my timesThe Korea Times
Lifestyle

Travel & Food

Three Gangnam districts show latest fads

By Kim Rahn If a foreign friend visits you in Seoul and says he or she wants to experience Korea’s latest fads in fashion, food, entertainment and other youth culture, where would you go? You don’t need to take the friend here and there to search for each of the themes, but just visit Cheongdam’s Fashion Street, Apgujeong’s Rodeo Street and Garosu-gil in Gangnam, three locations in southern Seoul connected by a major road and accessible from each other on foot. They are emerging as “must-visit places” because trendsetters in various cultural fields present their new luxury and vintage items there. Cheongdam, fashion mecca On both sides of the 730-meter street from the Cheongdam intersection to the east wing of the Galleria Department Store, fancy stores for luxury brands are clustered. It is said that Korea’s upscale fashion starts from Cheongdam Street, as flagship stores of name brands are all here _ Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Gucci, Omega, Giorgio Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo and Prada, to name a few. Those shops sometimes offer special promotions and fas

Jul 28, 2011By Kim Rahn

Seven Luck enjoys boom with foreign gamblers

By Lee Hyo-sik The state-run Grand Korea Leisure (GKL), the operator of Seven Luck Casino, is enjoying brisk business this year, with record numbers of Japanese, Chinese and other tourists visiting its three outlets. GKL, 51 percent of which is owned by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), attracted a total of 697,381 visitors in the first six months of 2011, up from 653,010 during the same period last year. It expects to draw nearly 1.5 million non-Korean gamblers for the whole year if the current trend continues, and post record-high revenues of 500 billion won. The company had 1.3 million customers in 2010, earning revenues of 473.4 billion won. Korea’s largest casino-chain operates a casino at the Millennium Seoul Hilton at the foot of Mt. Nam in central Seoul, another in southern Seoul and a third in Busan. ``We do not expect the number of foreign tourists this year to increase at last year’s pace. But still, we will manage to attract more visitors than in 2010. It means that more foreigners, particularly Chinese tourists who are famous for their love of gambl

Jul 21, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

Hotel Lobby

JW Marriott Seoul JW Marriott Seoul holds an event through Aug. 31 to celebrate PyeongChang’s winning of the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Sixty-five prizes are prepared for guests who show their support for the Olympic Games by posting good wishes and suggestions about the event on the hotel’s Facebook page, wwwlfacebook.com/JWMarriottSeoul. They include vouchers for The Cafe@JW, for Bar Rouge wine buffet and draft beer and for Deli shop cake, and notepads with the hotel’s logo on it. Also, it will offer winter packages at 2,018 won to only one guest among those taking the summer package during the promotion period. The winner will be selected through a lucky draw on the first week of September. For more information, call 02-6282-6113. Grand Hilton Seoul Early birds making reservation for the 2011 Oktoberfest will be able to enjoy the party at a very reasonable price. The special rate, which is available by Aug. 12, is 100,000 won, including an entrance ticket originally valued at 120,000 won and one Oktoberfest gingerbread heart valued at 10,000 wo

Jul 21, 2011By Kim Rahn

A stroll through hotels’ galleries

By Kim Rahn Hotels have exhibited works of art in lobbies or restaurants for decoration. But these days they are more actively featuring artwork, cooperating with galleries, holding exhibitions under specific themes, and sometimes combining them with state-of-the-art technology to facilitate guests’ appreciation. The Ritz-Carlton Seoul hosts the 2011 Seoul Art Festival from July 22 to 24. Under the theme “Encounter Between the Corporate and the Arts,” the festival features contemporary artists from various genres. Seventy-two guestrooms will turn into elegant gallery spaces for 3,000 works of art. Guests can learn more about the works by accessing the artists’ blogs and websites and reading catalogues through QR (quick response) codes attached to the works. Lectures by curators and auctions of art pieces will also be held in the suites. The event is organized by the 2011 Seoul Art Festival Committee and sponsored by Korea Yechong, the Korea Art Association and the Korea Culture and Arts Education Agency, with the assistance of the Korea Culture and Art indus

Jul 21, 2011By Kim Rahn

Vacationing with arts

Summer at Sejong Arts Center mixes fun, learning By Do Je-hae The Sejong Center for the Performing Arts opens its summer vacation program today, targeting children and parents looking to spend quality time together through learning more about different art genres. This year, the center will place focus on covering different kinds of music, starting with classical, “gugak” (traditional Korean music), choir music, as well as art exhibitions, dance performances and operas. The program will start with a first-ever concert by Philharmonischer Kinderchor Dresden, a renowned German children’s choir, and continue through late August. A musical journey Philharmonischer Kinderchor Dresden is making its first appearance in Seoul today. The choir is one of the most recognized children’s choirs in the world. Consisting of around 100 singers, the choir is currently led by conductor Jurgen Becker. Dresden has a venerable tradition in classical music as home to Staatskapelle Dresden, one of the world’s oldest orchestras founded in 1548. The choir has worked with importan

