Visit Korea Special VIP Tour [Day 2-8]

I was addicted to Korean traditional musical performance after I watched 'Fantastick' show. It's like a wish came true to watch another famous show. 

 

 Jeongdong Theater (정동 극장).

 

Before watching Miso: Baebijang-jeon (배비장전), 

we attended a class on how to play Janggu. 

The teacher introduced us this percussion instrument.

Janggu (장구) is Korean Traditional hourglass-shaped drum. To play the janggu, you'll need beating sticks (chae): Gungchae and Yeolchae.

It's like learning Korean language... we're asked to repeat what the teacher said:

Jang~gu, Gung~chae and Yeol~chae, Janggu~chae.

Then we're taught on how to hold the sticks properly:

1. Gungchae on left hand. If you beat it on the janggu it'll make 'Gung' sound.

2. Yeolchae on right hand. If you beat it on the janggu it'll make 'Ttak' sound.

3. Gungchae + Yeolchae together will make 'Dong' sound.

Then, we  practiced to beat a set of rhythm - Jangdan (장단):

'Dong ~ Dong ~ Gung ~ Ttak ~ Gung'.

Now we seemed more professional as the teacher taught us a bit of 

hand variation to beat Gungchae on the right side of Janggu.

After that we learned another 3 sets of basic rhythms: 

1. 'Dong ~ Ttak ~ Ttak ~ Gung ~ Tak ~ Gung'

2. Dong dong dong~~~ dong!

3. Dong ~ Dong ~ (pause) ~ Dong ~ Dong (pause) ~ Dong Dong Dong ~ Dong Dong

The class ended after we played from first to forth rhythm in one go. 박수~!!! 

It's not hard nor easy too. Well, kinda tricky especially when I've to think which hand to hit the Janggu when changing the rhythms. But it's really fun and everyone enjoyed the class because the teacher was really nice and passionate to teach us how to play this folk percussion instrument.

 Yes! Certificate for completing Janggu class. 

(Maybe I can apply job as Janggu performer in Korea) ;P

  
 We were to leave the theater after the class, as they need to prepare the stage.


 Ticket counter open at 7:00 pm for 8:00 pm show.

 Tourists and locals were waiting for the show.

Quite a lot of people inside the hall, so I went outside to take some photos.

 
Secretary Bae (배비장) and District Magistrate (사또).

In the bus, Kim eonni told us meaning of Miso (미소 = Smile) and synopsis of newly created traditional performance of Baebijang-jeon (裵裨將傳 / The Story of Secretary Bae).

Baebijang-jeon is based on classical satire novel of the Joseon Dynasty. It evokes laughter by alluding to the hypocrisy of Secretary Bae who act that he's not interested with beautiful gisaeng and just concentrating in his study.

 Yangban and Giseang lifestyle in Hanyang (capital of Joseon Dynasty).

 

He's appointed as secretary in charge of culture and art. 

He and the Jeju new district magistrate (Satto) sailing to Jeju Island. 

  

Aerang, the most beautiful gisaeng in Jeju that causing

 Hareubang (Stone Statue) to wake up and horses to 

gallop (not Psy's horse-dance) towards her scent.

Secretary Bae doesn’t mingle with the people at the welcoming party of the new magistrate. Instead, he goes around scolding the other secretaries for socializing with gisaengs (courtesans). Satto was curious and wanted to test Secretary Bae. He ordered the male servant to ask Aerang to seduce him.

Aerang's seduction at the waterfall in Hallasan.

Will he be immune to Aerang's seduction as he promised his wife not to have love scandal before he went to Jeju Island?!

I love Baebijiang-jeon show because of its unique and interesting scenario. It's also vividly reviving the style of Joseon era with beautiful and colorful hanbok of Gisaeng, Satto, Yangban, Court dancers.  and nice setting of matching backgrounds according to the storyline.

