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 W Seoul-Walkerhill is launching a Festive Eve Party series at WooBar on Christmas Eve and Dec. 31.On Christmas Eve, Australian DJ Tom Piper will introduce house-style music infused with tech, rave, fidget, baseline, electro, disco and more to create an exhilarating party scene. DJ Schedule 1, a contestant from the Mnet DJ survival program “Headliner” and a hip-hop-and-EDM veteran with 13 years of experience, will also perform. On Dec. 31, DJ performance duo London Beats will bid a farewell to 2015 by showcasing electrifying sounds. A female dance performance team in Santa Claus costumes, and Tron Dance and his LED dance performance will also take the stage. DJ Gio Vanhoutte, W Seoul’s music curator, will oversee all music played at the Festive Eve Party series.Tickets are priced at 50,000 won per person for early-bird specials and 60,000 won at the door. For reservations and further inquiries, contact WooBar at (02) 2022-0333. JW Marriott Hotel Seoul presents a selection of special Christmas menus at two restaurants on Dec. 24 and 25.All-day dining r

Dec 10, 2015
Hotel Lobby

Hotels organize holiday charity events

Imperial Palace Seoul’s Gingerbread Dream House  / Courtesy of Imperial Palace SeoulBy Kim Se-jeong The gift-giving season inspires many organizations, including hotels, to hold charity events to reach out to the less and encourage hotel guests and local residents to donate their time and money.Imperial Palace Seoul’s Gingerbread Dream House is one of the most exciting charity events so far this year. The six-year-old event helps children with disabilities, and this year, it’s beneficiaries are the blind children of Incheon Hyegwang Orchestra. The orchestra was founded in 2008 to give blind children with the opportunity to demonstrate their musical talents to the world. For the charity event, the hotel encourages individual donors to donate 100,000 won and corporate donors 200,000 won. It then prints the names of donors on a 5-meter-high gingerbread house that is currently on display at the hotel’s lobby until mid January next year. Donors are also invited to a concert by a children’s orchestra on Dec. 24 at the hotel lobby. Donations are accep

Dec 10, 2015
Hotels organize holiday charity events

Enjoy hotels' winter packages

By Kim Se-jeong Looking for a winter weekend getaway? Check out these hotel winter promotional packages!Millennium Seoul HiltonMillennium Seoul Hilton’s winter package, which is available until Feb. 29 next year, include complimentary Internet access, two bottles of water and access to the fitness center, swimming pool and weekday aerobics classes, in addition to the accommodations.In celebration of the holiday season, the hotel has put up a Christmas tree at the hotel lobby, which will be on display until Jan. 17 next year.The deluxe room package includes a one-night stay in a Deluxe room and a take-out coffee or tea for two from Cilantro Deli. The package will cost 190,000 won until Jan 1 and 180,000 won after, not including tax and service charges.The Executive room package includes a one-night stay in an Executive room, breakfast for two and snacks all day long at the executive floor lounge. The package costs 300,000 won until Jan. 1 and 290,000 won after, not including tax and service charges.The two packages will not be available on Dec. 24, 25 and 31. An extra bed i

Dec 10, 2015
Enjoy hotels' winter packages

Dooly Museum: resident-friendly theme park

Sculptures of the characters featured in cartoonist Kim Soo-jung’s 1983 comic “Dooly the Little Dinosaur” are displayed in front of the Dooly Museum. From left are Hee-dong, Michael, Dooly, Ddochi and Douner. / Courtesy of Dooly MuseumBy Baek Byung-yeulSince cartoonist Kim Soo-jung began publishing his cartoon “Dooly the Little Dinosaur” in the monthly comic magazine “Bomulseom” in its April 1983 edition, Dooly has been one of Korea’s most familiar cartoon characters.The story begins with Dooly, who had been locked inside of a glacier for 100 million years, until a chunk of the iceberg breaks off and carries him to a stream in northeastern Seoul. Thanks to the popularity of the cartoon, Dobong-gu opened a Dooly Museum themed on the popular character in July.Ever since its opening, the small theme park has emerged as a popular site for district residents and fans both old and new and middle-aged parents who visit there with their children. An official at the museum said an average 500 visitors a day flock to the park to enjoy the witty l

Dec 10, 2015
Dooly Museum: resident-friendly theme park

Learning from Spain's senary industries

The wine cellar at Codorniu, the oldest cava-producing company in Barcelona, Spain / Courtesy of CodorniuSpain’s wine, artichoke and jamon have successfully established their global reputation by combining tourism with primary production and secondary processing industries. This is the first of a two-part series on Spain’s senary industries. — ED. By Yun Suh-young BARCELONA, Spain — Visiting farmland and production facilities of popular Spanish specialties such as cava, jamon and even artichokes have become sought-after tour programs for people in search of a unique experience in Spain.The programs were the idea of local producers who were seeking new ways of commercializing and promoting their products, and creating revenue streams. They decided to integrate their resources into a single package — combining the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors into the business.The relatively new term, “senary industry,” or “sixth-level industry,” although the concept has existed for years, defines the activities of these produce

