Rediscover Seoul: Itaewon

There was an article on the Korea Herald English newspaper site about Itaewon.

Read the article here: http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/entertainment/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20100422000439

Here are a few pictures (This isn't a very scenic place so I didn't take many!)(click on album to view)

Itaewon

These are my personal thoughts and memories of Itaewon:

I went to Itaewon many times. I think I only liked it because you can see tons of foreigners. There's an army base nearby so you'll see some soldiers. Its a kind of shady and dirty place (that's how most foreigners I know describe it). They have an alley called "hooker hill." One of the red light districts in Seoul. Its illegal but they turn a blind eye. You can find more English speaking Koreans in Itaewon. I never checked out 'gay hill' where the gay community is located. I did go down 'hooker hill' a few times with friends.

There are lots of restaurants with various types of food. I haven't tried any of the restaurants in the article.I wanted to visit the Hard Rock Cafe, but it never seemed to be open. I'm not even sure if its still open. I heard they were getting a Taco Bell soon.

There's a Foreign Food Market where you can buy overpriced imported food.

One thing that really made me laugh was a country bar on 'hooker hill'. I just wasn't expecting a country bar in Seoul. It seemed so out of place. The name was Grand Ole Opry. I had my first and last sip of beer at the Grand Ole Opry. I will never drink beer again. It tastes awful. Why do people like it so much?

Club Friend on 'hooker hill' stays open till 7am if you really like to party hard all night long. I'm not a party person. I was just there one night because one of my friends thought it would be awesome to stay out all night until the subway opened in the morning. Itaewaon is truly the city that never sleeps. I was still in this bar when it closed at 7am. There's another bar right nearby that stays open till 10am if you really like to party hard. Don't ask me the name because I don't know.

There's an 80's bar called "Flashdance" which I never got around to checking out. I love 80's music. I tried to go there once. There was a sign on the stairs that said 'happy hour' between 5:30 and 10:30. I went between those times and they weren't open. I never tried again.

I do recommend one place: Gecko's Terrace..but don't go on the weekends at night unless you love being crammed in there with a night club vibe. Its crowded on the weekends. They have a great cheeseburger. Its expensive, but good. The cheeseburger with fries costs $10.50.

I went to an American Diner-Richard Copycats. They served breakfast all day long. It doesn't even compare to Dennys, but its okay. I probably wouldn't go back.

There's a nice hair salon, "The Green Turtle". They have English speakers and know how to style 'western hair'. I got a haircut there once. I think it was about $25.

Its hard to find "big size" clothes in South Korea so I used to go to Itaewon. You have to look for signs that say "big size" or there will be people sitting outside the door who will mention their store to you. There are at least 4 or 5 stores that have 'big size' clothing. Its a little pricey and not stylish. I found one dress that was cute. I didn't really like the other things I purchased, but I got it because I needed something to wear.

Itaewon is a big shopping area, but I never bought anything (except souveniers). They were cheap. $3 bucks for a nice keychain. Maybe there was a reason they were cheap. They were poorly made and 2 of them broke shortly after returning to the USA. I didn't buy anything else because I was trying not to accumulate items that would have to be stuffed into my suitcase when I had to pack up and leave.

Twitter ― Refuge for Korean Porn Sites

Note: Porn is illegal in South Korea. I've heard that Porn sites are blocked.
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Twitter (www.twitter.com)appears to be bringing old websites back to life.

In 2004, police shut down Soranet, a porn site. They had more than 600,000 subscribers and 60 people were caught for being involved with the site's operation.

Six years later, the site has gained popularity through micro-blogging.

The new Twitter-armed Soranet is clearly more elusive than the older version, and seems to be creating a following just as impressive.

The site was blocked by the National Police Agency (NPA). The account had gained more than 100,000 followers making it the country's third most popular Twitter account. Kim Yuna and Lee Woe-soo hold the top positions.

Online Porn sites are realizing that Twitter is a good place to promote their business because users can post their real-time status.

Soranet's Twitter account was created last June and followers could find instant updates on the IP address to the blocked site.

Millions of tweets had already been sent by the time the police blocked the site.

It seems that anyone with basic Internet skills would be able to gain access to Soranet. Type "indirect access to Soranet" in Korean, and Google generates more than 900,000 search results.

"You can't expect us to track all the tweets. And since Twitter is provided by a foreign company and operated by a U.S.-based server, our options for combating these online porn services are severely limited," said an official from the Korea Communications Standards Commission, the country's censorship authority for broadcasting and Internet content.

