Seoul Findings - Sept.& Oct. 2011: Is Seoul a Sin City ?

Is Seoul a Sin City ?

Haechis is not an angel

As a giant temple of mass consumption, Seoul offers plenty of opportunities to commit deadly sins (namely wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony). Hundreds of thousands of eateries, bars and dining outlets, ubiquitous convenient stores dealing junk food, alcohol and cigarettes, luxury items cohabitating with their counterfeits counterparts, coffee and cosmetic shops every 5 meters, new bakeries opening every day (hence the name Tous les Jours?), flea markets and second-hand shops, mega department stores and Duty-free havens open 24 hours a day, underground shopping malls where you can spend your whole day or life, sales lasting 6 months a year, free gifts, samples, miles, points and rewards for anything you buy, TV and e-shopping, online market and vending machines … now you can even shop in the subway with your smartphone. With so many purchasing and consuming temptations, Seoul will make you shop till you drop or buy till you die.  

Myeong-dong shopping area in Seoul

Seoul Metropolitan Government recently published its ‘Seoul & Shopping’ Guidebook for Foreign Tourists. A not-so-necessary evil in a shopping heaven where a guide about sustainable consumption and green shopping would have been more useful.

It is actually hard to believe in green growth in a country where you are constantly overwhelmed by tons of receipts, flyers, coupons, loyalty cards, multilayered packaging for any kind of product potentially (or traditionnally) sold by unit and now sold in bulk, plastic bags for any item weighing more than 10 g (I still don’t understand why plastic bags are now systematically charged in supermarkets while this  rule is randomly applied in many other stores). And this is just the tip a huge iceberg, the only one that does not melt with global warming.

But then again, sustainable consumption is not necessarily a matter of choice and while we are strongly advised to act in a more responsible way, it is not always easy to act reasonably in a mad (green) house. I have been trying hard to be a virtuous green citizen but I confess that I have often sinned, mostly in what I have done and what I have failed to do. Anyway, let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

So let’s see how Seoul has challenged my virtues and how I have tried to resist, more or less successfully. Starting with sloth, I will not spend to much time writing about my findings over the last 2 months.

In September, I hosted a Wine & Women Korea dinner at Suji’s restaurant in partnership with Pieroth Wines.

The one in October was at Copacabana Grill, a Brazilian Churrascaria or all-you-can eat BBQ (needless to mention that with that kind of dinner, you need to plant a forest in order to offset your carbon emissions).

This time, I took care of the wines, all of them being purchased at Lotte Mart, Seoul Station, with prices ranging from 5,000 KW (4,4 USD) to less than 20,000 KW (I let you calculate now you know the rate).

wine selection from Lotte Mart, Seoul Station

Amazing to think it was nearly impossible to get those bargains even a few years ago. According to wine retailers, we have to praise the Europe-Korea Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) that took effect in last July 2010. According to the 'wine police', it seems wine prices have been inflated in Korea mainly because the local market was ready to (and eager to) pay for high-priced wines and particularly for French wines. Now you can find many decent wines for less than 10,000 KW even if those relatively low prices may be justified by heavy discounts (up to 70%) applied by wine retailers in order to celebrate the Europe-Korea FTA. Since those wine retailers are not charitable organizations, I guess they still make some profits and when they finished to celebrate, they will probably come back to crazy pricing.

Th event was also marked by the presence of Bioderma Korea's CEO Ms Joohyun AH who energetically introduced flagship Sensibio H2O micellar solution available in Olive Young stores.

While Korea is multiplying FTAs with the rest of the world, let's keep in mind that it is always better (at least for the planet) to consume local products unless consuming imported products generates less greenhouse gas emissions, still a possibility in Korea. A pity Korea has few decent wines and cheeses.

Thanks to a Korean friend who likes to treat me with Korean culinary oddities, I have tried a new Dogani-tang (beef knuckles soup) restaurant located in Seodaemun-gu, where President Park Chung-hee used to eat regularly. I recommend eating Dogani for many reasons, the first one being its high content of collagen. 



 Dogani (도가니) is also the title of a Korean movie (The Crucible aka Silenced) released in September 2011, an adaptation of the 2009 novel by Gong Ji-Young (공지영) based on an actual case of mass sexual abuse at a school for the deaf in Gwangju Inhwa, South Korea. Also check Korea Times article "'Dogani' school to be shut down'.

Talking about lust in the most innocent way possible, I had the chance to attend the launching party of Audace Lingerie boutique in Yeoksam-dong, hosted by French CEO Gina François.

Gina and 2 of her models

And since 'lust' is the anagram of 'slut', I will mention some recent protests that happened in Seoul recently, echoing the ones initiated in Europe and the US: slut walk in Seoul to protest against sexual violence and Occupy Yeoido for example. While Koreans are usually not violent, their wrath is sometimes disconcerting and can often lead to the destruction of public assets such as police vehicles and monuments. Uneffective anger management was the reason given by some people to explain why Namdaemun has been burnt down in 2008 by an angry citizen.  

Another reason to protest: sexual harrassment against illegal workers. 

I have also noticed an increasing number of Cinderella syndrome cases in Seoul.
Faces of the victims after and before disease can be seen everywhere in the city and especially in Apgujeong area. Be careful, this epidemia is very contagious. 

Reward

Last but not least, a few other shots taken in September and October. 

La Sensualité du Goût (The Sensuality of Taste), a book about French food in all its forms,
by my dear friend Min Helionne, former owner of  La Petite France restaurant,
wine & food lover and great writer

Helionne and I, serial sinners?

Also French and also in Samcheong-dong, Chez Simon

Starter - Chez Simon

Main - Chez Simon

Prevention of Cancer in Seoul: no forbidden fruits !

As the new Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choe Kwang-sik said "Just as Dutch Huizinga wrote in a book about 'Homo Ludens' humans should play and have fun. We tend to degrade the word 'enjoy' but we should really enjoy what we do”.

Interesting signage in Seoul subway.

That's all folks ! See you again in December ...