 

It's so cool that they have using Traditional instruments such as janggu, buk (barrel drum),
jing (gong), Haegeum, Gayageum, and modern drum for live performance.

I was sitting on the second or third row, so I could see those musical performers playing those instruments and creating such an amazing and fantastic sound effects for the whole show.

Not only that, you feel like watching several Gugak and Pungmulnori performances in the show. There were few representative folk dances such as Ogomu (five drum dance), Court Dance Hwa-gwan mu (flower crown dance), Sangmo Dance (pinning streamer hat performance).

 One of the famous painting of Shin Yun Bok also appeared on the 

screen when Secretary Bae and his maid walking to Aerang's house.

 

This live performance brought smiles to everyone... No wonder it's called MISO~! 

When I watched Baebijiangjeon, it reminded me on K-drama 'Arang and the Magistrate.'

Because newly appointed Jeju Magistrate's uniform similar to Satto Kim Eun-oh in the drama. And the leading female performer's name (애랑 / Ae-rang) sounded very similar to Arang (아랑). 

 

We received Souvenirs from Jeongdong Theater:

Miso Program Book with special fabric cover and cap.

You can purchase the the souvenirs at the counter. When I saw the scented candle in the jar, I was so sad. I won it from their contest, but I didn't replay as I only noticed the message after the cut off time. ㅠㅠ

Jeondong Theater Instagram contest: 

Beautiful photo about Korea.

Website: www.jeongdong.or.kr

Add: 43 Jeongdong-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul.

Phone: +82 2-751-1500

I just noticed from the map that Jeongdong Theater is located between Deoksugung and Kyunhyang Newspaper building. If you have time, I'll recommend you to watch 'Baebijiangjeon' and 'Fantastick' Shows. In between the show, you can visit Deoksu Palace and have your meal at the restaurants or coffee shops at famous Doldamgil (Stone wall street).

This trip is made possible by VisitKorea organised by Korea  Tourism Organization. 

   

September in Seoul - Live 'FantaStick' Performance [Day 7]

Great that we didn't miss this non-verbal live performance. Initially thought to give it a miss, as we didn't manage to catch the show the day before. Didn't aware that they have 2 shows daily. I thought that there's only 8 pm show daily. My friend helped us to reserve for 5 pm show, and it's so coincidence that 8 pm show was cancelled on that day.

‘FantaStick’ (판타스틱)

Live Fusion Gukak Music Performance 

Thank you Korea In Motion (Koinmo) for free tickets 

from participating in Koinmo Stylist.

Huge Teddy Bear & Nice Wall Paintings outside Fantastick Theatre

Thanks to the pretty lady on the ticket counter that persuaded us to come for 80 minutes show before we headed to the airport for our flight back to Singapore.

~*~*~*~

All  photos credit to Fantastick Facebook Page

The mother of Gugak family started the show reminding audiences 

to silence the handphone, and no camera flash during the performance 

in Korean and English with Pansori singing version. LOL~!!!

Then the huge screen shown the synopsis in Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese languages:
In the beginning, there were a man and a woman who loved each other. God loved them so much that he gave a 'Heavenly Drum' to the man and a 'Heavenly Flute' to the woman.



But the woman tore off the Heavenly drum because the man got obsessed by the Heavenly Drum. As a result, God hid the Heavenly flute and made her family become ghosts. The only way to turn back into human is to play ‘Fanta-Stick’ music with the lost heavenly flute.


Guess what will happen to them next when the ghosts come to car workshop?

Before the battle start, let me introduce these 2 families: 'Fantasy' (fantasy world created by string music from Gugak Family) and 'Stick' (drumming elements from Percussion Family):

Percussion Family running an auto repair shop and living a fun and peaceful life. One day, they find the heavenly flute in the corner of the auto repair shop. The Gukak family sees the heavenly flute in the repair shop and they tries to take it back from the percussion family. Since then, weird happenings occur to the percussion family every day.

