Can Seoul match Tokyo or Hong Kong as a Travel Destination? (safe, train)
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That doesn't disprove my point. Lot of island Chinese online are always flapping their gums about Korea because they're the ones who worship Japan and are just projecting.
I didn't think you really had a point. It wasn't backed by anything and the concept of "island Chinese" as a grouping that has shared views of other countries is pretty bizarre to me. I speak a couple of "island Chinese" languages and it's pretty apparent that the average Singaporean and the average Taiwanese often have very different views of the different countries. Singapore certainly doesn't have a particularly great love for Japan, but Taiwan overall does and that's part of its political history as a relatively well-treated colony rather than a subject of pretty brutal wartime occupation as HK and Singapore were. However, liking Japan within Taiwan has very little intersection with attitudes towards South Korea or Koreans in general because Taiwan, unlike in Japan, doesn't really have a particularly deep direct social or political connection. South Koreans are really well-liked there. North Korea is viewed as kind of crazy and allies of Mainland China which is generally not particularly beloved by most people in Taiwan or at the very least is highly polarized which is shared with HKers though HKers generally have a far stronger opinion. This in turn isn't vehemently shared by Singaporeans.
What is your background anyhow? It's bizarre how much confidence you have in speaking for other places.
Why is Seoul South Korea region's own Private House ownership rate reaching such a low Percentage? Couldn't believe the native Korean society isn't building up those low density homes. There is just enough land space allowed for the Asian Urban Planning action.
What is "Generic", "Sterile" isn't always objective.
3 months in Seoul mid winter, almost always avoided the Chain stores. Except for the Emart Food supermarket stores. Tons of independent cafes, and restaurants to choose from. One of the best on this World for Cafes. With Chandeliers, lots of space, tasty Asian sweet Coffee flavors(Green Tea, Black Sesame, unique Sweet Potato, Tapioca Bubble Tea), even sometimes affordable. One of the reasons to be an extremely enthusiastic fan of Seoul. Even if without much houses.
With regard to home ownership, its falling for the same reason it is virtually everywhere else in the world - Its becoming ridiculously expensive. I have two brothers in law who both work full time and they could never dream of owing a house in seoul (one of them is 36 a still lives with his mum, the other is 38 is married has one child and rents).
Another contributing factor is the Koreans have an interesting rental scheme available to them, were they can pay large deposits to rent a house (Between 50-75% of the properties value), and don't pay any rent after that. The landlord gets their money by depositing the money with a financial institution and getting interest on the money, before the deposit is refunded when the tenant leaves.
The fact that you were in Seoul mid winter might explain the lack of sushi, Koreans tend to be still very seasonal with their food consumption, tending towards warmer and more wholesome type comfort foods in winter, and cooler dishes during the summer.
I find the cafe scene in Korea ok, its surprisingly more chain focused in Korea than Australia, and I personally are far more a double shot expresso type person, I don't really like the sweet coffees and teas very much, Overall the food is generally very good, however after about 4 days, I am always craving something that is not Korean, and where my mother in law lives (Jangan-Dong), the options are usually Pizza, Spaghetti, Sweet Breads and Fired Chicken.
Last edited by danielsa1775; 04-15-2022 at 04:50 PM..
Can Seoul match Tokyo or Hong Kong as a Travel Destination?
The short answer is no. Seoul is just not that interesting of a place.
The longer answer is that the CCP has pretty much ruined Hong Kong. It is becoming just another Chinese city. It used to be some place special. So Seoul could possibly catch up to Hong Kong by virtue of the fact that Hong Kong has gotten worse. Seoul will never compete with Tokyo though. Unless they do something radical like legalize prostitution. If a bunch of K-pop singer look a-likes start offering happy ending all over Seoul then it becomes a tourist hot spot over night. That scenario will never happen though.
