When most people think of beer in Korea three labels come to mind: Hite, OB and Cass. The reason being is that government regulations on starting a brewery are too restrictive with the end result being that there are only two beer companies, Hite and Oriental Brewery. Brewpubs and beer importers are helping beer lovers satisfy their cravings, but that isn’t enough for everyone. Th ...

The first beer I drank was a 40 oz of Old English purchased by a friend’s older brother from a small deli in Jamaica, Queens. My two friends and I received the large bottles on a street corner near my house, wrapped in brown paper packaging reeking of mystery and rebellion. The anticipation while waiting for the delivery drove us mad, and we greedily darted off into the night with our secret ...

Dress. Even though you may never wear it again, sporting the traditional Bavarian gear will get you in the mood and looking like Hansel and Gretel before a “weizenbier” touches your lips. For the ladies, frilly dresses with plenty of cleavage called “dirndls” are sure to fulfill any guys’ wildest fantasy, while men don leather pants and suspenders in a cutesy, but m ...

Everyone loves a root beer float. That is a fact. We might not indulge in them too often now, but I remember the Friday nights as a kid: rented movies, delivery pizza, and the hope of a root beer float to finish off the night. It was a special treat because my parents didn't keep much soda in the house. Some people might be more familiar with the black cow or the Coke float, but my heart will alwa ...

My friend took his five-year-old son to the market last Saturday morning. As soon as the boy got there, he knew exactly what he wanted: a shrimp. But not for eating; that would be too savage. He wanted it for a pet.   After hearing about the pet shrimp, the thought of cooking the little crustaceans was almost painful to me. What would the boy think if he found out what I do with shrimp? That ...

For an almost authentic alpine experience (sans the Alps), visit Chef Meili.  As I stepped into the restaurant, I felt transported to one of the chalet restaurants ubiquitous in the Bavarian Alps. The smell, the simple homey styling, the plain square tables, the German spoken by the Chef and customers, the cowbell and the pictures of people in Lederhosen and Dirndls; all took me back to Bava ...

Haeundae Beach in Busan is where all the glitz is. It’s where you can pay hundreds of dollars a night to sleep at the Westin Chosun, water ski for equally exorbitant sums and eat overpriced Indian food. But down at the other end of the beach, down a little cracked-asphalt avenue that winds along the rocky shore, there’s a dirty side. Oh yes. Down there you can spy a booty cheek, eat f ...

Lijiang, in southwestern China, is a tourist hell – that is, it is wholly overrun with Chinese tourists. The town itself would be charming if the trappings of tourism had not penetrated every inch of it. It is one of the few places I visited in China that looks like old China – the streets are all cobblestone, the houses built of slate with tiled roofs. But it is impossible to walk a ...

Life has a way of steering us in one direction or another. In the latest melodramatic play from Probationary Theatre Company, this universal theme is explored. The play, “Dusk Rings a Bell,” by Stephen Belber, tells the story of two people fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to encounter each other 25 years after a time in which they were both at their very best and the challenges of dis ...

  Secret Reunion (의형제) Havoc runs amok on Seoul’s streets and chaos rears its ugly head once again among ordinary, unexpected Seoulites as North Korean secret agent Song Ji-won (Kang Dong-won) engages battle in a shooting rampage with National Intelligence Service agent Lee Han-gyoo (Song Kang-ho).