The gems of San Juan: Who’s hungry for sauted veal brains?

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico ― This island offers so many visual treats ― gorgeous beaches, rugged hills, beautiful churches and majestic historic forts ― that dining becomes a virtual afterthought. A hunk of meat or fish, some sides of mofongo (fried mashed plantains) and mamposteao (rice and beans with other goodies), a stiff rum drink and you’re good to go, right?Well, yes, that’ll do nicely much of the time. And if you get a chance to attend a pig roast (which draws locals and tourists alike to dri

May 3, 2013

Hop aboard with a tasty boxed meal

One of the fun things about a train trip is eating boxed meals or snacks while enjoying the view. With the anticipation and excitement of a train ride, train meals offer a different dining experience. But some boxed meals and snacks sold on trains or at train stations don’t live up to passengers’ expectations, and often become the reason passengers look toward arriving at their destination for a proper meal. The Korea Railroad Corporation stepped up efforts to make train rides more memorable and

April 26, 2013

Hard-core hiking on Yosemite backcountry adventure

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, California (AP) ― A few loose, fist-sized rocks tumbled by as we hiked down a steep mountain pass over unstable terrain, off trail deep in Yosemite’s wilderness. We tightly gripped the solid rock holds on the side of Stanton Pass to steady ourselves when our feet slipped out from under us.Our guides were two of the world’s most accomplished hikers, Andrew Skurka and Brian Robinson. We were far enough from help that Skurka had reminded everyone that a serious injury here w

April 26, 2013

Mother & Daughter package at The Westin Chosun Seoul

The hotel presents “Mother and Daughter” packages from April 19 to May 26. The deluxe package includes a one-night stay in an executive deluxe room, free use of the fitness club and sauna, breakfast, snacks, happy hour cocktails and refreshments, and a two-piece Sisley’s skincare kit. The suite package offers a one-night stay in a junior suite and all the benefits of the deluxe package plus two coupons for Sisley makeup service and a bottle of wine. Packages are priced at 320,000 won and 380,000

April 26, 2013

Children’s Day celebration at Millennium Seoul Hilton

The hotel is hosting special events for Children’s Day on May 5. The hotel will hold a children’s buffet in the Grand Ballroom, serving spaghetti, pork cutlet, pizza, French fries, sausage and more from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Other activities such as a special magic show, face painting and a balloon show will be provided. It is priced at 70,000 won for adults and 45,000 won for children. Meanwhile, the hotel’s Italian restaurant Il Ponte will host a free pizza party from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

April 26, 2013

Locals make travel fun in the Philippines

The Philippines Tourism Department came up with a new tourism slogan, “It’s more fun in the Philippines,” last year. A year later, what do foreign tourists find to be the best part of their trip to the Philippines, which offers everything from nature, beaches and water sports to culture and a unique lifestyle? Surprisingly, many tourists said what made their travel experiences more fun and special was the Filipino people, said Maricon Basco-Ebron, tourism director and attach of the Philippine De

April 24, 2013

[Photo News] Kindness to foreign tourists

April 23, 2013

Sharp drop in Japanese visitors spells trouble for tourism sector

Korean travel agencies asked for financial help from the government on Monday to assuage their financial difficulties amid a sharp decline in the number of Japanese tourists to South Korea due to threats from North Korea and ongoing political tensions between the neighboring countries. The Korea Association of Travel Agents, a group of 15,000 members from local travel agencies, sent an official letter to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, requesting financial support for their promotio

April 22, 2013

Industrial railroads reborn as tourist attraction

In times past, trains served as the backbone of the nation’s economic development, delivering freight and coal to inland cities. As the coal industry declined and other forms of transport came into being, demand for industrial trains dwindled. So KORAIL, the state-run railroad operator, turned the existing rail network into a tour train line in the mid-2000s. “We paid attention to rising demand for rail tours, which offer room to think for people who live busy modern lives as they take in the be

April 19, 2013

U.S. tourist faces trial in Turkey over ‘stones’

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) ― An American tourist who collected stones during a six-day beach holiday with his wife was briefly detained in Turkey and faces trial for attempting to smuggle historical artifacts, he said on Wednesday.Jason Dement was taken into custody by security officials at Antalya airport, near Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, on Sunday because two of the pieces inside a bag of stones appeared to be artifacts. On Monday, a court released him from custody but barred him from leaving Turke

April 19, 2013

Iceland: the quirky home of Bobby Fischer, Bjork and the Blue Lagoon

REYKJAVIK, Iceland ― This is the only country that gives you a bath before they send you home.The Blue Lagoon, open year-round, rain or shine, envelops thousands of tourists from all over the world in its misty embrace.Many of them come in big tourist buses on the way to the airport, which is only 15 minutes away.They leave, freshly scrubbed and silky soft, after an hour or three at Iceland’s most famous tourist attraction ― and yes, it’s really blue, thanks to the silica, other minerals and ben

April 19, 2013

Psy introduces Korea to the world

Having become a global star, Psy is now officially promoting Korea to the world.He has been appointed a public relations ambassador for the Korea Tourism Organization and recently finished shooting a TV commercial series.The 15-minute commercial, introducing Korea’s most beautiful tourist attractions, will air in 70 countries around the world starting next month, his agency YG Entertainment said Tuesday.Meanwhile, the music video of his new song “Gentleman” has received more than 82 million view

April 16, 2013

Asia to see growth in travel despite political tensions

The Asia travel market will continue to grow despite lingering political tensions, including territorial disputes and more recently, the North Korean issue, according to Peter Yang, marketing director of the online hotel booking site Hotels.com.“We are just at the tip of the iceberg. China recently beat Germany in terms of per person travel expenditure. We will see more and more (Asian) people traveling abroad. (From the tip of the iceberg) it’s going to slide down to the middle part. That’s whe

April 12, 2013