Fashionable women in Korea, like their peers elsewhere, are in love with leggings -- and they don’t just wear them to the gym. Leggings’ ascent to casual wear, as described by the dictionary-defined term athleisure, has been a global phenomenon. Seoul, never too far behind a global fad, is fast catching up. Yet, in this country, where revealing, skin-tight and outlandish clothes were once almos...

At Altdif, a boutique teahouse in Seoul’s Seogyo-dong, tea masters don’t just sell a cuppa. They sell a lifestyle. The five-tea course is priced at 30,000 won and the three-tea one is 18,000 won. Altdif serves a la carte drinks to walk-in customers as well. The shop also sells its blends, tea perfumes and other items. By Lee Sun-young ( milaya@heraldcorp.com )

Though the word “dado,” meaning a traditional tea ceremony, may not sound like much fun, it has become a trending practice among young people here, as they seek inner peace and Instagram-worthy shots at the same time. More tea shops are opening across Seoul, branding themselves as cultural complexes that offer more than just a cup of tea. Teaching the art of dado, they offer extra activities suc...

Coffee has a formidable grip on the daily lives of Koreans, but tea is slowly and quietly gaining traction. Social media-savvy hipsters wait for weeks for a tea ceremony experience. Teahouses that claim to sell not just a cuppa, but a lifestyle, are emerging as trendy hot spots. Some see in it as a counteraction to the Starbucks-driven explosion of coffee culture here. Others speak of a refresh...

South Korea’s first pet taxi startup began with co-founder Park Nara’s personal experience of an emergency vet visit back in 2015. Her dog needed to be taken to a vet immediately, but no taxi would take her and the dog. She had to run in the end. The next year Pet Me Up was launched, aiming to respond to the travel needs of dogs, cats and other companion animals and their owners. “It is estimat...

It is just like any kindergarten for kids. A place for playing and learning, a chance to build social skills and a guarantee of safety and well-being while their main caretakers are away. Except for the sound of dogs barking in unison. “We send daily photos and a memo from teachers to dog owners via app. Owners like the service a lot,” said Hong. Pet owners are typically in their 30s to their ...

Technology is making our lives easier. So why not make our pets’ lives easier too? Evolving technology and creative new ideas are bringing changes in pet parenting, with a dazzling array of smart products that make feeding your pets, playing with them and watching them from afar easier. Pet gadgets, some too gimmicky for a mainstream push, come mostly from small tech startups -- but big home app...

An aging dog gets acupuncture treatment for its aching joints. A young puppy attends a “dog kindergarten” two to three days a week to nurture social skills. The number of companies in pet breeding, pet sales and pet cremation and funerals rose to 6,078 in 2018, compared to 4,180 in 2016. There were over 4,000 independent service providers, such as grooming shops, pet day care centers and pet tax...

Pink is the most sought-after autumn color in South Korea right now. Do an Instagram search for #pinkmuhly and you’ll get an idea of what’s going on. There are over 300,000 posts, many showing couples, children and young women posing in picturesque gardens full of pink grass. Surreal displays of pink and purple inflorescences, floating above tall grass like soft clouds, have popped up in so man...

The air is crisp and the trees are getting ready to change color. Now is the time to be outdoors. With nearly 70 percent of its territory covered by mountains, South Korea is spoiled with choices for fall getaway destinations where the scenery is a magnificent display of vibrant colors. Sky Park in Sangam-dong, northwestern Seoul, is famous for its scenic eulalia grass field. The park will hold...

INCHEON -- Hong Eun-hye carries on the tradition of her late mother and grandmother, crafting rice cakes, snacks and candies the North Korean way. Born in Hamhung, the reclusive state’s second-largest city, she grew up watching them prepare “finger sticks” -- stick-shaped donuts coated in sugar -- and bean candies -- tiny bean curd balls stir-fried and glazed in sugar -- to sell at local markets...

Restaurant Bukhyang (Songdo, Incheon) Bukhyung is a bright, inviting restaurant with a vintage vibe that sits among trendy eateries and cafes in Songdo’s multiplex shopping center Triple Street. However, its specialty -- North Korean home-style meals -- does not conform to South Korea’s fast-changing food trends. A joint venture between traditional liquor bar Wolhyang and spicy sausage stew fr...

North Korea is a forbidden land for South Koreans. But there is a way to experience the contemporary culture of the reclusive communist state without actually crossing the border: Visiting restaurants here that specialize in North Korean cuisine. With over 32,000 North Korean refugees calling South Korea home now, such eateries, either targeting fellow homesick defectors or curious South Korean ...

Rusty, abandoned factories and warehouses are often massive eyesores, shunned by neighbors for safety concerns. But increasingly, some of these run-down structures are finding new life as venues for the arts, drawing artists, hipsters and tourists with their remarkable aesthetic combination of old and new and historic backgrounds. More than just the visual appeal, creative repurposing is a very ...

Seoul is keen on repurposing and reinventing city infrastructure, embracing adaptive reuse as an innovative way of unlocking the hidden potential in old buildings, warehouses and factories. According to real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield, this trend of transforming old industrial factories and warehouses into new, hip cultural spaces is still very much popular for developers and consume...