Max Watson's Asian Adventures

Undergoing Maintenance

2008-01-24T18:01:10Z

The site's in a bit of a jumble right now as I need to re-work the templates. Otherwise, all of the content is here. Updates coming soon?

1000 Days!

2007-10-25T12:47:07Z

Couples in Korea generally celebrate every 100 days of their relationships--up to a point where it pretty much becomes forgotten about. But the 1000-day marker is one you can't miss, and so I planned for Una and me to still be on our Chuseok vacation in Thailand when it happened. The photo above is from part of our dinner that night. We went to a restaurant on Koh Samui called Poppies which has a great reputation, but we were rather unimpressed so we just had a couple of drinks and the "softshell crab with green mango" appetizer (it was fair). We ended up having dinner back at our hotel's restaurant since their Thai food was always quite nice and they had live music that night too.

Anyway, I've got lots of photos to put up here. Just need to pace myself (one-a-day -- I can do it!)

Happy Chuseok

2007-09-22T05:22:24Z

Today marks the beginning of Chuseok, the annual holiday erroneously referred to by locals as "Korean Thanksgiving". The holiday is a time when people visit their families and to pay tribute at the tombs of their ancestors. The only thing American Thanksgiving has in common with Chuseok is massive domestic travel.

I've been content to stay in Seoul for the past several Chuseok holidays. Whereas I've heard that a decade ago most everything was closed, I find plenty of businesses open despite the deflated city. Seoul becomes peaceful for several days thanks to drastically reduced traffic and the near absense of the automobile horn chorus.

But this yeat things are different. I'm hopping on a plane tomorrow morning with Una and we're heading to Koh Samui, Thailand for a week.

Ah, the picture above...One component of Chuseok is gift giving. King of the heap is the SPAM Gift Set; who wouldn't want to receive $80 of the stuff?

Software Update

2007-09-18T15:18:23Z

I just updated to Movable Type 4.0, so if anything isn't working right please let me known in the comments on this post.

The blogroll of links to other websites that's usually on the right side is temporarily gone until the developer releases a new compatible version.

Ohori Park, Fukuoka

2007-09-01T10:54:51Z

My favorite place in Fukuoka is Ohori Park. Located downtown, it's an easy escape from the city. Two islands in the middle are connected with a small brige, and each has its own bridge back to land. Koi and turtles play along shore as children feed them. Locals jog, walk, and bike around the oval track that surrounds the park. In late summer, all of this happens under the chrous of the cicada.

While many flock to the mall or underground shopping arcades to beat the heat, a few go to the park. I found cool black stone benches in the shade on the islands and napped away the afternoon heat.

Yatai in Hakata, Fukuoka

2007-09-01T10:33:38Z

At night, vendors set up food stalls (Yatai) along the Naka River in Hakata. The most popular dish, ramen, is pleasantly made with fresh noodles. It isn't too spicy either. All of the vendors are Japanese, and a great deal of the customers are Koreans who've taken the (relatively) cheap boat ride from Busan.

Like many things in Japan, this is not a cheap place to eat. A bowl of noodles and two lage bottles of Asahi beer cost 1800 yen (~$15). But you can enjoy the river, and if you speak some Korean you can always suprise the other diners.

Odd Signage in Fukuoka

2007-09-01T10:22:08Z

My interpretation...

Left: This is an area for bell-headed rubber men and their turkey drumstick-armed daughters.
Right: Nothing is forbidden.

It's not all Kimonos

2007-08-12T12:20:12Z

In Fukuoka, Japanized Maneken Pis fountains feed a digital water clock as a completely western-dressed local woman walks by carrying a parisol that better resembles today's umbrella.

Asiana Airlines asks a personal question

2007-08-03T02:09:46Z

I'm heading over to Japan for the weekend, having purchased my ticket directly online from Asiana Airlines. They screwed me earlier this year when I thought I'd purchased a ticket online to Phuket, Thailand. I'd even printed out supposed "boarding passes". But when I got to the airport I was informed that I hadn't paid for my ticket and that my reservation had been cancelled. But hey, there was still room on the plane and I could go--just so long as I would oblige to grab my ankles and let Asiana have their way with me to the tune of a few hundred extra dollars. I had no choice!

After that incident it was of little surprise when booking this ticket to Japan that Asiana popped the question about with whom I like sex (see the photo). Choices? Men or women. Sorry bisexual folks.

UPDATE: All flights out of Korea are now subject to the inane requirement that all liquids in carry-on luggage be in containers no larger than 100ml and all placed together in a separate clear plastic bag. What's to stop someone from concealing larger amounts of liquid on their person?

