Automotive Week 2012 23rd - 25th March KINTEX Ilsan Seoul South Korea

Automotive Week 2012 KINTEX Seoul South Korea

A super early blog post this week just for you :)

I went to KINTEX this week on Friday to be an "early bird" and see what the Automotive Week was all about.

Not as big as the Seoul Motor Show (which is held biannually at KINTEX and this year the international motor show will be in Busan in late may... but more on that later) but it did have some interesting qualities :)

It was especially exciting for me as I got my first press pass to an event:

So last week I posted some links to the event which stated that there was effectively two separate sections to the exhibition. There is a section more for the aftermarket or performance enthusiast and a section for the automotive repair and maintenance person. So I spent most of my time in the aftermarket section as that is where all the action is.

There are several luxury cars on display and some modified vehicles also. There is also some car stereo equipment on show as well as all sorts of equipment for your car and even a model racing track and a computer simulated racing game on display.

The draw card for the photographers however are of course the "racing girls" who will be there posing in front of the cars this weekend and perhaps you might be lucky to see them wash a car or two :)

So here is the link again if you missed it last week. Head out to Daehwa Atation at the end of line 3 take exit 2 and just keep walking straight until you get to KINTEX.

http://www.autoservicekorea.com/eng/exhibition/01_4.php

This week you will be able to gorge yourself on videos as I have made four for your enjoyment. two video expositions and two video slideshows.

Unfortunately if you are from Japan or Germany my slideshow has been blocked in your country due to copyright issues in relation to the audio track I used ;(

OK so get out there if you are interested! I think the entrance fee is 6,000 or 5,000 won so a cheap day out! :)

Next week is the Asian Metal Festival at V-Hall in Hongdae:

Tickets are 64,000 won (on the internet) and it looks like 70,000 on the door.

Here is the link... I might see you there :)

http://ticket.interpark.com/Global/Play/Goods/GoodsInfo.asp?GoodsCode=12003156

Well I think that's about it for this week :) I hope you have a fantastic weekend and if you are in Seoul get out and about and have fun! :) See you next week!

Hello Kitty Planet Songdo City Incheon South Korea

So Saturday it was a choice between green and pink (as it was also St Patrick's Day) but as you can see pink prevailed this time. I went to the St Patrick's day celebrations last year so I though I had better write about something different this year :)

Hello Kitty Planet Songdo City Incheon South Korea.

Hello Kitty Planet is currently being exhibited in the Tri Bowl right outside Central Park Station in Songdo City.

If you are travelling there by subway you will need to start on line 1 and head toward Incheon. Transfer at Bupyeong station to the Incheon subway line and head toward Central Park station (the next stop after Bupyeong will be Dongsu that is the right direction to head in. Central Park will be about 17 stations away!).

Hello Kitty, as you would expect, boasts hundreds of dolls and figures of the Hello Kitty characters and there are play areas for children and craft areas too. Plenty of things to take pictures of as well. However as with many exhibitions or museums it can be done (or looked through) in about 20 minutes so take the time to have a look around Central Park and enjoy the peace and quiet of Songdo City once you have finished.

The cost is 12,000 won and is generally open 10am to 7pm but I will give you the links below :)

The exhibition ends 30 June 2012 so get in there while you have the chance!

http://www.korea4expats.com/events-in-korea--Hello-Kitty-Planet-Through-30-Jun-2012-Songdo-City-Incheon-5859.html

http://www.hellokittyplanet.co.kr/sub/exhibition.php

Here are a few quick photo's. Check out the Youtube picture slideshow and the video walk through:

Songdo City Incheon South Korea.

*Pretty much the same subway instructions as above.

