The Korea Herald

More train services for Yeosu Expo

TravelApr 13, 2012

Tickets for extra train services to Yeosu during the Expo period from May 12 to Aug. 12 are on sale. Six weekday and 10 weekend KTX operations from Seoul Station to Yeosu Expo have been added to the regular schedule. Four daily Mugunghwa Train services from Yongsan Station to Yeosu Expo are also arranged. Two Mugunghwa Train service between Iksan and Yeosu Expo as well as free shuttle trains from Suncheon to Yeosu Expo are also available, Korail said. Passengers can get 30 percent off their trai
Lotte Jeju hosts ‘Pleasures of W10,000’

TravelApr 13, 2012

Lotte Hotel Jeju celebrates spring with an outdoor buffet of local specialties April 22-26. This special event offers an all-you-can-eat meal for two, originally priced at 140,000 won, for an incredible price of 10,000 won. This offer is only available to the first 10 guests each day who book the “Spring 8 Healing Package” for more than two nights. The hotel offers the “Spring Healing Package,” starting from 260,000 won, which includes a one-night stay in a deluxe room, breakfast for two in the
Millennium Hilton offers Napa wine

TravelApr 13, 2012

Millennium Seoul Hilton’s French restaurant Seasons will host a special promotion on April 20, showcasing Clos Du Val, a Bordeaux-style Californian wine. Diners can pick from a wine list that includes 2007 Clos Du Val Pinot Noir Reserve and 2008 Clos Du Val Chardonnay Reserve. Along with the wine comes dinner by Seasons’ executive chef Park Hyo-nam. The menu is carefully selected to match the bouquet of wines showcased. Created in Bordeaux style, Clos Du Val has its winery in the Napa Valley. A
Titanic’s wealthiest passenger built NYC hotel

TravelApr 13, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ― A century after the Titanic sank, the legacy of the ship’s wealthiest and most famous passenger lives on quietly at the luxury hotel he built in New York City.John Jacob Astor IV, who was one of the richest men in America, went down with the ship in 1912 after helping his pregnant wife escape into the last lifeboat. But at the St. Regis, one of Manhattan’s oldest luxury hotels, the aristocratic sensibilities of the Gilded Age remain intact.Butlers in white ties and black tailcoat
Making strides along Cotswold Way in England

TravelApr 13, 2012

BATH, England ― On the high street of the lovely Cotswold village of Chipping Campden, just next to the 12th century stone marketplace, sits an unobtrusive but intimidating sign. “Cotswold Way, the beginning and the end,” it reads. “Bath 100 m.” The “m” stands for miles.The sign marked the starting point of our 10-day walk through the Cotswolds, along a trail that loosely follows the route that monks in ancient times walked each year to pay tribute to Bath Abbey. My husband, Carl, and I had been
A Finnish thriller stars a Jewish cop

BooksApr 13, 2012

Nights of AweBy Harri Nykanen, translated from the Finnish by Kristian London (Bitter Lemon)The protagonist of Harri Nykanen’s “Nights of Awe” is named Ariel Kafka, and he’s one of two Jewish police officers in Helsinki.Now, Finland’s entire Jewish population is no bigger than a couple of good-sized Long Island bar mitzvahs, so it’s no shock that Jews would be somewhat exotic figures there. Nykanen has Kafka react with head-shaking amusement to well-meaning questions about Jews, and the deadpan
Young girl creates a ‘Land of Decoration’

BooksApr 13, 2012

The Land of DecorationBy Grace McCleen (Henry Holt)According to her website, author Grace McCleen grew up in a fundamentalist Christian household in Britain. Encouraged by teachers on a path she had not set her sights on, a university education, she attended Oxford, only to lose her faith and fragile sense of self. Judging by her semiautobiographical first novel, “The Land of Decoration,” she has been saved by writing, if not restored to salvation.The book’s title comes from the Book of Ezekiel,
Scholar looks into works of Joseon’s female writers

BooksApr 13, 2012

The Poetic World of Classic Korean Women Writers, By Lee Hai-soon, Translated by Hur Won-jae (Ewha Womans University Press)They were prohibited from public education and had to work against a male-dominated world to leave their literary legacy.Scholar Lee Hai-soon’s English-language book, “The Poetic World of Classic Korean Women Writers,” features 13 female poets from Korea’s Joseon era ― the time period when Chinese was regarded as the common written language in East Asia. She dedicates a chap
Novel on Impressionists paints them extra blue

BooksApr 13, 2012

Christopher Moore’s new novel blends diligently researched art history smoothly with his fevered, fiendish imagination. So smoothly, in fact, that you must never, ever give this book to a docent who gives museum tours.But do give “Sacre Bleu” to anyone who likes tales of the Impressionists ― especially comic, down-and-dirty ones.Moore starts from real points ― the prevalence of blue in the Impressionists’ paintings, and unexplained questions about the death of Vincent Van Gogh. He then spins a s
What to do with all that Easter candy

Food&BeverageApr 13, 2012

For some cooks, seasonality means shopping at the farmers market for the freshest local produce. For me, it means checking out the new candy in aisle 5 at the Sag Harbor Variety Store. Just as farm-to-table fans celebrate in late August when heirloom tomatoes are ready to harvest, I rejoice when chocolate Easter eggs appear on the shelves.While Christmas beckons the baker with candy canes (great for cake decorating when crushed), and Valentine’s Day beguiles with conversation hearts (to press in
Tangpyeongchae, (mung bean jelly mixed with vegetables and beef)

Food&BeverageApr 13, 2012

Tangpyeongchae is a dish made of jellied mung beans, sprouts, beef, watercress and eggs. It is sweet and sour in taste, rich in nutrition and harmonized with colors from the meat and vegetables. The name “tangpyeongchae” came about when the dish appeared on the table for the first time during discussions of tangpeongchaek (unbiased policy) in the Yeongjo era of the Joseon Dynasty.Ingredients● 300 g mung bean jelly, 3 cups water (seasoning: 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sesame oil)● 100 g beef (seasoning:
The price of ‘free’ foods

Food&BeverageApr 13, 2012

“Free-from” food products, whether they’re labeled sugar-free, fat-free or gluten-free, are fast becoming a trendy lifestyle choice, regardless of allergies or intolerance.The popularity of these products, tastier and more widely available than ever, is driven by health-focused consumers, research firms say. These so-called avoiders are also swayed by the “health halo,” or the perception that the product is better for you because it’s lacking an ingredient or nutrient, said Andy Bellatti, a Seat
Girl, 4, has IQ of 159

PeopleApr 13, 2012

International high-IQ society Mensa said it has accepted a 4-year-old British girl whose IQ is only 1 point less than that of physicist Stephen Hawking.John Stevenage, chief executive of British Mensa, said the organization was proud to welcome Heidi Hankins of Winchester, England, into its ranks after she scored a 159 on an IQ test, putting her just 1 point behind fellow Mensa member Hawking's 16
Grass dismisses Israeli travel ban

PeopleApr 12, 2012

BERLIN (AP) ― Guenter Grass says Israel’s decision to bar him from visiting the country following his poem criticizing the Jewish state reminds him of similar steps that dictatorial governments have taken against him.The German literature Nobel laureate said in a reaction piece published by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Wednesday that he has previously only been barred from entering a nation by then Communist-ruled East Germany and the military junta in Myanmar about 25 years ago.Grass sa
Chung wins journalist prize

PeopleApr 12, 2012

Dong-a Ilbo editorial writer Chung Seong-hee is the recipient of this year’s Choi Eun-hee Female Journalist Prize, the jury committee announced Thursday.Chung was selected as the 29th recipient of the prize in recognition of her coverage of social and environmental issues. Chung’s columns, in particular, shed light on young people addicted to online games, which led the government to implement a “shut-down” policy for those under age 16, the committee said.Chung joined the Dong-a Ilbo in 1985, a