Coffest

I hardly drink coffee but do like the smell and a good place for coffee. Cafe, 'Coffeest' aims the best quality coffee so they put the superlative suffix '-est' after coffee. What's your favourite cafe in your city?

Sailing Yacht in Han River

Since 5 working days has become more common in Korea(most of us used to work on Sat until 90's), the way we enjoy our weekend has changed accordingly. Today I was invited to a yacht club in Han River and it was really interesting and also relaxing. Do you do any outdoor activities?

Noodle (Kalguksu)

Hello, I'm back. Thank you very much for your wishes, and I had a really relaxing time. Today's photo is in line with the previous post and here comes the noodle. There are various kinds of noodles in Korea and this dish is called, 'Kalguksu.' When it's rainy or gets chilly like today, most of Korean miss this warm noodle soup. Eat good food for your weekend!

Noodle Restaurant

Cheap food does not necessarily mean the quality is poor. With only 3,500 Korean won (app. 2.7 euro), I was able to get a decent dish of noodle. This is the open kitchen of the restaurant and next time I will show more photos of the place and food.

I'll be away for a week for Harvest Moon holidays and be back next Friday. I know I'm breaking the rule of DP but, because I won't be able to have good access to the Internet in my hometown and haven't prepared for this absence, I only hope you will understand. See you later and make a wish upon the full moon on 25th.

Red

Today's photo is a reminder of July's theme day: the colour red. Red guitar and red piggy banks. I don't know why, but red pigs are dominant for saving boxes here in Korea.

Food Zone Near Baseball Stadium

Among professional sports in Korea, baseball is the most popular one. Now the season is turning the corner to the final but, as you can see in the photo, I took this on the first day of the season in the spring. This food zone is seen right out of the metro gate, which has numerous kinds of street food. There is a saying, without something to eat, Koreans go nowhere.:) I'm happy we love eating.

Sale

Have you queued up for sale? Last Saturday I was in line above and bought two pairs of shoes with 30% reduction.

Show

This guys were hired to promote a new service of a telecom company. What I was thinking about them was 'making money is not easy at all.'

Meeting Point

'Giordano' in Kangnam is one of meeting points in that area. During the whole week, this spot is always crowded and busy. Where is the meeting point in your town?

Home Pus

Please take a look at the neon sign on the far right. When I was about to take this photo, I intuitively knew 'pus' would mean something. And later by looking it up in a dictionary, finally found its meaning: a thick yellowish liquid that forms in wounds when they are infected. 'Homep us'... This home must have a pain or a problem.:)

FYI, Samsung Tesco Homeplus is a Joint Venture between Samsung Corp and Tesco.

Metro

This is a sign pole of metro station, Jonggak where I stop every working day for work. The colour in the circle indicates the number of each line. The photo is a bit blurry because of a strong rainstorm. We'll be having a lot of rain all weekend and also Typhoon Nari.

Traditional Pub

Currently a Dutch friend of mine is in Seoul for his trip. This is the first bar he visited in Seoul and another friend of ours brilliantly picked up the Korean traditional pub. In the middle of the photo, you can see straw sandals hanging on the wall, which our ancestors used to wear. Another interesting on the wall is that, below the shoes, you can see a portrait photo of Guus Hiddink from the Netherlands, a legendary coach to us who was in the centre of Korean team's accomplishment up to the semi-final 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan and is currently leading Russian national team. My friend was glad to see a person from his country.

Samgyeopsal

Do you like meat? I do. Though I don't like the way some people breed livestock in order to get as much meat as possible, I have to admit I can't give up the taste of meat. What you see on the picture is one of Korean's best loved meat, 'Samgyeopsal', which means rich marbled belly part of pork. We usually roast kimchi, mushroom, onions, garlic too on the pan. Compared to beef, pork is crispy and cheaper here in Korea.

* I came home late being a bit drunk from a couple of pints of beer over a football match against Syria for regional final qualifications for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. So, I hope you to please understand that I can't reply to yesterday's comments you put.

Alley

This alley does not look beautiful, but I am just glad to see this kind of place still exists in Seoul.

No Car Day

It is "No Car Day" in Seoul today. Though the worldwide one is the 22nd of September, because it is the first day of Full Moon Harvest holidays here this year, Seoul city had decided to advance the date to today. This campaign was conducted in Jongno and also a much smaller area in Apgujeong from 4h to 18h00. Except bus, all the vehicles were not allowed to enter the road and both sides of the road were available for people to walk.

Birthday

Today I turned 29, but I've already become 30 since the first day of this year. Confusing? Let me tell you why. We, Korean, have a different way of counting ages. When we are born, we are 1 year old because we consider the period of nine to ten months in mother's belly enough for a baby to become nearly one year old. And when a year changes, we get one older, not on our birthday. Therefore, for instance, a baby born on the 31st Dec. turns two years old the next day. I know this is apart from a scientific way but it's true we sometimes follow a Western way, such as a medical record. Anyway, it is my 30th birthday in Korea today and that's why my friends prepared three longer candles: each longer candle means a decade and next year I will have three longer and one shorter candles on my b-day cake.

