Turkish Film Week

Yey, Angela and Tesha are touching down Korea today!

If they cannot visit Jeonju for the film fest, they can still make do with Turkish films, currently screening for free till Saturday.

Go here for details.

Jindo Sea Parting Festival

Tesha and Angela are arriving tomorrow!

If I could have their schedule changed, I wish they could join me to this unique festival which aims to land 2 records in Guinness: longest stretch of land exposed via high tide and most number of people crossing.

May 5~7.

Visit this site for details

Busan International Performing Arts 2008

Yey, Tesha finally got her visa today! :)

So I will be seeing her and her cousin Angela in 9 days.

Here is yet another festival that coincides with their visit.

Click on this site for details.

9th Jeonju Film Festival

I know that Tesha is a film buff. We last bumped into each other during the Cinemanila Film Festival where Quentin Tarantino served as a judge (last year). So, here is a film fest that coincides with their visit.

Will David A Be The Surprise Bootie Tonight in American Idol?

The elims is currently ongoing… The groups are beginning!

On one side of the stage:

• Jason Castro
• Carly Smithson
• Syesha Mercado

On the other side of the stage:

• David Cook
• Kristy Lee Cook
• Brooke White

Where is David A going?

2008 Hi-Seoul Festival

Here's a festival in Seoul that Tesha & Angela may want to check out when they visit.

It may be children's day but the young boy looks very serious as an assistant dresses him in a heavy orange robe. His father is sitting nearby, being fitted with fake facial hair and his sister is dressed already, swathed in a red and green hanbok with gold embellishment. A female assistant in jeans delicately balances a hairpiece on the girl's head and pins it in place. The young Korean boy can hear the drums coming from the entrance to Gyeonghee Palace and is no doubt wondering when this torture will end and he can go watch the taekwondo display.

In front of the palace, a crowd has gathered to watch a farmers' dance in which participants leap around a square, defy dizziness by spinning long white ribbons attached to their hats while playing traditional percussion instruments. Their maroon smocks with yellow, red and blue detail reflect the colours of the ancient buildings behind them. More drummers follow; young men and women beat out a heart-pounding rhythm.

Meanwhile, the taekwondo experts are limbering up for a breathtaking display set to the theme music from Pirates Of The Caribbean. For a nation that has survived 900 invasions over its 5000-year history, physical strength is important and this sport is hugely popular. Pollen floats through the air as boys, girls, men and women line up to spin through the air and kick apples from knives, or smash concrete with bare hands.

Behind the palace, less dramatic cultural pursuits are taking place: a doctor in traditional dress and a horsehair hat takes the pulse of a little girl, analysing her health with ancient methodology; the young boy is finally ready and he poses for a picture with his family in the spring garden; offerings are made within the wooden walls of the brightly coloured rooms.

Activities such as this are taking place all over the city as part of the Hi Seoul Festival. For a week, South Korea's rich and vibrant culture is on show with a diverse range of events, from break-dancing and traditional music performances, to fashion parades and a sombre ancestral rite dating back 600 years. Seoul's beautifully restored palaces host re-enactments of folk games, military rites and even punishments from the Royal Palace and at Namsan Hanok folk village, daily life of the Joseon dynasty is acted out. Meanwhile, markets, music and street performances fill the streets of the capital.

Snaking across the south of the city, the mighty Hangang river sees plenty of action throughout the festival too, including a lighted boat parade to get the festival underway, a pontoon bridge and, in 2007, the world's first high-wire championship in which tightrope walkers from nine countries compete by crossing a one-kilometre stretch of rope suspended from towers 22-metres-high across the chilly water.

As night falls in squares, stadiums and theatres around the city, cultural events, including a world DJ festival and a non-verbal traditional performance, beat to a different drum. Combining Korean rhythms with western comedy is the internationally acclaimed show Nanta, playing throughout the festival. This high-energy performance - a bit like Stomp only with big knives and raw food involved - is an impressive fusion of Korean traditional music and skill in a modern setting.

