Into the heart of Seoul

Photos by RAOUL TIDALGO

MANILA, Philippines - During a break in the Hollywood Seoul junket for the Liam Neeson starrer Taken 2 middle of last year, I took a quick tour of the Korean Folk Village. What a find I made!

What greeted my friend Raoul Tidalgo and me was the widely-smiling face of Lee Young Ae (far right, above) at the entrance of one section. She’s the Korean actress who played the lead character Janggeum in Jewel in the Palace, a Koreanovela which was a hit in the Philippines aired on GMA.

This is what was written (with Korean translation) on the billboard with the headline Jewel in the Palace Shooting Location: This was used to film scenes involving the Janggeum and Hansanggung rituals for the MBC drama Jewel in the Palace (2003).

Anywhere we went, in malls and at the subway stations, another familiar face greeted us — yes, that of Sandara Park (below, left) endorsing beauty products. Did you know that Sandara so loved the Philippines (where she started her career before joining the top K-Pop group 2NE1) that she would come for incognito visits and she continues to connect with Filipino friends and fans via her Twitter?

At the lobby lounge of Grand Hyatt (sprawled on a hill) where invited journalists were billeted, featured group was Filipino band Sierra (below, right) composed of (from left)  Ledda Vinzons, pianist/arranger/music director; Wena Nagales, soprano 2; Joanne Francisco, soprano 1; Mitch dela Cruz, alto; Carl Trazo, tenor; and Mark Leonardo, bass…shown with DOT Sec. Ramon Jimenez Jr. when he was there in August last year. It was Sierra assigned to entertain Sec. Jimenez and his Philippine staff, and other international guests.

Oops! Pressed for time, we didn’t quite get into the very heart of Seoul, although we felt the beat of it.