Jul 14, 2011By Do Je-hae

Hotel Lobby

Lotte Hotel Jeju Lotte Hotel Jeju opens the Private Beach Lounge on Jungmun Saekdal Beach on July 20. The lounge is comprised of a book cafe, a foot spa, a nail care zone and a tanning zone. The cafe offers a variety of books and magazines, while the spa will help ease fatigue. Manicure and pedicure services are available at the nail care zone, and guests can get their body tanned on a sun bed or on a hammock at the tanning zone. The lounge, opening from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., is exclusive and complimentary for hotel guests. Cold mineral water and summer refreshments are available. The beach is 10-15 minute away from the hotel by foot. For more information, call 1577-0360.

Jul 14, 2011By Kim Rahn

Hotels offer one-more-night promotion

This is the eighth in a series featuring hotels that are offering a ``one-more-night promotion,’’ to guests who stay for three or four nights with a one-night complementary stay. A total of 36 hotels across the country will be presented over a six-month period. The series will introduce three hotels at a time biweekly and is in conjunction with the nationwide campaign to promote the ``2010-2012 Visit Korea Years.’’ ― ED. IP Boutique Hotel A long-term guest discount program will be available for foreign visitors during the campaign period so if guests book for five nights, they will get the fifth night for free. For further inquiries, please contact the reservation desk at 82-2-3702-8000, or email to rsvn@ipboutiquehotel.com. Kensington Stars Hotel A special promotion is taking place exclusively for foreigners visiting Korea in 2011. Conditions applied to this promotion are as follows: foreign guests who stay for three consecutive nights will be entitled to a complimentary one night stay. This is applicable one time only for the total duration of the st

Jul 14, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

Alpensia Resort set for takeoff

By Lee Hyo-sik Alpensia Resort, located in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, is poised to become the new winter sports Mecca in Asia, following Korea’s winning the bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. Opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 games will be held at a stadium built inside the resort, while a wide range of sports events, including the ski jump and biathlon, will take place throughout its facilities. Alpensia Resort, built on nearly 4.9 million square meters of land, opened its doors in July 2009 in preparation for Korea’s bidding to host a Winter Olympics. In 2018, it is expected to host the biathlon, ski jump and cross country at venues that have already been built. Additionally, the competition sites for bobsleigh, luge, skeleton and freestyle skiing and snowboard events will be newly constructed. ``It takes less than two hours to get to Alpensia Resort from Seoul. They can also reach the East Sea within 30 minutes from the resort and visit a number of tourist attractions nearby. On top of this, our state-of-the-art accommodation and leisure facilities

Jul 14, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

Hotel Lobby

Grand Hilton Seoul Grand Hilton Seoul offers eight types of summer packages through Sept. 5. For budget vacationers, the Aqua package (135,000 won) is recommended, including a one night stay, a beach ball, iced beverage couple for two, free use of the gym and swimming pool. The Sunshine package (165,000 won) includes all the benefits above plus a buffet for two. The Cinema package (205,000 won) features executive floor room stay, a breakfast buffet and happy hour for two, two tickets for Lotte Cinema. The Spa package (270,000 won) offers similar benefits but includes a spa instead of movie tickets. The BBQ Party package (260,000 won) has dinner barbeque for two. For family guest with more than three members, the Summer Family package (190,000-245,000 won) is available in the Grand Suite, along with cooking and magic classes. For more information, call 02-2287-8400. Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas and InterContinental Seoul COEX offers Summer Present package through Sept. 4. The package includes free Internet access and access to

Jul 7, 2011

In Kenya, dreams of wildlife come true

Kenya, a paradise in Africa, boasts not only countless animals in the wild but plants and a diverse range of landscape as well.By Cho Jae-hyon NAIROBI ㅡ What does Africa remind you of? It’s a question an official from the Kenyan Tourism Board asked me. The words that instantly came to mind were poverty, civil war, and several other negative ones. It was a land practically unknown for me. But Africa drew closer to me since June 20 when I first set my foot in the capital city of Kenya for the first time. I visited Kenya for a week-long tour along with a group of other journalists, a program jointly organized by the Kenyan Embassy in Korea, Kenyan Airways and Korean Air. Arriving in Nairobi in the morning, we hopped onto a four-wheel drive off-road vehicle and headed for the first destination ㅡ Ol Pejeta Conservancy on the foothills of Mt. Kenya. It was a four-hour drive on bumpy and dusty roads to the Sweet Waters Tented Camp in the private wildlife conservation, abundant with animals. The camp had luxury tents with thatched roofs covering them. The lodges didn’t ha

Jul 7, 2011By Cho Jae-hyon
previous page
280281282283284
next page

Most Read in Lifestyle