Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 55 of 58

Jung Ji Hyun performs the Hwaseon Dance

Wednesday, March 3rd

Learning Moment: Seoul, Korea

Tonight we scored front row seats for a traditional dance performance at Seoul Namsan Gugakdang. The winter series of performances featured Jung Ji Hyun, a master dancer and professor at Kyungsung University.

We were the only foreigners in the building, which attracted the attention of her husband and producer. He gave us a warm and friendly greeting, wanting to know where we were from, what brought us to the theater and where we got our tickets.

The performance was stunning - easily the best traditional dance performance we've ever seen. The choreography was creative, the costumes were beautiful, the music was powerful, and the venue was perfect.

Of course, Jung Ji Hyun was outstanding - graceful, beautiful, athletic, and able to convey a myriad of emotions through her face and body. This was truly the highlight of our trip.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 51 of 58

Faces of Insadong

Friday, February 27th

Learning Moment: Insadong Street, Seoul, Korea

If there were a vote for 'favorite place in Seoul', Insadong would probably be the people's choice. Popular with young and old, locals and foreigners, teeming with those who are curious and those who are curiosities - Insadong is filled with great restaurants, cutting edge galleries, traditional shops, music, and the entire range of human drama.

While we were wandering Insadong yesterday, I conducted two interviews with college students who are studying English. This is a normal occurance. Students lurk all over the street with notepads, waiting for a foreigner who isn't moving with a sense of purpose. When they find one, they ask, "May I interview you?"

Everyone is an artist, a subject, or both...

One student asked me, "What is your favorite thing about Insadong?"

The answer was easy - the energy of the people on the street.

Despite the restaurants, the galleries, and the historical sites that surround the area, I could be happy just standing there all day and watching people on the street - so I did.

Who needs art galleries?

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 47 of 58

Drumming with the Dancers at Korea House

Tuesday, February 23rd

Learning Moment: Seoul, Korea

Korea House is one of my favorite places on the planet. Great music, pounding drums, beautiful women, energetic dances, colorful costumes, and great food; that's tough to beat.

We never make a trip to Seoul without visiting Korea House, and this one would be no different. They've redesigned the stage and the program since we last visited. I loved the changes. The stage is more dramatic, and the new dances are still brilliant.

The legendary fan dance

The fan dance is always a highlight, as are the 'drumming dances'. But, the highlight of tonight - for me, anyway - was when I was invited on stage. When they invited me (along with a few other foreign guests), I started to say no. Then I realized that they didn't want me to dance, they wanted me to drum. I couldn't pass up that opportunity.

So, up I went. At the end of the song, they gave us all souvenir drum sticks, which was pretty cool. And I have to show a picture of Angie with our dinner. Do you think we got enough food?

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 24 of 58

Singaporean Chinese Beauty, thanks to plan B!

January 31st, 2010

Learning Moment: Singapore

Today, we strolled the streets of Singapore; though Little India, up Orchard Road, and down back alleys. Tonight, while I reviewed the photos I took, I (re)learned two lessons:

1. Always check your settings.
   Always. Check. Your settings.
   I was using my SLR camera in manual mode the other night and never changed it back to aperture priority. As a result, all 150 photos I took with that camera today were either under or over exposed.
2. Have a plan B.
   Redundant systems are our friend.
   Today, I was carrying my pocket camera. For no apparent reason, I took 250 photos with my pocket camera. I never do that when I'm carrying my SLR. Well, almost never. Because I did take those pictures, I captured the Singaporean beauty above, during a promotion for the upcoming Chingay parade.

It was an important - but relatively painless lesson.

And that, my friends, is the best kind of lesson.

Training is a place where we can experience important, but painless lessons.

My job as a facilitator is to make sure that:

A) The lessons are painless, and

B) You realize how important they are.

When I do that - you learn, I learn, and life is good for both of us.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 23 of 58

January 30th, 2010

Learning Moment: Fisherman's Cove, India

Tonight, we fly from India back to Singapore.

It's been a great stay here - training went well, we ate great food, and I'm bringing back some nice photos.

Since I won't have time to post an image from today, I'll present this image from last night.

We ate at a seaside barbecue, under a full moon, with a nice breeze coming up from the ocean.

Behind us, Cognizant was holding a dinner parter for some employees. Dancers were brought in to entertain, so I quietly slipped over for some pictures of the dancers.

This shot captures a brilliant smile: the kind of smile that I grew accustomed to during the past few weeks. Smiles like this might be India's greatest treasure.

Don't You Dare Me...

As we were sitting at the dance festival in Mamallapuram on Saturday night, a ticket collector came around to check our seats.

"Here comes sour face", said the man next to me. "We've been coming here for 5 nights straight and she hasn't smiled yet."

Hmmm... I don't know a lot, but I know a couple of things. First, I'm pretty confident that I can make anyone smile at least once (it's easy if you're willing to make an ass out of yourself). Second, it isn't that hard to make an Indian smile.

"Really...", I said to him, as I turned around to her.

I would have placed a bet with him, but he'd already said he was spending US$16 a night on his hotel room - so, the stakes would have been too low to bother. This exercise would merely be to make a point.

Within three sentences, I got a smile out of her.

And no, I didn't have to do anything stupid.

"Wow", the guy said, "That's the first smile I've seen from her".

"Well, you had to challenge me", I replied, as he put up his hands in mock surrender.

She has a face built to smile. This photo is my proof and my reward.

Dance of the Legong

As I mentioned, I've been scanning some of my favorite images from the past.
A disproportionate amount of these images are from Bali.
No surprise there... It's one of my favorite places on earth.

If I haven't mentioned the Dance of the Legong, it's only because my vocabulary isn't equiped enough to do the dance justice.
I hope the photo above will suffice, even though I know it won't.
At best it could whet your appetite to buy a ticket on the next plan to Denpasar, where you'd grab a taxi to Ubud and sit in on the evening dance at the Puri Saren Agung.

If you're anything like me, just the sound of those words will set you on a path that will drop you at the feet of the gods and goddesses of Bali.

If words aren't enough, you can find my images of Bali here.

If not.... well...

Dance, Dance, Korea

The Fan Dance, Seoul, South Korea

We got over to Korea House again (number 24 in Seoul's Best 100)
No dinner, just the show. I got into the second row, and got a few good shots of the world famous fan dance.

I've mentioned before that I love dance.
Anything that combines music, beautiful women, and photography is a winner in my book.

Rhythm is life, and life is rhythm - at least if you doing it right - so we all dance, even if we don't know it (or aren't very good at it).

Many of my favorite cultures are singing and dancing cultures.
Bali, Thailand, and Hawaii top the list; but Korea ranks surprisingly high as well.

Tonight, we were in the Dongdaemun Stadium area, and it seems like Seoul is breeding a population of super-dancers. They were everywhere.

The Multicultural Bride - Hsinchu, Taiwan

I'm back in Santa Clara, so I'll be posting some images from Hsinchu over the next few days.

As I was leaving the hotel this morning, a wedding party arrived.
This woman got out of one of the cars and smiled.

"Beautiful dress," I said.
She then gave a response that I had never heard, in my previous 13 years of Asia experience - "I know".

I almost fell over.
In Asia, modesty is king (and queen).
Typical responses would be "It's the best I could do on short notice", "All the good ones were taken", or "I wish I could do it justice".
Even "Thank you" is typically considered too bold.
I had to give her credit for her unusual boldness.

She then asked me where I'm from.
"California", I said.
"REALLY!!! Me, too".

Ahhhh, an American. That explained everything.