Поиск по этому блогу

9.22.2011

Interra

Today, on September 22 International Forum on Innovations - Interra - was opened in Siberian capital - Novosibirsk.
Official website: Interra

There are 4 main directions: business, science, culture, education.
Thousands of participants from all over the world join the Forum.

During 09.22-24 citizens and guests can see symbols of the Forum almost everywhere:
at TJ Collection's shop

and at Central Post Office

in front of theatre
.
Interra cube  
 In the 1 May Park everyone can join masterclass on different crafts, enjoy performances, street theater and beauty of Siberian autumn!!!

9.19.2011

K-pop stars go to army

Army service is obligatory for all men and celebrities are not the exception.
It's a pity for all their fans((

So, who will join  Korean Army this autumn?)
Jung Tae Woo with his son
Wheesung

Rain


PARAN's vocalist Ryan will serve in military orchestra. Lucky he is~~ Because only one applicant of 100 can get such an opportunity !!
Show-business will lost for two years 2 best Korean vocalists (in my opinion) - Wheesung and Rain.

Enjoy their videos~
Wheesung. worlds that freeze my heart

Rain. Love song 

9.16.2011

Lee Yoon Ho visited Irkutsk

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Lee Yoon Ho visited Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk.

At the meeting with a head of Irkutsk regional parliament  Luydmila Berlina partnership between ROK and Russia was under discussion. The most perspective directions of cooperation are tourism and trade.

Irkutsk is of great importance for Korea as a partner in Russia due to it's intellectual potential, mineral resources and row materials. But what  the most attractive for Koreans here is, sure, Baikal lake.


Baikal Lake  



This summer a direct flight Irkutsk-Seoul was opened. This measure played its role in increasing passenger traffic between Russia and Korea.   
Lot of Russians are interested in visiting Korea for the purpose of tourism, but for several regions like Ural, Siberia it is not so easy and comfortable due to need of transfer. 
I know it from my own experience. For instance, for me there are several routes are possible:
1. Novosibirsk-Beijing-Seoul
2. Nsk - Moscow - Dubai - Seoul
3. Nsk - Vladivostok - Seoul
4.Nsk -Tashkent -Seoul 
But 3 year ago and earlier there was a direct flight Novosibirsk - Seoul, once a week on Thursday. I hope some day it will be available again...

KIA at 64th IAA

This days, 09.15-25 the 64 International Motor Show Korean automobile giant presents new concept car - KIA GT.
Designer: Peter Schreyer
The GT concept is powered by a 3.3-liter turbocharged V6, producing 389 horsepower and 394 pound-feet of torque, mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission.

9.13.2011

Hanji gift box

Do you know what is hanji?)
It is traditional Korean paper that can be used for crafts.
There 24 sheets of colour paper with size 15X15 cm

let's try to make a gift box.

1. Choose 8 sheets of hanji
2. Follow the instruction. I should say it's not so easy to make the box, so be accurate and patient!!~~~









Make 4 corners. 

Now it's time for the most difficult part. Next step is to assemble this 4 parts.



Congratulations~~ You made a lid. Now let's turn to a box.
It was a final step~

I did my best and this is what I get:  )))
It was my first attempt to make a box)) Actually, I'm beginner in this craft and I should make dozens of box to do a good one)) 
But just imagine how is it exciting to receive a present in hand-made box !!! 



9.11.2011

New statue was open in Novosibirsk

Novosibirsk is a champion in weddings among cities with more than 1, 000 000 citizens!!!
Recently just-married couples from different Russian cities including Kaliningrad and Krasnoyarsk were invited to attend the ceremony of opening new statue devoted to "Gor'ko" toast
kissing just-married couple
Literally "Gor'ko" means "bitter". It's wedding-party chant urging newly-weds to kiss. "Gor'ko" may be translated in English "now to kiss".

A groom and bride shaped like 8 that symbolize infinity.

