For a good description of Los Angeles Koreatown, pay LAist a visit. Some good pictures, and also a 5 minute video right at the bottom of the post. See if you can work out how to cook a kimchi chigae from the edited version in the video. One day I’ll persuade someone to do a … [Read More]
Category: Living abroad (page 15)
Tripe, black pudding and a communal sing-song…
…but this is no East-End boozer. Jennifer Barclay reports from Saturday’s Korean Food Festival The softly spoken Mr Kim tells me he thinks Korean food is the most highly developed in the world, while standing over the searing hot barbecue cooking galbi, beef marinated in 17 different ingredients. His white t-shirt somehow manages to remain … [Read More]
Support the SlowPokes
An enthusiastic team from the Korean embassy will be competing in the Standard Chartered Great City Race on 19 July. Calling themselves the Slowpokes, the all-female team are aiming to complete the arduous 5km road race in record time thanks to their kimchi-rich diet. They are also aiming to raise £2,500 for the Breakthrough Breast … [Read More]
A listing of Korean food stores
Update 12 December 2018. The current exhibition of Jeonju cuisine at the KCC has a handy “Korean Food Map” of London, listing out restaurants and food stores in the area. It seems pretty comprehensive, so I’ve rewritten this post, which was originally compiled in 2007, using data from that leaflet, at least for London and … [Read More]
Saemangeum update
Birds Korea and the Australasian Wader Studies Group have just completed part of their monitoring programme of migrating birds at Saemangeum. A key conclusion: many Great Knot have been displaced by the Saemangeum reclamation, and have subsequently failed to stage through the remainder of the spring at either Gomso Bay or the Geum Estuary — … [Read More]
Unfortunate headline of the week…
…goes to the Chosun Ilbo for Korean Hurt in Virginia College Massacre (timed at 8:39 KST, 17 April) I guess it’s the pitfalls of reporting news as it happens. The next Chosun Ilbo article on the topic reads: Virginia Tech Shooter Was Korean (timed at 7:48 KST, 18 April). In due course I’ll update this … [Read More]
British-owned culture cafe opens in Bucheon
Thanks to Peter Orange for letting me know about an interesting new venture in Bucheon (부천): Cafe Nicolia, run by British / Korean couple Nicholas and Lia Young. From their website, it looks like a version of Seoul Selection, but obviously with more food and, I’m guessing, fewer books. On my rare visits to Seoul … [Read More]
The Irish Contribution to Joseon Korea
Another post in honour of St Patrick: OhMyNews has a piece on the Irish contribution to Korea’s early modern history Arguably the first Irishman to live in Korea arrived in Seoul in the mid 1890s. His name was John McLeavy Brown, and he was a lawyer by trade, but was employed with the Imperial Chinese … [Read More]
A brief visit to the ULKS Korean night
As I wandered unchecked into the Conway Hall last night I had to negotiate several girls wearing hanbok and a chap who was steering a large stepladder into the auditorium. Inside the hall, trestle tables were arranged lengthwise, from the front to the back of the hall, lined with seated students chatting and eating as … [Read More]
Dulsori celebrates New Year in New Malden
The lunar new year came to a girls school in New Malden yesterday with more than a few bangs. Samulnori percussion group Dulsori visited Coombe Girls School in Clarence Avenue for a spectacular one hour concert in front of an enthusiastic audience of pupils and visitors — including the mayor of Kingston. The audience didn’t … [Read More]
The Spirit of Kahoidong
Bukchon (북촌), a genuine old part of Seoul, a haven of peace preserved between the two major palaces. A little bit of old Seoul carefully preserved and nurtured, saved from the twenty-first century metropolis below. Stroll around the quaint streets of Kahoidong, one of the most protected parts of Bukchon, and if you’re not looking … [Read More]
Event report: Korea Business Reception at London City Hall
By Peter Corbishley On Monday 15th January the glitterati of the Anglo-Korean business worlds were invited to network by Ambassador Cho and Mike Backhouse of Standard Chartered under the auspices of Ken Livingstone and Think London. Over 250 companies accepted invitations to an event originally scheduled to be part of Think Korea 2006, as the … [Read More]
More 2006 statistics: theme parks and military thighs
First, some boring stuff December was a record month for advertising revenue: the princely sum of $11.17, making my life-to-date total $24.32. But if it stays at December’s levels I’ll be happy: that more than pays for webhosting. And something I get lots of, and wish I got less: my life-to-date spam comment count (as … [Read More]
A date with Rain? I’d rather have my hair done
“Sorry, I’m washing my hair that night” is the familiar put-down you get when the girl of your dreams doesn’t fancy a date with you. But it’s also true of LKL visitors. They’re much more interested in finding the best Korean hairdressers in London, or reading about the techniques involved in a “Magic Straight” perm, … [Read More]
Graham Norton sits on the best of Korean design
Congratulations to Korean-born Jackie and Lloyd Choi of Jackie Choi London for winning one of the Mayor of Hackney’s annual Business Awards 2006. The awards are designed to “celebrate entrepreneurs with business acumen and innovative ideas that generate jobs throughout the borough”. The awards were presented on 14 November, and the Choi sisters won in … [Read More]
A visit to New York Koreatown
On the rare occasions when I have to travel to New York to see my US co-workers I always try to pay a visit to 32nd Street. The two places I make sure to visit are Koryo Books and AM Records — and I also scout round to see if I like the look of … [Read More]















