Busking is a specialty in Hongdae area. Unlike Insadong or Itaewon where busking is not rare, Hongdae busking is known to be cool and new, sometimes quite experimental. Latest trends show dancing and other performances beyond music. These performances often require active involvement of the audience
A small beer shop in Korea is identified by the smaller space than regular beer halls, simpler (sometimes humble) interior, simpler selection of drinks, and smaller portions of food with lower prices. Generally, small beer’s representative side dish is fried potatoes, which are usually thicker than
The so-called ‘no kids zone’ in Korea is of a recent origin, started by some restaurant and cafe owners who could no longer stand wild children and irresponsible parents. There is controversy still going on over this issue, but a recent survey shows the majority of people (73%) agree to the ‘no kids
Though the majority of coffee sold at coffee shops in Korea is americano, cold brew is rapidly expanding its market. Last year, Starbucks alone sold 83,600,000 cups of americano, an average 1.6 cups per capita for the whole South Korean population, but the sales of cold brew coffee(11,300,000 cups)
Despite the rapid increase of aged population in Korea, the cultural infrastructures for those generations are barely in the beginning. Opened only a few years ago, the Silver Cinema in Jongno, Seoul, is one of a few cinemas specialized for the elderly citizens. Housed in the old building of Nagwon
At Apgujeong station on Seoul Metro #3 line, you can walls covered with bold ads for plastic surgery, for Apgujeong-dong is known to host hundreds of plastic surgery centers. These hospitals specialize in plastic surgery, and plastic surgery only. Usually carrying the dramatic ‘before and after’ pho
The 2017 cumulative cinema audiences in Korea reached some 220 million, more than four time the nation’s whole population. According to the data from Korea Film Council, last year’s total number of cinema audiences is 219.87 million, an increase by 2.8 million form the previous year. Presently in Ko
Starbucks Korea, which has over 1,000 shops nationwide, an annual sales of 1 trillion won (about 1 billion dollars), and the highest score in a recent customer satisfaction survey, has recently opened a premium shop named ‘The Jongno.’ As shown in the name, the shop is located in Jongno, in central
Foreigners attending the PyeongChang Olympics in Korea are falling love with the ‘finger heart’ For decades, the world of cute, fun hand gestures to make while taking photos has been dominated by the thumbs up and peace signs (or maybe throwing up the horns if you’re feeling rebellious). However, th
