30 May 2010, Posted by Matt in Best of DK.com, Food & Drink, Nature, Seoul, 9 Comments

Yongsan’s Foreign Footprints

South of Mt. Namsan lie some of Seoul’s most multicultural neighborhoods like Ichon-dong and Haebangchon – streets and restaurants where faces and languages other than Korean predominate.

21 Apr 2010, Posted by Matt in Best of DK.com, Buddhist Temples, Historic Korea, Jeolla, Nature, 1 Comments

Saseongam: The Four Sages Hermitage

Saseongam is a small Buddhist temple set dramatically into a wall of exposed granite on a foothill of Korea’s sacred mountain, Jirisan.

17 Apr 2010, Posted by Matt in Best of DK.com, Festivals & Holidays, Nature, Seoul, 4 Comments

Yeouido Spring Flowers Festival

The Yeouido Spring Flowers Festival celebrates Seoul’s most spectacular collection of king cherry trees, which erupt into ephemeral clouds of pink for a few short days each spring.

06 Apr 2010, Posted by Matt in Best of DK.com, Gyeongsang, Nature, 7 Comments

Oedo: the South Coast’s Paradise Isle

Forty years ago, a fisherman came to Oedo Island to escape rough seas of Korea’s southern coast. Shortly thereafter, he and his wife started what would become one of Korea’s most exquisite private gardens.

01 Apr 2010, Posted by Matt in Best of DK.com, Food & Drink, Nature, Seoul, 8 Comments

A Bicycle Tour of Yeouido and Seonyudo

With spring on its way, why not take a bicycle tour of two Seoul islands – Yeouido and Seonyudo (My cover story from Seoul Magazine’s April 2010 issue).

19 Mar 2010, Posted by Matt in Buddhist Temples, Gyeonggi, Nature, Seoul, 0 Comments

Climbing Mt. Dobongsan

Let’s celebrate the waning weeks of winter with a snowy hiking trip up Mt. Dobongsan, the “Daoist Peak” located on Seoul’s northern border.

13 Mar 2010, Posted by Matt in Chungcheong, Festivals & Holidays, Gyeongsang, Jeju, Jeolla, Nature, Seoul, 15 Comments

Spring 2010 Flower Festivals

Korea’s first spring flower festivals are underway! It’s time to check out some of the many festivals celebrating the sansuyu (cornus flower), maehwa (flowering apricot) and, of course, the beotkkeot (cherry blossom).

01 Mar 2010, Posted by Matt in Festivals & Holidays, Historic Korea, Nature, Seoul, Video, 3 Comments

Seodaemun Independence Park

2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Japan’s annexation of Korea. During the colonial period, the Seodaemun Prison was used to detain, torture and execute thousands of Korea’s independence activists.

12 Feb 2010, Posted by Matt in Art & Culture, Nature, Seoul, Transportation, 2 Comments

Gwangnaru Pedestrian Bridge

The Gwangnaru Pedestrian Bridge originated as a citizen’s suggestion and has become a pedestrian-friendly, park-like pathway connecting the city’s northern and southern halves.

03 Jan 2010, Posted by Matt in Nature, Seoul, Video, 7 Comments

Seoul’s Boramae Park

Although Seoul is one of the world’s largest cities, its residents don’t restrict themselves to the concrete jungle. Thankfully, the city is also home to many popular green spaces that bring a natural balance back to city life.

Located in southwest Seoul, Boramae Park (보라매공원) is an oft-overlooked city park in a similarly forgotten neighborhood of Sindaebang-dong. The name “boramae” means young hawk in Korean, which is a hint to the air force base that occupied the area for 27 years. As the former home of the Korean Air Force Academy, today the park includes a small airpark with mothballed jets on display. Stairs even allow visitors to get an up close peek into the cockpit of an F-4D Phantom fighter-bomber.

(more…)