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Hi all, Planning to be in South Korea, based in Seoul, with several friends for ~11 days in June. Barring a direct brain download of your collective knowledge, I'm interested if you could point me to some good/can't miss restaurants, especially those with Korean influence. My particular interest, and I'd be willing to ditch the friends a time or two to do it, would be fine dining (tasting menu required). Again with Korean influence since I can get traditional French in the states. I'll be perusing Seoul Eats in the meantime, so thanks for that link. We're looking at all the usual tourist stuff, but anything less obvious we'd be idiots to miss (note: we may be idiots) would be appreciated as well.
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Apr 11, 2013 05:41
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| # ? Jun 8, 2024 15:35 |
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Go to Gyeongju and look at some baller rear end history from the Shilla dynasty. Also, I thought the war museum and the National Museum of Seoul are amazing
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Apr 11, 2013 05:47
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Why are you coming to Korea, if I may ask? Has their attempt at global marketing finally taken hold somewhere?
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Apr 11, 2013 05:58
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Especially since "Visit Korea Year 2010-2012" is over
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Apr 11, 2013 06:07
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Who wouldn't want to visit the home of Gangnam Style?
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Apr 11, 2013 06:34
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It's my friend's vacation. We were originally going to visit Vietnam, but he realized it would be 2x rear end hot so we're going to Taiwan (only rear end hot) and Korea. He has been to Thailand and Japan before. For my part, I am not aware of Korea as a place to NOT go, so I figured...why not. It is unclear what amount of responsibility Gangnam Style holds, but it is impossible to rule out as an influence.
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Apr 11, 2013 06:39
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Haha, well, I guess we're not Vietnam hot in June, but by a little % of humidity I guess. Ok, it just seems kind of random and that is more beleivable than you heard something good about Korea and had to come see it.
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Apr 11, 2013 06:41
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Summer in Korea is quite miserable as well, though Vietnam is worse. Much better food though. I've never actually eaten Korean food in Seoul. It is a total void for me. When I make the trek up there I go straight for kebabs and borscht.
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Apr 11, 2013 06:58
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I'm running into a similar problem. My family is planning to come visit in a while and I'm not sure how to really keep them entertained. My grandma probably doesn't wanna get blackout drunk with dirty Korean guys. She probably can't do a whole lot of hiking. I just don't know how long "you take off your SHOES and we eat on the FLOOR!" would stay interesting.
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Apr 11, 2013 06:59
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I'm not in Seoul, but generally all of my good eating in Korea experiences have involved trusting my nose. Find a place that smells good from the street (or a vendor's stall), go in, order something at random, and chow down. If there's some locals in there, it's probably decent. For the more hardcore Korea experience, ask a friendly Korean where the best samgyeopsal place is, go there with all of your friends, sit on the floor, cook and eat a shitload of fatty pork belly, and get blackout drunk on soju. Then go to a bar and get blackout drunk on soju again. Then go to a noraebang and get blackout drunk on soju for a third time on the same night while singing. Then throw up in a taxi.
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Apr 11, 2013 07:23
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You learn quick young padiwan.
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Apr 11, 2013 07:39
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Yeah, eat a lot of food, drink a lot of booze, climb a few mountains, visit a few museums. It's basically the same as in any other country except that the food and booze are really cheap.
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Apr 11, 2013 07:46
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The Museum at Gyeongbuk Palace is pretty drat awesome. Lots of super old poo poo that makes you feel like Jet Li in Hero or something. Chinese movie, I know.
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Apr 11, 2013 08:46
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nullscan posted:Haha, well, I guess we're not Vietnam hot in June, but by a little % of humidity I guess. I went to Vietnam last summer and it averaged about 3 degrees Celsius cooler than my Korean town.
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Apr 11, 2013 09:20
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June is still nice. July and August is when it gets hellish. I was still wearing jeans no problem last June.
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Apr 11, 2013 09:48
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Would it be a nightmare to change my ISP? My connection sucks, which really isn't acceptable in Korea. I don't know if it's because I'm mostly connecting to servers thousands of miles away or if my router is causing a bottle neck or what, but I feel like streaming anything takes forever. I'm not just talking about porn either.
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Apr 11, 2013 10:42
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I'd say find someone with another ISP near you and have them run a speedtest back to the states. If they get about the same then you're just pooched. (Edit: To clarify, the bottleneck isn't in Korea, it's the pipeline back to the states, so unless another ISP is somehow leasing more data from that pipe you wont see much of a difference if you can reach Seoul faster than your old ISP) Also, try using a proxy or VPN, oddly enough I get far better youtube speeds compared to not using it. So either KT or someone else is filtering YT traffic. nullscan fucked around with this message at 10:55 on Apr 11, 2013 |
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Apr 11, 2013 10:50
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Slow download speeds from stuff outside of Asia is a common complaint. But I had a problem with timeouts joining some irc channels on an American irc server, asked them about it and got told "that's impossible the Internet doesn't work like that" then banned for trolling so... I dunno.
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Apr 11, 2013 10:57
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New Psy single was released. Be afraid, be very afraid. that was taken down fast Maxsmart fucked around with this message at 17:58 on Apr 11, 2013 |
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Apr 11, 2013 17:11
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This video previously contained a copyrighted audio track. Due to a claim by a copyright holder, the audio track has been muted. Wonderful.
