Author Archives: easykorean

About easykorean

Designers are a Semiconductor Robotics Instructor and a Fine Arts/Graphic Designer -'Easy to Learn Korean' newspaper series since 2009 (published in the Korea Times Englisher Newspaper Tues-Fri each week) -Monthly contributing writers to the Gangnam Newspaper

Seoul named as best solo-travel destination.

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For 2025, TripAdvisor has rated Seoul as the World’s Top Solo-Travel Destination. The score is based on “a high volume of above-and-beyond reviews and opinions from the Tripadvisor community over a 12-month period. Out of 8 million listings, fewer than 1% achieve this milestone.”

Seoul is clean, safe, has accessible public transportation (subway, bus), and has many tourist-friendly destinations to see.

We have written quite a few articles on Seoul that you can find here. As the Ambassador Team leader for Gangnam District’s Public Relations team in 2011, I wrote a series of 25+ posts in Gangnam News about destinations in Seoul’s Gangnam District. And an interview in Korea Herald about Gangnam, another here.

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Does one size fit all?

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The topic of free size clothing, where “one size fits all”, came up in a recent Korea Herald article. The discussion was about the Korean fashion industry squeezing all female customers into one size group in order to reduce costs and logistics in production.

A Korean “free-size” is intended to cover the Korean S-M-L range, though it more closely equates to a U.S. women’s size Small.

프리사이즈 – peuri-saije

We wrote several vocabulary-filled articles on fashion and clothing.

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Customers turn to all-you-can eat/drink to save money.

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As food and drink prices soar, Koreans are cutting back on alcoholic drinks at restaurants. Drinking establishment sales declined 1.7% in Q4 2024, according to the Chosun Daily According to the same article, some restaurants are turning to all-you/can eat/drink options in order to drive business.

Nomihodai (飲み放題) has been a popular option for the all-you-can-drink add-on at Japanese bars, restaurants, and karaoke shops for many years. This allows patrons to consume an unlimited number of drinks, from a special menu, for a fixed priced, and for a fixed amount of time. It’s a cost effective way for consumers to enjoy an evening out.

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Foreigners in Seoul account for 5% of total population.

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2.65 million foreigners now live in Seoul, about 5% of the total population of Korea. According to data public by the Ministry of Justice, This includes both long-term residence and short-term living foreigners. Half of those are foreigners in their 20s and 30s.

The percent generally decreases with age, with those over 60 representing 12.9% of all foreigners. The total number of international students has also increased steadily.

Our two-part series on skilled foreigner workers:

Part one and Part two.

And our three-part series on studying a foreign language abroad:

Part one and Part two and Part three.

Lastly, our two-part series on studying Korean:

Part one and Part two.

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San Francisco Bay Area food – BaekJeong BBQ

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BaekJeong translates to “butcher” in Korean and is a popular US west Coast Korean BBQ chain focused on high-quality meats. Founded by Korean TV host Kang Ho-Dong (강호동) in LA in 2012, the now 7 location chain expanded to the Bay Area in 2023. Been meaning to get there as the weekend wait can be hours, especially during the first year there.

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The slow-aging diet in Korea.

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Slow-aging skin treatments have trended with young generations in Korea for years. More recently, the concept of a slow-aging diet has also become a theme. The diet includes hacks and tweaks to the modern Korean diet. Korean 7-11 convenience stores offer a slow-aging lunchbox, a collaboration with Professor Jeong, a leading Korean authority on the topic. He’s also a leading social influencer on the topic.

According to the Korea Times, the diet “involves various factors, from consuming appropriate portions of each meal and avoiding simple sugars, refined carbohydrates and red meat.”

We have a couple vocabulary-filled posts on diets here and here.

슬로우에이징 (seullo-eijing) slow-aging

저속 노화 (jeosok nohwa) – slow-aging

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San Francisco Bay Area – Korean food.

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There are wonderful Korean restaurants for those in the San Francisco Bay Area. The challenge is finding fresh and testy side dishes – 반찬 (banchan).

Hansang Tofu in Milpitas, CA USA is one of those places. Here, the taste is authentic. Prices, however, are much higher – $20+tip for a one-person serving.

Side dishes – 반찬
Beef tofu stew – 소고기 순두부
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