These categories cover  a range of topics, from cinema to churches to massages.

In the Cinema category, I would have expected this to be a little more defined. I certainly have my favorite place to watch movies.  But so does everyone else, and they’re all different.

• Megabox – took in 37.5% of the votes.
• Lotte Cinema and Hyundai Cultural Center each came away with 25% of the total
• CGV – 12.5%

No clear winner here, although the loser is Munsu World Cup Drive In which got 0 votes.

In the Hair Stylist/Salon category the competition was fierce, but the winner is clear:

• Toni & Guy, an UlsanOnline.com partner, came away with 54% of the votes and is awarded the Best Hair Salon in Ulsan.
• Vidal Sassoon – 15.4% of the votes
• Other hair shops, included Molli Sarang (can’t be any bias here as that’s my wife’s shop), Juno Hair Salon and an Honorable Mention must go out to “my bathroom with some clippers” which scored one vote.

Next is the Spa, Sauna and Jjimjilbang categories.  We didn’t get many votes for these places. Whether that’s because people are ignorant or apathetic, I don’t know and I don’t care. Or maybe it’s because their favorites place is “the one around the corner,” and can’t remember the name.  In any event, the winners are:

• Family Spa took a majority of votes for Spas and Saunas.
• Lotte Hotel Spa and Daero Sauna get Honorable Mention.

Not a single Jjimjilbang was voted for.  Apparently, our readers aren’t into the places.

Massage, both ‘clean’ and ‘happy ending’ (a category I threw in just for fun) resulted in few votes.

• Sabu was voted best massage in Ulsan with a single vote. Not knowing where it is, perhaps our reader who voted for this place can enlighten the rest of us as to its whereabouts. This was interesting because a recent discussion on our facebook page regarding massages resulted in quite a few opinions.

And in the Soul department, an equal split :

• Ulsan English Fellowship, another UlsanOnline partner and JeonHa Church split the award for Best Church in UIsan with 50% of the votes apiece.

Interestingly enough, we didn’t include a temple, mosque or synagogue category in our poll. However, no one pointed this egregious error in omission out to us.

The results are in and Deirdre Madden and I are feverishly counting votes. We’ll start publishing the winners in various categories very soon.  When we publish them, you’ll see them first on our front page as they go live.  But later, you’ll be able to find them easily through a new menu item we’ve added.  Under the Survival Guide on our top menu, we’ve added a new page entitled “Reader’s Choice: Best of Ulsan.”  You’ll be able to see at a glance the best places to go and the places to avoid in Ulsan.  In addition to the spectacular restaurant reviews, nightlife guide and travel articles that our writers have created over the years, you’ll be able to cut to the quick and go right to the heart of what our readers have declared as the best there is in the city.  No dilly-dallying around making decisions and sifting through dozens or hundreds of reviews.  We hope this will be a useful addition to our website as well as to your time here in Ulsan.

And just a word or two about the methodology we employed.  We know not everyone has experienced all the possible places in town. We also know some people haven’t been here long enough to know or even have an opinion on what’s best. So the voting was entirely optional, on each category as well as each individual items.  Some items that are popular among our readers received a large number of votes. Others items, received only a few votes, indicating few people have an opinion while others don’t know or don’t care.  A few categories received no votes at all. That’s fine. It wasn’t a scientific poll and wasn’t meant to be – we threw in a few categories that were just for fun.  But it is a fair attempt to get what our readers think is the best (and worst) there is in Ulsan.

Later, when the dust settles, we plan to award certificates to the winners. The certificates will be worthy of hanging on the wall and displaying to customers to let them know just how well loved they are in this town.

So, with that,  may the best businesses win!