After the slapstick comedy of three cooks with a percussion habit, the Jongmyojerye royal ancestral rite the following day is a more solemn affair. Both the shrine at the Royal Palace and the music of the 600-year-old ritual have been designated world cultural heritage by UNESCO and the annual event is carried out despite the fact there's no royal family in the new republic of South Korea. Until 1969, the Confucian rite was carried out five times a year, however there was a 20-year hiatus after liberation from the Japanese. Today, descendants of the Joseon dynasty, the Jeonju Lees, are responsible for performing the rite once a year in May. It's a slow, methodical ritual involving offerings to the ancestors, preceded by a brilliantly colourful street procession.

Jongmyojerye marks the end of the Hi Seoul Festival and once the ritual has been completed we are free to explore the palace grounds, a densely vegetated sprawl that feels far removed from the skyscrapers that crowd the skyline. Seoul's rapid expansion and economic success have seen it develop into a cosmopolitan city, but here in the Forbidden Garden within the ancient palace walls, you can stroll along maple-shaded paths and rest in the pavilions dotted around the ponds. Somewhere in the distance, louder than the hum of traffic, is the sound of drums as the Hi Seoul Festival draws to a close.

Snaking across the south of the city, the mighty Hangang river sees plenty of action throughout the festival too, including a lighted boat parade to get the festival underway, a pontoon bridge and, in 2007, the world's first high-wire championship in which tightrope walkers from nine countries compete by crossing a one-kilometre stretch of rope suspended from towers 22-metres-high across the chilly water.

As night falls in squares, stadiums and theatres around the city, cultural events, including a world DJ festival and a non-verbal traditional performance, beat to a different drum. Combining Korean rhythms with western comedy is the internationally acclaimed show Nanta, playing throughout the festival. This high-energy performance - a bit like Stomp only with big knives and raw food involved - is an impressive fusion of Korean traditional music and skill in a modern setting.

After the slapstick comedy of three cooks with a percussion habit, the Jongmyojerye royal ancestral rite the following day is a more solemn affair. Both the shrine at the Royal Palace and the music of the 600-year-old ritual have been designated world cultural heritage by UNESCO and the annual event is carried out despite the fact there's no royal family in the new republic of South Korea. Until 1969, the Confucian rite was carried out five times a year, however there was a 20-year hiatus after liberation from the Japanese. Today, descendants of the Joseon dynasty, the Jeonju Lees, are responsible for performing the rite once a year in May. It's a slow, methodical ritual involving offerings to the ancestors, preceded by a brilliantly colourful street procession.

Jongmyojerye marks the end of the Hi Seoul Festival and once the ritual has been completed we are free to explore the palace grounds, a densely vegetated sprawl that feels far removed from the skyscrapers that crowd the skyline. Seoul's rapid expansion and economic success have seen it develop into a cosmopolitan city, but here in the Forbidden Garden within the ancient palace walls, you can stroll along maple-shaded paths and rest in the pavilions dotted around the ponds. Somewhere in the distance, louder than the hum of traffic, is the sound of drums as the Hi Seoul Festival draws to a close.

Further information: The Hi Seoul Festival will be held May 4 to 11. See http://www.hiseoulfest.org for details.

American Idol Top 8

Who do you think will hit the bottom 3? Brooke White? Syesha Mercado? Carly Simon? Michael Johns?

Ramiele Malubay Hits The Bottom 3!

She surely has a reason to fear country music. It’s too bad Kristie Lee Cook was not eliminated before her. Kristie, however joins Ramie and Brookie White in the Bottom 3. The results is just minutes away…Stay tuned.

Ramiele Malubay Hits The Bottom 3!

She surely has a reason to fear country music. It’s too bad Kristie Lee Cook was not eliminated before her. Kristie, however joins Ramie and Brookie White in the Bottom 3. The results is just minutes away…Stay tuned.