hair In Love Salon: A Great New Place to get a Hair Cut in Seoul

On an impulse I went to a new hair salon with my friend last Thursday. It is called Hair in Love, and is located near Apgujeong, Seoul. The questions, "Where can I get a great hair cut in Seoul?" "Where can I go to get a hair cut with an English speaker in Seoul?" or "I want to find a salon that isn't too big but knows what they are doing?" Along with, "I have curly hair, where can I get my haircut in Seoul?" Can all be answered by going to this salon, where Jun the hair stylist speaks English and knows what he is doing.

I'll post directions at the end of this write-up.

The salon is a cozy one with only a few chairs for clients and some area for sitting. But I liked this as I didn't feel like just another head of hair in a large salon. We came on a Thursday afternoon, and from what I hear the weekend can get quite busy. This place also does hair coloring, perms and straightening, which according to some folks do a great job.

I went in for my usual spring hair-cut, and asked for, "More layers with it being longer in the front and shorter in the back." As Jun consulted with me he was quite intuitive and asked if I wanted an asymmetrical look, but I wasn't too sure about it. During the cut he was very attentive and not distracted at all. I tend to find that in larger salons the hair dresser often is multi-tasking.

Although I didn't ask for it, they blow dried my hair and straightened it after the cut. I guess next time I should of said that I want to keep the curly look. But it was fun anyways to sport a straight look for the evening.

Just so you get an idea, here is what I looked like before...

My hair cut was just 27,000 won, which is incredibly cheap compared to back home in the States. Plus I felt that was a reasonable price for one in Korea. My friend, however, got her hair dyed and cut a little which came to around 80,000 won. I don't know if that is a good price, but she says their service is really great for coloring.

Also she said, when his assistant is there you sometimes can get a massage.

Anyways, I would highly recommend trying out Hair In Love, and giving Jun some new business. It's a great salon that seems to know latest trends and also has a creative side to it.

The address:
19-19, cheongdam-dong, gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea

Photo Map:

You want to head out of Cheongdam station exit 9, and get a taxi or walk up the long street till you get to Dosandaeroe street and turn left. You can see on the map. What you want to do is get to the building you see here on the right, that is gray and concrete. You want to walk up the street next to this alongside this building.

Then you want to be at the corner of the gray and glass building and make a right. The salon is just a bit up the street and on your left.

The green paneling on the building on the left there, that is the salon. I hope to get better instructions from my friend soon, but here is a workable map link you can use.

Plus this area has a lot of great restaurants nearby, and is near the Apgujeong Butterfinger Pancakes. Anyways, I hope you find yourself at this salon one day and having a great hair cut or treatment.

Telephone: 02-546-0366
Email: gondre88@daum.net

David LaChapelle @ SAC

There is an exceptional contemporary art show going on at the Seoul Arts Center featuring the photographic works of David LaChapelle. If you have ever seen the above photo at some time in your life than you might recognize other works such as:

(source) " Britney Spears: Portrait of a Young Pop Star on the Verge of Success" 1999

If not then let me reassure you that you likely have seen other works by him, as he was popular for a while creating over-the-top pop star shots.

But the show at the SAC is more like a retrospective than a showcase and through the weaving gallery path, you are taken through his most iconic works to ones that show his struggle with certain themes. Also there is a video screening room where you can see how he creates his photographs in a very artsy-video kind of way.

Overall, it is a must see show and I advise you to leave any conservative values you might have about full frontal nudity (both male and female) at home. Indeed, you are in store for some very blazon photography that is more satisfying to look at than just ordinary pictures of nudity. (Whatever those may be.. ;) 

In fact, the most enjoyable part of the show is watching other people look at the works. When I first came in there was a group of highschoolers, on a tour. After their guided introduction, they were allowed to walk around. Mostly the first set of works to see are large prints of celebreties in full nude or partially nude spreads. There were sheepish grins by boys and bugged-eyes by girls to be seen on their young faces.

But the rest of the show starts to calm down a bit from the overtly sexual and gets more into a refection of our contemporary world.

(source) "The House at the End of the World" 2005 

Clearly you start to get into his "world" and due to the large scale of each photograph start to see details and imagery that is definitely iconic and was not haphazardly placed. For the most part, his photographs, are stages that he created while using props and popular objects.  Spotting a loaf of Wonder Bread or a Taco Bell cup, is just a few examples of hidden pop-cultural items in some of his works.

For the most part you get a sense of the world as one run by popular culture and at the same time trashed by it. You leave feeling a connection to something greater but also a little bit more twisted. 

