Cya Later, Seoul: Things I’ll Miss About Korea

So Long, Korea! My life here has been incredible, but even in Neverland you’ll find you have your ups and downs.  Last week, to the dismay of many on Facebook, I wrote about the things I hate about living as a foreigner (expat) in Korea.  This week, on a more positive note, I’m sharing just…

SeoulFood: The Sool Gallery

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNDMvPOD-Hp/?taken-by=torontoseoulcialite A couple of weeks ago, The Sool Gallery hosted a blogger tasting event in partnership with Star Lengas of 87 Pages.  The Sool Gallery is a space in Insadong which will soon be moving South of the river (Gangnam). https://www.instagram.com/p/BNDMvPOD-Hp/ Insadong is one of Seoul’s most popular tourist destinations, so make sure to check…

Seoul Secrets: Nami Island

Our Romantic Nami Island (남이섬 종합휴양지) Getaway! Just a couple of hours outside the city center of Seoul sits Nami Island.  This small, half-moon shaped island in Chuncheon, South Korea is a great place for friends, families, and couples to visit year-round.  It was even a magical day in the rain! We got up around 8 AM and…

…and they’re off (-track Horse Racing at Walkerhill)

Let’s Run: A case where going “Off Track” is a good thing.

The new facilities at the Sheraton Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul, which opened Friday June 3rd, 2016, are clean and quiet. This is a far cry from what I would have imagined having been to some of the casinos throughout Asia. A few juicy details to note before jumping into the nitty-gritty.

The Bucket List: Round II

On Saturday I participated in a press tour organized by the municipality of Seoul in collaboration with the Korean Food Foundation. Seoul Bloggers and Photographers went for a meet, greet, walking tour of the old city, and lunch. I’m so incredibly honoured to have been invited. We had a wonderful day with a great tour guide and I managed to cross off even more places I had been hoping to visit. Having lived in Korea for a year, I’d like to present Round II of my Bucket List, this edition being all Seoul. As I’ve already managed to visit many of the places on my initial list, I’ll give a little information and/or an opinion on each, and then list the remainder at the end. One thing’s for sure – it’s never a dull time living in Seoul!

Jogyesa Temple – Lotus Lantern Weekend Part ii

Korean couples love to get dressed up and wander around the old, traditional towns, as well as the Palaces and the Temples. All this was amplified by the hoopla of Buddha’s Birthday Weekend which has been celebrated as a festival since the Unified Silla era over 1,300 years ago. Yep – he gets the whole weekend, the festival, the parade, and all the beautiful lantern displays at nearly every temple the month leading up to his birthday and for for many, the weeks beyond (at Jogyesa they’ll be around until May 22nd). I guess it’s like leaving your Christmas lights up on your front porch all year long, just a lot less honky-tonk and a lot more beautiful!

Itaewon: For Cocktail Lovers?

We could see a number of spots we had never explored, one of which was Fountain. The stone staircase looked like it could be a really cool spot, but we were meeting at Ramie’s so we didn’t immediately stop in.

The Miracle Morning at the Jindo Sea Parting Festival

Late last Friday night a mish-mashed group of new and old friends and I boarded a tour bus and took the red-eye nearly 6 hours South of Seoul to spend a weekend in Jindo: the site of “The Miracle Sea Parting” and the accompanying festival. The real miracle was that someone was able to wake me up for our 4 AM briefing and departure from the bus. Once I was up and at ’em, however, I was happy as a clam. We’ll get to those later!

How to get to Seokbulsa Temple

I’ve heard about a number of people getting lost en route to Seokbulsa, a temple in Busan, South Korea. Here are directions and some footage on getting there from Mandeok Station. I think this is the most straightforward route (as you can also hike from Hwamyeong or Oncheonjang). [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti5oGJ-yxZU&w=640&h=360] Most directions to this temple…

Reasons I think you should move to Korea

…you know, if you feel like it and stuff. There are tons of these posts out in the bloggerverse, but I wanted to include my own take.  Of course you’ll see blogs talking about the internet here (there’s wifi everywhere – even the subway!), the service here (it’s easy to get your server’s attention and…