Not far on the outskirts from Seoul lies a unique city. Built for the purpose of being an English hub for global business where the primary language spoken is English it boasts a modern stylish look unlike any other South Korean city. Songdo is not expected to be completed until around 2014 but a lot of it is there now and it had a distinctive feeling of difference from any other Korean city. The streets are very wide and there is space to breathe. You feel a little free-er and not so enclosed. However for an "English" city I was hard pressed to see any foreigners or hear too much English... perhaps they were all enjoying St Patrick's day in Seoul :)

I would highly recommend visiting here if you are tired of the hustle and bustle of Seoul city. In Songdo it is peaceful. There are not many cars and on occasion perhaps you will have the street to yourself! There are also not too many people on the streets and you don't have to wait for a seat at a popular restaurant. It's almost too good to be true :)

http://www.songdo.com/

Here are some snaps of the city:

Well that's about all for this week, however if you are interested coming up next weekend the 23rd 24th and 25th of March is Automotive Week at KINTEX. Here is the link:

http://www.autoservicekorea.com/eng/exhibition/01_4.php

I am hoping to head to the Tuning Show the other show is called the Repairs and Maintenance Show. Both shows are on all days and should be something interesting to go and see.

http://www.autoservicekorea.com/eng/auto/01.php#

Well until next week have a fantastic time where ever you are and I will bring you more news about what is happening in Korea next time! :)

My new swanky shoes courtesy of my lovely friend :)

Charlie Brown Cafe / Nature Cafe / Comic Book Store Hongdae (Book Sae Tong)

So this week I am following up on my promise (or idea) that I had last week about posting some more interesting cafe's/places in Hongdae.

Charlie Brown Cafe Hongdae Seoul South Korea.

Just like the name says it a Charlie Brown Themed cafe not unlike the Hello Kitty Cafe also in Hongdae. Here you can buy coffee and cakes with the characters of Charlie Brown either a powdered likeness on the cake or coffee or cakes in the shape of your favorite character. There is also lots of merchandise to get your hands on here as well as display models and toys to enjoy or take pictures of :)

So I have a series of Directions for you (and maps of course) :)

From Hongdae Station:

Exit 9 walk straight past the road immdiately to your left and take the next left (main road). Walk up to the end of the main road and take a right down another main road. Walk down (you should be on the right side of the road) until you can see a park/concrete rest and performance area to your right (it will be above you and steps will lead up to it) walk past it and immediately take the road/alley right after the park on your right. Walk up the hill and you will see Charlie Brown Cafe.

From Hapjeong Station:

A little more complicated... (Blue Line on Map) Take exit 3 take the 4th street on your right (Main Street) Walk on the left side of it (you will have to cross over somewhere) and walk up the street until you see a park (just keep walking you will come to another main road just keep following the road it will go left and up toward the park). Just befor the park there is an alley/small road. Walk up there and you will see Charlie Brown Cafe :)

If you are a little more confident (Purple Line on Map) Take the 3rd street to your right and just keep walking until you see the park area then turn right and you will see it a little bit down the street.

From Sangsu Station

Exit 1 walk straight up the main road until you see the park. Take the alley/road before the park on the left and walk up the hill. You are there! :)

Hongdae Park is quite famous with foreigners and the like. Just look for some trees and a large open space with some seats. It is close to a lot of stalls selling nic nacks or small jewelry and soft toys / toys.

More Charlie Brown Cafe Pictures and Hello Kitty Cafe Hongdae. If You want more information about Hello Kitty and directions visit my earlier post here:

http://rawrkorea.blogspot.com/2011/08/hello-kitty-cafe-directions-cats-living.html

Thanks Nature Cafe Hongdae Seoul South Korea

Our next cafe is a little interesting to say the least! If you are missing all those sheep from your home country or you are just interested to see what a sheep looks like, sounds like and feels like but don't want to visit the country or go rural you can see one in the heart of the city!

Thanks Nature Cafe boast 2 sheep at any one time that live just outside the cafe in a fenced area. You can drink coffee at tables surrounding the fenced area and pat and feed the animals.

The cafe is downstairs so you can easily miss it if you are not careful!

Here are the directions from Hongdae Station.

Exit 9 walk straight past the road immediately to your left. Keep walking to the next main road. Take a left. Walk almost to the top of the street. Its about 15 - 20 meters before the end of the street. Look to your left for this cafe and this sign....

