The Korea Herald

Ritz-Carlton opens first resort in Japan

TravelJun 15, 2012

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C. has opened its first luxury resort on the tropical island of Okinawa in Japan. The Ritz-Carlton, Okinawa features 97 guest rooms and two suites that offer panoramic views of the East China Sea, forests and golf courses, as well as restaurants that serve Japanese, Okinawan and international dishes and a bar. The hotel also has a spa that is located separately from the hotel that offers luxurious spa treatments. “We have no doubt that Okinawa has the potential
New ’Like a Local’ guidebooks from Peter Greenberg

TravelJun 15, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) -- Peter Greenberg wants you to travel like a local, not a tourist, and he‘s written a new series of guidebooks to help.The ``Like a Local’‘ series is debuting with books on New Orleans, the Caribbean, Miami and the Keys, Buenos Aires and Cuba. E-book versions are out in July, and the next five titles in the series, New York, London, Peru, Washington, D.C., and the ``Great Cities of Europe,’‘ due in April 2013.What makes the ``Like a Local’‘ books different from traditional guidebo
The land where life springs from desert and Dead Sea

TravelJun 15, 2012

The most common sound any visitor to Jordan will hear is the heartfelt cry of “Welcome!” Inhabitants of the Hashemite Kingdom are more keen than ever to show the Arab hospitality to tourists, as some have grown leery of the unrest in the countries surrounding this crossroads to The Holy Land.Most recently, ongoing troubles in neighboring Syria and Egypt have robbed more stable Jordan of visitors. Numbers have dropped on the package tours that once incorporated the three with a trip to nearby Jer
Ordinary plot takes surprising directions

BooksJun 15, 2012

Gone GirlBy Gillian Flynn (Crown)I picked up “Gone Girl” because the novel is set along the Mississippi River in Missouri and the plot sounded intriguing. I put it down two days later, bleary-eyed and oh-so-satisfied after reading a story that left me surprised, disgusted, and riveted by its twists and turns.When you start Gillian Flynn’s latest book, it seems to be a story we’ve all heard before ― a woman disappears and her husband doesn’t seem to be as distraught as he should be. But Flynn tur
Baby Jesus’ violent bodyguard

BooksJun 15, 2012

Unholy NightBy Seth Grahame-Smith (Grand Central)Imagine the story of the Nativity recast as a Hollywood blockbuster ― a sword-and-sandals epic loaded with expensive computer-generated effects, a disfigured, lecherous villain and enough hacked-off limbs, severed heads and stomach-turning disembowlings to give even Quentin Tarantino pause ― and you’ll have a solid idea of what to expect in “Unholy Night,” the new novel from mash-up king Seth Grahame-Smith.With his novels “Pride and Prejudice and
Windows and Doors: A Study of Korean Architecture

BooksJun 15, 2012

By Yim Seok-jaeTranslated by Lee Jean-young (Ewha Womans University Press)It is easy to be mesmerized by the beauty of hanok, especially its tiled roof and “daecheong,” the wooden floor. What a lot of people don’t notice, however, is the charm of its humble-looking windows and doors, which are in fact strictly designed and built based on Confucian philosophy and values. Scholar Yim Seok-jae’s English-language book, “Windows and Doors: A Study of Korean Architecture,” offers an interesting overvi
Sheen and Estevez explore father-son dynamics in memoir

BooksJun 15, 2012

Martin Sheen was a struggling 21-year-old stage actor when his first son, Emilio Estevez, was born. Sheen, seventh of 10 children in a family that knew him as Ramon Antonio Gerardo Estevez instead of his stage name, was more accustomed to having siblings than being a father. He felt more like a brother to Emilio, and that dynamic has defined their relationship to this day.In their new memoir, “Along the Way: The Journey of a Father and Son,” which was written with Hope Edelman, the two examine t
Musical package at Sheraton D-Cube City

