Seoul Taxis Get Protection Screens for Women Drivers

Protection screens have been installed in 35 taxis driven by women, with the Seoul Metropolitan Government paying half the cost.The screens cost W250,000 (US$1=W1,116) each to install. They are made of polycarbonate that is strong enough to resist hammer blows and installed on the side and back of the driver's seat for complete protection. 

If the measure is well received, all taxis in the capital will have the screens installed next year.

Today It’s the “Suneung(수능)” in Korea

You know what today is i.e 13th November 2014? It’s the “Suneung(수능)”, the college entrance exam in Korea! Now about 640,000 students across the country are taking the biggest test of their lives  On Suneung day, many younger students cheered their seniors at the entrance of test site, and also shared sticky snacks and rice cakes for their good luck! Moreover, bus and subway services are increased, police cars offered rides for students, and public offices opened an hour late today.

                         

2014-2015 Korea Grand Sale returns

3 months of mega shopping, Korea Grand Sale returns!

Hosted by the Visit Korea Committee (VKC) every year, 2015 Korea Grand Sale will take place from December 1, 2014 to February 22 of the following year.

Anyone visiting during the event period can take advantage of various discounts and coupons for shopping, dining, accommodations, entertainment and more, available for use at major shopping venues in Seoul as well as other cities around Korea.

Until last year, the Korea Grand Sale ran for just 2 months, starting in January and running until the end of February; however, this year event’s has been extended an extra month. Therefore, all visitors flying in to Korea during the month of December can also enjoy extensive events, promotions, and more discounts than ever before. In addition, not only visitors from overseas, but residents with foreign nationality in Korea can also take part in these exciting offers!

The companies and affiliations supporting the event are located national-wide, with department stores, shopping outlets and major tourist attractions all participating.

Make sure to print coupons or save the images on your mobile devices ahead of time to experience plenty of shopping, cultural programs and other tourism events available during the period. To learn more about the event and coupon use, visit the official website (www.koreagrandsale.co.kr). Please note that these coupons are not valid with other benefits and offers. 

Period: December 1, 2014-February 22, 2015

☞ Venue: Seoul, the metropolitan area, and major cities around Korea 

“Christmas Party” at Seoulland

                                                      “Christmas Party” at Seoulland
Seoulland’s Christmas Party will be held from November 22 to December 31. Major attractions include a magic show, special performances and the Light Fantasy Show. At Santa’s Slow Post, visitors can write messages on Christmas cards and drop them in the mail box. The following year on Christmas, the letter’s recipient will receive this card. 

Seoulland Christmas Party

☞ Venue: Seoulland (181, Gwangmyeong-ro, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do)
    *Nearest subway: Seoul Grand Park Station (Seoul Subway Line 4), Exit 2
☞ Period: November 22 to December 31, 2014
☞ Admission: Adults 36,000 won (one-day pass)
☞ Website: www.seoulland.co.kr (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)
☞ Inquiries: +82-2-509-6000 (Korean, English)
☞ 1330 Korea Travel Hotline: +82-2-1330 (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese) 

Giant Balloon Appears in Seoul Plaza to Urge People to Donate

The Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture has installed on November 6 a giant public artwork called “Mr. Gibro” (meaning “to donate” in Korean) at Seoul Plaza in front of the Seoul City Hall in celebration of the opening of the “Art Seoul, Donate Together” event.

                            
The artwork, created by a pop artist Artnom, or Kang Hyun-ha, is a pig-faced balloon with a diameter of 8 meters. The creator explained that it symbolizes making the art world richer and fatter like a pig. On the same day, 21 citizens gathered and showed a performance of inflating the balloon with bicycle tire inflators. Right next to the balloon, a red-colored container box in which visitors can donate small change for art sponsorship.

"SOIGNÉ" an exquisite restaurant

"SOIGNÉ" an exquisite restaurant offering unique dining experiences that make your every penny worth, from food quality, quantity, food presentations and atmosphere. You are, in fact, "eating" pieces of art!
It is a cozy restaurant for 37 persons, a great place for diners that are looking for exclusive or personalized dining experiences. There are 3 different dinning areas (dining bar, table dining room and private room) that offered different seating capacity from 8 to 17 persons.
The hot spot is the open kitchen between the dining bar and table dining room, where dinners can witneess every single cooking stages and exchange conversations with the chefs. The restaurant also offers pop-up dining services too!
For more information and reservation:
http://soigneseoul.com/?lang=en

Seoul hotel's recognised with Gold Level from EarthCheck

Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas and InterContinental Seoul COEX have acquired Gold Level from EarthCheck, becoming the first organisations in Korea to achieve this level of certification.

