Around the Hotels

Restaurant 8 wins wine list award two years in a rowHyatt Regency Incheon’s Restaurant 8 has received an Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator’s 2013 Restaurant Wine List Award for two consecutive years. The magazine chooses winners every year by evaluating a restaurant’s wine list in regards to wine information, and the pairing of wine and food. This year, around 3,800 restaurants were awarded the title. Restaurant 8 at Hyatt Regency Incheon has built its reputation by having various wine pro

FoodAug. 2, 2013

Gaji namul (steamed eggplant side dish)

Gaji namul is a popular summer side dish that is made with steamed eggplants. The traditional way of making this dish is to steam the eggplants and then tear them into small strips. It’s very easy to overcook eggplants, resulting in mushy vegetables that fall apart during the tearing process. You can avoid this by cutting the eggplants into bite sized pieces before steaming them quickly. The key is to steam the eggplants until they are tender but still slightly firm. Eggplants are in peak season

FoodAug. 2, 2013

Brisket takes the cake at new barbecue spot

The owners of Sopung, Yang Se-yol and Choi Hyun, seem to perfectly understand the hard-to-resist pull of fresh-off-the-grill, flame-kissed meat, and the beauty of barbecue done to juicy perfection. These veterans are three years deep into the business of beef, a journey that began when they opened a barbecue restaurant called Sopung in Seoul’s Nonhyeon-dong in the winter of 2010. And they are still going strong. “We instituted a corkage-free policy and put out thick cuts of beef,” said Yang, 43.

FoodAug. 2, 2013

Star couple Lee Bo-young, Ji Sung to wed in September

Actress Lee Bo-young and actor Ji Sung announced Friday that they will tie the knot on Sept. 27. The wedding will take place at the Western House at W Seoul-Walkerhill hotel, the two celebrities’ agencies, Will Entertainment and Namoo Actors Co., confirmed Friday. The two first met on the set of their 2004 SBS drama “Save the Last Dance for Me” and have been together for six years since 2007. Lee, whose highly successful SBS drama series “I Hear Your Voice” ended Thursday night, posted a photo

TelevisionAug. 2, 2013

‘Snowpiercer’ on record-breaking pace

Bong Joon-ho’s latest film “Snowpiercer” drew 1 million viewers in just two days since its release, the state-run Korean Film Council said Friday.According to the organization, the dystopian sci-fi flick drew 1.03 million viewers as of Thursday, just a day after its Korean release on July 31. This makes the film the fastest movie to smash the 1-million mark in weekday sales. The record beats last year’s box office hit “The Thieves,” which hit the 1-million audience mark in three days after its r

FilmAug. 2, 2013

Murder as poetry, metaphor

Choreographer Hong Sung-yup’s recent piece “The Dog and the Shadow” was, in many ways, a dance about memories and how they shape us into who we are. Hong used feathers and tiny pieces of cotton and paper to symbolize one’s distant and fading memories ― light, insignificant, floating easily through the air.Hong said he fears developing Alzheimer’s disease much more than any other life-threatening illness ― “You completely lose sense of who you are (with the disease) and it’s just extremely fright

BooksAug. 1, 2013

Dark tourism brings light to disaster zones

RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan (AFP) ― Before the huge tsunami virtually wiped it off the map in 2011, Rikuzentakata’s pristine beach and luxuriant pine forests were a well-worn stop on Japan’s tourist trail. Now the visitors are coming back, but this time they want to see the devastation and the monuments to those who died, the latest example of a phenomenon dubbed “dark tourism” where holidaymakers pay to witness the aftermath of others’ misery.“You can’t really get a sense how huge the tsunami was unle

TravelAug. 1, 2013

Sights and sounds of Cuba

Music and art from Cuba are the highlight of “2013 Cuban Culture Art Festival,” organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Korea Foundation.The event, aimed at promoting cultural exchange between Korea and Cuba, runs in Seoul from Aug. 2 to 4 at Yongsan Art Center; Pyeongchang and Daegu on Aug. 7; Andong on Aug. 8; and in Suncheon on Aug. 9. As the event’s main program, “Cuba Concert” will feature well-known Cuban band Buena Fe performing Cuban popular music, the traditional dance performa

CultureAug. 1, 2013

Bringing reggae back

In the land of K-pop, one wouldn’t expect to find a strong following for reggae. However, reggae duo Skull and Haha, both 33, are striving to prove that perception wrong.The husky-voiced reggae artist Skull and funny “Running Man” co-host Haha released their new single “REGGAErilla” on June 27, their latest since the single “2013 First Melody” in January, and “Ya Man” EP in July 2012. They have built up a steady following, holding a guerilla concert in Hongdae, performing on music programs, appe

PerformanceAug. 1, 2013

Recounting history of slavery

The Manor: Three Centuries at a Slave Plantation on Long IslandBy Mac Griswold (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)When the line of cars waiting for the Shelter Island ferry stretches halfway to Sag Harbor, it is hard to imagine that this popular Long Island vacation spot was once considered the very edge of European civilization. But in 1653, when Nathaniel Sylvester purchased Shelter Island from the Manhansett tribe, his goal was not to build a summer home but to establish a plantation much like those

BooksAug. 1, 2013

C.J. Box puts the pedal to the metal

The HighwayBy C.J. Box (Minotaur)“The Highway” is the summer’s most terrifying novel.With three-dimensional characters and a gripping plot, “The Highway” is even more frightening because of its back story. C.J. Box bases his story on the real hunt for a murderer working as a long-haul trucker ― the FBI’s Highway Serial Killer Task Force. For his 17th novel, Box puts aside his best-known character, Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett, to return to Cody Holt, a Montana sheriff’s department investigato

BooksAug. 1, 2013

Rowling accepts donation for identity revelation

LONDON (AP) ― Author J.K. Rowling accepted an apology and a charitable donation Wednesday from a law firm which revealed she wrote a crime novel under a pseudonym.The “Harry Potter” author was exposed by a newspaper earlier this month as the author of “The Cuckoo’s Calling,” a thriller ostensibly written by former soldier and first-time novelist Robert Galbraith.The book was published in April to good reviews but modest sales, and there was speculation that Rowling or her publisher had leaked th

BooksAug. 1, 2013