YB on KPI

Chris and I interviewed rock star Yoon Do-Hyun on the last Star Chat. He was a lot of fun and we were both surprised he could speak English so well :)
He is as easy-going and friendly in person as he sounds in the interview. It's so nice to see that all of his fame and popularity has not gone to his head and his main priority is his music with his band (YB) and doing shows. They performed at a charity concert called the West Coast Festival this weekend to benefit the residents of the west coast who were hit with the terrible oil spill in Taean in December 2007. Anyway, check out the interview here.

Anyway, Marc recently wrote on the message board asking us to ask Tablo (if we ever interview him or Epik High) a few questions. Chris and I have talked about this before, too--if you could ask a KPOP star a question, what would it be? If we ever interview that person, we'll ask them on your behalf. It could be directed towards a specific artist/group or it could be a general question. You can email me (sarahjun@kbs.co.kr) with the question or write it on the message board.

I'll leave you with this inspirational/philosophical message I saw on a wall in Hongdae (area near Hongik University) that always makes me smile.

Star Chat on Korean Pop Interactive

Hi everyone!

Sorry it's been so long since I posted last. I always think of something to post when I'm out but when I get home, I don't remember what I wanted to say or it doesn't seem so interesting anymore.
Anyway, I'll try to post more often, even if it is just a picture or two.

Last week Chris and I interviewed singer/song-writer duo 유리상자/Yurisangja (which means glass case or glass box in Korean) on Star Chat. You can watch the video of the interview here.

Here are some pix and videos:

이세준/Lee Se-Joon, Me (apparently I'm sleepy), Chris and 박승화/Park Seung-Hwa

The music video of their latest single "Honeymoon," which is featured on their 10th anniversary greatest hits album "All That Yurisangja"

And I didn't get a chance to post this pic and video. This is from our 5/26 interview with Japanese and Korean duo Hachi & TJ. You can watch that interview here.

Hachi, Me, TJ (조태준/ Jo Tae-Joon) and Chris

MV of "남쪽끝섬/Nam jjok ggeut seom/South Island," which is featured on their single "장사하자/ Jangsa haja/ Let's Do Business"

We're interviewing Yoon Do-Hyun next, so watch out and tune in for that!

P.S. Please send song requests for both KPOP Connection, our Mon-Sat show, and Korean Pop Interactive, our hour-long Sunday show. If you'd like to make a request, post a message on the board or email us (kpop@kbs.co.kr for KPOP Connection and sarahjun@kbs.co.kr for KPI).
I want to hear from everyone!

Have a great day!

Noryangjin Fish Market

I think one of the most exciting places in any city is the market. It's where you can experience the real essence of the city and its people.
I went to the Noryangjin Fish Market here in Seoul last month to buy some fresh seafood. Here are some pictures--I went in the late afternoon, so there wasn't much action going on. The wholesale auction takes place between 1 and 6 AM, so if you want some real action, you have to either get up early or stay up the night before. Since I am neither a night owl nor an early bird (I'm always tired...lazy, some might say :P), I rolled on in sometime after lunch.

Here are some pix:

the sign on top reads: 활어회/hwareo hwe/fresh raw fish (sashimi), 문어/mooneo/ octopus, 복/bok/blowfish, 전복/jeonbok/ abalone, 꽃게/ggot-geh/blue crab

회/hwe/raw fish you can buy pre-sliced. you can also choose a live fish and get the fishmonger to scale, gut and slice it up for you

clams, shrimp, octopus

홍어/hong-eo/skate

"aquariums of death" as i like to call them

haggling

huge octopi legs

the sign on the right says: we have live octopus! (koreans have many names for the different types of octopi)

outside the covered fish market, you can buy fresh veggies with which to cook the seafood you've just purchased. the first pic is of 파/pah/green onions and the second is of 미나리/ minari/ dropwort. both are put into various spicy seafood stews/soups. i bought some to cook 꽃게탕/ggot-geh tang/ spicy crab soup.

My goal is to wake up early enough (or stay up late enough) to see the wholesale auction take place...maybe :P