Sleepless McDonald's

Recently, an increasing number of McDonald's have made themselves 24-hour open. Though it was nearly midnight, I didn't take to grabbing anything there. I also wanted to show you how McDonald's is written in Korean. Have a pleasant weekend!

Jesa

In Korea, most of families perform ancestor-memorial services on the dates when our ancestors passed away. We simply call it 'Jesa(祭祀).' Since my dad is the eldest son, we have a couple of days a year for memorial. The biggest part about the services is preparing food for our ancestors' ghosts and there are certain types of food that must not be missed and also some rules about displaying plates such as red in east and white in west, fish in east and meat in west and so on. In front of the table, all the family members (some families don't allow women to participate) make a bow. After the ceremony, we share the food, which is the best part to me.^.^ Due to my dad who is a fruit seller, we served some exceptional fruits on the left. I hope my ancestors liked them even though they didn't ever know what pineapple, melon and banana are.

Crane

Since the industry era in 1960s, there hasn't been a day without a crane in Seoul.

63 Building

63 Building(height: 249m) used to be the highest building in Seoul until it had to give its first rank to Tower Palace lll with 264m of height. Besides the space for offices, this building also has an observatory-63 Golden Tower, an aquarium-63 Sea World, and I Max Theater with a screen of 24x20 m. I haven't discovered more about 63 Building since my first and last visit in 1988.

Cholesterol Day

Today is 'Cholesterol Day' in Korea, held by fat and arteriosclerosis society for the purpose of letting public be well aware of cholesterol and take care of it thus lead to healthy lives. What you see is a pharmacy in my neighbourhood. '약(yak: 藥),' the white word in the red box on the lest is a sign for the shop.

People Reading

For voting on October's theme, I chose 'people reading' which got the second biggest number of supports eventually. The reason why I voted for this theme was, in Korea, the autumn is called 'the season of reading' besides other nicknames like 'the season of high sky and plump horses(天高馬肥)' and 'the season of men.' This is a reading place at Jamsil branch of Kyobo Book Centre and it would have been excellent if they had more comfortable chairs.

Postbox

Today let me show a postbox in Korea. It's simply red and the symbol under the sign, 'post' is a magpie which is believed to bring good news or welcome guests when they chirp.

1st Sep Theme Day: Street Lights and Signs

As always, September starts with a theme day. I took this photo in Insadong (again!) and we see lights, street signs (Insadong 5(o)-gil) and even signboards of restaurants on the street. FYI, we two ways to say numbers both in Korean and Chinese. Number 5 is called 'daseot' in Korean and 'o (五)' in Chinese. In case of conveying some numerical information like street and telephone numbers, postalcode or so, we follow the latter. This is what makes non-Korean speakers confused when they learn Korean first.

Have a look at what our multicultural bloggers took in their cities.

Seattle (WA), USA - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Singapore, Singapore - Boston (MA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia - Mainz, Germany - Evry, France - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Sequim (WA), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Nottingham, UK - Toulouse, France - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Manila, Philippines - Mumbai, India - Montpellier, France - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - Moscow, Russia - Paris, France - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Austin (TX), USA - Lyon, France - Stockholm, Sweden - Hyde, UK - Hong Kong, China - Joplin (MO), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Chandler (AZ), USA - St. Louis (MO), USA - Arlington (VA), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Villigen, Switzerland - Sydney, Australia - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - San Diego (CA), USA - Bandung (West Java), Indonesia - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Nelson, New Zealand - Quincy (MA), USA - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Bend (OR), USA - Wellington, New Zealand - New Orleans (LA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Nashville (TN), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Detroit (MI), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - Selma (AL), USA - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Arradon, France - Sheki, Azerbaijan - New York City (NY), USA - Inverness (IL), usa - North Bay (ON), Canada - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Tenerife, Spain - Auckland, New Zealand - Forks (WA), USA - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Chateaubriant, France - Madison (WI), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Ajaccio, France - Baltimore (MD), USA - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Budapest, Hungary - Lyon, France - Saarbrücken, Germany - Adelaide (SA), Australia - Le Guilvinec, France - River Falls (WI), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Naples (FL), USA - London, UK - La Antigua, Guatemala - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - Paris, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Trujillo, Peru - Haninge, Sweden - Prague, Czech Republic - Oslo, Norway - Grenoble, France - Shanghai, China - Toronto (ON), Canada - Durban, South Africa - Zurich, Switzerland - Cape Town, South Africa - Singapore, Singapore - Torino, Italy - Flagstaff (AZ), USA