem and like themselves to him and his qualities in contemporary Hong Kong, although Guan Yu would have probably beheaded the slimy businessmen of the port city upon seeing much of what goes on there.

In any case I am proud to own and collect these great little replicas and urge all geeks out there to take pride and immerse yourself in something more historical and cultural than Spiderman. It can be a bit more interesting and telling of human character than Marvel wants you to believe. I mean this is the stuff legends are made of, 1800 years later we are finding great mini painted replicas of these guys, I doubt spider man will last that long.

Ahh where else can you find nerdy happiness for 3000Won? A calligraphy set? that’s next on my list.