The Percussion Family (타악가문)

* Semachi : First-born son of the percussion family who is very handsome

   Semachi (세마치) is instrument that makes a variety of rhythm. 

* Goodgeori : Sexy and charismatic daughter and takes good care of her siblings in her daily life.
   Goodgeori (굿거리) is the rhythm that has excitement.

* Jinyangjo : Trouble maker of the family but also adorable.
   Jinyangjo (진양조) is the rhythm that is the slowest.

* Danmori : The youngest and cutest daughter of the percussion family.
   Danmori (단모리) is the rhythm that is the fastest in the traditional way.

* Jangdan : Father of the percussion family who keeps family tradition of performance.
   Jangdan (장단) is the Korean traditional rhythm.

Jang-gu: the most widely used drum used in the traditional music of Korea. 

Hourglass-shaped body with two heads made from animal skin. 

The two heads produce sounds of different pitch and timbre, which when played 

together are believed to represent the harmony of man and woman.

Gukak Family became Ghosts because the Youngest Daughter tore the heavenly drum off. They have to play ‘Fanta-Stick’ music to turn back into human. But they can’t play ‘Fanta-Stick’ music without the lost heavenly flute. One day, they find out that the percussion family has the heavenly flute in their auto repair shop. So they try to take the heavenly flute back.

The Gukak Family (현악가문)

* Joong (Sol) : Strict mother of Ghost family, she has heavenly voice.

   Pansori (판소리)  is a genre of  Korean  traditional  music. It  is a  vocal and  percussion  music performed by a  singer 

   and a drummer.

* Lim (Ra) : Daughter who always has odd way on playing Gayageum.
   Gayageum (가야금) is a  zither-like string  instrument  with 12 strings. Recently variants have been constructed with 21
    or other numbers of strings

Pretty Daegeum falls in love with Saemachi.

* Moo (Do) : Beautiful youngest daughter who plays Daegeum.
   Daegeum (대금) is a large  bamboo  transverse  flute. It has a  buzzing  membrane that gives it a special timbre.

* Hwang (Re) : Cold-hearted daughter with gloomy face who plays Haegeum.
  Haegeum (해금) is a string  instrument, resembling a  fiddle. It has a rod-like  neck, a  hollow  wooden sound box, and
  two silk strings, and is held vertically on the knee of the performer and played with a bow.

* Tae (Mi) : Mischievous daughter who plays Ajaeng, that always blamed by others.

  Ajaeng (아쟁) is a wide zither with strings made of twisted silk. It played by means of a slender stick made of forsythia 
   wood, which is scraped against the strings in the manner of a bow.

FantaStick team is comprised of talented musicians, actors, dancers, and mimes to perform fusion percussion, Korean music, B-Boy (breakdancing), acrobatics to create this awesome show.

~Romance and Music~

Sad melody from this bamboo flute and her longing for Semachi...

unexpected tears suddenly rolling down my face. 

Somehow, I fall in love with the sound from the bamboo flute. 

The 'trouble-maker' Jinyangjo accidentally created big problem 

and being blamed by his siblings and father for his reckless action.

He's being chased out and sadly left the workshop...

No... No!!! This is not tear-jerking show, so don't worry that you'll come out with puffy eyes and reindeer nose. The show only consist 10% of sadness. You'll be entertained for the rest of the show and laugh your heart out!

...and wandered around the audiences to get Free Hug.

Sad and hilarious at the same time as nobody willing to hug him!

My 2 kiddos like him the most, as he's the funniest guy! Indeed he's talented performing lots of difficult actions to make the audiences burst into laughter.

well blending of heart pounding percussion beats and heart stirring melodies 

from strings instruments and bamboo flute. 

I love their colorful eye-catching fusion hanbok! The more I see the more I want to get these pretty hanbok for myself!

How's the ending of this Korean Romeo & Juliet?

There's photo-taking before entering the theater for every audiences.

