By Chris Erskine, Los Angeles TimesVANCOUVER, Canada ― For a decade or more, the Vancouver area has enjoyed a reputation as the Asian food capital of North America. Near the airport south of town, locals and visitors flock to Alexandra Road in Richmond, a three-block stretch packed with modest noodle houses and grand banquet rooms.It’s called “Food Street,” and seemingly every type of Asian cuisine is on parade here ― Cantonese, Japanese, Thai, Korean, plus a melding of all of the above.For a fo

TravelAug. 16, 2013

LOS ANGELES ― “The colors need to be bright, like saturated neon,” Charles Phoenix says, describing his Seven-Layer Soda Pop Rocks Cake. “You can’t have too much food coloring. Think Day-Glo!”Phoenix is visualizing the elements of an ideal summer party. His ideal summer party. “A pool would be nice, because pool parties are classic summer. And there would be those motorized pool toys with remote controls for the gearheads, so they can fight in the water.” A little something for everyone.“But I t

FoodAug. 16, 2013

I love having a constant supply of sweet and tender Korean zucchinis (aehobak) from my garden this time of the year. This gochujang jjigae (stew) is one of my favorite ways to eat them. If you like rich and pungent Korean stews, such as kimchi jjigae and doenjang jjigae, this stew is for you. Gochujang adds lots of spicy, robust flavors to this simple stew which is made with a few ordinary ingredients such as zucchini and potato. Tofu, mushrooms, onions, and radishes would all be great additions

FoodAug. 16, 2013

The Plaza ‘Beer & Fun Festival’End your summer vacation with friends, family or colleagues at the Plaza’s “Beer and Fun Festival” on Aug. 21 and 22 featuring unlimited beer and a semi-buffet. Retro music will be played in the background and there will also be a lottery event. Customers will receive a glass of Kirin Frozen Nama beer with unlimited free refills. The buffet includes 17 of the chef’s special dishes including salads, pasta, smoked salmon and chicken BBQ among others. Kirin Frozen Nam

FoodAug. 16, 2013

Big Bang member Seungri released an R-rated video teaser on YG Entertainment’s official blog for the title track for his upcoming solo album “Let’s Talk about Love” on Friday. Viewers need to go through adult confirmation in order to watch the 28-second teaser, which overall has a dreamy ambience much different from the concept of his first solo album released in 2011. The teaser, which doesn’t feature Seungri himself, shows provocative slow-motion scenes of models and artistic close-up shots of

Aug. 16, 2013

Former South Korean basketball player Seo Jang-hoon on Thursday talked about a series of rumors -- namely one concerning his ex-wife Oh Jeong-yeon -- that had followed him around during his storied career.Appearing on MBC talk show “Golden Fishery: Knee Guru,” the 39-year-old former center said that most of the rumors surrounding Oh were not true, adding that the former KBS announcer is “an easygoing and good person.”“People had been telling stories ever since we got married. I thought they woul

PeopleAug. 16, 2013

This is the first in an eight-part series that examines the social role of design beyond its aesthetic aspect. The weekly series is a precursor to Herald Design Week 2013, Oct. 7-11, which will be organized under the theme of “Re-imagine the World.” ― Ed.Korea is today one of the leading industrial nations with cutting-edge technologies and dynamic design. However, it has not been long that design emerged as a major factor in the manufacturing and lifestyle of Koreans. Considering the country ha

Arts & DesignAug. 15, 2013

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated Korea on 68 years of independence in a video message on Thursday. “On behalf of President Obama and the American people, it’s my great pleasure to congratulate the Korean people as you celebrate the anniversary of your independence this Aug. 15,” Kerry said in video remarks disclosed through the U.S. Embassy in Korea on Wednesday. “The story of the Republic of Korea is an inspiration to people everywhere, including here in the United States.”“In t

PeopleAug. 15, 2013

A bell was unveiled in a Los Angeles hospital on Wednesday as a monument to long-standing ties between the hospital and its sister facility in South Korea. Named “the Friendship and Peace Bell,” it rang Wednesday in the dedication ceremony. It did not ring only to mark the unveiling but also because when the dedication took place it was Thursday in South Korea. That is Korean Independence Day. The bell dedication commemorates the 128-year relationship between Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angel

PeopleAug. 15, 2013

MONACO (AFP) ― Andrea Casiraghi, eldest son of Princess Caroline of Monaco, is to marry his Colombian girlfriend on Aug. 31, the royal palace announced Wednesday.Casiraghi, 29, already has a child with the wealthy heiress and socialite Tatiana Santo Domingo, who gave birth to their son Sacha in London in March.New York-born and raised in Switzerland and France, Santo Domingo, 29, is the grand-daughter of Julio Mario Santo Domingo, a Colombian tycoon who died in 2011 and was one of the richest me

PeopleAug. 15, 2013

Celebrated Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh has been selected as the winner of Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award.The annual prize from BIFF is given to an Asian filmmaker “who has significantly contributed to the development of Asian cinema and culture.” Past winners include Iran’s Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Taiwan’s Hou Hsiao-hsien and Hong Kong’s Andy Lau. The 49-year-old filmmaker’s works have been largely focused on the aftermath of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime

FilmAug. 15, 2013

Violinist Leonidas Kavakos will join the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra led by Chung Myung-whun on Aug. 29 and Aug. 30 at Seoul Arts Center, bringing his highly acclaimed interpretation of Mendelssohn to Korean classical music lovers.This is the second time Kavakos is appearing with the SPO; he performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with the orchestra in 2007.Kavakos, lauded as the star of the new generation of virtuosos, will be performing Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 on both even

PerformanceAug. 15, 2013

PYRAMID LAKE, Nevada (AP) ― Ancient rock etchings along a dried-up lake bed in Nevada have been confirmed to be the oldest recorded petroglyphs in North America, dating back at least 10,000 years.The petroglyphs found on limestone boulders near Pyramid Lake in northern Nevada’s high desert are similar in design to etchings found at a lake in Oregon that are believed to be at least 7,600 years old. Unlike later drawings that sometimes depict a spear or antelope, the carvings are abstract with tig

CultureAug. 15, 2013

BUCHEON, Gyeonggi Province ― What is it like to see one’s graphic novel being turned into a movie nearly 30 years after it was published?According to French comic book creators Jean-Marc Rochette and Benjamin Legrand, whose 1984 work “Le Transperceneige” (Snowpiercer) was recently released as a film, it is “very much like a miracle.”  Following the enormous box office success of the star-studded “Snowpiercer,” the story’s original authors visited Korea to watch the movie for the first time at th

BooksAug. 15, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) ― The day before Oprah Winfrey began shooting “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” she was at the White House, talking to the president. Her access to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (this particular trip was for a 2012 campaign interview) is considerably greater than her character’s in the film. She plays Gloria Gaines, the wife of a long-serving White House butler (Forest Whitaker), whose service spans seven presidents and decades of civil rights sea changes. “They said, ‘Do you want to talk to s

FilmAug. 15, 2013