Remember that old game show Let’s Make a Deal? The one where you had to make a decision about whether or not to trade in the prize you’ve already received for one of three mystery prizes? Each mystery prize was hidden behind a door labeled 1, 2, or 3; some doors opened to reveal what’s…
The northernmost station that still sits in Seoul City proper, and about as far north as you can go in the city period, Dobongsan Station is the gateway to Dobong Mountain (도봉산) and the eastern side of Bukhansan National Park (북한산국림공원). We made our way there this past Chuseok, and the cool weather and fresh…
In a development almost as exciting for the blog as last post’s discovery of Naksan Naengmyeon, we were joined for this excursion by John Glionna, the Los Angeles Times’ Seoul Bureau Chief, as he prepared a story on Seoul Sub→urban for the paper. (Greetings Angelenos! Send tacos!) So prior to our weekend’s jaunt through Garibong-dong…
Exit 1 at Namseong Station put us on Sadang-ro (사당로), which we quickly turned off of to the south to take a look at Sadang Market (사당시장). It wasn’t really a proper market in the conventional sense, more simply an area with a higher than average concentration of small grocers and the like set up…
It’s always been a mystery to me why Seoul doesn’t have a proper Chinatown. Whether it’s San Francisco, Bangkok, or Cholon in Ho Chi Minh City, these ethnic enclaves with their hanging roast duck, temples devoted to Tian Hou, and kitschy Mao souvenirs are always one of the most interesting areas of a city, not…
Seoul Sub→urban 