The Seoul of Urban Renewal

Having undergone a mind-numbingly rapid expansion since the 1950′s, Seoul made quick work of covering a beautiful fertile valley with concrete, asphalt, and buildings devoid of character. A story that might sound hauntingly familiar to some Silicon Valley denizens.

In an effort to repair the city’s image however, Seoul has been host to a large number of substantial ‘urban renewal’ projects in the past few decades that aim to make the city more livable, enjoyable, and walkable. The city seems to take this effort very seriously, and that attitude is reflected in the amazingly juxtaposed efforts of sheer scale, and intricate design work.

Two favorite projects I found while in Seoul…

Cheonggye Stream:

Once upon a time, this stream was covered by a highway that ran through the middle of Seoul’s central business district. Today, the stream has been uncovered, renewed, and provides a several-mile-long oasis for residents and visitors to sit, walk, or cool off their feet in the clear waters.

People enjoying a warm day at Cheonggye Stream, which through the middle of Seoul, South Korea (P. Lydon, 2010)

Hit the Highway, on a Bike:

A 4 lane road that runs through Seoul along the Han River, this road isn’t for cars, it’s built expressly for bicycle transportation. Relatively empty during the day, this ‘bicycle highway’ comes alive during commute hours and weekends.

A 4 lane 'Bicycle Highway' along the Han River in Seoul, South Korea (P. Lydon, 2010)

Cheonggyecheon Stream:

Once covered by a highway through the middle of Seoul’s central government and commercial districts, the stream has been renewed, and provides a several-mile-long, $900m oasis for residents and visitors to sit, walk, or cool off their feet in the clear waters.

What to do With Your Old Record Collection

How about buy a few loudspeakers, a beer fridge, and open up walk-in-closet-sized bar that’s stacked wall-to-wall with records?

Doors bar in Seoul Korea doesn’t really feel like a bar. It’s more like an old basement that happens to be rented out to a college music freak. For the most part however, the clientele graduated college a decade ago and are just as keen to chat about life, culture, and music as they are about how many beers they can put down in an hour.

A portion of the record collection at Doors Bar in Seoul, Korea (P.Lydon, 2010)

Doors Bar in Seoul, Korea (P.Lydon, 2010)

My favorite feature? This particular iteration of the popular ‘Doors’ Jazz and Rock Bar had just about every Jethro Tull album from 1968 – 1987 on vinyl. Crest of a Knave never sounded so good…

Musing #7: The Things we Build

The things we build: useful for ourselves, or useful for others?

In the best cases, perhaps they are both.

But of the structures built in the past several decades, the majority are merely funnels for the acquisition of mass quantities of money for developers.

What price does the ‘average’ person pay?

A homeless man takes an afternoon nap in Seoul's Insadong neighborhood (P.Lydon, 2010)

Seoul: Football ’till Dawn

Another night of football in Seoul… VIA satellite. Thousands of fans filled the streets for a dusk ’til dawn party to watch the match (which began at 3:30am local time) between South Korea and Nigeria.

Fans sit on a grassy median in the middle of Seoul at 3am, waiting for televised coverage of the South Korea v Nigeria World Cup match to begin.

World Cup Madness in Seoul

I expected mania, I expected that a country with such deep national pride as Korea would turn out en-masse for a world cup football match, but somehow I was still in awe the moment I walked out the door on game day.

The sheer number of people who were walking around in red shirts and devil horns was amazing, baffling even… and that was at 11am, 9 and 1/2 hours before kickoff. Only a very small minority of Seoul-ites were without their FC Korea fan gear.

The World Cup seems to be a rather good shot in the arm for the economy here in terms of merchandise sales, although I hear productivity at the office suffers in a major way as a result of the relative hysteria that ensues during the days leading up to each game.

Here’s a short photo tour of my subway ride out to Seoul city center during the South Korea vs. Argentina World Cup match…

World Cup Merchandise being sold in the Subway in Seoul

Hundreds of fans enter a train in what would normall be a reverse commute. Only a few workers are actually returning home for the night.

Hundreds of Thousands of fans gather in the streets of central Seoul for the world cup football match against Argentina.

Hundreds of Thousands of fans gather in the streets of central Seoul for the world cup football match against Argentina.

The bars and restaurants in Seoul were so packed during the world cup match vs. Argentina that fans gathered anywhere they could find a television, including outside of this travel agency.

Hundreds of Thousands of fans gather in the streets of central Seoul for the world cup football match against Argentina.

Steamed Buns

I don’t quite remember if the hankering for steamed buns came first, or if my eyes and nose made that decision for my stomach upon seeing and smelling the white clouds engulfing the street. But it was 1am at the time, so I seem to think it hardly matters.

The cook looks on at a 24 hour steamed bun and dumpling shop in Seoul, Korea

What does matter is that this wonderful woman stacked a box full of huge meat-filled steamed buns (4), and one full of meat-filled dumplings (8), for about $2.20 USD.

Happy wallet. Happy Stomach.