Both hotels have established energy and environmental committees in 1989 and have created energy conservation and environmental programs such as activities in reducing waste, setting energy conservation goals and placing green cards in guest rooms to indicate when guests would like their linen and bath towel replaced. The two hotels have also been involved in recycling waste products, as all food waste are processed as fertilisers and minimizing pollutants used in farms.

Darren Morrish, general manager of Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas, said: “We are very happy that our effort and dedication to become the first Gold Level accredited organisation in Korea has been accomplished and we shall continue to look for effective and efficient ways of improving and setting the benchmark as an eco-friendly and focused business.”

EarthCheck is managed by the global environmental advisory, EC3 Global, which pursues sustainable environmental conservation by assisting international organizations in developing environmental preservation systems and manages and issues environmental certificates. 

PIKACHU PARADE COMING TO SEOUL

A horde of adorable Pikachus will be storming the streets of Seoul on Saturday to celebrate the first Korean pro-gamer to win the Pokemon Video Game World Championship. 

                           

Seoul will be hosting a two-day Pokemon Champions Day event at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza on November 15 and 16. Event activities include card game tournaments, pop quizzes and an interview with Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby game developers Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori. However, the highlight of the celebration is “Pikachu Show Time,” a live performance by Pikachu mascots, which will be staged four times per day from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m

Come and taste rice beer in Insa-dong

The 2014 Makgeolli Festival is now underway in and around the neighborhood of Insa-dong in Seoul. Aimed at raising international awareness of makgeolli, the range of traditional Korean rice beers, especially the kind brewed with newly-harvested rice, the four-day festival is full of events that allow visitors to sample a range of the traditional rice liquor. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs hosted the event on October 30 to mark Makgeolli Day, the last Thursday in October. Makgeolli Day was first designated in 2011 as a day to unveil to the world a new line of makeolli made of rice that had been freshly harvested. “I’d say that agriculture is the roots, deeply embedded in the soil, whereas makgeolli is the flower that is blooming above ground,” said Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Lee Dong-phil during the opening ceremony on October 30. 

                           

“Hopefully, this traditional Korean beer will become something that is beloved both domestically and internationally.” On the day, other makgeolli festivals were being run concurrently in Shanghai and in Tokyo, as well as in Gangnam-gu (District) in southern Seoul. Videos of people raising high their bowls of makgeolli for a toast were broadcast in real time online. “Our hope is that this festival will make makgeolli better known in other countries and will bring a breath of fresh air to the popularity of the traditional booze,” said an official from the agriculture ministry. 

                           

“The government plans to help companies develop makgeolli markets beyond Korea, in China and Southeast Asia, too.” The makgeolli festival continues until November 2. During that time, more than 70 booths have been set up across Insa-dong and in some other crowded neighborhoods of Seoul, including Gangnam, Hongdae and Mugyo-dong, allowing people to sample makgeolli from the eight main provinces of mainland Korea.

22nd Korea Sign and Design Show (KOSIGN) at COEX

22nd Korea Sign and Design Show (KOSIGN) at COEX (5 Nov 2014 - 8 Nov 2014)

Visitors to the 22nd signage industry this year, as the exhibition sees 3D Printing Korea held concurrently for the Korea Sign and Design Show at Coex, Seoul, will be able to experience a whole new side to the 3D Printing Korea, jointly organized by Coex and Korea’s 3D Printing Industrial Association, will showcase a range of 3D printers, printing materials, scanners, software, prototypes, and organizations for research and education. Participants may also hear from 3D printing industry leaders and specialists for insights into this new generation of printing technology.

Adding to the impressive range of digital sign and design items already showcased at the annual KOSIGN, 3D Printing 2014 is expected to further boost the show’s standing as a comprehensive business platform for the global signage and printing market. Korea’s International Sign and Design Show is the largest exhibition in the Korean outdoor advertising and digital printing industry, showcasing 179 exhibitors across 641 booths to more than 10,000 visitors last year. In 2013, the World Economic Forum selected 3D printing technology as one of the Top 10 current most influential technologies. 3D printing has also been selected by the Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI) as one of seven technologies expected to contribute most heavily to future industries.

According to the WOHLERS Report 2014, the 3D printing market was worth $3.07 billion in 2013, showing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34.9%. The industry is expected to grow at a remarkable pace over the next several years, fueled by sales of personal 3D printers and expanded use of the technology for parts production. For more information about 3D Printing Korea 2014 or KOSIGN, please contact the KOSIGN

                                       

Marronnier Park Hyehwa

Marronnier Park takes it’s name from the Marronnier tree that is located in the center of the park. The park is quite small but plays an important part in the lives of Seoulites.  The park is located near Hyehwa Station. In 1975 the area began to develop. There are now over 50 theaters and hundreds of cafes. The park is located on the old ground of Seoul National University.  Many university students come here to hang out with friends or before they go to the theater.

