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Beyond K-pop: the culture of South Korea
The recent increase in the global popularity of South Korean culture is commonly referred to as ‘K-wave’, ‘Korean wave’ or ‘Hallyu’. It’s been almost 3 years since ‘Parasite’, directed by Bong Joon-ho, won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. This was a historical moment: ‘Parasite’ was the first South Korean film to have been nominated in these categories, as well as the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since then, I have watched many more films from South Korea, a country that I’m yet to visit, and I have been slowly riding the ‘Korean wave’. Today, I’d like…
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Where to eat in Dubai (light meal or a feast)
A couple of months ago, I travelled to Dubai together with my friend Jini. We visited our friends Jigna and Ed, who moved to the UAE a couple of years ago. Although my recently published post ‘top 7 tips for a trip to Dubai’ included recommendations on where to eat in Dubai, I think that a separate post is warranted. Where to eat in Dubai (light meal) Cafe Bateel Our friends live at the Dubai Marina, a very pleasant place to walk around, full of cafes and restaurants. I was a regular at Cafe Bateel, which happened to be right next to their apartment. I would usually have a coffee and…
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Top 7 tips for a trip to Dubai
I recently travelled to Dubai together with my friend Jini. We visited our friends Jigna and Ed, who moved there a couple of years ago. This was not only my first ever trip to the UAE (a layover in Abu Dhabi airport excluded), but also my first trip abroad in nearly two years (my trips in England and Greece excluded). Since I can now work from anywhere in the world, I stayed in Dubai for a total of 3 weeks, combing 2 weeks of holidays with 1 week of work. It’s now been 3 weeks since I returned to London, and it’s about time to share my top 7 tips.…
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A cinematic journey to South Korea
A few days ago, the South Korean film ‘Parasite’, directed by Bong Joon-ho, not only won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, but also the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. This was a historical moment: ‘Parasite’ is the first South Korean film to have been nominated in these categories, as well as the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It had also won the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. These remarkable achievements have unsurprisingly rekindled my interest in South Korean cinema. For this reason, today I am embarking on a cinematic journey to South…
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5 (+1) Japanese novels to read in 2020
Happy New Year! 2020 is the year that the Olympic Games are heading to Japan. Even though I have never been to the land of the rising sun, I’ve always been fascinated by the Japanese culture and pretty much anything else Japanese (including literature). In fact, in the last couple of years, I have read quite a few Japanese novels, and in 2020 I plan to read even more, as well as other books from Japan, or about Japan. A few days ago, Barack Obama shared his annual list of favorites — books, films, and music. The former US President reflected that ‘outlets like literature and art can enhance our…