Seasoned chef takes free-spirited approach to seasonally sensitive fare

Koreans are increasingly venturing solo to bars for a quiet moment to enjoy alcohol

Boseong Green Tea Plantation light festThe annual Boseong Green Tea Plantation Light Festival has kicked off its celebrations this year, lighting up the country’s famed green tea fields in Boseong-gun, South Jeolla Province. There are various attractions, such as the Korea Tea Culture Park’s Galaxy Tunnel, the colorful Tea Plantation Wave of Lights, Light Valley of Hope, Korea Tea Museum’s Light Plaza, Wishing Tree, along with photo spots. The festivities will also extend to the nearby Yulpo Bea

Special promotions at Walkerhill The Walkerhill hotel in Seoul is offering new food promotions throughout January. Guests can choose various menus priced at 54,000 won at restaurants Ondal, Geumryong, The Buffet, Clock 16, Myongwolgwan and Pizza Hill.They can also enjoy an overnight stay under three packages until Feb. 28 in the Douglas Room, Deluxe Room and Club Suite Room, which cost 150,000 won, 235,000 won and 295,000 won per night, respectively. A diary will be given to all guests and there

With a pensive gaze, Park Si-in sips an old fashioned, a whiskey-based cocktail, at a dim, jazzy bistro nestled in a gentrified alley in Seoul. “I don’t think about anything,” she says. “I come here to empty and organize my thoughts. I need it, regularly and personally. Drinking alone is actually enjoyable.” Beside her, Kang Dong-wan, a university student majoring in graphic design, chatters with a bartender. “The bar acts as a sort of a mental hospital, a healing space,” explains Kang, in an in

One of the newest cultural trends sweeping the nation is all about the art of being alone. 　From eating, drinking, shopping and living solo, this new trend seems to defy the once cultural norm of “togetherness.”　With the phenomena of “honsul” and “honbap” -- meaning to “drink alone” and “eat alone,” respectively -- there no longer appears to be social stigmas attached to requesting a table for one. Nor is there a corresponding gasp of dismay or pity for one going to a bar solo and enjoying a coc

Even for a Saturday in the South Pacific, this was a sleepy morning.On American Samoa’s main island of Tutuila and its neighbor, Ofu, villages were still, beaches empty.On the west coast of nearby Ta’u, a battered little fishing boat sidled up to the wharf, and a pale stranger stepped off, looking half-queasy and half-euphoric, a bagged octopus in his left hand.That was me on Day 6 at America’s most far-flung national park.National Park of American Samoa, 4,000 kilometers southwest of Hawaii, is

LONDON (AFP) -- The towering replica skeleton of “Dippy” the dinosaur, a star attraction at London’s Natural History Museum for more than 100 years, made its final appearance Wednesday before being dismantled.The 292-bone plaster cast of a fossilized diplodocus has for decades greeted visitors in the museum’s iconic entrance hall, but is now being replaced by the skeleton of a blue whale.More than 90 million people have seen “Dippy” since it was presented to the museum by industrialist Andrew Ca

“Victoria the Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire” by Julia Baird; Random House (696 pages, $35)Queen Victoria dominated an age and inspired a word, “Victorian,” to capture the spirit of her time. We tend to see her as a prisoner of that age: dour, unsmiling, repressed; in short, rather Victorian. Julia Baird wants to liberate her from that straitjacket.In her zestful biography, “Victoria the Queen,” Baird, an Australian journalist and columnist for the International Ne

Tributes lie beneath a mural of singer David Bowie by artist Jimmy C in Brixton, south London on Jan. 12, last year. (AP-Yonhap)“David Bowie: The Last Interview and Other Conversations” by David Bowie; Melville House (208 pages, $16.99)The introduction of “David Bowie: The Last Interview and Other Conversations” begins: “David Bowie gave a lot of interviews ... until he didn‘t.”Quirky, well-spoken and charming, the iconic music legend who died of cancer in January at 69 left behind a trove of in

CAIRO (AFP) -- With a shaky economy following years of unrest and a huge drop in tourists, Egypt is struggling to preserve its fabled archaeological heritage. From Alexandria on the Mediterranean to the Great Pyramid of Giza -- the last of the Seven Wonders of the World -- and Aswan to the south, the North African country is home to impressive ancient monuments.For years, the sites were able to rely on a steady stream of ticket sales to finance their upkeep.But since Egypt’s 2011 revolution, the

In Korea’s turbulent path toward independence and nation building, there were foreign nationals who stood steadfastly by the Korean people, although their contributions have been largely overshadowed by those of Korean patriots. The Korea Herald, in partnership with the Independence Hall of Korea, is publishing a series of articles shedding light on these foreigners, their life and legacies here. This is the 23rd installment. -- Ed.Thomas Ryan was born in Crossmolina, a town in County Mayo on th

Just months after their first visit, Estonian electro trio I Wear* Experiment is returning to Seoul for shows in Seoul and Busan this weekend.The group is set to release its debut album, “Patience,” on which Johanna Eenma’s graceful vocals lay pop melodies over electronic backing that varies from cinematic harmony to thumping club music.The record will get a local release, as the group recently signed with Korean label Leeway, after performing at the Zandari Festa music showcase in Hongdae in fa