'Gangnam' Bangin'

It seems like the totally random viral hit song "Gangnam Style" by South Korean rapper PSY has taken the entire world by storm. Of course, in the city with the largest number of Koreans outside of Korea, we're representin' this meme in full force!

The artist made a surprise Dance-Cam cameo at a recent Dodgers game, with Dodger fans doing the video's trademark horse-riding dance in the stands while PSY himself did his thang, and the crowd made more noise than a Matt Kemp solo homer.

The infectious dance hit about a 30-something dude diggin' on younger, materialistic, coffee-sippin' sexy ladies in Seoul has spawned a bevy of parody videos, but this one made The Militant proud. It's called "K-Town Style"(done as a promo for an upcoming K-1 martial arts match event) and, as you guessed it, is filmed entirely in Los Angeles' Koreatown district. You'll see some familiar places, like Seoul International Park, the Solair building and the (M) Purple Line standing in for the subway scene (That's gotta be The Militant's favorite part!). The parody song (performed in English) is kinda awkward, but the video is pretty epic!

All Seoul'd Out: The 37th Los Angeles Korean Festival

The Militant passes through the Olympic/Normandie intersection at least once a week and has been hearing of the big 37th Los Angeles Korean Festival for the past few days. The epic, four-day-long cultural extravaganza from this past Thursday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. sounded like something not to miss.

But a busy weekend with tons of unspecified extramilitant activities caused the Militant to miss the free concert by the insanely popular K-pop group The Wonder Girls on Friday night (not surprisingly, the most-attended night of the festival) or the Bibimbap Fest on Saturday (free bibimbap to the first 1,000 attendees!). Dang!

But the Militant was able to check it out on Sunday night. Expecting the show to be over and lots of booths already packing up, the Militant's expectation was totally wrong. Having arrived at around 7 p.m., the festival was still very much alive!

Perhaps it was perfect timing and true (non-hipster) irony. On the very day the Dodgers formally ended their dream of defending their NL West title for the third straight year, the Militant arrived at this festival, situated over the diamond at the Dodgers-built Dream Field at Seoul International Park, located right across the street from the Korean Pavilion Garden (covered in This Here Blog a couple of years ago).

Of course, this event was a pleasant contrast to the disappointing Dodger season (Deport McCourt!). The festival had much action, joy and...Seoul.

Most outdoor cultural festivals have the usual: Entertainment stage, check. Booths, check. Food stands, check. Kid's Area, check. Beer garden, check.

But this one was different. You actually felt like you were in another country, and that's not a knock on the festival at all. In fact, that's what made it totally awesome.

First off, the Militant, in all his terdysumthin years existing in this great City, had never attended a festival that was situated upon thousands of white plastic panels (pictured right). No, really -- the panels were obviously put in place to minimize dust and protect the park's (and the aforementioned baseball field's) surface, but the look and feel of it all made the experience slightly other-worldy. Seriously, when was the last time you attended an outdoor festival on top of thousands of plastic floor panels?

Next was the fantastic night bazaar that took place on most of the festival grounds. Booths hawked everything from therapeutic footrests to ginseng to t-shirts to cellphone accessories to DVDs to cosmetics. People in product stalls hawking their products repeatedly via bullhorns, microphones or at the top of their voices in rhythmic, repetitive cadences, mostly in Korean, but sometimes in the Korean-English-Spanish linguistic triumvirate of K-Town. Accompanied by the cool air, you didn't have to try too hard to imagine that you were in the Land of the Morning Calm.

And the food? Of course, this is Koreatown, and like the Militant always says, You can't spell "Koreatown" without the word "eat." Korean BBQ? There's plenty of that on Olympic, Western and other streets. Outdoor festivals don't have the infrastructure (nor adequate ventilation) for that, but there's tons more K-food to shake a (stainless steel chop-) stick at.

With so much grub and so little time (not to mention stomach capacity), the Militant went for the Choonchun Dakgalbi booth (pictured right), where he had a nicely-stacked $5 trayful of chicken galbi mixed with cabbage, sweet potato, red sauce and cheese.

The Militant wanted more but was short on cash. No prob! Most of the food booths gave away free samples! Everything from Korean-style popcorn chicken to blood sausage to pajeon seafood pancakes. Still hungry? Just come back later, grab a toothpick and sample away!

The night - and the four-day-long festival - concluded with a pretty kick-ass awesome performance by the Tal Taekwondo troupe (pictured left) - which combined the iconic Korean martial art with traditional dance, drumming, acrobatics, b-boy hip-hop moves and Cirque du Soleil-style theatrics. The performance featured some sort of storyline depicting a Crips vs. Bloods-type Korean folkloric battle. Or at least there were these people dressed in blue pitted against people dressed in red...