A few news worthy items from around Korea:

• Korean authorities are in the midst of a smuggling operation in which dead human babies have been dried, pulverized and turned into capsules.  Some people believe the capsules are good for stamina, fighting cancer or rejuvenation.  And then it gets weird.  Because the capsules contain toxic ingredients, such as super bacteria, customs officials wants to stop the smuggling. The Korea customs office, however, is looking into ways to allow the legal imports of supplements minus the non-hazardous ingredients.
• Four more savings banks have been suspended in Korea after authorities have determined they didn’t have the funds to back up their risky investments.  Solomon, Mirae, Hanju and Korea Savings Bank have been ordered to case operation for six months. The CEO of Mirae was arrested late last week attempting to flee the country with a wad of cash.
• Comic books are alive and well in Korea. And in the movies. The Avengers, doing fantastically in the box office now, will be joined by another comic book hero, G.I. Joe. On June 14th the world premiere of the new G.I. Joe flick will be held in Seoul.    The movie is the creation of Korean American Jon M. Chu. Also starring the in movie is Korean Lee Hyung Hun, who plays Storm Shadow.
• Having “learned lessons” from Japan’s disastrous triple-feature earthquake-tsunami-nuclear meltdown, South Korea is forging ahead with the construction of two new nuclear reactors.  This despite a recent power outage and equipment failure at the Kuri nuclear plant between Busan and Ulsan that was covered up for a month before it was revealed to authorities. Meanwhile, across the pond, Japan, having lived through nuclear war and still struggling to contain the meltdown at Fukushima, has turned off the last of its nuclear power plants and will rely on fossil fuel for its energy needs.  Japan relied on nuclear power for 30% of its needs but will replace that with more expensive (but far safer) oil and natural gas.

This spring, we’ve managed to avoid heavy dust storms blowing in from the Gobi Desert, yet everything is still covered with a bright, yellow dust. Turns out, this year Nature is out to get allergy sufferers. If you use the link on the UlsanOnline weather page, you can keep track of pollen levels to help manage your sypmtoms.

It seems this year that the trees have turned against us all, and are unleashing “Dangerous” to “Very Dangerous” levels of pollen upon our unsuspecting eyes, noses and throats. According to the above site, this week, tree pollen levels will vary between 162.4 grains of pollen/m3 on Thursday, which is well into the Danger Zone (got Kenny Logins stuck in your head now? You’re welcome!) and 550.1 on Tuesday, which ranks in the Very Dangerous level.

Now, before you freak out too much over their choice of words, know that “Dangerous” means even people with slight allergies will show symptoms, and “Very Dangerous” means most people will show allergy symptoms, such as itchy, watery eyes, sneezing, nasal congestion, runny nose and sore, itchy throat. Probably not deadly, but certainly irritating.

If you are prone to allergies, or if you are bothered by these symptoms, head to your local pharmacy (Yeok-guk) and ask for medicine for allergy. This is easy even if you have no Korean language skills, as the Korean for allergy is allergy (gotta love Konglish!). Friends have recommend Zyrtec (as does the pollen website).

The good news is that levels for grass and weed pollen, and mold-spores are all well within the “Faint” range, meaning that unless you are particularly sensitive, they shouldn’t be bothering you too much.

This weekend marks the opening of the annual Pro Windsurfing Association World Cup, held every year since 2007 at Jinha Beach, just south of Ulsan.

Windsurfing, for those unfamiliar with the sport, involves standing on a surf-board to which a large sail has been attached, and then flying over the water at top speeds. The atmospheric conditions at Jinha at this time of year make it a perfect venue for an international race of this scope. (Read: It’s very windy)

from the Ulsan PWA World Cup website

The PWA World Cup attracts windsurfers from around the globe, including some of the sports top athletes.

The forecast looks great this weekend, so what better way to enjoy the spring sunshine than by heading down to the beach and watching some of the top windsurfers in the world compete?

Driving? Take highway 14 towards Busan, then follow 31 to Jinha beach.

Busing? Take the 405, 715, or 1715 from Gonguptap rotary (the stop is in front of the Ulsan Grand Park main entrance, down past the Angel-in-us. If those buses don’t swing by your local stop, try the handy bus destination route guide or two route planner on UlsanOnline.com to help plan your trip.

They are amongst the largest animals in the world. The Blue is THE largest, and the Sperm has the largest brain of any mammal. While the Killer may be deadly, the Humpback is known for its singing voice. Perhaps the most famous of these was Moby Dick, hunted by Captain Ahab and brought to life in Herman Melville’s critically acclaimed nineteenth-century novel.