There is a stage in the park where small concerts or plays are held. In the center of the park there is a statue of Kim Sang-ok. Patriot Kim Sang-ok was a freedom fighter against the Imperial Japanese occupation of Korea. Also located in the park is the Arko Art Center, opening hours 11am – 8pm, Closed on Mondays.

Seoul Wins Bid for 2016 International Photography Congress

Seoul recently secured the winning bid to host the 33rd Federation Internationale de l’Art Photographique (FIAP) Congress, which in 2016 will bring to the city 800 of the world’s top photographers from 60 countries, and provide them with a golden opportunity to show the world both Seoul and Korea at its best. During the event, scheduled to take place from August 22-28, 2016, participants will be able to network, exchange industry information, and explore Seoul’s top sites with their cameras.

FIAP, also known in English as the International Federation of Photographic Art, is the only photographic society to be officially recognized by UNESCO. Its membership includes over one million persons affiliated with FIAP-approved branches and associations. Congresses are held every two years in rotation.

Event organizer and FIAP member the Photo Artists Society of Korea received assistance for its winning bid from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, which provided the services of its Seoul Convention Bureau (SCB) bidding clinic, such as consultation on bid strategies, presentation workshops, and assistance with proposal development. Praising the SCB’s efforts, the society’s FIAP Liaison Officer Jun Shil Keun said, “The presentation that the Seoul Convention Bureau helped us create for our bid proposal was absolutely perfect and was received with thunderous applause by all the members of the judging panel, and we were complimented on its content.”

                                               
Planned tour destinations in Seoul for the congress participants in 2016 currently include Sungnyemun Gate, royal palaces Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, and Deoksugung, as well as the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Samsung d’light, and the Jongmyo Shrine. They will also visit the Korean Demilitarized Zone, Andong Hahoe Village, and Gyeongju, with many of the selected locations both in and out of Seoul UNESCO World Heritage sites. The congress itself will be held at the Grand Ambassador Seoul.

The week-long event is expected to generate an estimated KRW 4.5bn (US $ 4.5m) in tourism revenue for Korea, and create up to KRW 10bn (US $9.7m) in added value for the regional economies hosting the participants, according to a release by the Photo Artists Society of Korea.

The bidding clinic of the Seoul Convention Bureau has been instrumental in securing many large international congresses for Seoul. Earlier this year, the Korean Physical Society also sought the help of the Seoul Convention Bureau bidding clinic before securing the bid for the 2018 International Conference on High Energy Physics, which is expected to bring over 1,200 international attendees for its eight-day event.

KOSIK THE TALKING ELEPHANT IN SEOUL'S EVERLAND

"In 2006, keepers at Seoul's Everland amusement park/zoo complex were surprised to hear a voice coming from inside the elephant enclosure. Kosik, a 16-year-old elephant, had learned to talk (in Korean of course) by putting its trunk in its mouth and mimicking the words it heard from its caretakers: "yes," "no," "lie down," "sit down," and four other phrases." 
Check Out the Video Below

                               

Perhaps surprisingly, Kosik is not the first talking elephant on record. In the 1970s, a pachyderm called Batyr kept in Kazhakstan's Karaganda Zoo also learned to speak (in Russian), supposedly stringing together phrases like "Batyr is good" as well as verbs like "drink" and "give." He also appeared on Soviet television, once swearing on a live broadcast.

Though it has been shown that elephants do indeed have a sense of self awareness and are intelligent problem solvers and tool users, the question of whether the elephants are capable of expressive speech (as opposed to straight mimicry) has yet to be fully resolved. In the meantime, visitors flock to Kosik's enclosure, hoping to catch a few words.
Smart Elephant :D

A BAKERY CAFÉ in Seoul

Hello! Everyone! I am going to introduce another good place to eat in Seoul today, A BAKERY CAFÉ with a name showing their brand philosophy about home-made food as if cooked by MOMMY-this is the most trendy one among a number of newly launched bakery cafés. They have many things on their menu: sandwitches, soups, paninis, salads, and etc, and of course, all of them are FRESHLY MADE at their kitchen each time the order is taken. Ricotta cheese salad and Honey Camembert cheese panini are the most popular menus-and especially, you SHOULD try the Honey Camembert cheese panini as it tastes so nutty-it has almonds toppings- and deliciously sweet. Why don’t you have it for your lunch today? You can easily find this cafe as they have many branches all over Seoul.


                                 

                                 

Chungmuro Pet Street

The Chungmuro 4(sa)-ga and 5(oh)-ga Streets from the Chungmuro Station (Subway line No.4) to Hullyeonwon-romake the biggest pet shop street of the country, home to 40 or so such shops, vet hospitals for pet medical checkups, vaccinations and treatment, beauty salons for pets and more. Well-known also overseas, a lot of pet-owning foreign tourists visit here.
                         