Videos: Writing in Hanguel

Committee Passes Bill on Fingerprinting of Foreigners

I think its a good idea. Any upstanding citizen shouldn't have a problem with it. I went to Japan for 2 days last year and I had to get fingerprinted and photographed at the airport. I think the people who would have a problem are those who know they are doing something wrong. These days there are so many technological advances and people know how to make fake passports, but now they can get caught. You can't fake fingerprints. Everyone has unique fingerprints. They can run it through the system and find you.
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Starting in August all foreigners entering Korea will be fingerprinted and photographed.

They are hoping to stop foreigners who committed crimes in the country and were deported from entering the country again on a different passport. They want to prevent foreigners from entering on forged passports.

Foreigners may be denied entry if they refuse to be fingerprinted and have their photographs taken at airport immigration.

An estimated 2,000 foreigners deported for offences including visa violations reenter Korea every year with disguised identities.

Korean Movie: 미스터 로빈 꼬시기

Seducing Mr. Perfect
released on December 7, 2006

I watched this movie a few weeks ago. I really enjoyed it. The main actor (Daniel Henney) is a Korean American. He's very handsome! I remember seeing him in a Biotherm ad in South Korea, but I didn't know who he was until now.



I was surprised to hear so much English in the movie. I watched it with English subtitles, but I actually understood probably 50% of the movie!

Plot summary:

Min-joon (Uhm Jung-hwa) believes in true love and always very dedicated to her boyfriend. Men always end up breaking up with her. Her latest boyfriend ends the relationship on his birthday.  She is distracted by the latest break-up and she bumps into a car. A man steps out. He turns out to be her new boss, Robin Heiden, played by Daniel Henney. Heiden believes that love and relationships are a game of power. Min-Joon asks Robin for dating advice because she doesn't want to get dumped again. She starts to treat men the way that Robin treats women. She realizes she prefers her own way even if it means she will get dumped again. She believes isn't about who has the power. Heiden is also dealing with his own heartbreak..He eventually falls in love with her and both get into a real relationship and a happy ending of their own.

There is something unique about this movie. Robin Heiden only speaks in English because Korean is too hard to speak. Min-Joon speaks mostly in Korean. They understand each other without needing a translation. This style was new for a Korean film and was part of the reason why the movie was so successful.

비빔밥

Tonight I made 비빔밥 (bibimbap) for supper. I didn't add any hot pepper paste because I don't like spicy food. I used raw vegetables (carrots, romaine lettuce, cucumbers) and steamed mung bean sprouts. I added a fried egg. I didn't add any meat.

I'm going to try more variations. I'm going to add brown rice and spinich to make it have more nutritional value.

Bibimbap is a popular Korean dish. The word literally means "mixed rice." Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste). A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions. The ingredients are stirred together thoroughly just before eating.It can be served either cold or hot.




비빔밥 맛있어요.

Gasoline Hits 1,800 Won per Liter

WOW! That's $6.40 a gallon! If gas costed that much here I wouldn't be able to drive! I thought $2.69 a gallon was high here in South Carolina!

Time to pack those subways!
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The average at-pump price of gasoline in Seoul hit 1,800 won ($1.6) per liter Thursday for the first time in 19 months. The price was just below 1,800 won Saturday morning.

The average price on Thursday was 1,801.04 won in Seoul, according to Opinet, a real-time petroleum product price information Web site run by the Korea National Oil Corp.

On Jan. 1, per-liter prices were 1,711.84 won, but have been rising since early last month.

This is the first time gasoline prices in Seoul have reached the 1,800-won mark since September 2008.

On Thursday, prices ranged between 1,998 and 1,734.7 won, with Gangnam-gu posting the highest.

Nationwide, prices were the highest in Seoul and lowest in North Gyeongsang Province at an average of 1.713.3 won.

The industry forecasts fuel prices are not likely to go down any time soon, as global prices remain strong amid an economic turnaround across the world.

Rain "Love Song"

Here's the video (with English Subtitles):

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English Version below (only audio)(Why do the lyrics differ in the versions? Differences in translation?)

I've never heard the word "intolerable" in a love song..I don't think it was the right choice.

RAIN--I'LL HELP YOU WITH ENGLISH FOR FREE!



On April 9 KBS(a Korean TV channel) banned Rain's new music video called "Love Song."

why?

KBS banned it because Rain was running on a road which is considered a traffic law in Korea. Apparently, to KBS, running on roads while breaking the law is inappropriate for the public to see.

He only runs for 14 seconds on a road with no cars!