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whatever
Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Location: Korea: More fun than jail.
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 Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 10:10 am Post subject: Itaewon/Roppongi |
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| For those who know, what is the difference between Itaewon and Tokyo's Roppongi district? |
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Css
Joined: 27 Sep 2004
Location: South of the river
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| Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 10:32 am Post subject: |
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Ones in korea and the other is in japan..
Sorry  |
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braunshade
Joined: 19 Apr 2006
Location: Somewhere better!
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| Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 10:34 am Post subject: |
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| Believe it or not, Roppongi is MUCH classier and scenic especially with Roppongi Hills............Itaewon is not pretty at all. |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 11:31 am Post subject: |
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| One is a national (indeed, now international) byword for "sleaze" and one isn't? |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 11:36 am Post subject: Re: Itaewon/Roppongi |
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| whatever wrote: |
| For those who know, what is the difference between Itaewon and Tokyo's Roppongi district? |
For one.. the US army base is pretty much right in Itaewon.
In Rappongi.. there are US military guys that go there.. but nowhere near to the degree as Itaewon. They are still there though.
The part I liked about Roppingi is that so many Filipinas and Brazilians and South Americans hangout there regularly.
Gas Panic is a great bar to go to to as well.. wish they had an equivalent here. Also a Wendy's Restaurant in Rappongi. Downsides are the many many many many many Nigerians/Africans who act like touts to drum up business for bars.. you can't walk in any street in that area for longer than 2 minutes without the nearest one attaching himself to you.. you either gotta go through the 'we're cool routine' 5 times on the way to the next bar.. or get pissed off - and that isn't good.
Either place, you can drink all night until the early morning hours. Felt pretty much the same.. the Japanese didn't seem all that different than the Koreans to me anyways.. but the sheer large amounts of Brazilians and Filipinas really made up for that in Rappongi at night.
One more thing.. beer starts at around 8000 won and goes up. If you hit Rappongi on Thursday night or before 9 or 10pm (something like that).. then its like 4000 won a beer instead. I probably spent US$250-300 in beer over a few nights back to back. Thats hard to do in Korea with beer.
Oh, and Rappongi has a mall. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 5:05 pm Post subject: |
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| It also sounds like Roppongi attracts more local women interested in humping foreign men. Isn't that sort of the point of these places? |
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rothkowitz
Joined: 27 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Roppongi girls wear a lot of leopard print. |
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chronicpride
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Roppongi feels like it was planned. Itaewon feels like it was an accident. Roppongi just has a better and more respectable feel to it. Much more cleaner. Itaewon feels much more half-assed and thrown together. |
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whatever
Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Location: Korea: More fun than jail.
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| Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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| I suppose what I'm wondering is...With a trip to Seoul, is going to Itaewon even worth the trouble? I've read a lot of negative things, but it seems many posters to go there to socialize. I live in Tokyo, and there seems to be a parallel to Roppongi in that it is very stigmatized in a negative way. Many people avoid it altogether. I'm rather indifferent to Roppongi, myself. It is not, as some people have said about Itaewon, a place to go for particularly good or diverse eateries. It also happens to be expensive, unless you want to go for all-you-can-drink venues. |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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| whatever wrote: |
| I suppose what I'm wondering is...With a trip to Seoul, is going to Itaewon even worth the trouble? I've read a lot of negative things, but it seems many posters to go there to socialize. I live in Tokyo, and there seems to be a parallel to Roppongi in that it is very stigmatized in a negative way. Many people avoid it altogether. I'm rather indifferent to Roppongi, myself. It is not, as some people have said about Itaewon, a place to go for particularly good or diverse eateries. It also happens to be expensive, unless you want to go for all-you-can-drink venues. |
Ah, you're in Tokyo.
Ahh.. yeah, Itaewon is worth going to. It does have the negative stigma to it. It has its plusses and minuses. Plusses include international restaurants and quite a few bars with barstools - and generally quite friendly.. you'll end up in a conversation quite quickly.
Some people say they try to avoid Itaewon.. it has its edges - next to US Army Base.. really strange mix of people.. attracts some hardcore expat drinkers.. etc. But you can also have quite a bit of fun there as well.
Regarding Rappongi and expensive.. Itaewon is the opposite. Lots of dive places and its not expensive at all.
Negatives to Itaewon are probably the same as Rappongi. Quite a few Koreans say they've never been to Itaewon, and 'isn't it dangerous?' The Koreans you do meet in Itaewon.. generally they would be 30+ y.o. females who are past their prime for Korean men.. plus you'd have your Korean guys as well - but not so many around generally. Quite a few pool tables and darts and such in the bars in Itaewon. Anyways, its more a foreigner hangout area than anything.
Itaewon also has a 'hooker hill'.. prostitutes that'll fleece you for drinks and do whatever you want with them for a price - not that reasonable of a price either. The next hill over is 'homo hill'.. all the gay bars and such. |
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marcus
Joined: 12 Sep 2005
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| Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 4:12 am Post subject: |
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| The two aren't even remotely similar except for the fact that they both have a McDonalds. |
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whitebeagle
Joined: 09 Feb 2003
Location: UK
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| Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 3:41 pm Post subject: |
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been to both places, they have a VERY similar atmosphere.
Roppongi- more multicultural, hookers of every race on every corner. Lots of Russians and Brazilians, massage parlours and love hotels. There are quite a few Korean massage places. Not much to do in the daytime. I remember the beatles bar, with the very average 40000w spaghetti and the Japanese beatles who were so good they even got invited to play in Liverpool.
Itaewon- More GI's, English teachers, and Korean hookers. Not as lively, but as least has some ok shopping during the daytime. Not as seedy as Ropongi, but you could quite easily interchange the crowd and no-one would even notice. |
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