It has taken me twenty-three years to discover the godliness of Indian cuisine. I admit that I am not adventurous when it comes to food, but when I am at the point of where I am sick of eating the same crap over and over again, I will look for something different. Therefore, this past spring, one of my friends who loves Indian cuisine suggested we try Taj Palace out in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, a place she never been to before but heard good reviews of the place.

This restaurant is near Hooker Hill a red light district in Itaewon, and it’s above a transsexual bar. That made me think weird random stuff in my head. However, considering how it’s normal to see set ups like that in Seoul, especially in Itaewon, I threw those thoughts aside and went in there. It is a nice, clean place, with nice host and waiters. On Saturdays and Sundays, they have their weekend buffet, where it’s 16,500 won (about $15-16) and it’s all you can eat. The varieties is good, and along with the buffet food, we also get free naans on the side. Mmmm.

Let’s just say after my first visit there, I was forever converted into Indian cuisine fan. I love that place, and I went back more on my future visits, bringing friends with me who agreed that it was an awesome place. I guess despite its choice of location and whatnot, it’s a great Indian restaurant. See below for images of the meal from my last visit.
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Tags: hooker hill, india, itaewon-dong, korea, restaurant, seoul, yongsan-gu

This article brought back the incident of the February 10, 2008 Namdaemun or Sungnyemun Arson. More than half a year has gone by, and I still can’t believe that this arson happened to the Namdaemun gate. This whole incident feels very surreal. Even when I heard the news back in February, I was in a state of a dream-like shock at how someone would do such a thing to Korea’s National Treasure #1.

Couple weeks after the fire, I was with my best friend. We rode a bus from Myeong-dong back to my place. The bus, #143, has a route that goes around Namdaemun. We were on it, and when it first went past the area where the gate should have been, we didn’t see it. I grew confused. I was wondering how it was possible to miss seeing something big like that. But then bus turned around to head back to where we first came from. That was when we saw just what threw me off for a loop. They had one of those gigantic construction walls around the gate, preventing us from seeing the burnt down gate.
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Tags: arson, jung-gu, korea, myeong-dong, namdaemun, seoul, sungnyemun

Written and created by SevenSense Inc. and the creative team of “JUMP“, “Break Out” has played all over the world, from India to Malaysia to Bangkok to Laos, and even at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the UK. The Seoul production of “Break Out” is still playing to sold out crowds back in Korea.

“Break Out” is one quarter story and three quarters a high-energy breakdance spectacle featuring some of Korea’s leading B-Boys from internationally winning crews such as Drifters Crew (Battle of the Year 2006 Finalists), Gamblers Crew (Battle of the Year 2005 Finalists) and Maximum Crew.
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Tags: break out, Chul-Hee Han, Dae-Hyeok Lim, dance, Jae-Hong Park, Ji-Hee Jang, Jin-Hee Kim, Jong-Wook Jeong, Jun-Beom Juen, korean, Kyung-Ah Han, new york, Seong-June Park, seoul, SevenSense, Show and Arts, Union Square Theatre, Won-Jun Song, Won-Kil Paek, Yong-Nam Song, Yoon-Hui Cho

This drool-worthy picture next to this paragraph is some dessert waffle dish called the “Giant Brown Apple Thunder” thingamagie. Last month, my friend “Stella” and I went to The Waffle Factory around Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu. That night, I was merely introduced to the waffles. Then we went to this one coffee shop/bar in the same vicinity called “The Library” for a drink or two.

Couple weeks ago, I told “Seungee” that we should both try the restaurant because the waffles that I did try a bit last time was delicious. Both of us are breakfast food fans, and we believe that breakfast foods are meant to be eaten during all times of the day. Unfortunately, finding good American-style breakfast is a bit of a pain in Seoul since we are either limited to the US military bases or at places that “Koreanises” the food. Thankfully, we lucked out! The Waffle Factory really do serve great breakfast food, in Seoul, all day long, and at a fairly reasonable price. We spent about 31 bucks at this place for two dishes and two drinks. Let’s move on and let the “blog-entation” begin! With pictures, naturally.
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Tags: itaewon-dong, korea, melamine, restaurant, seoul, yongsan-gu

