Korean Job Discussion Forums

the4th2001 · Joined: 12 May 2009 Location: Tokyo

I've been in Seoul for three weeks come today. During those three weeks, I have bounced from place to place in hopes of finding something interesting to do . . . no love.

Korea (Seoul) is suppose to be one of the top design hubs in the world, particularly in regards to fashion. However, all I seem to find are cheesy Lotte Department stores and The Galleria branches. I've hit up the Shinsa/Mok Dong/Kangnam areas, but they leave a little to be desired as well.

My Korean friends have showed me around, but we only end going to the theater or some downscale Korean restaurant. Can anyone help me out here? Does anyone know of good:

restaurants
food
(wine) bars
clothing boutiques (men's or ladies)
gyms (real weight rooms . . . not golf, racquetball, etc facilities)

*With the exception of gyms, money/price isn't an issue. I believe in quality over quantity and whatnot.*

More than that though, what do you folks do when you're not working?

roadwork · Joined: 24 Nov 2008 Location: Goin' up the country

Yeah, there's really nothing to do in Seoul. You should go down to Daegu where all the action is.

the4th2001 · Joined: 12 May 2009 Location: Tokyo

By action, what do you mean?

roadwork · Joined: 24 Nov 2008 Location: Goin' up the country

esetters21 · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Location: Seoul

nicam · Joined: 14 Jun 2008

Try www.chowhound.com for restaurants. Just go to the Asia board and do a search for Seoul. There have been a lot of great posts recently.

the4th2001 · Joined: 12 May 2009 Location: Tokyo

esetters21:

[quote="esetters21"]Wow, only three weeks and you have Korean friends. You are ahead of the curve already.[/quote]

I cheated though. They're all friends I made at uni in Japan.

[quote="esetters21"]As far as being a fashion hub, who told you that, Koreans?[/quote]

I used to work in the apparel/fashion industry and that's what I frequently heard. True or not, I haven't a clue . . . but I'm beginning to think it was a dirty lie. Hah.

Nicam:

Thanks for the the link.

Ukon · Joined: 29 Jan 2008

If you can't have fun in Seoul, I think you need to be more adventurous and get new friends....Everyone I meet here is having a blast....Been here 8 months and every week it's an adventure.

Make alot of friends, try out all the different types of foods, visit all the clubs, travel around the country, get some hobbies(salsa dancing is popular here). Also don't let only one group of friends lead you around...some guys are only interested in getting drunk....some expats only visit expat bars in Itaewon or hit Tinpan every night....Don't be that expat.

Apparel shopping is great once you get the hang of it...I thought it sucked for the first month, but after that it got better....Go to Dongdaemun a couple of times untill you get a feel for the place.

EDIT:

Make some expat friends who learned korean....those dudes tend be really interested in the culture and know of good places to go. I never met a bad guy who actually learned korean....

Mochi · Joined: 20 Oct 2008

If you're into design and cool places to hang, don't miss OI in Hongdae. Little bit hard to find, but there's noplace else like it. Good place for a date, too.

esetters21 · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Location: Seoul

Mochi · Joined: 20 Oct 2008

If you're into design and cool places to hang, don't miss OI in Hongdae. Little bit hard to find, but there's noplace else like it. Good place for a date, too.

BizzeeB123 · Joined: 07 May 2009

Yeah, I've been here coming on three months and your questions are well-founded. As for fashion, it's a big head-scratcher - either you are buying goods that will literally fall apart after first wash, or your can get designer imports at a 100% markup from what you'd pay back home. I think the idea with shopping is to enjoy the process more than the product - I mean, yes, everything in Migliore is a piece of ___, but it is kind of cool to see a mall that's open until 5AM (maybe? I'm trying here!) Ditto Dongdaemun - I simply do not understand how foreigners maintain that there is something worth buying there - it's a giant flea market with the same shoddy goods on an endless tape loop...

as for food, there's a pretty nice street in Sinsa, the orange line, Sinsa stop, exit 8, walk straight about 10 minutes, make a left, it's easy to see. Good for classy Western restaurants that 'almost' get it right (that's the best you are going to do here). but that's one street - in the entire city...

nightlife, if you aren't under 25 and don't enjoy soju and what is literally the worst domestic beer offering in the world, is a tough one. One look at Groove magazine can leave you somewhat dazed - I mean, isn't this the second-largest metropolitan area in the world? How can a month pass - a month! - without a single foreign act of any significance in any genre of music passing through? It's bizarre, really. You'd think on the way back from Tokyo, it'd at least be worth it for an act to stop over for a day - I mean, even the Seoul 'World DJ Festival' had a line up comprised largely of locals and unknowns (I booked DJs for a few years in Barcelona, so I feel pretty confident in saying that).

