Top Chinese chef to present state banquet dishes at Lotte Hotel Seoul Jiang Bing Liang, the head chef of China’s Great Hall of the People, will be presenting Chinese state banquet dishes at Lotte Hotel Seoul’s Chinese restaurant Toh Lim. Jiang will collaborate with Toh Lim’s star chef Yeo Kyung-ok to provide lunch and dinner sets from Nov. 18-20. The lunch courses (138,000 won and 158,000 won) will include steamed shark’s fin with coconut, braised abalone with leek and oyster sauce, and hot nood

Where to go for turkey, pumpkin pie and more

Baek kimchi (white kimchi) (Korean Bapsang)Baek kimchi is a variety of kimchi that’s made without red chili pepper flakes. It is enjoyed for its mild, refreshing taste. Baek kimchi is child-friendly and great for people who have issues with spicy food!The stuffing for white kimchi varies but usually includes typical kimchi ingredients such as radish, garlic, ginger, scallion, minari, pear, etc. I like to add colorful bell peppers, which are called paprika in Korea, for sweetness and additional c

The 53rd Orient and South East Asian Lions Forum kicked off at the Songdo Convensia Convention Center in Incheon Free Economic Zone Friday. Some 30,000 members from 18 countries are participating in the four-day event. The OSEAL is a regional branch of the Lions Clubs International, a secular philanthropy group that engages in community-based humanitarian work in hospitals, retirement homes, schools and disaster-stuck sites around the world. Founded by American philanthropist Melvin Jones in 191

Cerebrovascular disease and stroke (the most well-known type of cerebrovascular disease) is one of the main causes of death in Korea. Its incidence increases with sudden cold weather and in the winter. The incidence of stroke is increasing in Korea, whereas that of Western countries and Japan is decreasing significantly. The reason for this is that Koreans have many risk factors for stroke that are often left unaddressed.Risk factors To decrease the risk of stroke, prevention is more important t

Scientists have discovered gene mutations that give people naturally lower cholesterol levels and cut their risk of heart disease in half.That discovery may have a big implication: A blockbuster drug that mimics these mutations has long been sold without evidence that it cuts the chance of heart disease. Results of a large study that looked for that evidence will be revealed on Monday.The drug is Merck & Co.’s Zetia, also sold in combination with another medicine as Vytorin.When Zetia was design

Normand Latourelle, the producer and creator of “Cavalia,” describes his show as an ode to the millennia-old relationship between horses and human. “‘Cavalia’ is not a circus. It’s not a horse show. It is a show about horses and the bond between horses and human,” he said in an interview with The Korea Herald inside one of the tents that make up the White Big Top, a makeshift structure specially designed for the Canadian touring production. “The horses are not forced to do this. There is a genui

Equestrian performance incorporates acrobats in magical production

David Hockney: The Biography, 1975-2012By Christopher Simon Sykes (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday) More than halfway through the second volume of his vivid, intimate biography of British artist David Hockney, Christopher Simon Sykes describes the moment in the 1980s when Hockney discovers the creative possibilities of the photocopy machine. A natural talent who drew from the moment he could pick up a pencil, Hockney falls deeply in love with the density of copier inks ― “the most beautiful black I had

Blue LabyrinthBy Douglas Preston and/Lincoln Child (Grand Central Pulishing)A family secret over 100 years old comes back to haunt FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast in Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s latest thriller, “Blue Labyrinth.” A knock on Pendergast’s door propels the story when it’s opened to reveal a tied-up corpse. The deceased is his estranged son. What’s found on the body leads Pendergast to an abandoned mine, and as he discovers deception and treachery, he also learns uncomf

The Laughing MonstersBy Denis Johnson (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)Denis Johnson, winner of the National Book Award for his Vietnam-era opus “Tree of Smoke,” has jumped genres again in “The Laughing Monsters,” a new thriller set in Africa. Johnson has done chameleon-like genre switches before, producing the noirish “Nobody Move” that evokes Elmore Leonard’s style and a Western of sorts, “Train Dreams,” that has a dash of Cormac McCarthy. Both books are solid works in their own right. “The Laughing M

Sometimes, the characters in Jane Smiley’s latest novel resemble the Osage-orange hedge that separates the field from the back acreage of Walter Langdon’s Iowa farm: “horse-high, bull-strong, and hog-tight.” Meaning they’re tough. Meaning they take what life throws at them ― drought, freezes, economic catastrophe, death, war, progress ― and carry on. Meaning any sense of optimism is hard won and that good fortune is never taken for granted: “That was a piece of luck, Walter. But what would we do

The Burning RoomBy Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)Politics often seeps into police investigations, especially when a high-profile case has officials from the city to the state level jockeying for a piece of the action.LAPD detective Harry Bosch has seen enough of politics interfering with his investigations through the years. Now, as he supposedly enters the last year of his career, Harry is even more tired of this intrusion that erupts constantly in “The Burning Room,” the excellent 19th novel

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) ― Former President George W. Bush said Tuesday that he believes his brother Jeb Bush should run for president but ultimately the former Florida governor must make a decision regardless of any pressure from the family. Bush said his father, former President George H.W. Bush, also thinks the ex-Florida governor should run in the 2016 White House race. “I can tell you I can speak for 41,” Bush said, referring to his father, the 41st president of the United States between

Eric Swanson (left), general manager of Millennium Seoul Hilton, receives the top tourism prize awarded by the Academy of Korea Hospitality and Tourism in Seoul on Nov. 1. (Millennium Seoul Hilton)Eric Swanson, general manager of Millennium Seoul Hilton, received the top tourism prize from the Academy of Korea Hospitality and Tourism on Nov. 1 for his corporate social responsibility initiatives.Under his management, the hotel has run an annual charity event, with its staff conducting regular vol