Since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, whales have roamed the waters of the East Sea. In time Ulsan’s Jangsaengpo Port would become a central point for whaling activities  in Korea.

To remember the importance of Ulsan’s whaling heritage, people take part in an annual Whale Festival every April. This year was the 17th festival.

Activities in the festival included a re-creation of the fishing of whales (Madangnori) by professionally trained historians in traditional clothing. There was also a whale singing competition, whale watching and a whale market where customers could take a stroll through the warren of stalls and buy whale-related products.

Perhaps the main attraction was the dragon boat race, which I oversaw on Saturday April 28.

The race was hosted by T-HOPE (Teachers Helping Other People Everywhere) KOREA and supported by the Ulsan Dragon Boat Association.

There were a total of fifteen foreigner teams competing in the race. Each boat accommodated 16 rowers, a steerer and a drummer, whose job was to beat a steady rhythm to help the rowers co-ordinate their movements so that they could maintain a consistent pace, as they dipped their oars into the Taehwa River and heaved with all their might, driving their boats onward to the finishing line.

Shortly before the race a man piloting a motorised paraglider flew over the Taehwa River, much to everybody’s surprise, and a Canadian Mountie/American Cowboy hybrid rode on horseback through the park to welcome the races.

In the first round of the race each team had to compete twice. The winning teams were then placed into the quarter-finals for the third race and the semi-finals for the fourth race. The winning team and runners up had to race a total of five times.

In some of the races it was difficult to call the winner at first – there were many close calls. The winners were judged by the fastest time to reach the finishing line from the starting position. All participants in the race received a medal for their efforts.

There were some very inventive titles for the team names, including my personal favourite, Cool Rowings. The three ranked teams were: Southern Right (1st Place – receiving the Gold Award), Orca (2nd place – receiving the Silver Award) and Sei (3rd place – receiving the Bronze Award). Congratulations to all three teams for their achievements.

At 1pm the end of the races was marked by a ceremony in which several talented young Korean men took to the stage to perform a dazzling breakdancing routine. It was followed by an equally spectacular belly dancing performance.

It was a hot day and I’m sure most of us enjoyed the opportunity to do a little sunbathing between events, much to the alarm of some Koreans walking through the park with their sun visors and umbrellas.

Although the dragon boat race was arguably the highlight of the day, there were many other areas of the festival to explore. The traditional green and white striped tents set up around the park were full of interesting exhibits.

The food court provided a mix of cuisine to cater for all tastes, the signature dish of course being whale meat, which I sampled for the very first time. It’s not cheap – one large plate of meat will set you back around 60000 won, so the smart move is to share one portion between a large group of people.

Although it was interesting to try whale meat, let’s not forget that whale hunting is illegal and that we should be sensitive about this. Whales are beautiful creatures that should be treated with respect and dignity.

The meat had a faint smell. There were three different types – a raw cut, red in colour, which at first glance looks no different from the raw flesh of a cow,  a cooked cut, grey in colour, with a rubbery texture and a taste somewhere between chicken and fish, and the white blubbery outer layer of the whale.

There were many other attractions too. An archery corner for children was set up at the opposite side of the Taehwa Bridge, and Korean men and women dressed as cavemen were there to simulate a prehistoric-era Ulsan. Children could also get their faces painted. Korean women dressed as warriors jokingly attacked couples.

There was a great sense of unity between the local Korean event organisers and stall owners and the visitors.

This is the last week of voting for the Best and Worst of Ulsan 2012.  If you haven’t voted already, please take a few moments and add your voice to our poll. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t been here long and don’t know much. Just enter what you DO know about the best and worst. Leave anything else you don’t know blank. It’s that simple.

Next week after the voting is finished, we’ll publish the winners (and losers) of the survey.  We’ll have a complete list of what you, our readers, think are the best places to eat, drink, shop, sightsee and more in Ulsan.  And, based on early returns in the voting, we promise there will be some surprises!

Go ahead. Tell us what you think about what’s good in Ulsan.

It is, once again, Whale Festival weekend. Here’s a link to the schedule of events for anyone interested.

Good luck to all of the teams paddling in the Whale Boat Races on Saturday. BBC weather is saying sunny and 23 degrees on Saturday (That’s 73 degrees in American).

Here are a few items of interest from around Korea:

• We’ve written about robots taking over as English teachers here in Korea several times. (Check here, here, here and here).  And while our teaching readers have yet to be replaced by an electro-mechanical device (seems the cassette player and CD player have already been tried and failed) South Korea’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy have not stopping pushing robots in the workplace.  This time, though, it’s in prisons.  Robots are now being tested in a Pohang prison and are programmed to monitor prisoners, check for certain types of behavior and communicate with prisoners. No word yet on whether the robots will incorporate the more famous Robocop quotes such as “Dead or alive, you’re coming with me” or “Come quietly or there will be…trouble.”
• Lady Gaga is in Korea to start off her new concert tour. The Christians are not happy about it and are praying that
  

  …the concert will not be realized so that homosexuality and pornography will not spread around the country,

  said Kang Ju-Hyun, a prayer organizer.

  I no idea that stuff could be spread simply by going to a concert.

• How many times, while you were in school, were you told that plagiarism was a bad thing?  These days, it’s far too easy to copy and paste information from various sources into academic papers. And to combat that, entire cottage industries have sprung up to detect cases of students copying from existing sources.  Apparently, though, some people just haven’t figured out that copying something and labeling it your own work will get you in trouble. One would think, however, that by the time one reached the doctorate level of education those lessons would be well learned.  Not so, according to the Washington Post where they are reporting a South Korean International Olympics Committee official has resigned due to plagiarism in his doctoral thesis.
  Back in my day, it was far easier to plagiarize as there was no internet businesses to submit work to in order check for existing phrases. But there also wasn’t an internet to copy/paste from –  we had to actually read the damn books to build the case for our term papers and copy by hand any notes we wanted from it.  Then we had to chip the stone tablets with a hammer and chisel to write our papers.
•  Despite the name having been in place on maps for well over 150 years, Korea is still not happy having to call the body of water off of Ulsan’s coast the “Sea of Japan.”  They want it to be called the “East Sea.”  East of what? In Japan it would be west of, so that’s just a ridiculous name.   It’s strictly a case of hurt feelings that Japan gets a body of water named after them, China gets one (South China Sea) and Korea gets diddly squat.
• Loan Sharks in Korea are about to have a tough time making money. The government recently opened a hotline to help victims of loansharking and got over 5,600 calls in just three days.
• And finally, some news regarding UlsanOnline.com.  We’ve been running our “Best of Ulsan – 2012″ poll for just a little over a week.  We plan to take the results from this poll and make THE definitive list of the best places to eat, drink, shop and sightsee in Ulsan based on your opinions.  But we need your help – you’ve got to vote. If you haven’t already, please spend a few minutes and give us your opinion of the best – and worst – Ulsan has to offer.

Basic Korean words, Landmarks, Taxis, and Restaurants

Learning Korean is hard. It’s one of the most difficult languages for English-speakers to learn, along with Chinese and Japanese. The only reason those are harder is the Korean alphabet is simple and phonetic.

But you’re here, and while English is becoming more common, it’s not pervasive, and if you leave the comfort zone of Starbucks and  foreigner bars, having some basic language skills will help you get much more out of your time here. I’ve already provided a basic guide to reading Hangeul, which most people should be able to master within a weekend with a bit of effort.

For those with an aptitude for languages, or who have the time and patience to study, there are a variety of options. The Global Centre at City Hall runs classes, as do both Ulsan University and UNIST. Hiring a private tutor for yourself, or joining the study group is another way to go. You can even just pick up books or download programs off the internet. There are  a few articles on here that will help you navigate your learning options. There’s also an excellent series in the old Ulsan Pear called “Beyond Konglish”, so if you’re interested, check out the old PDF’s, available here.

For others, learning this language seems like a daunting task, and since most Koreans you meet will want to practice their English with you, it’s easy to shrug your shoulders, leave the books on the shelf, and fumble through your time here with Konglish and gestures. This article is going to introduce some very basic phrases that will help you fumble a little less, and will cause many responses of “Oh, your Korean so good!” It will also impress any friends or family that come to visit, which is obviously an important factor in language learning.

