By: Kim Atienza
WHY is everyone going gaga over Korea these days?
Korea’s K-pop has been conquering the world, including the Philippines. How many of you are crazy over Korean pop stars and actors? No wonder they’re such a big hit on TV and on the net.
Korean telenovelas are so popular that they rank high among Filipino lovers of teleseryes. Think “Weightlifting Fairy,” for one. Di ba, sabi nila kamukha ko pa nga si Gong Yoo (“Goblin”)? O, sila ang may sabi niyan, hindi ako.
In November 2016, our TV show “Matanglawin” flew to Busan, South Korea to explore historical and cultural places and eat amazing delicacies.
Our first stop was at Gamcheon Cultural Village.
Over 1.4 million tourists visit the cultural village every year. Because the place is so huge, tourists need to have a map to be able to go around.
A map costs ₩2,000 (Korean won) or equivalent to P85.
There are nine places tourists must visit there: Little Museum, Art Shop, Becoming One Photo Zone, Gamnaegol Happiness Power Station, House of Peace, Modern Man, House of Light, Gamnae Eoultao, and Hanaul Maru. Tourists earn one map stamp in each place. If they can complete their map stamp, a souvenir awaits them before leaving the cultural village.
We visited Little Museum first, where we saw the history of Gamcheon. Alam n’yo ba na ang Gamcheon ay ang pinakamahirap na komunidad noon sa Korea? Naging malaking refugee camp kasi ito noong panahon ng Korean War. Taong 2009 nang sinimulan ng Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism ng South Korea ang proyekto para ayusin at gawing makulay ang mga bahay dito sa tulong ng iba pang mga artists.
There are more than 70 art installations scattered all over the cultural village.
It’s easy to get lost in the cultural village because of its Miro-Miro or maze style. “Kung maliligaw ka ay napakasimple ng direksyon dito dahil hahanap ka lamang ng isda at dun sa pinakadulo ng isda, dun sa kanyang pinakabibig, bibigyan ka ng direksyon sa susunod mong pwedeng puntahan.
We visited all the nine places and completed the map stamps. As a prize, we got postcards of the village.
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TRIVIA PA MORE (Various Sources): Did you know that the first four cities of Metropolitan Manila are: Manila, Quezon, Pasay, and Caloocan?
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The flagpole located in Rizal Park, is where the starts of 0 kilometer reading in measuring all distances from Manila.
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Send your questions on anything and everything to Kuya Kim through my Twitter account @kuyakim_atienza using #AlaminKayKuyaKim.
Ating tuklasin ang mga bagay-bagay na ‘di niyo pa alam. Walang ’di susuungin, lahat aalamin. Ito po si Kuya Kim, Matanglawin, only here in TEMPO.