Namdaemunno/Toegyero‘Design Seoul Street

The Namdaemun-ro street, many foreign tourists’ favorite, has reinvented itself into a shopping haven perfect for relaxation in the wake of the Design Seoul project. The following changes are being made to improve the quality of shoppers’ experiences in the area: building a square at the entrance to Myeong-dong; relocating bus stops and street vendors; securing a higher level of pedestrian convenience; planting pine trees along major streets; and re-arranging thread in the past, were overhauled and revamped to create some harmony and balance, adding to the charm of the street representing the city of Seoul and the finance and distribution industries of Korea.

                        

The Toegye-ro street has added modernity and efficiency to its traditional elegance by relocating and rearranging its street furniture while the newly paved ramp to the Hanok Village has boosted the safety and convenience of the tourists visiting here. The pine street trees have been said to symbolize well the historical and cultural identity of the street located along the ridge of Mt. Nam. Also anticipated is a significant sales increase for local shopping centers and stores.

The Seoul International Dance Festival

The Seoul International Dance Festival (SIDance) will launch its 12th edition with 33 innovative dance works from around the world starting next month. Dance companies from 15 countries will present some of their best works at cultural venues such as Seoul Arts Center and Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Complex from Oct. 5 to 24. `There have been many dance festivals since our first in 1998, but we still aim for the same objectives," Lee Jong-ho, the artistic director of SIDance, said during a press conference last week in central Seoul. "First, we chose works that the audience can sympathize with and connect to, and second, we try to stage performances that are not too abstract or difficult. The bottom line is that we want people to enjoy the event.'' This year boasts one of the best lineups ever, divided into four main categories: Dance Meets Music, Dance Meets Movies, Dance Meets Media Art and Dance Meets Literature.

Noonnamujip(눈나무집) in Samcheongdong

Hello everyone! I am going to introduce a recent HOT place to eat in Seoul, especially among young Koreans today. It’s located in Samcheongdong, close to Insadong(where people usually go for souvenir shopping) or Bukchon Hanok Village(where people go to see traditional houses), so you can have a lot to see by visiting this area. This area has many cool design shops, cafés, and famous restaurants-today’s one is one of them for its delicious ‘Tteokgalbi(Grilled Short Rib Patties)’ and Kimchi noodle-cold noodle soup with Kimchi. Above all, it’s really fantastic to eat Tteokgalbi at REASONABLE price. If you are interested in travelling one of the three areas, why don't you try this restaurant? You can find it easily by remembering it’s a four-storeyed building and has a big TREE inside for the interior.

                            

Seoul Groove Night & Fireworks Performance

Seoul Groove Night & Fireworks Performance 

     

-A night embracing fireworks and dance all together

[Seoul Groove Night] Date : 28th Sep 2014 

Time : 19:30-21:00 Site : ③ Seonyu Plaza 

Dance all night to the rhythms of world music and traditional Korean music!

Seoul Groove Night is a large-scale outdoor club, open to everyone in every age which will bring the Seoul Dance Festival to a close. People can dance in electronic music, world music and percussion rhythms from all around the globe. The last highlight of the Seoul Dance Festival will be accompanied by traditional Korean court music.
[HWARANG Art Pyrotechnics _ Fireworks are all yours!!] 

Do whatever you want with the fireworks 

<Fireworks are all yours!!> is the splendid fireworks show designed to the finale of Seoul Groove Night as a highlight of the Seoul Dance Festival. Dazzling fireworks decorating the night sky with ecstatic dance, unique Korean music and electronic music will give you the most unforgettable moments of the year.

Homepage: www.seouldance.or.kr 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/seouldanceproject

Cheonggwonsa Shrine and Tomb Seoul

Cheonggwonsa Shrine and Tomb Seoul Cheonggwonsa Shrine in Seoul is located right beside Bangbae station on line 2. Cheonggwonsa Shrine was built below the tombs of Prince Hyoryong (1396-1486) and his wife, Princess Jeong (1394-1470). Cheonggwonsa Shrine was built in 1736. Prince Hyoryong was the 2nd son of King Taejong and the older brother of the next King, King Sejong the Great. The first son of the King has the heir to the throne but the 1st son and Prince Hyoryong (2nd son) gave up their tittles so Sejong their younger brother could become King. They both felt Sejong suited the position best and they were right. He went on and became the most powerful ruler Korea has ever seen and was given the tittle King Sejong the Great. Prince Hyoryong went on to become a Buddhist monk. The twin tomb of Prince Hyoryong and his wife are located at the top of a hill and offers some stunning views. A bit further down the hill are some more tombs of his descendants.

                    

Opening Hours / Admission

The tombs are open Monday to Friday during normal business hours.

Admission:

Free to all.

How to get to Cheonggwonsa Shrine and Tomb:

Take line 2 to Bangbae station and leave exit 4. It is a 1 minute walk.