Gochang meets three main requirements of a good family trip: nature, history and nice walking paths. Especially in May, the barley fields in Hagwon Farm shine with a beautiful yellow-green hue and camellias cover the Seonun Temple. A recommended one-day trip starts out at the Hagwon Farm. On the barley fields, you can walk along the winding paths with classical music gently piping from speakers al

Herbert von Karajan“Karajan 60”Universal MusicUniversal Music‘s Deutsche Grammophon label has released legendary Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan’s collection of all symphonies performed in the 1960s and recorded in LPs when the conductor was at his pinnacle. The 82-CD collection comes with 319-page booklet explaining von Karajan’s major repertoires in Korean, English and Japanese. Only 3,00

Goodbye, Boy (Korea)Opening June 2Drama. Directed by Roh Hong-jin. Middle school boy Jin-woo gets a part-time job delivering newspapers in the early morning, to help his mother who supports the family by herself. His father has always been unemployed, suffering from alcohol addiction. And his sister, who attends high school, has no aspirations for her future. Jin-woo runs into another boy named Ch

After decades of dark excess, Keith Richards seems wildly out of place at family-friendly Disneyland. But on a recent Saturday, there he was, a rock ‘n’ roll exile on Main Street USA, attending the massive movie premiere of “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” the fourth installment in the blockbuster franchise in which he briefly appears as Capt. William Teague, father to Johnny Depp’s

Little-known island in eastern Indonesia is a haven for newly wedsOnce home to sandalwood trees and tribal headhunters, Sumba Island in Indonesia makes for a spell-binding romantic getaway. The little-known island, with its forested hills still host to dramatic horseback Pasola battles, offers only a handful of accommodation options. But that’s part of the appeal. When American husband and wife Cl

Bangalore the new IndiaMiss New IndiaBy Bharati Mukherjee(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)Anjali Bose has a dazzling smile, near-fluency in American-accented English, and a gnawing hunger for life outside her rural Indian town of Gauripur, where the dilapidated Pinky Mahal bears witness to stalled progress and her stolidly middle-class parents are forcing her into an arranged marriage.Anjali, who prefer

Healing and transcendence in warThe Rainy SpellBy Yun Heung-gil(Jimoondang, 5,000 won)First published in 1978, Yun Heung-gil’s “The Rainy Spell” is still regarded as one of the finest short stories dealing with the Korean War (1950-1953) experience. The novel tells a story of a Korean family that has two of its members placed in the opposing camps during the war. It is told from the perspective of

Jennifer Egan was not built for the spotlight. “When I was a teenager, one of my sources of angst was that I felt like I was not an actor, I was always a spectator,” she said by phone from New York. “Later, I realized that that’s just who I am. That’s actually my job.”Lately, Egan has been much more than a spectator in her own life. Her novel “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” a fractured narrative ab

Describing Steve Earle’s “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive” as a story about a skid row junkie abortionist haunted by the ghost of Hank Williams may work as a dust jacket blurb. But it doesn’t begin to reveal the depth of the singer-songwriter’s debut novel.Earle, 56, is a political activist, actor and Grammy-winning musician who helped revitalize country music in the mid-’80s and is a leade

(Jang Sa-ik performs on the rooftop of hishouse in Hongji-dong against the backdrop of Mount Inwang.                                                                      Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)　Jang Sa-ik has the look of an ordinary man. Ordinary enough to pass for one of the construction workers renovating his garden as The Korea Herald interviewed him Monday. 　But this unremarkable impre

The booming lounge music that fills the dark, cavernous space of Addiction Plus might confuse many first timers ― is it a restaurant or is it a lounge?Contrary to its eclectic interior, which has a disco ball over the lounge area with huge mattresses and oversized cushions, an organ in a corner and strictly utilitarian tables and chairs, and an equally eclectic mix of music ― over the course of th

“Bibim-naengmyeon” is a dish of cold buckwheat noodles mixed with spicy and thick red pepper sauce. It may be garnished with raw fish. It is also called “Hamheung-naengmyeon” because it was a regional food of the Hamheung district in South Hamgyeong Province.  Bibim-naengmyeon (KTO)Ingredients ● 600 g buckwheat noodles (dried) ● 100 g minced beef● 100 g radish● 1 cucumber,½ tsp salt● 100 g pear ●

Authentic soda fountain drinks for a cool summerMilkshakes so thick they require a spoon and floats topped with scoops of ice cream are classic American drinks that stir up fond memories of the 1950s, when the soda fountains, burger joints and diners that served them abounded. Even today, that is where you will most likely find them, served up with a burger and fries, which, according to Brooklyn

What a lovely expression of Pinot Noir from New Zealand’s Mountford estate. Elegant and smooth, this New World Pinot carries the taste of Santa Rosa plums and sweet Asian spices. The scent jumps right out of the glass ― sandalwood, and something leafy and delicate. The 2007 Mountford “Liaison” Pinot Noir offers a smooth taste of Santa Rosa plums and sweet Asian spices. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles T