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...

While restaurants housed in an impressive hanok building are easily found in Seoul, one with a beautiful garden is indeed a rarity. Seated on a hill of Buam-dong, Seokparang offers an impressive scenery letting the visitors feel as if they're far out of the city. Its name comes from Seokpajeong, the once vacation home of Heungseon Daewongun, who was the regent to King Gojong during Joseon Dynasty. With an important part of the estate relocated to its compound, Seokparang showcases authentic Korean royal cuisine including ginseng-steamed bossam (pork), neobiani (grilled beef), jeonyuhwa (seasonal flower pancakes), songitang (pine mushroom stew), eomandu (fish dumplings) and and jeonbok galbijim (steamed abalone and ribs). In fact, the recipes of these exact dishes have been passed down through palace kitchens over the years. Its Korean table d'hôte, which has catered to a number of local and international dignitaries, also includes desserts such as fried ginseng and jujubes which were only served in the dynastic courts. With a quaint and luscious garden complete with all kinds of greenery including the 150-year-old persimmon offering a gorgeous stroll, May especially is a great time to visit Seokparang, one of the city's most historic dining spaces.

Whether skilled in cooking or not, most agree that a great dish starts from great ingredients. Jungang Haejang, located near Samseong Station, is a good example: with its own 36-year-old butcher in Majang-dong, an area in north east Seoul famous for its meat market alley, this restaurant always has fresh, quality meat that is transformed into a bowl of comfort on site. Other ingredients that go into its dishes, including pepper flakes and rice, are all domestically sourced, as well. The fact that there is always a long line during lunch time is probably due to such factor. As it opened in early 2016, the space inside the restaurant looks quite clean. The most popular dish here is haejangguk (ox bone broth "hangover soup") which has a nice portion of blood curd and beef (ruminant) stomach which resembles a laced blanket. But what I want to recommend the most is the the spicy beef intestines and tripe soup (12,000 won) which has a generous amount of quality beef intestines. The Korean mustard sauce mixed with other condiments provided such as pepper oil and pickled peppers makes for a nice dip with a real kick. While the dish is often understood in Korea as "hangover soup," it certainly goes well with soju as the broth is clean and light.