Go down stairs and enjoy :)

You thought those were the real sheep?..... well here it is the genuine article :)

Book Sae Tong Comic Book Store Hongdae Seoul South Korea

Another interesting place to visit is the comic book store in Hongdae. Located close to the subway this store has literally thousands? tens of thousands? hundreds of thousands?! of comic books. Mostly in Korean but I do believe there are small sections for Japanese and English as well. So if you are learning Korean and are bored of text books this might be the place for you to find new motivation for reading. And at great prices (varying depending on which comic series) at around 3,000 - 5,000 + won its cheap as well!

Here are the directions:

Hongdae Station exit 9 or 8.

Exit 9 take your immediate left and the next left (you will see Burger King on your right). Keep walking almost to the end of the street. You will see it on your left.

Exit 8 take your immediate right then take the next right walk about 20 meters down the street and you have arrived! :)

And last off I went to Times Square near Yeongdeungpo Station Line 1 (I think I will do a video walk through of this complex because its huge and interesting) and went to my first 3D movie in the worlds biggest cinema! So I took a couple of pictures but it doesn't really show the scale of the place.

Well that's all for this week. Next week I have made a plan to visit Songdo City and Hello Kitty Planet so stay tuned for more Kitty :) Until then have a fantastic week!!! :)

Anthony Rapp Without You / Pasha Restaurant / Park Hyatt Seoul Cornerstone Restaurant

So this week there was a lot of eating done and a musical seen :)

Without You has a definite American flavor to it. Its about life and death and love and deals with aids and cancer and loosing people close to you.

The narrative starts out at a quick pace and is unrelenting for the rest of the show. There are few pauses in the dialogue and that suits a fast paced American audience. Perhaps a little difficult to keep up for a non English speaking audience but there were subtitles on screen that I was even tempted to look at :)

The lighting was a little strange I thought in regard to the almost neon bands of light behind and in front of the supporting band and perhaps it even keeps the audience separate a little bit from the performers.

So generally this type of performance is not something that I would have usually gone to but it was quite the experience and if you are a foreigner living in Korea I would recommend having a look.

You may also recognize this guy from a cult classic film:

Dazed and Confused.

So in the weekend we were looking for a special cafe or place to eat in Gungnam but there were very long loines to get in to many of these places. However I spied a Turkish Restaurant sign and thought it would be worth a go. If you exit gungnam station exit 9 walk straight out down the street take the next right and walk about 50 meters passing a cafe on the way look right and up you will see a sign for Pasha Turkish Kebab and Food House.

http://www.pashakebab.com/

Its on the 4th floor and is extremely Turkish and tasty and very authentic.

At the time there were a few foreigners there eating lunch. I don't quite understand why some restaurants are famous and others are not (probably just because of Naver blogging... Naver is like Google by the way...well kind of) but this is a restaurant you just have to experience if you are missing all those non-spicy tastes. Maybe a bit of an adventure for the average Korean taste bud because of the smoky flavors of lamb and chicken and sour dipping sauces but I do think Koreans are trying new things and are adventurous enough now to eat something that is not primarily spicy.

Park Hyatt Hotel Seoul - Cornerstone

http://seoul.park.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/entertainment/index.jsp

Straight out of exit 1 Samgseong Station.

Now this is one of those "exclusive" restaurants that has a menu averaging 50,000+ won a main. I had the Lamb Rack rare that was quite nice with roast vegetables. I don't know but there is just something different about the way meat is prepared here. I always feel like it is lacking in some taste almost like it has too much water content or its just out of the freezer. So in my opinion the best place I have eaten is still the Seoul Marina (which you can see here in my earlier post http://rawrkorea.blogspot.com/2011/10/sailing-on-han-river-road-fc-mma.html).

Well that's all for this week. Perhaps next week I will have some more from Hongdae (I really have to post that sometime...) or something completely different. :) So until then have a fantastic week!!! :)