New Home… Part 2
The time has come… a new home… bigger and it will be better. Please update your RSS feeds to get all my blogs and updates via…
BAM!
Moving day…
The time has come for me to move house a little. From today forward, I’ll be blogging over at Blogspot.
Be sure to update your bookmarks and RSS feeds!
Changgyeong Palace
http://www.youtube.com/v/oG4R12c07NE?fs=1&hl=en_US&hd=1&border=1
I love a great many things about Seoul. Its people. Its transportation. Its history.
There are five Grand Palaces and I saved one of the best for my last visit: Changgyeonggung. It happens to be the oldest of the Royal Palaces and named Suganggung before King Sejong gave it its current name.
As with the other palaces in Seoul, it was completely destroyed by the Japanese and later rebuilt. Over the years, it has served a variety of functions, including as a zoo. What makes this palace different than the others in Seoul, is how relaxing the grounds are. Many families come here and relax among the trees and large lake-side benches.
When visiting Seoul, this is definitely one sight to see.
Editing…
Over the past week, I have spent a lot of time editing films and scripts. In fact, the more time I spend working on film-based projects, the more energized I feel about them. With two in-the-can, I only have two more projects to finish. It’s a good thing I have just under two weeks until deadline on the more important of the two.
However, with all the emphasis being placed on travel-show videos, it doesn’t mean that I don’t get out and have a little fun. Today, I had a few free minutes and elected to stop by my favorite furniture store in Dongtan. Not because I wanted to go shopping, but because I wanted to play with puppies.
Jo and I have been blessed with this store and the nicest dog I’ve met in a long time. Every time I pass by the store, I spend a few minutes giving her love, and now she recognizes me. When she sees me coming down the street, her tail starts wagging and then gives me tons of kisses when I get there.
I had been concerned, since over the past few weeks she hasn’t been around. I soon realized that she finally gave birth. Now, she has four lovely babies with her as well. I’ve gone back twice now and will probably continue to play with these little guys until they’re sold or given away. Part of me wants to take them home, because, as you’ll see in the video, they are filled with cuteness!
Have a great weekend!
The end of another month…
September is over! It has been an awesome month, but the best thing about it has been the cessation of summer temperatures.
Fall is in full effect, bringing with it beautiful days and cool evenings. It’s also bringing with it several busy days. On the heels of SeoulTube, I stepped into several filming projects, most of which are not for my YouTube Channel. This is a breath of fresh air, as it lets me revisit some older topics and present them in a new, more stylistic manner.
Today, I went out to the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress. It’s a great place, and a must-see (in my opinion) for anyone living in Korea. While out filming two projects, I was interviewed by KTV for an upcoming documentary they are working on in preparation for the G20 Summit later in October.
It was a fun experience, but for me very challenging. The interview portion was easy, but I constantly had to retrain myself not to look at the camera while talking. Shooting your own videos for YouTube, one must always look into the camera to engage the audience. However, this isn’t what you’re supposed to do in an interview… and after four years of trying to talk into the camera, looking past the camera was a stretch.
Here’s a quick little video I did at the pond while shooting:
I’ll post more about some of the other projects as they near completion.
Changgyeong Palace
I love a great many things about Seoul. Its people. Its transportation. Its history.
There are five Grand Palaces and I saved one of the best for my last visit: Changgyeonggung. It happens to be the oldest of the Royal Palaces and named Suganggung before King Sejong gave it its current name.
As with the other palaces in Seoul, it was completely destroyed by the Japanese and later rebuilt. Over the years, it has served a variety of functions, including as a zoo. What makes this palace different than the others in Seoul, is how relaxing the grounds are. Many families come here and relax among the trees and large lake-side benches.
When visiting Seoul, this is definitely one sight to see.
Recap: SeoulTube2010
Photo by Hyunwoo Sun
The weekend has come and gone, and with it SeoulTube 2010! I had originally wanted to host a gathering in 2009, but never got around to organizing it. I wanted 2010 to be different, especially since there’s been a surge of great people coming into Korea making videos.
I thought it would be great if 20 or 30 people would come out and mingle. That’s not what happened! Instead over 60 arrived at Banpo Park, including a rep from Google/YouTube Korea.
As with my attendance at the 2008 San Francisco gathering, I opted not to take out my camera and just experience the event. I’m glad I did, since this gathering was quite different from that one and others my friends have attended or hosted. What I mean by this is usually 80% of the attendees make videos and everyone wants to make collaborations. At our event, I figure only 20% of the attendees made videos.
That ratio was surprising, but very cool. Because I really wanted to reach out and meet the viewing audience. As YouTubers, one can see view counts and read/respond to comments, but rarely do you ever see and interact with someone who doesn’t make videos. Having this opportunity to sit down and get to know people made everything worth while.
The other amazing thing about the event, was that we had people traveling from all over Korea to gather. I was thrilled to finally meet people who I’ve been watching for a long time, but were in other cities. I only wished I had more time and the event was longer.
A sincere thank you to everyone who came out and especially to Hyunwoo Sun for making the event a great success.
Check out Youngjun’s Video of the event!
Friday!!!!!
The short mini-vacation, known as Chuseok week, is now over and I must return to work… for one day.
It has been a glorious week away from work, aside from the rain. What’s been best about the week, is that Jo and I made the most of it, taking side trips and visiting such iconic places as the DMZ and Everland.
We had originally wanted to hit Everland earlier in the week, but rain forced us to delay our plans, so we went on Thursday. This was very fortunate, since at the park we met up with Robert.
The day was a blast and such a great place to return to as well (for me). We weren’t alone in our plans to take the last day of vacation at Everland, as thousands joined us. In fact, at one point, we saw an MBC helicopter taking video of the day.
I think what made the week even more special for me was that I left the camera behind and enjoyed it as a real vacation. This weekend, Jo and I have a few plans (ie, video and cultural trips), but the big one is Seoul Tube. I am really looking forward to this event, as it is shaking up to be really huge. As of last night, we had 84 RSVPs on the Facebook Event. That is far more than I ever thought would come.
Since I have been away for so long, I feel kind out of the loop on all things Internet. What’s up in your neck of the woods?
Views on North Korea
First off… HAPPY CHUSEOK! Now for something related to what’s going on here, as power appears to be shifting up north:
This past weekend, Jo and I took a trip out to Seoul and the Demilitarized Zone. With all the press that North Korea gets, I thought I’d find out what foreigners think about our neighbor to the north and how it affects their daily life. Thanks to Evan, Rachel, Cassie, and Johanna for being in the interview section.
The QiRanger Adventures 