The 2008 presidential campaign had many unexpected consequences: It spawned the tea party movement, the Palin family reality show dynasty and the career of Meghan McCain, daughter of the Republican nominee.During Arizona Sen. John McCain’s ill-fated White House run, Meghan spent a lot of time on the road on his famous “Straight Talk Express.” A newly minted Columbia University graduate, she was among the first political offspring to exploit the possibilities of a campaign blog.Pictures of her ju

The hotel is offering a lucky draw to guests who visit the Chinese restaurant Hong Yuan and buffet restaurant Aria from July 9-Sept. 3. Lucky draw winners will get a free trip to Phuket and accommodation vouchers from the hotel. Guests can get a lucky draw entry coupon and participate every time they visit Aria or Hong Yuan during the event period. The lucky draw will be held twice, first on Aug. 3 and again on Sept. 3, and prizes include two nights’ accommodation in the executive room at the We

The Deli, a European-style delicatessen at Grand Hyatt Seoul, presents a selection of healthy yogurts as desserts for summer available until Aug. 8. The desserts are designed by Beat Loeffel, Grand Hyatt Seoul’s executive pastry chef. They come in different flavors such as orange, raspberry, fig, mango, strawberry and blackberry. The price of the yogurts begins at 5,500 won, excluding tax and service charges. For more information, call (02) 799-8167.

The hotel’s international buffet restaurant, Orangerie, presents cuisine prepared by Hun Pin Cheng, this season’s temporary guest chef from the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel in Singapore, from Aug. 1-14. The chef will introduce authentic delicacies including papaya salad with roasted peanut and shrimp, braised duck with superior soy sauce, Singapore laksa, chilled mango and pomelo soup. The lunch buffet begins at 60,000 won and dinner at 65,000 won, including tax and service charges. Private

The hotel’s Japanese restaurant Irodori offers the “Sushi Counter Business Lunch Menu” for those following a healthy diet. Irodori’s newly added lunch menu is a five-course meal with a variety of healthy dishes. Starting with the seafood salad, guests may enjoy fresh assorted raw fish, followed by a delightful selection of sushi, served with miso soup, and finish the course with dessert. The restaurant also provides a great view overlooking Tehran Street. Six Tatami private rooms are available f

The hotel is hosting “Oktoberfest,” a festival native to Munich, Germany. Attracting more than 1,000 people each year, the event will be held at the Convention Center of Grand Hilton Seoul from 6 p.m. onward, and the facility will be decorated to look like the Munich festival grounds. Guests may enjoy unlimited Paulaner beer, potato soup, roasted pork and desserts as well as dancing and games such as beer-drinking contests and arm wrestling. A lucky draw will be held and prizes include one round

Jeyuk-gui is pork seasoned with red pepper paste then broiled on a grill. Koreans have been breeding pigs in large numbers since time immemorial, and have developed various pork dishes. An old cookbook, Eumsik Dimibang (1670), introduced the method of marinating pork with seasoning, coating it with wheat flour and then frying it.Ingredients● 550 g pork (fillet) ● seasoning: 1/2 tbsp ginger juice, 1 tbsp refined rice wine ● seasoning sauce: 2 3/4 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp red pepper paste, 2 tbsp gr

Handmade soba perfect antidote to hot summer daysThe craft of soba-making is in the dough, says Miuya chef Nam Chang-su, who went on to explain why the restaurant, which opened near Yangjae Stream this March, specializes in handmade soba noodles. “With handmade soba one can enjoy those aromas and flavors characteristic of this kind of buckwheat noodle,” the 32-year-old chef said. Soba noodles, once a quick and therefore oft-consumed dish among Japanese laborers in Edo in the 1600s, is now an int

 A study found that orange juices help become more beautiful.The research conducted by 200 beauty industry workers shows that a daily glass of orange juice improves skin, hair and nails because of the containments like vitamin C, potassium and folic acid.Yellow pigments of vitamin C help reducing sun-induced skin damage and improving elasticity of the skin.“Beauty experts are starting to see the benefits of a glass of this nutrient packed product, realizing it isn’t just what you put on your bod

In a desert in Turkmenistan, there is a giant hole of fire called “The door to hell” by locals.The crater was dug by Soviet geologists in a effort to discover natural gas in 1971 and the flames within have been burning ever since.As the team tapped into a cavern, the ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed and left a hole with a diameter of 70 meters.Fearing that the hole would lead to the release of poisonous gases, the team decided to burn it off. It was hoped that the fire would burn out wi

Singer Kim Jang-hoon, known for his activism to reinforce Korean sovereignty over Dokdo, announced on Thursday he plans to found a foundation for his future Dokdo-related projects. The projects consist of building a Dokdo-themed cultural space “Dokdo Land” and providing support for Dokdo research for academic scholars, he said. “I’ve been working on the Dokdo project for a while,” said Kim during a press conference in Seoul on Thursday.  “And I thought it was necessary to form a foundation to ke

Why do Koreans ask me whether I have eaten when saying hello? What happened to my personal space on the subway? Why do people take their shoes off when entering a home? How Confucian is Korea? Why the dull car colors? When Kim Hyung-geun started the advice column “Ask a Korean Dude” in SEOUL Magazine he never anticipated the scope and size of questions that streamed in from expatriates around the country. Many foreigners were confused by the quirks and customs of Korean culture and were hungry f