This is basic – there’s no sentence structure or grammar here. This is just enough to scrape by. You’ll probably still need some charades. Keep in mind, when Romanized, some of the letters are pronounced differently to English phonetics. “a” is usually more like”ah”, like Ah-Ha! “eo” is “aw” or like a short “o”, “o” is like a long O (Oak-dong, not Awk-dong), “i” is “ee”, and “si” sounds like “she”… Seriously, check out the Hangeul article, if you haven’t already, to save us all some time…

The Basics:

Hello – Anyong-ha-se-yo (informally, just Anyong) – 안녕하세요

Please – Ju-se-yo (actually more like, “give to me”) – 주세요

Bathroom – Hwa-jang-shil (make it sound like a question, and people will point the way) 화장실

Nice to meet you – Ban-gap-sum-ni-da – 반갑슴니다

Yes – neh, or yeh – 네 / 예

No – ah-ni-yo – 아니오

Thank you – Kam-sa-ham-ni-da (though it sounds more like “kam-sam-nee-da” unless you’re being formal) – 감사합니다

When leaving a store/business – su-go-ha-shyeoss-eo-yo – 수고하셨어요

You’re welcome – cheon-man-eh-yo – 천만에요

That’s alright – Kwaen-chan-a-yo (sounds more like “kon-chan-a-yo”) – 괜찮아요

Just a moment – Cham-kkan-man-yo (sounds more like “chak-a-man-yo”) – 잠깐만요

Excuse me/sorry – Me-an-ham-ni-da  – 미안합니다 or shil-lye-ham-ni-da (sounds more like “shilla-ham-ni-da)- 실례합니다

How much? – Eol-my-yeh-oh? (sounds more like Ol-my-yo) – 얼마에요

Where? – Eo-dee-eh-oh? (sounds more like Oh-dee-oh?) – 어디에요

I don’t know – Mol-la-yoh (or just “muh”, usually accompanied by a shoulder shrug) – 몰라요

Exists/have/in attendance – iss-eo-yo – 있어요

Does not exist/don’t have/absent – eobs-eo-yo (sounds more like “ub-saw-yo”) – 없어요

Goodbye – Anyong-hi-keh-sey-oh (say to person leaving) – 안녕히게세요/ Anyong-hi-kyeo-sey-oh (say to person staying) – 안녕히겨세요

Landmarks:

Giving directions in Korea is a challenge, as Korean addresses make sense only to postal workers, and while the streets here are beginning to be named, no one knows what the roads are called. Taxi drivers and general citizens tend to give directions by landmarks – large buildings that everyone would be familiar with, or intersections (which have names that don’t always correspond with the roads that are intersecting). Here are some of the more useful landmarks to know.

Department store = Baek-hwa-jeom (just remember, there are two Hyundai Bekhwajeoms in Ulsan – one in Samsandong, Namgu, and one in Seobudong, Donggu) – 뱩화점

Apartment complex = Apartuh – 아파트

Intersections = Name, number + Gori (거리), so if there are 4 directions, it’s Sa-Gori (사거리), 3 directions is Sam-Gori (삼거리). A personal favourite is Babo-Sagori (바보사거리) in Mugeodong, which basically means “stupid/crazy 4-way-intersection”, because the traffic jams there used to be ridiculous.

Hosptial = Byeong-won – 병원

School = hak-yo. – 학교 – Elementary school is Cho-dung Hakyo (초등학교), Middle school is Joong Hakyo (중학교), High school is Go-dung Hakyo (고등학교), university is Dae hakyo (대학교) (Koreans like to create nicknames for things by taking the first syllable of each word, so Ul Dae (울대) works for Ulsan Uni, Gwa-gi-Dae (과기대) works for UNIST, Gwa-hak-Dae-hak (과학대학) works for Ulsan College)

Park – Gongwon. (공원) Ulsan Grand Park is Ulsan Dae Gongwon (울산 대공원). Taehwa River Park is Taehwagang Gongwon (태화강 공원).

