Saturday, November 28, 2009

Korean Movies Subtitled in English 2009/11/30-200/12/02

굿모닝 프레지던트 (Good Morning President) is hanging around...

Good Morning President is on at the Myeong-dong Cinus Theater:

Monday (30th) - 2155 and 2425
Tuesday (1st) - 2155 and 2425
Wednesday (2nd) - 1010

I'm not sure what's going on with Cinus Gangnam, but will update as soon as I can. All listings are correct at time of posting, but may be too busy trying to get their hands on an iphone...

UPDATE: Wednesday's listings added...

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Korean Movies Subtitled in English 2009/11/26-2009/11/29

굿모닝 프레지던트 (Good Morning President) keeps on trucking.

Good Morning President is on at the Myeong-dong Cinus Theater:

Thursday (26th) - 2155 and 2425
Friday (27th) - 2155 and 2425
Sunday (29th) - 2155 and 2425

And at the Gangnam Cinus Theater:

Thursday (26th) - 1120 and 1355

I'll update times as they appear. All listings are correct at time of posting, but may go rogue at a moment's notice...

UPDATE: Apologies for the lack of Saturday listings, Sunday's are now up...

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Crap & Lobster...

J's Kitchen Crap & Lobster

Awwww... Korean owned Italian restaurants sometimes say the funniest things...

The staff at J's Kitchen in Gangnam need to improve their proofreading skills.

Maybe they can learn something from this poem:



J's Kitchen Crap & Lobster

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Korean Movies Subtitled in English 2009/11/23-2009/11/25

굿모닝 프레지던트 (Good Morning President) continues its term of office...

Good Morning President is on at the Myeong-dong Cinus Theater:

Monday (23rd) - 0930, 1200 and 2320
Tuesday (24th) - 0930, 1200 and 2320
Wednesday (25th) - 0930, 1200 and 2330

And at the Gangnam Cinus Theater:

Monday (23rd) - 0850, 1340, 1830 and 2320
Tuesday (24th) - 0850, 1340, 1830 and 2320
Wednesday (25th) - 0850, 1340, 1830 and 2320

I'll update times as they appear. All listings are correct at time of posting, but may be defeated in a by-election...

UPDATE: Wednesday's listings added

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Korean Movies Subtitled in English 2009/11/19-2009/11/22

굿모닝 프레지던트 (Good Morning President) continues it's rampage through the Cinus Theater chain...

Good Morning President is on at the Myeong-dong Cinus Theater:

Thursday (19th) - 200, 1445 and 2330
Friday (20th) - 0940, 1210 and 2330
Saturday (21st) - 1210 and 2330
Sunday (22nd) - 0940, 1210 and 2330

And at the Gangnam Cinus Theater:

Thursday (19th) - 0850, 1340, 1830 and 2320
Friday (20th) - 0850, 1340, 1830 and 2320

I'll update times as they appear. All listings are correct at time of posting, but may freeze to death. Hopefully the Hub of Sparkle will be up at some point soon and when that happens I'll continue posting there...

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Korean Movies Subtitled in English 2009/11/16-2009/11/18

In the totalitarian state of subtitled cinema, 굿모닝 프레지던트 (Good Morning President) rules with an iron fist...

Good Morning President is on at the Myeong-dong Cinus Theater:

Monday (16th) - 0900, 1130 and 2400
Tuesday (17th) - 0900, 1130 and 2400
Wednesday (18th) - 0900, 1130 and 2400

And at the Gangnam Cinus Theater:

Monday (16th) - 1215 and 1450
Tuesday (17th) - 1215 and 1450
Wednesday (18th) - 1215 and 1450

All listings are correct at time of posting, but may well be thrown if horses are changed midstream...

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Korean Movies Subtitled in English 2009/11/12-2009/11/15

굿모닝 프레지던트 (Good Morning President) remains at the Cinus chain, but nowhere else.

Good Morning President is on at the Myeong-dong Cinus Theater:

Thursday (12th) - 1130, 2130 and 2400
Friday (13th) - 0900, 1130 and 2400
Saturday (14th) - 0900, 1130 and 2400
Sunday (15th) - 0900, 1130 and 2400

And at the Gangnam Cinus Theater:

Thursday (12th) - 1215 and 1450
Friday (13th) - 1215 and 1445
Saturday (14th) - 1215 and 1445
Sunday (15th) - 1215 and 1445

All listings are correct at time of posting, but may well be quarantined until further notice...

A Day With Three Meanings...

Pepero Day

November 11th, is known all around Korea as Pepero Day! The day when you are encouraged to go out and buy overpriced poor quality chocolate coated biscuit sticks for the loved one of your choice. Never has there been a more commercial celebration of our love for chocolate batons!

Necktie's day

However, according to STCO (Shirts and Tie Coordination), today is in fact "Necktie's Day", a time when we give our very special someone a piece of neck couture to celebrate our feelings.

Even though sub par confectionery and strips of knotted cloth appeal to me, there's a more important meaning to this day. Over on Gangwon Notes, Brian pays tribute to Rememberance Day by posting In Flander's Field and it inspired me to do something similar.

When I was in school we studied a fair amount of first world war poetry and one poem in particular has stuck in my mind through all these years. Wilfred Owen's Dulce Et Decorum Est is a powerful reminder of the terrible price that so many men and women have paid...

Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!–An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,–
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Korean Movies Subtitled in English 2009/11/09-2009/11/11

The Hub of Sparkle is still having issues, so here's the latest on 굿모닝 프레지던트 (Good Morning President) and the screenings available...

Good Morning President is on at CGV Yongsan:

Monday (9th) - 1045, 1330, 1850 and 2140
Tuesday (10th) - 1045, 1330, 1850 and 2140

At CGV Ansan:

Monday (9th) - 1050, 1345, 1630, 1915 and 2155
Tuesday (10th) - 1050, 1345, 1630, 1915 and 2155

And at the Myeong-dong Cinus Theater:

Monday (9th) - 0900, 1130 and 2400
Tuesday (10th) - 0900, 1130 and 2400
Wednesday (11th) - 0900, 1130 and 2400

I'll update as times appear. All listings are correct at time of posting, but may succumb to a terrible virus...

UPDATE: Cinus Gangnam has some listings up:

Tuesday (10th) - 0850, 1125 and 1400

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Korean Movies Subtitled in English 2009/11/05-200/11/06

The Hub Of Sparkle seems to be having some issues at the moment and I'm unable to post there, so for the moment at least, here are the latest times for 굿모닝 프레지던트 (Good Morning President)...

Good Morning President is on at CGV Yongsan:

Thursday (5th) - 1045, 1330, 1900 and 2145
Friday (6th) - 1045, 1330, 1850 and 2140
Saturday (7th) - 0820, 1100, 1340, 1625, 1910 and 2155
Sunday (8th) - 0820, 1100, 1340, 1625, 1910 and 2155

At CGV Ansan:

Thursday (5th) - 1050, 1345, 1630, 1915 and 2155
Friday (6th) - 1050, 1335, 1620, 1905, 2145 and 2430
Saturday (7th) - 0950, 1240, 1515, 1750, 2030 and 2310
Sunday (8th) - 0935, 1220, 1455, 1735, 2015 and 2250

At the Myeong-dong Cinus Theater:

Thursday (5th) - 1230, 1710 and 2200
Friday (6th) - 1230, 1500 and 2410
Saturday (7th) - 1230, 1500 and 2410
Sunday (8th) - 1230, 1500 and 2410

And at the Gangnam Cinus Theater:

Thursday (5th) - 0850, 1125 and 1400
Friday (6th) - 0850, 1125 and 1400
Saturday (7th) - 0850, 1125 and 1400
Sunday (8th) - 0850, 1125 and 1400

I'll post this up at The Hub of Sparkle when I can. All listings are correct at time of posting, but may be misquoted by The Korea Times...

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Foaming At The Mouth

Ecume [ekyme]

Écumé [ekyme] or 에뀌메 means foamed in French, it also means skimmed and plundered and has an unfortunate connection to scum, but don't let that put you off this small restaurant located less than a minute from the Hamilton Hotel.

Ecume [ekyme]

This chic little diner has taken over where Kate's Kitchen left off and serves the usual pasta and steak selections you might expect from this kind of place. They offer a reasonable lunch set menu ranging from 15,000 to 17,000 won which gives you a choice of pastas, risotto, steak or chicken breast along with a self-described "small salad" and coffee or green tea. I decided to go for the "black pepper-crushed strip loin steak, red wine shitake mushroom sauce" for 17,000 won plus tax and crossed my fingers...

Ecume [ekyme]

First to come was the bread basket, crusty chewy little slices that were quite delicious, but unfortunately came with a rather oddly flavoured herb butter that tasted like it had seen better days.

Ecume [ekyme]

Next to come was the "small salad", I opted for no dressing (sour plum is available) and was pleasantly surprised by this varied combination of greens with raisins, dried apricots and chopped peanuts. An interesting and slightly sweet addition to lunch.

Ecume [ekyme]

After a brief hiatus out came the strip loin steak, presented well, but hampered by some rather unexciting accessories. The broccoli was rather hard and the small hash brown sort of thing hiding under the meat tasted slightly of failure. The cherry tomato was perfectly adequate, but the steak, mushrooms and red wine sauce were far better. A little too salty for my liking, but still enjoyable.

Ecume [ekyme]

The meat was a tad grisly and strangely enough was undercooked. I ordered medium-rare, but the steak that arrived was rare in my book; I didn't have a problem with it, but for those who like their meat cooked precisely to their preferences may have issues...

Ecume [ekyme]

Overall not a bad lunch, plus the service was fast and friendly. You can find Écumé [ekyme] just two side streets away from the Hamilton Hotel, just come out of Itaewon Station exit 1, walk past KFC and the Nike shop, then turn right just after the Samsonite shop. The restaurant is a few metres away just behind Le Saint-Ex. Give them a call on 02 3477 7378.

November Delights

Organic Persimmons

As we head towards winter, there is still one final comfort we can be sure of - persimmons are out in abundance and these glorious orange balls of sweetness are a perfect antidote to the bitter cold outside. I was lucky enough to be treated to some beautiful organic persimmons straight from my friend's garden today.

Hard or soft, fresh or dried, they are worth a try and should sit pride of place in your fruit bowl.

Organic Persimmons