Jeju Day-2 22Jun

This is the lobby of Ora Country Club, where our first game is played. Huge lobby, and in red...

Ora Country Club is managed alongside Jeju Grand Hotel. It is only 10 minutes from Jeju International Airport, very conveniently situated in the Sin-Jeju area and easy to get to. Ora Country Club has a 36 hole course built under international standards. It has a pleasant atmosphere, is equipped with a variety of facilities for golfing enjoyment, and you can experience playing all year round.

Ora is a long course, almost 7,000 yards! It is also hilly, so presents quite a challenge on the long par 4s. I even had problem reaching in 2 cos the air is heavy (98% humidity) on the day of play. Below is a nice view of the course from the club house before we started.

Only managed 2 pars on this course course the greens are "obake" or haunted due to the slope of the Halla san. Did not listen to the caddy on putting line so gave away quite a few pars ...

Jeju Day-1 21Jun

Jeju Island, also known as the "Island of the Gods," is a popular vacation spot for Koreans and many Japanese. It remains one of the top honeymoon destinations for Korean newlyweds. The island's mixture of volcanic rock, frequent rains, and temperate climate, make it very similar to the Hawaiian Islands in the U.S.

The island contains the Natural World Heritage Site entitled Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes.

Upon arrival at Jeju airport, we went straight for some samgyetang 蔘鷄湯 (for lunch. ... It is basically a whole young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice and boiled in a broth of Korean ginseng, dried seeded jujube fruits, garlic, and ginger. Depending on the recipe, other medicinal herbs such as wolfberry (gugija), Codonopsis pilosula (dangsam), and Angelica sinensis (danggwi) may also be added. The dish's name literally means "ginseng chicken soup."

Samgyetang is traditionally served in the summer for its supposed nutrients, which replaces those lost through excessive sweating and physical exertion during the hot summers in Korea. Many Koreans enjoy it on three specific days in summer, "Chobok", "Jungbok" and "Malbok", which Koreans believe to be the hottest and most sultry of the year.

Like chicken soup, which is thought to help common sicknesses in the West, samgyetang is held in Korea to be not only a cure for physical ailments but a preventer of sickness.

Notice he light beer called "Hite" in the background and the usual accompaniments

This is the actual dish itself. This dish has medicinal properties and improve bloodflow and energy.

After lunch we checked in to Jeju Grand Hotel. Room is big and spacious.

However, be forewarned, hotels in Korea generally do not provide shampoo. Bring your own or use the soap bar to wash your hair.

Dinner was pork yakiniku, but not just any pork but a famous local Jeju 黒豚 (kurobuta) restaurant.

The food was really good, accompanied by Jeju local shoju... Here's the pic of the large portion of Kurobuta served for just 2 of us. The meat was really sweet, having been marinated in pear and pineapple juice and flavoured with tangerine skin.

And here's how you eat it. Wrap some meat, onions, sauce in Chinese salad leaf and shove the whole thing into your mounth and gobble it all up.

And of course, no meal is complete in Korea unless accompanied by some local Shoju. The Shoju we drank is called "Hallasan", name of the highest peak in South Korea, located on Jeju island. It is about 21% proof and is sweet and palatable.

After dinner, we went for some karaoke in the entertainment area. Here's a pic of the city at night. There are many restaurants, bars and cafes. Karaokes are usually in the basement, I wonder why...

All my bags are packed...

Well today is the big day, Jeju here I come. Gotta wake up at 5:30a.m. and drive to Narita Airport in the morning, park the car and hop on a bus ride to terminal 1.

Hyper Rev

This is my favourite tune-up magazine series, called Hyper Rev. This is the latest issue (No.5) of the S2000 series of my beloved automobile. This company is based in Osaki, Shinagawa ku, Tokyo, which not very far from where I live.

It has all the tuning bits for most sporty cars, or most cars that have the potential to be tuned. Most of the tuning houses are also listed, for Honda they are Spoon, Mugen, M & M, Top Fuel, Seeker, Team Kunimitsu, et al.

If you own a WRX, Lan Evo, Skyline, or any of the sporty Type-R Hondas, this magazine is a must.

New Weapon

This is my second Callaway X-Forged wedge. Having stabilized my drive and eliminated wild OBs, I have struggled with my short game. Perhaps its the Taylor Made RAC wedges? So I ordered a Callaway "Roger Cleveland" designed 50deg wedge to fill the gap between my Callaway X-Forged Pitching Wedge of 46deg and the old TM 54deg wedges.

What a difference the Callaways made to my short game! So I ordered the 54deg to complement the 50deg gap wedge. Also they are in the same range as my X-forged irons, which I have now adapted after a few months' use.

This weekend will be spent in Jeju in Korea, where there are more than 50 golf courses. It will hopefully allow me to play in the 80s again, its been awhile since I last played in the 80s (about almost 1 year!)

Pics and golf story of Jeju will follow. Watch this space.

美奈木 (Minagi)

Today is golf at Minagi ［美奈木］in 吉川, near Osaka. Score was 47/52, not bad for a tough course. The yardage on this course is measured to the front edge of the green, so on average every hole has another 10-25yards added for the actual distance to the hole. We played off the blue tee, which isjust over 6,500 yards.

Not a very forgiving course, every approach to the green is uphill and every green is protected by bunkers. My practice in trying to improve my tempo has paid off. My drive mostly found the fairway, if not, in the rough. I did not have a single OB...I checked my Suunto G6 and every drive was showing exacty the same head speed, 43m/s ! Talk about consistency!

Master san

This is the master of an izakaya near the hotel I am staying for the night in Amagasaki, Osaka. Having a few sochu before going to bed. He kindly obliged to a photo, as many friendly Osaka people would...

Blog is back

Apologies for the absence but there was a problem with my blog. It kept referring to an invalid address. Although I could post and edit blogs, the page refused to display. Some searching within the help centre revealed that this "invalid page" problem is caused by the wikipedia search widget. So I have now managed to remove it now and my blog is back...Thank you.

Sicky Ms. E

Today, Ms. E told me she was sick.....so went to visit her at home and brought her some fruits and Evian water. No appetite for food. Pain all over, jaw, chest, feet, my goodness....she's even under physiotherapy. She really is working too hard. Poor girl, she knows it yet she does it.

Ms. E was so delighted she started working after that! Advised her to take it easy...

Student

Sunday was at the range to practice with my student Y. She has acquird a decent looking swing and with some small adjustment to her grip, can now hit straight with 7 iron and the driver. You can view the swing here:

Tomorrow she plans to buy a new Taylor Made set....

I am glad for her that she is able to grasp the basics of a golf swing so quickly. Next weekend it will probably be a game with her in a course.

I certainly look forward to the first game....