Market – shi jang – 시장

City Hall – shi cheong – 시청

Taxi Korean:

When you get in a cab, you need to tell the taxi diver a landmark near where you want to go, then you can give more precise directions from there:

Take me there, please  – Ga-ju-say-oh =  가 주세요

Left – Wen-choke = 왼쪽

Right – Oreun-choke = 오른쪽

Go straight – jick-jin =  직진

Here – Yogi-oh = 여기오

Over there- Chogi-yo = 저기오

Restaurant Korean:

The hard part with restaurants is knowing what’s on the menu. Learning to read Hangeul will be helpful, because you’ll know some of the dishes (bibimbap, jjigae, dweggi gogi, etc). Phone dictionaries are also helpful, though it can often take a while to translate things properly. Really, it just takes time and experience, and a willingness to eat whatever’s brought, to learn what different food is out there. But here are some basics for ordering:

First, we’ll start with counting, so you can say how many you want. This is weird in Korean, because there are two number systems, and they’re used in different ways. For instance, you would say “sam cheonon” for “3 thousand-won”, but “seh-byeong” for “3 bottles”.

1 – hana – il – 하나 / 일

2 – duel – Ee – 둘 / 이

3 – set – sam – 셋 / 삼

4 – net – sa – 넷 / 사

5 – ta-seot – oh – 다섯 / 오

6 – yeo-seot – yuk – 여섯 / 육

7 – il-gop – cheel -일곱 / 칠

8 – yeo-deol – pal – 여덟 / 팔

9 – ah-hop – goo – 아흡 / 구

10 – yeol – ship – 열 / 십

When ordering a number of things, you shorten 1-4, so (han-byeong or du-byeong or seh-myeong or neh-myeong), but leave the other numbers whole (ilgop byeong).

Person/people = myeong (Four people = neh-myeong) – 명 (네 명)

Menu = meh-nyu – 메뉴

Beer = Mekju – 맥주

Object (like servings of meat or a few things) – gae – 개 (so three servings of pork ribs would be “dweggi galbi se-gae, juseyo” 돼지 갈비, 세개, 주세요)

Water – Mool – 물

Bottle = Byeong – 병 (4 bottles of beer – “mekju, ne-byeong, juseyo” 맥주, 네병, 주세요)

Glass/cup = Jan – 잔

Lots/ plenty = mah-ni (sounds a lot like many) – 많이

garlic – man-eul – 마늘

Side-dishes – ban-chan – 반찬

Leaves – sang-chu (The sesame leaves are kkaet nip) – 상추

chili/soy dipping sauce for meat – sam-jang – 삼장

pork – dweggi gogi – 돼지 고기

beef – so gogi – 소고기

Chicken – dak – 닭

duck – ori gogi – 오리 고기

rib-meat – galbi – 갈비

barbequed meat – bulgogi – 불고기

bacon-like strips – sam-gyup-sal – 삼겹살

radish = moo – 무

radish kimchi – kkak-du-gi – 깍두기

chili peppers = go-chu (also slang for penis…) – 고추

soy sauce – gan-jang – 간장

salt – so-geum – 소금

spicy (as a modifier) – mae-oon – 매운 as in mae-oon go-chu (spicy pepper)

spicy – mae-da – 맵다 / 매워요

except (without) – bbae-go – 빼고 (vegetarians – take note – gogi bbae-go – 고기빼고 is “without meat”)

delicious – ma-shi-sseo-yo – 맛이있어요

chopsticks – cheo-kka-rak – 젓가락

spoon – soo-ka-rak – 숟가락

fork – po-kuh – 포오크

ashtray – jae-deo-li – 재떨이

Of course, I could go on all day, but there are phrase books that do this more thoroughly.

When you’re traveling, it’s important to learn a few basic words in each culture you pass through. Being able to say, Hello, Please, Thank you and Goodbye, show basic manners and respect for the people you’re encountering. When you live in a country for more than a few weeks, it seems only right to learn at least a few basic phrases to show that you are making an effort to communicate. It takes 10,000 hours to become fluent in a language, but it only takes a few to become polite.