Expat LivingJun 15, 2012

The hotel presents a special package that offers tickets for musical “Chicago” and one night’s accommodation at the hotel from June 10-Sept. 23. The package offers guests a chance to watch the musical “Chicago” at the D-Cube Art Center, which is connected to the 7th floor of the hotel. After that, guests can rest at their hotel room that gives expansive views of Seoul. Guests can use the swimming pool on the 28th floor of the hotel and get away from the summer heat at the D-Cube Department Store
Hotel the Designers opens June 16

Expat LivingJun 15, 2012

The themed hotel opens on June 16 in Samseong-dong in Seoul. The 12-story hotel features 90 rooms, a meeting room and a restaurant that provides breakfast to guests and a cafe. It also provides reasonable room rates at around 130,000 won to 150,000 won. The hotel rooms are designed by 15 artists including photographer Kim Sang-deok, sculptor Min Hyung-seok and graffiti artist Beom Min. Other rooms feature designs inspired by the Beatles, forests and traditional Korean houses. For more informatio
Summer spa at Grand Hyatt Hotel

Expat LivingJun 15, 2012

The hotel offers a summer spa package that includes a treatment at The Spa, use of the outdoor swimming pool and one night’s accommodation at Grand Room overlooking Namsan. Guests can select from several spa treatment programs including toning treatment, smoothing and regenerating treatment and cooling treatment for sun-damaged skin.Guests can enjoy the sauna, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a gym.The summer spa package is available until Aug. 31 and the price starts from 395,000 won, excl
Wine buffet at JW Marriott

Expat LivingJun 15, 2012

The hotel’s bar Rouge presents a wine buffet on Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 6-9 p.m. and chicken wings and draft beer every Friday at the same time. The wine buffet features unlimited glasses of five kinds of red and white wine with a wide range of snacks including fresh salads, a variety of cheese, smoked salmon, vegetable sticks made by the hotel’s Japanese restaurant and desserts. The price is 29,000 won per person, excluding tax and service charges. The Friday’s chicken wing and bee
Mul-naengmyeon (buckwheat noodles in chilled broth)

Food&BeverageJun 15, 2012

Mul-naengmyeon is a dish of buckwheat noodles in chilled broth that is garnished with radish kimchi, pickled cucumber, Korean pear and slices of pressed beef. Originally it was served covered in the winter with a thin layer of ice over it, but nowadays people enjoy this dish year-round. Ingredients400 g buckwheat noodles (dried), 15 cups water 300 g beef (brisket/shank), 8 cups water Fragrant seasoning: 20 g green onion, 20 g garlic Seasoning sauce: 1/2 tbsp clear soy sauce, 2 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp
Martial arts meet street food truck

Food&BeverageJun 15, 2012

SAN JOSE ― The saga of the hot dogs began late one night.University of California-Berkeley junior Michael Koh and his friends had followed up their study session with a few beers and a quick jaunt to Berkeley’s venerable Top Dog for some buns on the run. In fact, it was such a quick jaunt they rushed right past the condiments, completely forgetting that a frankfurter sans ketchup or mustard is a sadly naked dog. And being college students, they didn’t have what you might call a well-stocked frid
Internet led to global 'explosion' of fake drugs

HealthJun 15, 2012

The rapid growth of Internet commerce has led to an explosion of counterfeit drugs sold around the world, with China the biggest source of fake medicines, pharmaceutical experts said Thursday.The illicit trade is now believed to be worth around 75 billion dollars globally, with criminal gangs increasingly using the web to move their products across borders, said Scott Davis, Pfizer's top security
Lack of sleep makes it hard to resist junk food

HealthJun 15, 2012

U.S. researchers found that sleep-deprived people have a bigger possibility of choosing unhealthy food for their meals, which could lead to obesity.Lead author Stephanie Greer, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, and his team conducted a study on 23 healthy adults to see how poor sleep affects food choices.In the study, researchers divided participants into two groups, with one restricted to have only four hours sleep and the other allowed to have nine hours of sleep fo