Especially for the ceremony the biggest cake (karavai) was baked.
Weight: 154 kg
Height: 80 cm
Diameter: 1.2 m

9.10.2011

How to make Songpyeon

A recipe of traditional Chuseok food - Songpyeon:

Songpyeon Ingredients :

Non-glutinous rice, 5 cups (making 10 cups of powder)
Salt (15ml)
Artemisia or mugwort (50g), Salt (1 ml)
Gardenia seeds & omija juice, as needed

Filling
Chestnuts 10 (200g)
Sugar (30ml)
Young soybeans (100g)
Salt (1ml)
Sesame (100g)
Honey (45ml)
Mung beans 1 cup
Honey (75ml), Salt (2.5ml)
Cinnamon powder (15ml)
Pine needles (300g)
Sesame oil, as needed


Songpyeon Making Direction :

1. Wash non-glutinous rice 3 to 4 times and leave it soaking in water for 8 to 12 hours. Remove the soaked rice from water and sprinkle some salt and grind into a fine powder. Place the Artemisia in boiling water with salt, remove and then chop into fine pieces.
2. Take the powder for the rice cake and divide into 4 parts. Leave one part as it is, another part for the Artemisia. As for the other two parts, mix one with water from pine endodermis, and mix the last part with omija juice and knead it to make dough.
3. Peel chestnuts and cut into 3 or 4 pieces, include some sugar and steam lightly. Take the young soybeans, peel and add a bit of salt. Wash the sesame and when dry, roast and then mix with honey. Take the red beans that have been soaked in water, boil and then grind and mix with honey, salt, cinnamon powder to make the filling.
4. Take little pieces of the prepared dough. Press your thumb into the middle of the piece to make a round, flat piece. Place enough filling in the middle, fold and press the ends to make nicely-shaped songpyeon. Next, wash the pine needles and then dry.
5. In an earthenware steamer, place pine needles on the surface of the steamer and songpyeon on top. Stack more pine needles and repeat the process to add as many layers of songpyeon in the steamer as possible. When you see steam evaporating, place the cover on top. Next, take the pine needles out, dip songpyeon in cold water, rinse quickly and apply some sesame oil. Songpyeon that’s not yet been steamed should be covered with a thin damp cloth to prevent the dough from drying or cracking.


 ~~ Tip ~~
 Potatoes, sweet potatoes and acorns, among other ingredients, can be used as the dough. For the filling or stuffing, black beans, mung beans, chestnuts, jujube, sesame or sweet potatoes are used. If you dont plan on eating the steamed songpyeon right away. Rinse it with the pine needles (not in cold water), keep them covered in a basket.
(The article courtesy of SEOUL magazine)

추석 (Chuseok) - Korean Thanksgiving Day

Chuseok is one of the most important holiday in Korea.

It is celebrated on 15th day of the 8th month (lunar calendar). On Chuseok Koreans visit their parents and  give thanks to their ancestors for the abundant harvest.  

Traditions
 On the morning of Chuseok, Koreans  present newly harvested rice, rice wine and Songpyeon to their ancestral altars. 

There are some rules how to organize ritual table on Chuseok holiday.
  - Direct the ritual table to the north.  -  There is a certain order how to serve dishes:  rice and soup come first. Then, arrange food in the order of quality and price from the perspective of the past. The most expensive and fine dishes are to be put closer to ancestors. Cheap fruits and vegetables are served in the front row, the next are seasoned vegetables and fried dishes.  The last row is for  boiled food.
Meat must be placed on the right (west) of the souls of ancestors and fish on the left (east) because meat is more expensive than fish. Similarly fish should be put with the tail on the right and the head on the left because the tail is the better part to eat.
Among fruit, red ones should be put in the east and white ones in the west. It is also worth remembering to place jujubes, chestnuts, persimmons, and pears in that order from left.
 -  The number of food should be odd.
 - All food offered on a ritual table should be in odd numbers.
 - Pepper and garlic should be avoided.

Songpyeon
Songpyeon is a half-moon shaped rice cake.
It's representative food for this holiday. Songpyeon cakes contain different kinds of sweet or semi-sweet fillings, such as sesame seeds and honey, sweet red bean paste, (azuki) and chestnut paste steamed over a layer of pine needles, which gives them the fragrant smell of fresh pine trees.
There is a belief that the person who makes the most beautiful songpyeon will meet a good-looking spouse (if they are single) or give birth to a beautiful daughter (if they are married or pregnant)~



If you wanna try to make a songpyeon yourself, click here


Hanbok 

Traditional Korean clothes  - hanbok - is still used when celebrating Chuseok.
celebrities wearing hanbok
B2ST


 Chuseok is very important holiday because all family gather together and celebrate. For this reason it is said that it's extremely difficult to buy a ticket on a train or bus)
Chuseok dance


A day of Chuseok is an official day-off in companies.
Happy Chuseok to everyone~


9.07.2011

Daegu passed the baton to Moscow

2011 IAAF World Championship is over.....
final results
It was bright exciting sport event that was watched by millions of sport fans from all over the world.

Next IAAF World Championship will be hold in 2 years in Russia (Moscow) - a silver winner of the championship!! Welcome~~