I think you just have to enjoy this place for what it is - safe, relatively clean (except the air), and an easy place to make money. Hey, Korean food isn't bad, either. From what I've seen, the foreigners who do enjoy it most here either come from pretty unexciting cities in the first place, or they've never lived anywhere else. I'll let all the Seoul lifers have a field day with this post, but if you are asking this question already, you will most likely find that this really isn't a world class city by ANY definition of the term - sorry if anyone advertised it as such...

BizzeeB123 · Joined: 07 May 2009

Yeah, I've been here coming on three months and your questions are well-founded. As for fashion, it's a big head-scratcher - either you are buying goods that will literally fall apart after first wash, or your can get designer imports at a 100% markup from what you'd pay back home. I think the idea with shopping is to enjoy the process more than the product - I mean, yes, everything in Migliore is a piece of ___, but it is kind of cool to see a mall that's open until 5AM (maybe? I'm trying here!) Ditto Dongdaemun - I simply do not understand how foreigners maintain that there is something worth buying there - it's a giant flea market with the same shoddy goods on an endless tape loop...

as for food, there's a pretty nice street in Sinsa, the orange line, Sinsa stop, exit 8, walk straight about 10 minutes, make a left, it's easy to see. Good for classy Western restaurants that 'almost' get it right (that's the best you are going to do here). but that's one street - in the entire city...

nightlife, if you aren't under 25 and don't enjoy soju and what is literally the worst domestic beer offering in the world, is a tough one. One look at Groove magazine can leave you somewhat dazed - I mean, isn't this the second-largest metropolitan area in the world? How can a month pass - a month! - without a single foreign act of any significance in any genre of music passing through? It's bizarre, really. You'd think on the way back from Tokyo, it'd at least be worth it for an act to stop over for a day - I mean, even the Seoul 'World DJ Festival' had a line up comprised largely of locals and unknowns (I booked DJs for a few years in Barcelona, so I feel pretty confident in saying that).

I think you just have to enjoy this place for what it is - safe, relatively clean (except the air), and an easy place to make money. Hey, Korean food isn't bad, either. From what I've seen, the foreigners who do enjoy it most here either come from pretty unexciting cities in the first place, or they've never lived anywhere else. I'll let all the Seoul lifers have a field day with this post, but if you are asking this question already, you will most likely find that this really isn't a world class city by ANY definition of the term - sorry if anyone advertised it as such...

jkelly80 · Joined: 13 Jun 2007 Location: you boys like mexico?

Samcheong is a good area to explore. If you get off at Anguk station (I don't know which number, anyone on the north side of the street will suffice) and head north up the street next to GyeongBok Palace (to the east) you'll hit a few galleries and really hoity toity restaurants. Bukchon, a traditional Korean hanok village (all newly built unfortunamente) is up the hill to the east of that Samcheong street. Also, you'll need a car, but Samcheong Gak is a really posh teahouse halfway up Bugak Mountain near that same general area b/w Gyeongbok and Changdeok Palace.

Bukchon:

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=561382

Samcheonggak

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=268177

Git r done.

BizzeeB123 · Joined: 07 May 2009

Yeah, I've been here coming on three months and your questions are well-founded. As for fashion, it's a big head-scratcher - either you are buying goods that will literally fall apart after first wash, or your can get designer imports at a 100% markup from what you'd pay back home. I think the idea with shopping is to enjoy the process more than the product - I mean, yes, everything in Migliore is a piece of ___, but it is kind of cool to see a mall that's open until 5AM (maybe? I'm trying here!) Ditto Dongdaemun - I simply do not understand how foreigners maintain that there is something worth buying there - it's a giant flea market with the same shoddy goods on an endless tape loop...

as for food, there's a pretty nice street in Sinsa, the orange line, Sinsa stop, exit 8, walk straight about 10 minutes, make a left, it's easy to see. Good for classy Western restaurants that 'almost' get it right (that's the best you are going to do here). but that's one street - in the entire city...

nightlife, if you aren't under 25 and don't enjoy soju and what is literally the worst domestic beer offering in the world, is a tough one. One look at Groove magazine can leave you somewhat dazed - I mean, isn't this the second-largest metropolitan area in the world? How can a month pass - a month! - without a single foreign act of any significance in any genre of music passing through? It's bizarre, really. You'd think on the way back from Tokyo, it'd at least be worth it for an act to stop over for a day - I mean, even the Seoul 'World DJ Festival' had a line up comprised largely of locals and unknowns (I booked DJs for a few years in Barcelona, so I feel pretty confident in saying that).

I think you just have to enjoy this place for what it is - safe, relatively clean (except the air), and an easy place to make money. Hey, Korean food isn't bad, either. From what I've seen, the foreigners who do enjoy it most here either come from pretty unexciting cities in the first place, or they've never lived anywhere else. I'll let all the Seoul lifers have a field day with this post, but if you are asking this question already, you will most likely find that this really isn't a world class city by ANY definition of the term - sorry if anyone advertised it as such...