I didn't think you really had a point. It wasn't backed by anything and the concept of "island Chinese" as a grouping that has shared views of other countries is pretty bizarre to me. I speak a couple of "island Chinese" languages and it's pretty apparent that the average Singaporean and the average Taiwanese often have very different views of the different countries. Singapore certainly doesn't have a particularly great love for Japan, but Taiwan overall does and that's part of its political history as a relatively well-treated colony rather than a subject of pretty brutal wartime occupation as HK and Singapore were. However, liking Japan within Taiwan has very little intersection with attitudes towards South Korea or Koreans in general because Taiwan, unlike in Japan, doesn't really have a particularly deep direct social or political connection. South Koreans are really well-liked there. North Korea is viewed as kind of crazy and allies of Mainland China which is generally not particularly beloved by most people in Taiwan or at the very least is highly polarized which is shared with HKers though HKers generally have a far stronger opinion. This in turn isn't vehemently shared by Singaporeans.
What is your background anyhow? It's bizarre how much confidence you have in speaking for other places.
How about this recent Taiwanese newscast where they superimposed the coronavirus over the SK flag? https://imgur.com/tE7Hajx
They also used a model of a Korean Asiana plane to portray the recent Chinese airplane crash. Their netizens also like to call SK "Japan West" as some sort of insult, and accuse Koreans of laying claim to things like Confucius and sushi. Let's face it, Taiwanese and other island Chinese have a weird hatred for Korea, while venerating their colonizers like the UK and Japan. Meanwhile, what has Korea done to them? They need to get over it because it makes them look pathetic.
How about this recent Taiwanese newscast where they superimposed the coronavirus over the SK flag? https://imgur.com/tE7Hajx
They also used a model of a Korean Asiana plane to portray the recent Chinese airplane crash. Their netizens also like to call SK "Japan West" as some sort of insult, and accuse Koreans of laying claim to things like Confucius and sushi. Let's face it, Taiwanese and other island Chinese have a weird hatred for Korea, while venerating their colonizers like the UK and Japan. Meanwhile, what has Korea done to them? They need to get over it because it makes them look pathetic.
You got a gif of a newscast graphic as the way of showing there's generally anti-South Korean sentiment in Taiwan and also that there is a collective "island Chinese" view of other nationalities? How stupid is this? What's your background, guy?
As someone who actually reads Chinese and speaks the two primary languages in Taiwan, it's pretty clear that the vast majority of people have neutral or favorable views towards South Korea. In a country of 20 million people living in conditions that are fairly open to free speech, there's bound to be someone who has a negative view, but to paint that as characteristic of the people in general is pretty stupid, right? Can this radically change in a short period of time? Sure, because as I've stated before, there is also rather little direct interaction or history between the two. The last couple of decades have seen quite a bit of tourism increase and an influx of South Korean pop culture into Taiwan which has been seen favorably.
You got a gif of a newscast graphic as the way of showing there's generally anti-South Korean sentiment in Taiwan and also that there is a collective "island Chinese" view of other nationalities? How stupid is this? What's your background, guy?
As someone who actually reads Chinese and speaks the two primary languages in Taiwan, it's pretty clear that the vast majority of people have neutral or favorable views towards South Korea. In a country of 20 million people living in conditions that are fairly open to free speech, there's bound to be someone who has a negative view, but to paint that as characteristic of the people in general is pretty stupid, right? Can this radically change in a short period of time? Sure, because as I've stated before, there is also rather little direct interaction or history between the two. The last couple of decades have seen quite a bit of tourism increase and an influx of South Korean pop culture into Taiwan which has been seen favorably.
Because it tops out at 33.8% and is a country that most people in Taiwan have some opinion on as there aren't that many countries around Taiwan that they deal with much? Because it's a random opinion poll conducted four years ago that can dramatic variance depending on when it was conducted and who was sampled? Have you tried looking up other polls especially conducted more recently in Taiwan? Probably not, because it's doubtful that you read Chinese or know what sources to look at for Taiwan because it's pretty apparent you have little familiarity with the country.