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Apr 11, 2013 17:29
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Try here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BNBtFfmRUQ (it's also really loving bad, unsurprisingly)
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Apr 12, 2013 00:21
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amaranthine posted:Try here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BNBtFfmRUQ This link already didn't work for me, could be cause of my VPN though. Either way, http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTQxNDQ2NTc2.html here is the song from a place where copyright laws don't exist and it won't be taken down. That said, it sucks and I'm a little angry I went through the effort of finding it. Why didn't I listen?!
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Apr 12, 2013 01:46
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I met this kid at orientation who got dispatched to some gently caress awful place in the country. He was a nice guy but he's started blogging and it's insufferable.quote:When going out, it is common to see people smoking inside buildings and not only in bars. One Sunday afternoon I went to play pool with some friends and was alarmed to find groups of old Korean men smoking while playing billiards. He was alarmed! If you'd had the life those old fuckers had, you'd be smoking too. There's like 30 entries already, he's only been here about two months. Marco Polo didn't write this much about his 'travels'.
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Apr 12, 2013 03:03
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That is hilarious. It is illegal now but, ha. Following laws.
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Apr 12, 2013 03:05
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Wait, it's illegal now? Where can I smoke and where can't I smoke? And give him a few more months. We all know how it goes. Also, link to the blog dude come on.
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Apr 12, 2013 03:46
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Indoor smoking ban came into effect a few months ago. I don't know all the details since I don't smoke but it's definitely illegal in restaurants and might be in bars. You haven't noticed because literally no one follows or enforces laws here.
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Apr 12, 2013 03:49
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If I remember the law it was something like 'if your resturant is X big you can't let people smoke' Edit: http://goldsea.com/Text/index.php?id=13965 Luckily our juice bars are safe as Hostess bars are exempt! nullscan fucked around with this message at 04:13 on Apr 12, 2013 |
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Apr 12, 2013 04:06
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I think part of it is he's in his early 20s, so he can't remember a time when people weren't aggressively infantilized by the government. I'm 31. When I was a kid, adults smoked. Some of them, that's all they did. If this is the sort of attitude the smoking ban has cultivated in people then it's even more insidious than I thought. Very little evidence of any sort of ban in Busan presently, thankfully. fake edit: I don't want to start a smoking ban debate, each to their own. I just don't like people whining about the smell. A bar without smoke smells like beer farts. A club without smoke smells like sweat. Seriously, who doesn't do a wash after a night out?
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Apr 12, 2013 04:42
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I'm pretty happy about the ban and think it's reasonable - we keep the bar-sized bars smokey, and clubs and norebangs stay smoke-friendly. I sort of like the smell of cigarette smoke personally, and sometimes have a few when I'm drinking, but gently caress anyone who smokes where people are trying to eat. Rude.  Speaking about smoking, I know cigars aren't too popular here but does anyone have a bead on a good place to buy them? Around Busan or Seoul is fine.
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Apr 12, 2013 05:00
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I know there's a cigar shop in Haeundae somewhere but I don't have a real location. Maybe it will pop up on the google.
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Apr 12, 2013 05:21
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Maybe Psy is going for a sort of Tim and Eric it's so bad it's funny sort of thing?
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Apr 12, 2013 05:44
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There's a cigar shop around Noksapyeong in Seoul as well. Also, I hate the smell of cigarettes and will be glad when they are banned.
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Apr 12, 2013 06:21
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I know of a couple cigar places and have a friend that does too. Cost is insane though, I'll just import some with my first annual US shipment. I'll show you next time you come up.
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Apr 12, 2013 07:15
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Daejeon has a place to get cigars too. Shisha House in Gung-dong.
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Apr 12, 2013 07:16
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Are those the real lyrics? "Mother Father Gentleman"?
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Apr 12, 2013 07:48
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SMOKERS RIGHTS!
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Apr 12, 2013 14:31
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New Psy single is also a ripoff of two tracks so congrats to him for not even trying I guess. Too lazy to find the YouTube vid but its almost exactly the same.
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Apr 12, 2013 14:53
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Looks like I'm going to overnight in Busan on Sunday night, possibly Monday night too. A friend is visiting from the States and we are going to hit up the coffee expo at the COEX and then try out the KTX to Busan. Want to go for a ride on this Dutch-like ship too: http://www.tezroc-busan.com/main.html Anybody want to get together, offer information on the ship, recommend places to stay - things to do - places to eat?
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Apr 12, 2013 15:14
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So here's a new one. I just got beaten up. I couldn't rustle up anyone to go out tonight, so I had a few beers at home then went for a walk. I've been making gradual concentric circles away from my neighborhood to see if I could find somewhere interesting to go. I got a few stations south of where I live in Bujeon, was walking up the street a bit and passed some guy and his girlfriend - and he just launches at me with these crazy high kicks. The first ten seconds of it was basically confusion because I don't think I'd done anything to provoke him. I managed to negotiate the confrontation into an alley way and after a another thirty seconds of him punching me in the head I guess he either got bored or his girlfriend dragged him away. I lived in Seoul for three years and I'd wander around strange neighborhoods late at night all the time and never had any static. I guess maybe he was angry about the new Psy single being so lovely?
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Apr 12, 2013 19:03
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| # ? Jun 8, 2024 15:35 |
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Literally one kick or punch the head that knocks you out can crack your skull on the ground and kill you. Any time anyone ever starts trying to faux-fight you, you should probably run away fast or defend yourself with life-threatening urgency. Still, that sucks bro.
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Apr 12, 2013 19:20
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