Battery Park after 2016 Snow Storm

Battery Park—a lovely park located in Downtown Manhattan, NYC—was pretty memorable the day after the epic snow storm on January 23rd, 2016 that left New York City covered in snow. Few people were in the park, probably because of the cold and the fact that it was a Sunday afternoon, but that made the experience all the more enjoyable. View of New Jersey from Battery Park For information, the name “Battery Park” comes from the fact that the park used to have an artillery battery back in the 17th century. Read more...

Wall Street Snow

January 23rd, 2016 was pretty rough for New York, but the snow storm left place to wonderful snow-covered streets the next day. These pictures were taken in Downtown Manhattan on January 24th, 2016. What remains of the Citi bikes Impressive snow in Stone St., Downtown Manhattan The National Museum of the American Indian

Hideaki Miyamura at the Art Institute of Chicago

Work by Hideaki Miyamura on display at the Art Institute of Chicago A number of rooms were dedicated to exhibiting Asian art, such as below. The Asian collection is akin to the British Museum’s, as it is primarily composed of various objects rather than paintings. Contemporary paintings and modern art are on display on the second and third floors of the museum. The third floor has a notable collection of cubism art that is worth seeing. Read more...

Gino's East - Chicago Style Pizza

Spinach Mozzarella pizza with extra garlic and pepperoni at Gino's East (162 E Superior St, Chicago, IL 60611). I have not eaten a lot of deep dish pizzas in my life, but this was definitely the best so far, far better than Giordano’s. The official website of Gino’s East explains that the restaurant was created in 1966 and the delicious taste of their custom crust has not changed over the years. Read more...

Chicago Skyscrapers at Night

The Chicago Skyline at night, taken at the end of January 2016. I am not sure of where I was when I took this picture as I was driven there, but I am guessing it was between the Field Museum and the Adler Planetarium. To get this panorama, I took several pictures with my Canon Rebel T3i DSLR and the Canon EF 35mm and stitched them together with Hugin.

Food Adventures and Shopping at the COEX

My friend Nayeon took me to the COEX, an immense multipurpose center with convention centers, a shopping mall, a theater, an aquarium, a food court, and many other things. The food court is quite interesting for tourists: while the food served there is far from best, one can choose dishes from the various restaurants in the court; thus, I got the chance to get 떡볶이 (ddeokbokki), 순대 (sundae), 튀김 (twigim), and cheese ramyeon. Read more...

Seoul's Dongdaemun Market

My third day in Seoul started off well by eating 탕수육 (tangsuyuk) and 짜장면 (Jjajangmyeon), two “Chinese-style” dishes that have been in Korean cuisine for so long that they barely taste anything Chinese (probably for the better). 탕수육 (tangsuyuk, left) and 짜장면 (Jjajangmyeon, right) You can reproduce these dishes at home thanks to Maangchi’s cookbook. I then went to UFO-shaped 동대문 디자인 플라자 (Dongdaemun Design Plaza), a “multipurpose space that combines culture, experiences and shopping” (from VisitSeoul. Read more...

Seoul, You Are Too Big!

The next day, I went with a dear friend of mine on a tour to the old Seoul. We started with the exploration of 인사동 (Insadong), a neighborhood full of stores and restaurants conveying a traditional feeling. I had the chance to try a 한복 (hanbok), the Korean traditional costume. Insadong can look scary at times... My friend and I wearing hanboks While looking for 북촌 (Bukchon), a must-see traditional village in Seoul, we walked past 조계사 (Chogyesa), “the chief temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism” according to Wikipedia. Read more...

Seoul, My Love~

This is Part 4 of my ’15 trip to Korea. Part 1 is available here, part 2 here (Jeju Island, Day 1), and part 3 here (Jeju Island, Day 2). After my wonderful trip to Jeju, I flew back to Seoul with my free flight offered by The Korea Times and Korean Air (대한항공). Although I had to board the plane like some Russian flight in the middle of the airport, the flight was painless as well as the arrival in Gimpo Airport. Read more...

Second day in Jeju Island!

This is Part 3 of my ’15 trip to Korea. Part 1 is available here, and part 2 here. My second day in Jeju started with finding a place to eat breakfast at 8am, which was not a simple task. After 30 minutes walking around and calling random places, my friend and I found a 감자탕식당 (kamjatangshiktang) that was open. It is not a good idea to find an open restaurant at 8am Read more...