Even then, 33.8%. Considering this poll being accurate which I find doubtful as it lists Singapore on top, is that anything close to being representative of Taiwanese in general having an antipathy towards South Korea? How do percentages work where you come from? Did you also try looking at the actual source that article used? The poll results were 51.0% favorable and then in addition to that 7.4% very favorable towards South Korea. Add those up, why don't you? Why do I think you didn't catch on to that? Oh, right, probably because you don't understand the language and you have little familiarity with the culture despite your decisive statements on "island Chinese" culture.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 04-21-2022 at 03:25 PM..
04-27-2022, 08:50 AM
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Originally Posted by danielsa1775
With regard to home ownership, its falling for the same reason it is virtually everywhere else in the world - Its becoming ridiculously expensive. I have two brothers in law who both work full time and they could never dream of owing a house in seoul (one of them is 36 a still lives with his mum, the other is 38 is married has one child and rents).
Another contributing factor is the Koreans have an interesting rental scheme available to them, were they can pay large deposits to rent a house (Between 50-75% of the properties value), and don't pay any rent after that. The landlord gets their money by depositing the money with a financial institution and getting interest on the money, before the deposit is refunded when the tenant leaves.
The fact that you were in Seoul mid winter might explain the lack of sushi, Koreans tend to be still very seasonal with their food consumption, tending towards warmer and more wholesome type comfort foods in winter, and cooler dishes during the summer.
I find the cafe scene in Korea ok, its surprisingly more chain focused in Korea than Australia, and I personally are far more a double shot expresso type person, I don't really like the sweet coffees and teas very much, Overall the food is generally very good, however after about 4 days, I am always craving something that is not Korean, and where my mother in law lives (Jangan-Dong), the options are usually Pizza, Spaghetti, Sweet Breads and Fired Chicken.
Truly speculating whether South Korea is having just enough land space for embracing low density housing. Tokyo might have just a few more houses in average building residential stock. Especially in the outlying suburbs. Hong Kong is actually very lucky to have the rest of China. Or there isn't any real space left over there.
South Korea actually feels kind of affordable for the most part. One of the most Democratic Asian countries is offering rather fair policies. Maybe in the future, things are ending up expensive.
Could be seasonal for South Korea's own Import Export rate. Want to fulfill some Asian republics with zero Pizza, Pasta, no Europe foods beginning to final just for the sake of it, and variety. Although, some of the best Pizza, Burgers I ever had was in South Korea.
Out of these three cities, Seoul South Korea wins for the endless Cafes.
04-27-2022, 09:04 AM
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Originally Posted by OyCrumbler
A decent chunk of East Asia did better both economically and in terms of deaths over 2020 and probably 2021 than a good chunk of Europe and other places, so it's currently hard to say that their reaction was the incorrect or "overreaction" in comparison to other places. I do think the current lockdown in Shanghai is an extreme overreaction though.
Yes, China is one of the last countries on this World around this late into the third calendar year that is just completely closed to foreigners. Japan is also with a similar issue. Not surprised if Tokyo, Hong Kong already lost what was cool, popular, desirable about them as a Foreigner friendly must visit city.
Seoul South Korea reopened May/June/July 2020! extremely early. Even with the former Quarantine rule. Tourists pick Seoul before Tokyo, or Hong Kong exactly because of this reason.
The short answer is no. Seoul is just not that interesting of a place.
Not sure where you're getting that Seoul isn't that interesting of a place. I've heard this before but having spent a lot of time there, I disagree. It's not just K-Pop and cafes. There are tons of things such as museums, amusement parks, mountain hikes (within the city), shopping, dining, entertainment, historical temples and monuments, cutting edge technology, etc. Sure, it is a rather monolithic culture, but the same is true for Tokyo. You really have to go somewhere like London or New York to have a truly diverse, wealthy megacity.
Aside from the lack of diversity, I'll say that Seoul rivals NYC in terms of things to see and do. I've spent some time in Tokyo as well and very much enjoyed it. However, I'd say that Seoul and Tokyo are more similar than different to me. Tokyo probably has a little more just given that it's a megacity of 40 million vs 26 million for Seoul. However, you're not going to get bored in either city.
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There is just enough land space allowed for the Asian Urban Planning action. 