Early last month, I was in Hanoi to attend the annual meetings of the Asian Development Bank. Hanoi was all spruced up for the visit by thousands of bankers, academics and press. The city is a blend of the old and the new. Hanoi has preserved much of its colonial French architecture, while building the new outside the city centre. Everyone seemed to be on the move, a city chock full of young peop...

Seoul’s major river parks offer ideal routes for cyclists The weather is warming up, and many Seoulites are heading for the water. The Han River, in particular, offers plenty of ways to stay cool while having fun. From inline skating to fishing to water skiing, there are countless ways to enjoy the river and its surroundings. Yet for those who are environmentally-minded and want to stay active, ...

Classical Music “Seoul Philharmonic Explorer Series II”: French conductor Ludovic Morlot and violinist Kang Hae-sun will collaborate with The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra for its “Explorer Series II” on Ibert, Manoury and Mussorgsky on June 23 at 8 p.m. at the Seoul Arts Center’s Concert Hall. The series aims to broaden the repertoire of the Korean classical music scene by exploring less touched...

Beastie Boys “Hot Sauce Committee Part Two” Warner Music Korea American hip hop trio Beastie Boys has released their eighth studio album “Hot Sauce Committee Part Two,” four years after the 2007 album “The Mix-Up.” Since their debut in 1979, the hardcore punk rappers have sold more than 16 million albums. Although the new album title says “Part Two,” there is no “Hot Sauce Committee Part One....

White: The Melody of the Curse (Korea) Opening June 9 Horror. Directed by Kim Gok and Kim Sun. Pink Dolls, an unpopular girl group, gets a sudden taste of stardom after releasing their new single, “White.” The piece is a version of a song that has never been released by any singer before. As the group becomes even more popular, each member tries to be selected as lead vocalist. Meanwhile, Eun-j...

Marcelo Ramirez watches over a stall piled with pirated movies and music outside a busy Metro stop flanking the capital’s elegant Reforma Avenue. For him, buying and selling pirated goods is a way of life. “There are no good jobs,” he said while customers browse the discs, each with a makeshift cover slipped inside a cellophane envelope. “If people could make a good living there wouldn’t be pira...

At Suncheon Bay, a traveler might feel overwhelmed and dwarfed by the magnificence of nature. Created over thousands of years, Suncheon Bay in South Jeolla Province boasts endless tidelands and massive reed fields where rare birds and plants find homes. In 2006 it became the first coastal estuary in Korea to be put on the Ramsar List, an international convention for wetland protection, and is gl...

SINGAPORE ― If you are searching for blazing sun, beautiful beaches and great scenery for your summer holiday but have overlooked Singapore, it’s time to reconsider. With the opening of Universal Studios last week, the Resort World Sentosa on Sentosa Island off Singapore, is now transformed into an international leisure complex, aiming to attract more than 600,000 visitors annually. The family-...

Wonder Girl: The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias By Don Van Natta Jr. (Little, Brown) Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky ― they were all great athletes, some of the best the 20th century had to offer. But none excelled in as many sports as Mildred “Babe” Didrikson, the two-sport Hall of Famer who helped found the Ladies Professional Golf Association and...

Indignation By Philip Roth Translated by Jeong Young-mok (Munhakdongne Publishing Corp, 11,000 won) Nobody really “gets” adolescence. Not the kids themselves, not the parents and teachers who have left it behind. Not even us as we look back years later. It implies mystique. An alluring mix of whimsy and danger, when everything seemed more important than it was, but also more possible. How do ...