UPDATE 2: Same crazy liquid rules apply to all flights leaving Japan. A note about the Duty Free shopping in Fukuoka, unless you're looking to buy a bottle of whiskey, scotch, or sake then you're going to be very disappointed. Fukuoka's airport has the worst liquor selection I've ever seen. I should have bought a bottle to bring back at a supermarket downtown, because even there the prices are half of what they ask in Korea.

Captain Chicken-Choker

2007-07-31T15:52:37Z

Spotted in Sinchon this evening, finally a place where a man can go dressed like a super hero to drink beer and choke his chicken.

Seoul Auto Salon 2007

2007-07-09T01:55:12Z

As promised, here's the results of my Thursday trip to the Seoul Auto Salon 2007... don't expect to see any cars! :D

This next photo shows just what kind of Sausage Party this show actually is.

With that many photographers it's a real bitch to get good shots. Keep in mind that this photo was taken on Thursday, the opening day of the show. At that time for each hot model there were 20-50 photographers. On Saturday and Sunday there could have been about 100 photographers per model.

Please note that hotlinking to my images is not allowed (in fact, it won't work, an anti-hotlink photo will be displayed instead). But feel free to post the link or upload them elsewhere so long as my watermark remains intact and you post your link in the comments below.

If you've enjoyed these photos then I'd appreciate if you would leave a comment below--it's what inspires me to put these photos up. Thank you!

Happy Fourth of July!

2007-07-04T11:53:48Z

The holiday I can't forget, today is American Independence Day. I celebrated it by not having a holiday and eating a burrito. Woohoo! With America's current status of immigration I actually think a burrito was quite the proper way to mark the day.

The above photo was taken in downtown Seoul at the conclusion of the Hi Seoul 2006 festivities. I unfortunately missed the 2007 festival as I was abroad.

And you thought your job sucked...

2007-07-02T10:49:04Z

Young men stand in the median across from the Coex Mall with illuminated backpack signs advertising Domino's Pizza's new "Thai Tare Pizza".

In addition to shrimp, squid, and flying fish eggs they've added bisque sauce. I'd have named it The French Bastard. Not that I have anything against the French, I just don't believe they're known for mixing bisque sauce with squid... on pizza.

Beer + Fiber = WTF?

2007-07-01T04:39:40Z

Popped into 7-Eleven last night (yes, in Seoul) to grab a drink when I spotted the beer pictured here. Apparently Hite, who makes what I consider to be Korea's most drinkable beer (not the saccharin/apple tasting "Cass" that so many people prefer) has launched yet another new beer called S-Beer. From the label:

S
exfeel-s
The Stylish Beer with Fiber
Smooth & light premium beer exclusively designed
for well-being of young generation.

So, I bought a can.
Tastes fine, like I would expect a Hite beer to taste. The fiber must be invisible because it looked more like a Bud than Metamucil. I doubt I'll buy it again, there's a price premium on that fiber. Although it is a decent amount at about 1.8 grams per can.

But what's the whole "exfeel-s" thing? What's that supposed to mean? I want to use "exfeel" like a term for an exgirlfriend you had in middleschool. Ah, wait, the website is catered for women--this is girl beer! The "S" is in reference to the current fad of the "S-line" body, for describing today's supposed perfect form, the S-curve. See the stunning example in the ad photo beside. :)

The Dolharubang of Santa Rosa

2007-06-30T08:38:53Z

My hometown of Santa Rosa (well, sort of hometown since I'm really from neighboring Sebastopol) in California has had a sister-city relationship with Bukjeju located on Jeju Island, South Korea since 1996. In 2003 Bukjeju sent these two Dolharubang (stone grandfather) statues. Or to quote a friend's wife from the area, "those two dildo-looking statues".

The original meaning of the Dolharubang is long forgotten and it's unknown who their creators were. Some say they look Polynesian, many see a phallic symbol. There's even one special statue down in Jeju where a couple is supposed to rub the nose if they want to conceive a boy.

The statues were placed downtown off Sonoma Ave. and as such I'd driven past them before without much thought. But on my recent trip back I thought I'd capture them for here. The thing that got me though was the bench. Painted on it are a mixture of images from Santa Rosa and Bukjeju, from the fashion-challenged Santa Rosa highschool girls who danced at the Jeju Fire Festival, over to a picture of the Mayor Shin Chul-ju of Bukjeju, and then down in the bottom right corner to a very odd inscription:

We have no beggars.
We have no thieves.
We have no poor.

Now they sure as hell aren't describing Santa Rosa. But rather that quote reminds me of the kind of propaganda that Korea generates for foreigners. Those claims are untenable.