My husband was randomly selected to go up the stage to mimic their actions.

Received Fantastick Tee as a souvenir after completing mimicking. Haha~!!!

It's non-verbal, that everyone could appreciate it without the need to understand Korean language to watch this performance. It's so much fun, interactive, hilarious and entertaining. Really excellent show that even my two kiddos enjoyed it much.

Ok, make sure you catch this 'FantaStick' moment in Seoul or Jeju Island.

Kyunhyang Arthill 2F
22, Jung-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul
For more information on direction and Jeju theater, please check:
www.fanta-stick.co.kr

 

 I'm addicted to this musical show and will catch others performances next time!

 Let me introduce this site, where you can get discounted tickets for the performances.

 

September in Seoul - Gyeongbokgung Palace [Day 6]

Back in Seoul from Gangneung City. Maybe we bought the wrong bus ticket, as the bus stop at Dong Seoul Bus Terminal (Gangbyeon Station) instead of Express Bus Terminal. Anyway, we arrived in Seoul... ㅋㅋㅋ 

Bus fare from Gangneung to Dong Seoul is cheaper than from  Express Bus Terminal to Gangneung. Adult: 14,600 Won  and Child: 7,300 Won. 

Took a taxi from Dong Bus Terminal directly to Capt Ryan's Nest. Instead of hotel room, we booked this entire apartment in Yongsan-gu through BnBHero.

Cosy and beautiful apartment 

Kids love this quite spacious loft apartment. It's new, neat, clean and comfortable. It's accessible to the city's must-see places. clean and spacious. Essential amenities and wifi facilities are provided too.

The owner, Mr. Ryan Kim is a very nice guy,  and very helpful and responsive to our messages. Overall, I felt it was worth the price as it was a pleasant experience throughout our stay.

1.  Gyeongbokgung (경복궁)

Gyeongbok (경복 = Greatly Blessed by Heaven)

Gung (궁 = Palace)

Gyeongbokgung was the first royal palace built by the Joseon Dynasty, built in 1395, three years after the Joseon Dynasty was founded. It served as the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty.

 Gyeongbokgung is situated in the middle of Seoul city.

Admission Ticket: 3,000 Won (Adult) and 1,500 Won (Child)

The most prominent and grandest of the Five Grand Palaces (Gyeonghuigung, Deoksugung, Changgyeonggung, Changdeokgung), which consisted of 330 buildings. It's also called Northern Palace because of its location.

 Geunjeongjeon (근정전 = Imperial Throne Hall), where the king was

formally briefed by his officials and the central venue for various

coronation ceremonies of the royal household.

Rank Stones with numbers carved on them

Court officials would line up according to rank using the rank stones

in the courtyard outside Geunjeongjeon Hall.

   

Gwanghwamun is the main gate of Gyeongbokgung,

It's comprised of three arched gates called Hongyemun, with the middle gate

reserved for the king and the other two for his officials. Gwanghwamun was

severely damaged during the Japanese occupation and the Korean War.

Heungnyemun (흥례문) is the second largest gate of Gyeongbokgung,
and the first gate that visitors see after Gwanghwamun Gate.

This gate was totally demolished during Japanese occupation, and 

restored to its original form in 1995.

Pictureque Hyangwonjeong Pavilion (향원정)

This hexagonal pavilion was constructed by order of King Gojong on an artificial

island in a lake (Hyangwonji) and was connected to the palace grounds by a bridge.

Hyangwonjeong means ‘Pavilion of Far-Reaching Fragrance’

 and Chwihyanggyo bridge translates as ‘Bridge Mesmerized with Fragrance’


Geoncheonggung (건청궁)

Jangandang is a part of Geongcheonggung. living quarter of Gojong, the last emperor.
King Gojong built this palace (gung) inside Gyeongbokgung (palace) in 1873.
I particularly like this unpainted wooden quarter, but there's sad story behind it

Too bad we're late to join the free guided tour. I really recommended this free tour because we're just wandering around over 40 hectares of this palace but not knowing what are the purposes of each halls.  We joined Changdeokgung free guided tour in our previous trip and we can really appreciate and learn more about this historical site. The guide will show you around and briefly explain some of the major buildings with their functions and their own stories behind them. It's available in English and other languages too.