Again I highly recommend you get off your butt and get out to this show, as in my opinion, contemporary works such as these are not too often brought to Korea as they should be. Bring your date, wife or hubby and have a good thorough conversation afterwards. 

The SAC is located in the Seocho area of Seoul near the Nambu Bus Terminal or Line #3.

Take exit 5 and turn left at the nearest street crossing. Follow this uphill and slighty jeering path. You then find yourself atop a large road and across from you is the structure known as the SAC. Turn right and head towards the major crosswalk. 

The David LaChapelle show costs 13,000 won for regular adults and you buy tickets downstairs at the ticket kiosk area. Then you go upstairs to the Hangaram Design Museum, and proceed. 

There are several cafes within the SAC, some offering expensive morsels to dine on and others coffee and small sandwiches. Across the street is a Starbucks and CoffineGaru...(whatever it is called). Also along that crooked path to the SAC was spotted a cutesy cafe with a sign promising "panninis". Maybe check that out as well. 

Anyways, this cold season is good for warming up in a gallery or museum, so why not see this show? Certainly some of the more sensational photos might get you a little steamy. ;)

Dentist in Seoul? Try Tufts

For me vacation time doesn't just mean to relax and unwind it also means to get some things done that would otherwise be difficult. For instance, going to the dentist during my work schedule means going during the evening or go on the weekend. I figured why not get this done while on my time off.

After some inquires at work I found out that a good place to go is called, "Tufts Dental" located in Gangnam. Checking the website I could tell they looked like a good place. The last time I got my teeth cleaned was in Bundang, and they did an okay job except wanted me to come back for something I felt unnecessary. Well over a year has passed since then and I knew it was time for a check up.

Experience: The office wasn't busy for a Wednesday afternoon and I was taken care of right away. After filling out two papers with some information I was seated for a consultation. I was asked if I would like to have xrays done since it was my first time there. Turned out the xrays were partially covered by the country's National Health Insurance. So why not! After the xrays were taken the official "dentist" came in and went over what she saw. Since the xrays were taken digitally there was no time to wait for the processing. Turns out I have a small cavity growing but it won't be of concern for a while. She left and then the assistant gave me my cleaning.

The cleaning was very thorough, gentle and well done. She made sure to update me on what tools she was using during the procedure. Most dentists in Korea put a cloth over your face (with a hole for the mouth) so to protect your face from getting splattered. This caused me to become slightly sleepy as I usually sleep with a face mask. Anyways, it was altogether a good experience. Made even better since everyone from the front desk to the assistant spoke English.

Cost and Location: The cost for a consultation, xrays and a cleaning was 65,000 won, which I felt was pretty good. You can make appointments for throughout the week or on Saturdays, except they are closed Thursdays.

The location is near Samseong and Seolleung stations, kind of in between. The directions are on their website but I would definitely say to keep an eye on the building numbers, which are visible.

Tufts Source:

There are practically a gazillion dentists around Seoul, and you can try your luck at a local one. But from my understanding and experience most aren't very clean or know English. Plus I appreciate that this place offered to take my xrays as previous places just went straight for the cleaning. 

So, if you are looking for a dentist to go to that speaks English and is clean then head to Tufts Dental, you won't be disappointed.

Gallery Imazoo in Gangnam

Last weekend I met up with an associate from Artpoli, who helped me set up something on the website. Afterwards, we took a little tour of a gallery nearby. It is called, "Gallery Imazoo" and has a showroom on the basement floor and a cafe up top.

The artwork on display were paintings by the artist, Lee Yu Mi. The subject matter mostly being figurative and very colorful.

I was pleased with the artwork, but not overly taken by the works. They seemed to reference Picasso, but altogether done nicely. Also I was wondering where she got her references from since most of the figures were not Korean, mostly people with blonde heads. I wondered if this was some kind of aspect of her statement. I look forward to going to more shows at this gallery, as now know where to find it.

My friend and I parted ways and as I waited for my ride I took in the local Gangnam architecture.

It's hard for me to describe how to get to this gallery, but if you get off at Yeoksam station and go out of Exit 4 and up to the POSCO building, you want to travel in the alleyways around there. Anyways, it's something to consider that there are several galleries in the back alleys of Gangnam.

Portrait Event for the Kolleen Park Exhibit

As part of the Kolleen Park Portrait Exhibit the organizers put on a sketching event. People were invited to come out and practice doing portraiture art.

