How To Break A Watermelon With A Shuttlecock

Still on badminton but totally trivial this time.  Here are two videos featuring the Korean pair who won an Olympic Gold medal for mixed doubles in the Beijing 2008 Summer Games. Lee Hyojung and Lee Yongdae appear here on an Infinity Challenge TV show ( 2008). Did anybody record the speed of Lee's impressive smash when he slammed the shuttlecock into the watermelon? Flying shuttlecocks have been known to exceed 200km/hr.


Watermelon Cracked by Shuttlecock - Watch more Funny Videos

Caption from China's People Daily: Lee Hyojung and Lee Yongdae of South Korea stand on podium during victory ceremony of mixed doubles gold medal match of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games badminton event in Beijing, China, Aug. 17, 2008. Lee Hyojung and Lee Yongdae of South Korea won the match over Widianto Nova and Liliyana of Indonesia and got the gold medal.

source:
http://www.break.com/index/watermelon-cracked-by-shuttlecock.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGzXiHPn3vE
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90779/94835/6478399.html

Apsaras - Heavy or Heavenly Maidens? - Gyeongju, Part 6

Was browsing through the website of  the Gyeongju National Museum  the other day and was tickled to find an amusing blunder.

On the page which describes the famous Emile Bell or the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok, the description refers to the four apsaras as "heavy maidens sitting on the lotus flower cushion".

I've got a small reproduction of the Emile Bell, my one souvenir from Gyeongju which I couldn't resist splurging money to acquire and when I had a second look at the patterns on the replica bell, the ladies didn't look overweight to me.

Editing lapses aside, I'd say this website is a great introduction to would-be visitors to this famous museum and historic city. It has also been a great way for me to revisit Gyeongju to appreciate more fully its cultural legacy. I don't recall if there were the same explanatory notes in English for the artefacts on display when I visited the museum years ago but this website provides some useful and interesting information about some treasures in its vast collection ( it has over 210,000 items but only displays about 3000 artefacts).

Just click here  and then click on Exhibition Halls at the top bar. Look out for the famous Gold Crown and ornamental sheath for a dagger in the Archaeology Hall. Read carefully as well the description for a jar with clay figurines. Happy Exploring!

My Fav K Sounds - Part 2

Sometimes the things you don’t seek are the most rewarding. One of my favourite sounds in Korea is something I discovered by chance when I stayed overnight at Baekdamsa in Gangwon-do. I went there just to see what this quiet corner of Soraksan National Park was like and was already taken with the beauty of the maples in autumn there. I sought silence in Baekdamsa but found instead an unforgettable sonic experience.

It was also my first temple stay experience except that there was no formal program here. The vegetarian meal taken in silence was almost over in the communal dining-hall when I heard a muffled but intriguing rhythm building up on a drum somewhere outdoors on the temple grounds. Hastily, I cleared my dining-tray and went out into the nippy evening air in search of the source. In the darkness, my ears led me to a raised pavilion which housed an enormous drum, a cloud-shaped metallic cymbal of sorts, a wooden fish with a hollow body and a bronze bell with a profile reminded me of the Emile Bell. One seonim was facing the drum, his hands wielding two sturdy drumsticks while another was waiting for his cue beside the other instruments.

How can I describe to you what I heard? Definitely not mere banging. Not tuneful but riveting. Surprising because of the variety of rhythms created on the massive drum and so different from the monotonous beating heard in temples outside Korea and it. It had a commanding presence, speaking with authority, except that I wasn't sure what it was saying. But it was magical.

According to Brother Anthony, an expert on Korean culture, sounding the Dharma Instruments (bell, drum, fish, cloud) “represents communicating the call to enlightenment (the Dharma) to all 'sentient beings'.” The bell made of metal reaches out to those below the ground, while the drum made of leather is the call to living things above the ground. The hollow body of the wooden fish is struck to communicate to all the creatures in the sea whilst the cloud shaped gong is meant for all in the air.

Source of pic on left: KNTO website

My Fav K sounds - Part 1

The elegant profile of the bronze bell which stood at the reception counter of Mr Kwon Young –joung’s Hanjin-jang Yeogwan ( aka Hanjin Hostel) in Gyeongju first caught my eye. Then it caught my ear too as it produced a delightful ‘ting’ that seemed to linger in the air. It turned out to be a small replica of the famous Emile Bell which is on the grounds of the Gyeongju National Museum.


The original was cast in 771 A.D. Standing beside it, it was the first time I felt dwarfed by a bell; indeed the log suspended beside the bell used to strike it ( goodness knows when, if ever) seemed more like my size. The outlines of celestial beauties are seen on its surface, besides other floral motifs. One way or another, it is an impressive creation. According to the Lonely Planet, it’s “one of the largest and most beautifully resonant bells ever made in Asia. It’s said that its ringing can be heard over a 3 km radius when struck lightly only with the fist.”

The Emile Bell legend recounts how a child was thrown into the molten bronze during the casting process to appease the heavens. Apparently the bell sounds like a child crying out for its mother. Unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to hear the bell and I didn’t have the guts to strike it with my fist. I didn’t want to waste my holiday in some police station explaining my juvenile actions in sign language and very limited Korean.

So I had to be content with purchasing a dimunitive version of the Emile Bell and listening to its crystal tinkle. Small as it may be, it still produces a beautiful sound, evoking a Zen-like atmosphere whenever it is struck and nothing, thank goodness, remotely like a heart-rending cry of a sacrificial child.