7th Newsletter

A Korean food, Gimbap and the trailer of a story

Author

Jong Hee Kim
March 25, 2024

Hello there

(It’s my 7th newsletter for you)

This is your A.thentic Jong Hee. 💖

How are you today? Hope you had a nice weekend. 

Gimbap pic.1

Gimbap pic.2

Both are 'Gimbap', as you already know. Guess which one is homemade.

I'll tell you later.

How's the weather now?☘️ Is it getting warm or cold? Here, we have the spring season, but it's not warm enough yet for all the flowers to bloom. I guess we just need a few more days, then we can see the peak of the spring season, especially the cherry blossoms.🌸🌸🌸

As I mentioned before, blooming cherry blossoms signal the arrival of spring in Korea. Then, many people go out to see the cherry blossom trees in parks, fields, streets, and even in the mountains.🌸🧡

You can easily spot young couples dating around the parks💕and street performers/artists doing busking everywhere. Even here, at Haeundae Beach and Gwangalli Beach, many artists perform.🎸🎤

I remember when I lived in Seoul, on a Sunday night, a young guy was singing with his guitar on a street near my home. It was almost midnight, and I just sat there, listening to his songs surrounded by a small group of his female fans. At that time, I sat for a long time because I was sad for the Sunday spring night to end.

Honestly, I like the mood of street busking, but I can't enjoy their singing because I can judge their artistic skills right away. From an amateur perspective, they are good, but from a professional viewpoint, most of them are not good enough for me. Even when I stayed in New York, most of them were not good enough.

(Sometimes, I blame myself for this. Why can't I just enjoy their performances? But sadly, I can't help it.😕)

So anyway, I’m thrilled to finally welcome the Spring season. And yes, when the cherry blossoms bloom, I'll film them all and show you each one along with my music and the story I'm writing.✍️

Now, let's talk about my favorite food. Today's feature is Gimbap (or 'Kimbap'). This is literally the number one favorite food in Korea. 

For busy workers, they can easily pick it up and eat for any time. Students also love it for its convenience, and it's the perfect food for picnics. 

So we have million’s shops(or you can say small ‘restaurants’) for Gimbap, also million’s way of how to make it. 

In some famous shops, you'll find long lines of customers waiting to get their hands on it. In every region of Korea, we have like, “the top five Gimbap shops”, including Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Jeju, and etc, etc. Some shops are only open for 1 or 2 hours because they sell out quickly.

If I want to explore deeply about Gimbap, I’d literally need to make a book. So many variations, and so many different tastes. 

pic.3

pic.4

pic.5

Out of the three Gimbaps, two are from famous shops that were featured on national TV shows in Korea. Can you guess which ones? 

The answer is pics 4 and 5, both from the same shop in Busan.

And what about this one? 

Pic.6

Pic.7

Which one do you think is from another famous Gimbap shop? 

The answer is pic 6. This shop was also featured on national TV shows and is located here in Busan.

Pic 7 shows Gimbap made by my wife. It's homemade with multigrain rice and no ‘ham’. 

Ah one thing, the only thing I don’t eat in Gimbap is ham. As you know, ham contains a lot of chemical seasoning.

So my homemade Gimbap is definitely ham-free, like this one.

The rice is all whole grain, not white rice. (The lighting was not great, so the pictures didn't come out well.)

And here's a video of how I eat it. 

One thing, I’m good at using the chopsticks. It looks so foolish, but I was busy filming and using chopsticks (It already sounds like a lame excuse…) 💦 

Finally, let's talk about my recent album, 'Hidden Heart.’

As I mentioned before, this album is about two close friends who really like each other but can't express their feelings. 

It's like a deeper version of the stories in my songs 'Complicated' and 'Secret Wish.'

But I'm still trying to figure out how to share it with you because English isn't my first language (Even though I was once a professional script writer but using different language is another level of difficulties), and most of my subscribers don't speak English either.

Now, I’d like to experiment with this. For the next newsletter, I'll include an English translation of my original Korean script. (This might be either a crazy or a brilliant idea.)I’ll then receive your feedback and consider whether to continue with this approach or try something else.

As I said before, your reply mail is my reward. ✍️💐😊

But now I’ll share a part of the script for a trailer though, and I will send you the rest soon.

One thing, before you read this, please keep listening to the music, ‘Hidden Heart’. (For the next time too). I'll provide the link so you can listen while you read. It's the OST of that story.

 

Song : “Hidden Heart” (Piano Solo)

Now here is it. 

Secret Wish (Script) (Trailer)

Written by A.thentic Jong Hee

Suhyuk: male, in his 20s.

Seyoung: female, in her 20s.

Youngji: Suhyuk and Seyoung's friend, female.

#1. At the Park (Day)

It's midday at a small park nestled in the heart of the city, brimming with the springtime air. Blossoms of spring flowers and cherry blossoms bloom all around. People are enjoying the spring day, taking photos in front of the cherry blossoms with joyful expressions. A young girl happily runs around with a large cotton candy in hand. Then, two figures walk along. It's Suhyuk and Seyoung, each holding an iced coffee.

Suhyuk: (looking at the sky) The weather's nice.

The clear blue sky, with not a cloud in sight, peeks through the branches of cherry blossoms.

Seyoung: (looking up) Yeah... it is nice.

Seyoung's voice lacks conviction. Suhyuk glances sideways at her, his gaze warm as he looks at her. But he doesn't say much.

Then, as Seyoung gazes at the sky for a while and lowers her head, feeling dizzy, she staggers, and Suhyuk quickly grabs her arm.

Suhyuk: (swiftly embracing Seyoung) Hey, be careful!

Seyoung: Sorry... I felt dizzy.

……………

<To be continued>

…………………………………..

Okay. That’s all for today. 

Thank you for reading. 🌹

I will see you next time💐

Thank you

Bye 

From Jong (A.thentic Jong Hee)💕