My Little Korea in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Today I would like to write about something this is not happening in Korea but which I find is somehow related to Korea. How many of you are lucky enough to have an overseas office of the KTO right in your hometown?  Before the Kuala Lumpur KTO overseas office was opened the nearest one to us was in Singapore. But now that we have one in KL it’s so much more  convenient for us. We can just hop down to their office should we have some queries about  tourism in Korea. or even to get some free  travel brochures. Here in Kuala Lumpur, the KTO overseas office is situated  in Korea Plaza, Ground Floor, Menara Hup Seng (Formerly Mui Plaza), Jalan  P. Ramlee, 50250 Kuala Lumpur. It serves as a tourism and culture centre where  one can experience and take part in a few Korean activities  like the Korean Cooking Classes, Korean Language Classes, and Korean K-POP Singing Classes.  That’s not all, one can even try on the Hanbok (the Korean traditional costume) they have here and be photographed wearing one. Beautiful  puppets and hand-made musical instruments adorn the walls of the office. Planning on a winter wonderland tour to Korea?  3-D visual ski trails here might help prepare you in your skiing skills before actually flying out to Korea for the REAL THING. Feeling bored? How about catching a Korean movie or drama right here. I know I’d be happy just doing that especially if BYJ is in it. The other day I dropt by to pick up some travel brochures, maps and other publications on Korea. Just take a look, colorful aren’t they?

I forgot to mention earlier that Hallyu fans in Malaysia and other fan club gatherings and any Korean launchings that are related to Korean tourism and culture are permitted to be held here in Korea Plaza. And we had the privilege of doing that when we held our Bae Yong Joon Malaysia Fan Club’s (BMF) 6th Anniversary celebrations on 16th May 2009. Sorry this  news is a bit late, thought I’d include that since I’m  writing about KTO KL. Not only did we have fun playing games, we  feasted on Domino pizzas and were treated to  a documentary about Korea, courtesy of KTO KL. But the best part was yet to come, since our BYJ is the current FACE on Face Shop (the KOREAN NAME in cosmetics) we had a beauty session with the local representatives. We got to buy the products at discounted prices and even received free samples of Face Shop products. Gamsa-hamnida!

Still on the subject of Kuala Lumpur, thought I would like to mention another experience of Korean culture that I had the opportunity to witness. On 21st May 2009 I attended a function, “Korea, Closer than you Think” which was organized by the Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. This was a prelude to  the 20th Anniversary of the ROK-ASEAN Dialogue Relations, the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit which would be held on 1st and 2nd June 2009 at the International Convention Center (ICC, Jeju) in Jeju Island, Korea.

On the day of the function I arrived at the local hotel where the function was being held to find that many others had already queued up way ahead of me although it was another 45 minutes before the opening. From where I stood I could look into the hall and noticed that there were booths for Korean activities like Traditional Games, Face Painting, Hanbok Wearing, Samulnori, Taekwondo,  Hangeul Writing of Names and Korean Cooking. There was even an exhibition area on Korea-ASEAN Relations, Korea-Malaysia Relations, Korea, Hallyu and Korean Food. But what really caught my eyes were the beautiful hanboks worn by the Korean natives. I have never seen that so many Koreans gathered together before. As soon as the doors opened everyone who had cameras wanted to be photographed with a Korean girl in her hanbok. Made me so envious, wish I had my camera with me. There was quite a program drawn up for the afternoon, Taekwondo exhibition, Dance performance by “Crush”, Samulnori and the highlight of the show the B-Boy Comedy “Break Out” Performance. Who are they, the B-Boy dancers? They are Box Office No. 1 in South Korea. They have performed overseas and have received great reviews everywhere. In 2007 they were the talk of the town at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe when they won an award. Their style of dancing combines hip hop with body movements that include dance, martial arts, circus techniques, and gymnastics and enacted as comedy acts.  The were actually in Malaysia to appear in charity performances, 2 in KL and 2 in Penang. What a pity I had already made plans to go away  on the dates  they were performing otherwise I would have surely gone for their show. They had won me over with their sneak performance that afternoon.

Well guess that’s about all for now. Till we meet again Annyeonghi-gaseyo!