Even the ever-native Militant admits that the 37th annual Los Angeles Korean Festival was his first, and wonders why he slept on the past 36 fests. but Los Angeles is always like that. The things you take for granted and don't consider much one moment will smack you upside the head and blow you away the next. The Militant will definitely be back for the 38th.

Ethnic Iced Dessert Quest - Part 1: Bingsu Bada-Bing!

Most appropriate for summertime, this is the first in a series by the Militant Angeleno to feature the diverse array of ethnic iced desserts available in the Los Angeles area. Yeah sure, ice cream, gelato and fro-yo get all the press these days, but the Militant does not like to follow the crowd. Desserts based on ice are found in the cuisines of many different cultures around the world, and are not limited to Slurpees, Icees, Sno-Cones or Italian ices. From Korea to Singapore to The Philippines to Thailand to Japan to Taiwan (The Militant is even gathering some research on Latino iced deserts as well), The Militant will take you there, without even leaving town. GET CULTURED!

Before Pinkberry served the first customer on Huntley Drive, there was Red Mango. But before Red Mango served the first customers on the streets of Seoul (incidentally their USA site is devoid of any references to their Korean roots for some reason), there was the Korean shaved ice dessert called bingsu (also spelled "patbingsu," "patbingsoo," "binsu" or "binsoo"). Popular in the hot, summer months, it consists of a mound of shaved ice, topped with fruits (usually bananas, strawberries and kiwi), jelly, sweet red beans, syrup, mini-rice cakes (no, not the dry, crunchy ones you find at Trader Joes, more like Japanese mochi - but some Koreans (or Coreans, rather) hate it when they get referenced to Japan, long story...), cereal (Fruity Pebbles is a popular topping...see where I'm getting at now?), doused in condensed milk and sometimes topped with a scoop of ice cream. Ergo, the Pinkberry variant is more or less a simplified, "nonfat" version of bingsu. P'berry even serves a $7+ "Shave Ice" selection that is pretty much bingsu with frozen yogurt (Which the Militant actually finds to be the most enjoyable thing at P'berry, try it sometime).

Locally, bingsu can be found in...Little Ethiopia (just kidding). It's in Koreatown, of course and the most obvious place is Ice Kiss Cafe, located on west 6th Street (which incidentally boasts a Pinkberry, a Kiwiberri and a SnowBerry all within a one-mile stretch) and Kenmore Ave. The place also serves pastries, coffee, tea, boba and a small selection of soup and food items, but the main thing is bingsu (which is not referred to as such in the menu). Their eponymous "Ice Kiss" (pictured above) is the full-fledged bingsu here, which fits the aforementioned description, but they also offer simpler varieties, including red bean and green tea. And not to be left behind, yes, you can has fro-yo.

For a Militant like me who just came off of a 4-mile bike ride after seeing The Simpsons Movie, bingsu really hit the spot on a warm summer's evening. For the uninitiated, bingsu's (and that of most every other Asian shaved ice dessert) contents were made to be mixed around with a spoon, rather than just eaten sequentially (that's no fun). As with all of these kinds of shaved ice deserts, it's all about the contrasts in texture: The smooth texture of the fruits against the creamy texture of the strawberry ice cream against the more slushy texture of the ice against the dry, crunchy texture of the Fruity Pebbles. Call it a symphony, call it gestalt, whatever...it works. And it's delicious.

There have been more than a few reservations by bingsu connoisseurs on the Yelp.com site which complained about the freshness of the fruit, which was true of the banana, but it wasn't enough to dampen the Militant's experience. Besides, I'm a Militant, not a full-fledged foodie, so please bear with me.

The small-but-cozy-establishment features mostly outdoor patio seating, which is most appropo for a July night like this. The clientele, aside from the Militant, was mostly Korean/Korean American teenagers to young adults, though a couple of Latinos were enjoying their desserts here as well. While the Militant enjoyed an Ice Kiss in a glass bowl sized for one ($6.99), The bingsu also comes in larger, dog-bowl sized (come to think of it, they look just like real dogbowls) containers, made to be shared in a group. Way more chill than the club-like environment of P'berry just a snowball's throw distance away, the outdoor cafe setting lent a pleasant urban feel to the place, as opposed to the glass-enclosed confines of You-Know-What-Berry. The Militant even gave extra points for the convenience of the sidewalk horseshoe just outside where he was able to park his bike.

For those seeking bingsu elsewhere, most "Cafes" in Koreatown serve bingsu/shave ice deserts. Among them the nearby Mr. Coffee on 6th and Western (in the same minimall as SnowBerry). Unconfirmed Militant sources also point to the Koreatown Plaza food court further south on Western. The Militant welcomes reader comments on other local bingsu spots.

Bingsu (South Korea)

Ice Kiss Cafe
3407 W 6th St (at Kenmore)
Koreatown

Item: Ice Kiss (for one), $7.