Dec 6, 2015
Learning from Spain's senary industries

No gear, no complexity, ride freely

Park Ik-sung, left, general manager of fixed-gear bike shop Spellbound poses with staff members at the shop in Shinsa-dong, Seoul, Wednesday. / Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chulBy Nam Hyun-wooFixed-gear bike shop Spellbound is full of chatter. Customers keep asking the shop’s staff how they can customize their bikes. Park Ik-sung, Spellbound’s general manger, is as passionate as the customers are, sharing his tips on how to give the customers’ uncomfortable bicycles just the right fit so they will be comfortable.For the past couple of years, the shop in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul, has been a nest for hipsters fascinated by the simplicity and sleek design of fixed-gear bikes, or fixies. For some conservative cyclists, this physically-draining bike transformation is something they can’t understand. Without gears, a freewheel mechanism, a derailleur and all the other complex installations that go with them ― and even brakes sometimes ― the bike simply has a crank chained to the single rear wheel hub, and riders cannot resist pedaling while the wheel

Dec 3, 2015
No gear, no complexity, ride freely

Jeju aims to be carbon-free island

Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Governor Won Hee-ryong poses in an electric vehicle. He has vowed to make Jeju a carbon-free island by 2030. / Courtesy of Jeju Special Self-Governing ProvinceProvince to replace gasoline-powered cars with electric onesBy Chung Ah-youngElectric vehicles (EVs) are gradually gaining popularity worldwide as a growing number of people start to realize the importance of green transportation to the environment.Jeju Island, located off the Korea’s southwestern coast, has been spearheading a campaign to popularize EVs and reduce carbon emissions since in 2011, when it was chosen as a test bed for battery-powered cars by the Ministry of Environment. The island is an ideal environment to test EVs because it is small and oval-shaped, making it easier for drivers to travel around the island with a single battery charge. On Jeju, drivers can travel along the 180 kilometers of coastal roads. A fully charged electric car can drive between 100 kilometers and 150 kilometers. Given that most people drive an average of fewer than 100 kilome

Dec 3, 2015
Jeju aims to be carbon-free island

Something fishy about underwater hotel plan

The design of the Planet Ocean Underwater Hotel / Screen capture from TwitterPlans are under way for a futuristic traveling hotel to be built on the ocean floor.The Planet Ocean Underwater Hotel has received USA Patent and Trademark approval as the world’s first underwater hotel, the British Daily Mail reports.Guests will enjoy a panoramic view of sea life from the 12-room boutique hotel 8.5 meters beneath the sea. Guests will use a sealed elevator to get to the hotel.Egypt, Malaysia, Hawaii and the Bahamas have been suggested as possible sites.“I refer to it as inner space tourism, and the new industry is now ready to launch into the ocean frontier,” said Tony Webb, the man behind the hotel design.“We will provide the protection, management and expansion of the most fascinating hotels on the planet.”The hotel will use electro-mechanical propulsion technology to navigate ocean waters. This will allow the hotel to seek shelter in an emergency, such as a hurricane.The project is estimated to cost $20 million.

Dec 2, 2015
Something fishy about underwater hotel plan

New airport to bring growth to Jeju Island

Won Hee-ryongJeju Special Self-Governing Province governorBy Chung Ah-youngJeju Island in the southwest portion of Korea was once a local honeymooners’ destination but is now also a must-visit attraction for foreign travelers, particularly Chinese tourists, all year round. More and more foreigners are finding the island attractive owing to its exotic culture and beautiful natural landscape, which create a relaxing environment, in contrast to the hustle and bustle of shopping centers in the nation’s urban tourist spots.To cope with the surging number of tourists, a new airport will be built by 2025; the terminal at the current airport on Jeju’s north coast is expected to reach full capacity around 2018.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport recently announced the plan for the 4.1-trillion-won airport in Seongsan-eup in Seogwipo City on the eastern part of the island. The construction of the new airport, which will have one runway, will start in 2018 and be completed in 2024 for a scheduled opening in 2025.The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province said the

Nov 26, 2015
New airport to bring growth to Jeju Island

Neither painting, nor photo

Yoo Hyun-mi’s “Cosmos in Studio” (2013) /  Courtesy of the artistThis is the 17th in a series of interviews with notable artists recommended by the Korean Artist Project, an online platform promoting Korean art. ― ED.By Kwon Mee-yooArtist Yoo Hyun-mi’s work blurs the boundaries among photography, painting, sculpture and video. She converts physical space, objects and even human beings into pieces of painting, questioning the separation between reality and fantasy.One of her major works, "Bleeding Blue" (2009), was a crowd-pleaser at the "Illusion and Fantasy" exhibit at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, earlier this year. Unlike most videos installed in a partitioned, dark room, the video was screened in a passageway of the exhibition hall, attracting passers-by to see how a man becomes a painting. They also observes Yoo’s photographic work up close, speculating whether it is a painting or photography. The short film's Korean title is directly translated into "A man who became a painting." As the title literally ex

Nov 26, 2015
Neither painting, nor photo
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