Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 53 of 58

Keepsakes from Seoul

March 01, 2010

Learning Moment: Seoul, Korea

It's cold and windy today. It was raining this morning; then it turned to snow.

We decided to take care of some errands and relax. First, we went to the COEX mall, where we grabbed lunch, bought bananas at Hyundai Dept Store - where we ran into a Singapore colleague, Graham Lynch, and his girlfriend - and picked up a souvenir I've been looking at.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have some basic criteria for buying a memento. On this trip, two items have met my criteria.

The first, which I picked up in Insadong, are the three ceramic folks pictured above: a drummer, a dancer, and a flute player.

The second, which I bought today, is a fish gong.

A mogeo, or fish gong

Both are small (enough), musical in theme, and very cultural. So, now they are both going home with us.

We also booked tickets for a traditional dance at the Namsan theater on Wednesday night, and for MISO on Friday night. I can't get enough of Korean music and dance.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 22 of 58

Everybody Loves Ganesha

January 29th, 2010

Learning Moment: Chennai, India

I don't buy a lot of souvenirs. I have enough 'stuff' and less than enough room.

Also, airlines are making it extremely difficult to transport your toothbrush, let along a war mask.

Still, I do like to collect the occasional memento. For example, a couple of days ago, I bought these two Ganesha statues at Dakshinachitra (for US$6 each). This got me wondering what my purchase criteria is. After some thought, I decided that the souvenirs I buy have to meet at least some of these criteria:

• They are 'of the place I bought them' or will remind me of that place.
  I don't buy India crafts in the US or Balinese crafts in Japan. I want art that represents at least one component of the culture (if not more). The Ganesha represent a Hindu god. They also show India musical instruments.
• They have elements of both 'art' and 'craft'.
  This is totally subjective, of course. First, I want my piece to have some element of spirit; to represent an artists view of something. I'm not big into literal representations (I have my own camera, thank you). I want to feel like I'm looking at a part of the world through the artists eyes. Second, it should be well made. There should be a level of skill required to create it. These statues are artistic interpretations of Ganesha that convey a sense of grace and humor that I find appealing. They are also very solid, with an interesting 'wire' technique.
• They must represent something I like.
  Typically, this means music or dance. But it could include favorite animals, architecture or more. I like both elephants and music, so these Ganesha satisfy the criteria.
• It helps if they are usable.
  Furniture, lamps, musical instruments, and kitchen ware are great examples. If you can use a souvenir, it pulls double duty. These Ganesha serve no function, unfortunately.
• Finally, cost and size are always a factor.
  For obvious reasons... The Ganesha are four inches tall, so they work perfectly.

Do you buy souvenirs?
What are your souvenir criteria?