Archive for May, 2008
글 잘하는 자식 낳지 말고 말 잘하는 자식 낳으랬다. Better to have a child who speaks well than writes well.
This proverb insists that knowing how to express one’s self is more advantageous for getting on in life than being adept at books and learning. (학문에 능한 사람보다는 구변 좋은 사람이 처세에 유리함을 비유적으로 이르는 말.)
After spending the past month profiling the best Mexican food in Korea, it’s time to make some distinctions. It’s too hard to come out and say ‘XYZ’ is best, simply because there are so many things to consider, of which importance varies depending on the patron. So it’s easier to break into some subgroups. We should add that not all Mexican restaurants were profiled in the blog, this past month, however, we have all known Mexican restaurants listed (with directions) on our wiki. Lastly, it should be noted that all of these restaurants might not feature a full Mexican menu, but as long as they have multiple Mexican items, then they’d be included (ie., this is why we’ve included The Holy Grill in our reviews, whereas family restaurants that have quesadillas and nachos on a broad menu might not make the cut.).
Best Taco
Choi’s Tacos
Best Burrito
Dos Tacos
Best Nachos
The Holy Grill
Best Margarita (tie)
The Holy Grill
On The Border
Best Real Mexican (or close to it, anyways)
Mexico (in Masan)
Best Place To Sit Down For A Few Hours
On The Border
Best Place To Eat Quickly Or Take Out
Choi’s Tacos
Best Ambience (tie)
On The Border
Los Amigos
Best For Low Budgets
Taco Chili Chili
Best For Birthdays or Large Parties
Los Amigos
Mexican Restaurant List in Korea
-Seoul and Gyeonggi-do area
Los Amigos
Casa Loca
Casa Maya
Choi’s Tacos
Cunga Conga
Dos Tacos
La Merce
Oasis
On The Border
Panchos
Taco Amigo
Taco Bell
Taco Chili Chili
Tom Tailor
Urbanos
-Busan
Taco
Taco al Puebla
Taco Loco
-Daegu
La Cantina
The Holy Grill
-Masan
Mexico
-Songtan
Las Casa
After passing Daegu Airport on the way to Palgongsan, if you look to the right, you’ll see glimpse of a hill with huge mounds of sculpted earth. That’s the Bullo-dong Tombs, which were massive grave sites for the early settlers in the area, dating back 1000, to possibly as much as 2000 years. For something so significant in Daegu‘s history, the memorial park is quite undermaintained and doesn’t get hardly any attention from visitors, save for the occassional senior citizen getting some exercise or someone walking a dog.
But with the coming 2011 World Championships in Athletics, the city plans to give the area a much needed facelift. But regardless of when they get around to this, Bullo-dong Tomb Park is a nice visit for a stop and stroll, if on your way to Palgongsan, particularly in the summer.
글 잘 쓰는 사람은 필묵을 탓하지 않는다. One who writes well never blames their brush and ink.
This proverbs reminds the listener that one who is skilled can do their work well regardless of the quality of their tools. (능력이 있는 사람이나 능숙한 사람은 일을 하는 데 있어서 도구가 좋지 아니하더라도 잘한다는 말.)
And one cannot finish off a series about the Best Mexican Food in Korea, without the mention of The Holy Grill in Daegu. Home of the best margaritas and stacked nachos in Korea. A ‘must visit’ to anyone passing through.
It’s all over now, culturally speaking. They just have kimchi left, as far as I can tell.
PAJU, South Korea (Reuters Life!) – Learning a foreign language often involves a lot of boring memorisation and verb conjugation, except in South Korea where flying punches and killer kicks are part of the curriculum.
More than 40 academies nationwide teach what is known as “Taeglish“, where Korean children are trained in Taekwondo by English-speaking instructors who say the martial art gives the students confidence in the language.
South Koreans spend billions of dollars a year on English instruction for their children. The language is seen as a must for entry into a good university and a good job.
“After English is combined with Taekwondo practise, children can have fun learning the language and do it in high spirits,” said Kim Sung-han, the founder of Taeglish.
Taeglish, a combination of the words Taekwondo and English, was introduced in March 2007 as an activity offered by a department store for children. In about a year, academies had spread throughout the country.
Taeglish students are far more energetic in the classroom than their peers who study through traditional methods but their language skills are often not as good as their peers.
A topic of conversation that is likely to yield opinions out of any age group and gender is ‘who do you think is the prettiest/hottest female celebrity/actress/talent’. I suppose there should be a male version to this, but you’re not going to get many male students to chime in with their thoughts, whereas both genders tend to have preferences (ie., “Can you do my hair like XYZ”, “Can you do surgery on my cheekbones to look like XYZ?”, etc…) over who is the fairest of the fairer sex.
There’s a handful of current names that are most frequently talked about and I’m happy to profile each one. Let’s start with the 3 popular names uttered in plastic surgery-seeking circles:
The above picture shows Kim Taehee, Han Ga-in, and Song Hyekyo, plus quotes on how much it would cost to have plastic surgery to look like them.
1. Han Ga-in is the better deal, surgery-wise, but that doesn’t sway the vote as to why we think she is #1. It’s hard not to find any massive billboard with her face plastered on it. And its even harder to look away.
(From Naver Cafe)
2. Kim Taehee is hard not to make a case for #1, as she is another one that you see everywhere and steals your eyes right out of your head.
(From Image Bingo)
3. Cute, wholesome Lee Nayoung made her mark in Please Teach Me English and has never stopped rising. A tough call to make for #3, with Hyori nipping at her heels (Wow, I can get used to staying that sentence over and over.)
(From ImageBingo)
4. Any list cannot be without the Big Nasty. Despite being 29, Lee Hyori (pron. Hyo-lee) can be considered the elder stateswoman of most lists. Another one that makes people stop and stare in mid-sentence during any of her commercials.
(From Gombox Cafe)
5. Ivy‘s emergence onto the music scene with her sexy songs and jaw-dropping (by Korean standards, anyways) videos makes her a lock on any list of hot Korean celebrities.
(From’s Moonshomme’s Cafe)
글 잘 못 쓰는 사람은 붓 타박을 하고 농사 지을 줄 모르는 사람은 밭 타박을 한다. A man who can’t write grumbling about his brush is like a man who can’t farm grumbling about the field
This proverb describes someone who lays their inability to do something not on their own lack of talent but on the conditions around them. (자기의 재간이 모자라는 것은 생각하지 아니하고 객관적인 조건만 탓함을 비유적으로 이르는 말)
Taco Chilii Chili has been around for a long time and seems to have found the right recipe for serving delicious Mexican food, but also remaining financially viable in a country that hasn’t had a good track record for prospering Mexican fare, at least not until recently.
One thing is for certain, is that the English private education craze thats been spun further into a frenzy from new president Lee Myung Park’s English initiatives, has not only given rise to higher tuitions in-country, but has now spread to the overseas English camps that Korean mothers send their kids to, during summer break. Here’s a news report about a company that organizes English camps in LA and England who are charging 9.5 million won for a 5 week camp in LA or 8.3 million won for 3 weeks in England. One of the reasons they attribute to the rising costs is due to the addition of more sports, such as horseback riding, golf, a math tutoring program, etc…No mention of the other reason which is ‘because there are enough Korean mothers who are so gullible into thinking that paying 10 million won to have their boy fly to LA and spend 5 weeks surrounded by other Korean kids chattering away to each other in occasional Korean and English, is going to create English osmosis.’
PS. Those costs exclude airfare.