Located at the Shinhan gallery in Yeoksam, Gangnam a small group gathered and enjoyed drawing from a live model. Mike Stewart led the way by giving us examples and pointers.

At first we sketched on white paper and then moved on to color, using conte-crayons. White pigment was for the highlights and dark for the shadows. I surely enjoyed practicing on the color paper and it gave me some ideas for my own art.

After all was said and done, we gathered up the artworks and put them next to each other. Can you figure out which one is mine?

Hint: It's the blue one...

 

Everyone got a complementary gift bag from Shinhan bank and we were allowed to take home our little box of conte-crayons, which was pretty cool. After everything, I stopped in over at the Kolleen Park portrait exhibit.

Although the pieces I submitted didn't get enough online votes to be put in to the gallery I think there was enough variety to warrant satisfaction.

I especially liked a few three-dimensional pieces such as the following pillow piece and one that uses applied crystals.

This event was a pleasure to go to, even though I feel more people could have showed up. Also I think folks were kind of shy and we didn't really get around to discussing the exhibit or our experience. 

Anyways, the show is still running if you want to see it.

I Got Out!

It's not that thrilling, but last Saturday I did manage to put down my work and head to Gangnam station. I met up with the good people of Artpoli to discuss how I can be involved more. So far they have been mostly use to Korean members and are trying to bring in non-Korean artists. It was awesome to talk about art and how I can help the group out. Already you can see I am posting information about their contests.

(Note: If you get to their site and it says "not available" it's because they're doing maintenance.")

Along the way, I managed to get in a few snapshots of the Gangnam subway station, which seems to be under a huge renovation.

While I tried to get out of the station and find my way to exit 8 I found myself meandering through a maze.

Above ground I later took these photos while I waited for JH to pick me up.

For dinner we stopped at a Japanese restaurant in my neighborhood.

 Twigum: (fried appetizers)

 Rice and Donkatsu:

 Udon:

Hopefully this is just the beginning of what will be my usual weekend-adventures.

Movie Review: Ajusshi or The Man From Nowhere

Last weekend I went to the movies with JH, which was good since we hadn't seen a movie together in quite a while.

Catching a movie in Korea is always an interesting experience. Usually you can go to the theater and pick a movie you want to see then buy a ticket. But the more normal way to buy a ticket is to reserve it online. There are different movie theater companies here but the well known one is CGV. It was a Sunday and most of the tickets were already sold out, so we were left with the seats way in the back. Actually we got the "Sweetbox" tickets. These are more expensive than the normal price, because they are more like a "couple" seat being that they are like a mini-couch without an arm rest in the middle and a large head rest behind you. The sweetbox seats were very comfortable.

The movie we went to see was the popular hit here in Korea called Ajusshi or "The Man From Nowhere." It is number one at the box office in Korea beating out the Hollywood flicks like Inception. I knew the movie was going to be sad and a bit violent due to that it is a Korean movie and they typically are that way.

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The main actor of this film is Won Bin starring as Tae Shick, who is some kind of loner. This is a movie with a sad story mixed in with violence and survival. The plot follows Tae Shick as he ends up in a bad situation having to look for a girl and her mother that were kidnapped. The girl befriended him early on in the movie so there was definitely a soft spot in this film, which is riddled with violence. By now, in my life, I should be desensitized to violence but I think I haven't seen it on the big screen in a long time. Plus there is some truly gory types of violence in this movie.

The great thing about this film is that it never really slows down and you are engaged throughout the whole thing. The acting was also well done and believable, along with the story which was touching and well thought of.

I would highly recommend this film to those seeking a thriller and a good story this summer season. I caught it with English subtitles at the Gangnam CGV theatre.

Check out this trailer to get you excited...

After the movie we prowled along Gangnam, near the theater, looking for dinner. Unfortunately this area is now one of the busiest places in Seoul so it was hard to get dinner at the places I chose, such as the Mexican and the Indian place. We settled on a Turkish (Turka Kebab House) restaurant that was somehow not yet busy.

The dining inside was cramped, but there was an upstairs unit for reservations. The variety of choices seemed pretty good, yet in the expensive range of 10,000 won to 12,000 won. We ordered beef and chicken kebabs with bread. It was all very tasty and the bread was filling.

My advice would be that if you have a lower budget to head out to another area since this one was packed and also the places were pretty expensive. Yet it was a Sunday and maybe on other days it isn't so crowded. However, in Seoul it is hard to get away from the crowds.

There you are...movie and dinner. Yum!

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