A few months ago, I was shocked by the US dollar to Korean won exchange rate when it was actually less than 900 KRW to $1. After having the exchange rate at a steady 1,000 KRW to $1 for the last decade, that low rate really hit me in the face. It’s kind of ironic that it did, though. I grew up in the mid-90s, where it was 800 KRW to $1. But then the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis aka IMF Crisis occurred, and I remember the won rate going up high as 1,800 KRW to $1. Of course I didn’t really understand the implication of such things. All I know is that it was good for us Americans to exchange USD to KRW. Sadly to say, I still do believe in that since my main source of income are in dollars. However, today proved to be an insane day in the monetary world. At least for me.
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Tags: 1997 asian financial crisis, ahjumma, dollar, economy, finance, imf crisis, korea, seoul, won

To say that I have never driven in Seoul, South Korea is a lie. To say that I have driven on the US military bases in Seoul, South Korea is the truth. However, to say that I have never driven on South Korean soil is the truth. Confused? Bottom line: I have yet to drive outside of the US military bases in Seoul or anywhere in South Korea. Why? Here’s why:

1) Public transportation is cheap and effective.
2) I live near the base so I can easily walk to and from there.
3) I think I’d rather jump off of the Seoul Tower before even attempting to drive in the dreaded traffic.
4) I usually do not go anywhere far to need a car.
5) I have a personal chauffeur by the name of Daddy, and I’ll take advantage of that as long as I can.
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Tags: han river, korea, military, seoul, seoul tower, traffic, transportation, united states

* Have a reason to go out and eat . . . CHECK — It’s someone’s birthday.

* Make sure you have a decent size group . . . CHECK — Get two families for seven people.

* Go to a traditional restaurant . . . CHECK — After discovering there’s an actual parking lot . . . for like five cars!

* Sit on the floor . . . CHECK — Make sure you have a floor cushion for the padding on your bottom.

* Let the birthday person choose what they were craving . . . CHECK — Bulgogi!

* The restaurant ahjummas starts bringing the food and let the fun times begin!
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Tags: ahjumma, itaewon-dong, korea, restaurant, seoul, yongsan-gu

One thing I liked about growing up in Seoul was the fact that there were so much Japanese animes being broadcast on Korean televisions. I definitely took advantage of that and watched many, many animes in my elementary school days. However, I decided around sixth grade that I was “too old” to watch these “cartoons” and simply stopped watching them. I regret doing that, but thankfully my friends bought me back into the anime world in ninth grade with Slayers.

Once I got back into the wonderful world of animes, in the last ten years or so, I’ve been trying my hardest to reconnect myself to all my favourite animes from my childhood. To be honest, it proved to be a rather frustrating task. See, the animes that were shown on Korean televisions were all dubbed into Korean, Japanese titles were changed into Korean ones, and even the names of characters were changed to Korean names! Needless to say I had a fun time searching the American or Japanese titles for Tekuu no Escaflowne or Fushigi Yuugi. But the one that took me a while to find and had a pain of a time looking for due to it not being popular in Japan happened to be Mado King Granzort.
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Tags: anime, europe, hayashibara megumi, japan, karaoke, korea, mado king granzort, Mecha, no rae bang, seoul

Kimchi, the one ubiquitous food, other than rice, that exists in Korea, is everywhere. In my house, there was always at least one Tupperware full of the fermented, red-peppered vegetables, ripe or fresh. Therefore, being surrounded by them, I never really noticed there was a certain smell to the ripe ones. That’s why whenever the newcomers come to Korea, one of the first thing they tell me is that they can smell the overpowering stench of kimchi. For the longest time I didn’t have a single clue as to what they were talking about. That is until three years ago.
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Tags: ahjumma, dongbu ichon-dong, kimchi, korea, seoul, yongsan-gu

Ningin has always had a lot of visitors from South Korea and other Asian countries. We’re quite proud of that actually because it means we’re transcending national and cultural boundaries. It doesn’t matter who or where you are, if you’re interested in Asian media, we’re happy to have you here! So to better serve our international members (and really everyone in general) allow me to introduce Tara Popp, our newest blogger from South Korea:

차렷, 경래, 안녕하세요! (Cha-lyut, gyung-lae, ahnyoung-ha-sae-yo! = Attention! Bow and say hello!) Well that is one way to say hello in South Korea, especially at an institute, I suppose.
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Tags: camp zama, citizen, japan, kanagawa, korea, military, seoul, tara popp, united states