December's things to do

Remember the scene in the romantic comedy About Time, when a girl and a boy first encounter each other in complete darkness. A similar total-darkness experience is available in Seoul, unfortunately, its concept is not about finding your one true love. Rather, Dialogue in the Dark (located in Bukchon) is an awareness raising exhibition. It was created in 1988 by Andreas Heinecke as a result of a life-long search for answers to the question, “On what ground do we judge people and feel inferior or superior?” Interestingly, it was an acquaintance who had lost his eyesight in a car accident that helped Heinecke realize not only the answers to his question but also his fascination of the world of blind people. In order to confront this prejudice about blindness, Dialogue in the Dark was started, in a small warehouse. Now, this exhibition has over 130 locations in 20 different countries with over 9 million visitors. Once inside, you will be stripped of all possible lighting devices (phones, watches, etc.) and will be ‘blind’ for 100 minutes. You will listen to the directions of the ‘road master’ and utilize a white cane to navigate rooms of different themes; leaves, forest, using wind to rotate a sailboat in the right direction, matching smell and touch with places and objects, etc. Dialogue in the Dark isn’t just about being blind; it’s an experience that will indulge yourself in all your other senses. For safety issues, only visitors between the age of 9 to 70 are allowed, with...

The 100 Food Truck is well known for having started the rooftop trend across Haebangchon. Although it still retains the title, the charming neighborhood spot has since moved to a new location, just two buildings down from the former venue. The new 100 Food Truck is not just larger in scale; it features a fresh rooftop offering a spectacular view of HBC's intertwining narrow alleyways and old houses day and night. With a picturesque, almost surreal-looking landscape, it's possibly one of the best you can find in the entire city. While the rooftop may easily lead you to think the look is all that this place is about, the food cooked up at the kitchen's surprisingly good. The 100 Burger made with 180g of hanwoo beef has a juicy and tender patty which makes it easily one of the best burgers in Seoul. There are also 7 types of interesting salads including the roasted lemon and the arugula cream cheese which are quite exciting. The only thing you might want to stay away from here is (unfortunately) the truffle oil fries which comes with the price tag of 10,900 won; the serving is way too small, and we'd say you're not missing out on anything as long as you know where McDonald's is located. Nevertheless, Their burgers are well worth the wons and now with the onset of summer, enjoying it on the rooftop will be just so, so satisfying.

Salmon sashimi lovers, here’s one for you. Mibbeudong is famed for its tomato salmon noodles – a refreshing, cold tomato broth packed with vegetables and long strands of salmon sashimi cut lengthways to resemble noodles. If you’re a little less excited over this, another popular item on the menu here is the Mibbeudong itself, a rice moat topped with a tower of mixed sashimi, uni and ikura.