MEXICO CITY (AP) -― Mexico’s top tourism official said the country may drop out of the world’s top 10 tourist destinations, a spot it has held for years.Tourism Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu hasn’t said why the drop occurred, but there were declines in 2012 in two areas that have been affected by violence: border tourism and cruise ship stopovers.The number of cruise ship passengers stopping in Mexico dropped 3 percent in 2012 and more than 15 percent over the past two years. The number of bord

The allure of southern China’s Hainan Island is finally getting some long-deserved attention by virtue of its pristine beaches and clear blue waters along over 1,000 kilometers of coastline that encircles virgin rainforests atop central highlands.From Singapore to Seoul, the tropical island is fast becoming the answer to the holiday puzzler: Where can couples find that affordable but luxurious golf getaway? At the top of the expansive list of Hainan’s resort destinations is Mission Hills Haikou,

The hotel’s The Chinese Restaurant will be hosting guest Chef Lo Kwai Kai from Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui from March 21 to 31. This will be a great opportunity for those seeking an authentic taste of Hong Kong’s finest dishes. Chef Lo Kwai Kai, who has more than 30 years of culinary experience, will prepare a wide array of traditional Chinese cuisine especially for Korean guests. The menus include steamed cod fish fillet, bean curd with homemade pickled chili, Shanghainese-style stir-

The hotel is serving Easter brunches at the hotel’s JW’s Grill (100,000 won) and The Caf (77,000 won) featuring a variety of special Easter dishes, including lamb, egg brioche and Easter chocolates. Both prices include tax. The hotel will also hold an exclusive Easter celebration that hands out great prizes including the Gold Card membership worth 400,000 won and dining vouchers for use at The Caf and wine buffet at Bar Rouge. On Easter Sunday, hotel employees dressed up as rabbits will hand out

The hotel presents “Rainbow Secret Package” throughout the year. The first package (for two people) includes a one-night stay at the hotel and a comfortable brunch at Deli Amador. The second package (for three people) includes a one-night stay at the hotel with a party at Zoe Bar. The bar will provide guests with unlimited energy bomb cocktails, three glasses of signature cocktails and a snack. All visitors will also be given a “Glossy Box,” a cosmetics set consisting of five kinds of cosmetics

The hotel’s restaurant Cilantro Deli and Genji are offering takeout lunches through the end of May. Cilantro Deli offers an array of sandwiches (including club, salmon, vegetable, ham and cheese, mozzarella cheese, roast beef and salmon croissant-wich), four different salads including Caesar and salmon, breads and desserts. The menus range from 7,000 won to 20,000 won. Genji, the Japanese restaurant, offers popular lunch boxes. Guests can choose from regular lunch bento sets to special sushi ben

The hotel is offering two unique promotions, “Ladies Away” and “Ladies Evening Away,” for city dwellers until June 28. The “Ladies Away” package includes 50-minute Ayuvedic spa treatment at AWAY spa, and a salad buffet and dessert at the hotel’s restaurant, Kitchen. The package is priced at 157,300 won. The “Ladies Evening Away” package offers a 30-minute back treatment, 30-minute mini facial massage and a choice of diet and health food set menus (two courses available) at the hotel’s Japanese r

This squid dish is one of the most popular spicy dishes in Korean cuisine. The squid is cut into bite-sized pieces and stir fried in a slightly sweet red chili sauce along with vegetables. This recipe is certainly hot, but not fiery hot. Adjust the spiciness level to your taste. One way to reduce the spiciness is to use fewer fresh chili peppers (or none at all). Fresh chili peppers are called for in the classic versions of the dish, but the heat can be quite intense with certain varieties.This

Hongdae hotspot dishes out authentic Thai specialties

A white porcelain jar from the Joseon Period was auctioned off for $1.2 million, the highest price fetched at the auction of Japanese and Korean art auction at Christie’s in New York on Wednesday.Paintings by renowned Korean artists Park Soo-keun and Kim Whan-ki were also sold for double their estimates. Park’s “Five seated figures” was auctioned at $711,750, higher than its $400,000-$500,000 estimate.  Kim Whan-ki’s “Moon and Plum Blossom” painting was sold for $663,750, about double its estima

A teenager’s idea to reduce poverty has developed into a sponsorship project attracting interest abroad.In Shantipur, Nepal, which is the hometown of President Ram Baran Yadav, on March 9, a groundbreaking ceremony was held to build a school. The event kicked off the Nepal School of Hope Project by Good Way With Us, a Web portal where adolescents propose ideas for a better world and seek sponsorship.  The project was inspired by 17-year-old Won Sung-jun, a student at Taft High School in Connecti

Strabismus refers to the condition where, when a person is looking at an object, one eye looks directly at the object while the other eye is looking elsewhere. Pediatric strabismus is a common condition seen in approximately 2 percent of children. This can be a cosmetic problem, and may cause a developmental delay in normal visual function, and poor vision. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment is important. Strabismus is divided into various forms depending on the expression type. Intermitte

From horseback riding to physical exercise, new therapies designed to balance the brain and better emotional conditions are raising hopes to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder without drugs. Chung Yoo-sook, a doctor at the department of neuropsychiatrics at Samsung Medical Center, plans to run a three-month clinical trial to test the effectiveness of a horseback riding program in treating ADHD children. Typical treatment methods for ADHD patients are mostly drug-based, using attentio

Kim Fowley came out of a Hollywood that doesn’t exist anymore, the Hollywood of Kenneth Anger and Ed Wood. Best known for cooking up the Runaways, he began working in the music business in the late 1950s and since then has turned up in more places than Woody Allen’s Zelig, producing for Gene Vincent, writing with Warren Zevon and introducing John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band when they played Toronto in 1969.Fowley is now 73 and reportedly has been fighting bladder cancer, so it’s no surprise

The Annals of Unsolved CrimeBy Edward Jay Epstein (Melville House)There’s a saying in newspaper publishing: If it bleeds, it leads. The only thing that captures the attention of the public better than a bloody crime scene is a bloody crime scene that raises more questions than it answers.In “The Annals of Unsolved Crime,” Edward Jay Epstein looks at 35 cases that were never satisfactorily resolved. He takes as his subjects not John or Jane Doe but rather some of the most famous people to ever di