We missed out Gyeonghoeru Pavilion (경회루) on another side of the palace




and walked pass this National Folk Museum, located on the Gyeongbokgung grounds.


National Folk Museum with blue-tiled 5-story pagoda on top of it.

This photo was taken when we just arrived... still full of energy and smiles.

But, they decided to go out and had dinner as they're tired and hungry...

2.  Tosokchon (토속촌)

Chicken stew with Wild Mountain Ginseng

Tosokchon is famous for their Samgyetang (Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup). Samgyetang is a whole spring chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, ginseng and other healthy ingredients like jujube, garlic, ginkgo nut and different types of medicinal herbs and and grains. It makes Samgyetang not only delicious but also healthy because each ingredient of samgyetang has its own special functions. Ginseng is effective in tackling multiple symptoms, rejuvenates body, boosts metabolism, reduces stress, treats diabetes, improve respiratory illnesses, and many more.

Koreans especially enjoy eating it on three hottest days in July and August, called Chobok (초복), Jungbok (중복) and Malbok (말복) for restoring their stamina and health due to exhausted of the summer heat.

Tosokchon restaurant

Tosokchon is located near Gyungbokgung. You can easily identify this unique Hanok style restaurant. It's quite big with few halls/rooms. You need to take off your shoe, as you'll sit and eat on the floor.

We ordered Chicken stew with ginseng (15,000 won) and another one with wild mountain Ginseng (21,000 won). Basically it's the same chicken stew, just additional a small bottle of wild ginseng to pour on the soup for Chicken Stew with wild ginseng.

They also served 2 small cups of ginseng wine... I like the taste of ginseng wine.

We reached around 5:45pm, and it was quite crowded... and very fast our room was fully occupied with the rest of the customers. It's better to avoid lunch and dinner hours.

You can see the immediate effect after healthylicious Samgyetang...

Cute and happy faces! LOL!!!

3.  Caffe Bene

to make them even happier and wider smiles...  but they couldn't smile,

 as they couldn't scoop and eat until I finished taking photos. Hahaha... sorry~!



Caffé bene served this sweet and tasty bingsu (빙수= shaved ice usually with sweet red beans, nuts, or fruits toppings). It's our favourite dessert as a small treat after tired walking...

Actually we wanted to order 3 glasses of bingsu, but the staff kept saying that it's very big glass.... So we ordered Green Tee Bingu and Oreo Bingsu... and the cute staff still told us that it's very big glass and showed us the glass. Maybe she was afraid that we're unable to finish them and wasting food. But, we insisted to order 2 glasses and finished them cleanly :P

Then, we rushed to Kyunghyang Newspaper Building to catch Fantastick show. But there's no show on 8pm. Actually, I'd asked my Korean friend to reserve it, but blamed me that didn't ask him the timing and thought it's only one show on 8pm everyday. But, actually they have 2 shows (5pm and 8pm). So, we changed it to 5pm show the next day.

Since it's cancelled, we just went back to Capt. Ryan's nest to rest and pack our luggage as it's our last night in Seoul...

And today is the last day of 2013... and before 2013 ends, I would like to thank all of you, who made this 2013 beautiful for me.

Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed and fantastic year ahead. 새해 복 많이 받으세요~! Cheers...^^

Related Posts:

~ Samcheongdong has Something for Everyone~!

~ Bukchon Hanok Village  

~ Insight Into Insadong

~ [Trazy] Gyeongbokgung palace 경복궁

~ [Trazy] Tosokchon Samgyetang 토속촌 삼계탕