One of my favorite things about Seoul is that it is chock full of hidden gems, unsuspecting and obscure, that offer those that are lucky enough to discover them a real treat. Restaurants, cafes, galleries and bars are easy to find in Korea’s capital city, but it’s the ones tucked into back alleys and inconspicuous …
Although no longer the capital of Seoul’s art and music scene, present-day Hyehwa is a neighborhood that still bursts with creativity and youthful energy. The area is situated in the northeastern part of the capital and is also known as Daehangno, a nickname derived from dehag, or “university,” due to its close proximity to quite …
Although there aren’t any statistics to back this up, I assume that Seoul, South Korea has a bigger concentration of cafes than any other city in the world. Which is pretty impressive, considering that coffee was practically unknown until the late Joseon dynasty in the early 1900s. Even then, coffee shops, or dabang as they …
Once the center of Seoul’s art and music scene, Hyehwa is a neighborhood bursting with creativity and youthful energy. The area is situated in the northeastern part of the capital and is also known as Daehangno, a nickname derived from dehag, or “university,” because of its close proximity to a number of learning institutes. Over …
There’s no question that Seoul is a city for art lovers. From internationally renowned museums to obscure independent galleries, there’s a space dedicated to just about every genre and medium of visual art. But it’s not only in galleries that masterpieces can be found in the Korean capital. Urban art, also known as street art, is …
The temperatures in Korea are dropping quickly. Too quickly if you ask me. Soon enough, Seoulites will be forced to bundle up and head indoors to escape the harsh Korean winter weather.. While there are plenty of things to do throughout the city during the winter, there’s no better place to pass a cold day …
Last week, I had the privilege of attending a rather bizarre wedding that featured father-of-the-bride drunkenness, a rock-n-roll twist-off, and a gay stripper. OK, so it wasn’t a real wedding, but rather the latest non-verbal performance to hit the stage of the PMC 대학로 자유극장 theater in Hyehwa-dong. I was happy to be on yet …
When thinking of ways to best describe Korea, multicultural isn’t exactly the first adjective one conjures up. In fact, Korea has always been known to be a homogeneous society whose citizens take great pride in their seemingly pure ethnic roots. In doing research previous to my arrival in Korea, I found that many foreigners had …
A helmet-less child and a middle aged man ride up the hill that I’m descending. Their motorcycle suddenly stops in front of me, just next to a closed doorway and the little boy, no older than six, demounts the rumbling bike. The boy bows toward the man. “Kamsa hamneeda,” he thanks his elder before turning …
For the first time in three weeks, I was able to remain sleeping past 8am. Thank you, soju. Last night, a large group of my co-workers went out for a night in Hyewah, a university neighborhood of Seoul. As previously mentioned, nights out in Korea usually entail bar hopping and this night was no different. …