Historical K-Dramas, Sundubu Ramyeon

And fashion advice for Seoul travelers

안녕하세요, it’s Ari, your friendly Korean source and your weekend reminder🎉 Today’s newsletter is about a fashion tip for travelers, historical K-Dramas, and a healthier ramyeon recipe. Let’s start!

🎧 You can listen to this newsletter on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or other your favorite podcast platforms.

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👋 What Up Korea?

Wear this for your Gyungbokgung Palace photo

Gyungbokgung Palace is one of the most popular tourist spots in Seoul. If you visit here, you’ll see people wearing Hanbok, traditional Korean clothes, taking 📸 of themselves. Visitors wearing a Hanbok receive free entry to 5 biggest palaces in Seoul including Gyungbokgung Palace. Walking down the palace in Hanbok feels like you have time-travelled to old Korea when there was a King. You can rent the traditional clothes for about 10 USD for the palace tour or you can buy modern-styled Hanbok which is trending between young Koreans for your entire Seoul trip.

생활한복 or modern Hanbok has become popular for the past few years. While traditional Hanbok is not really suitable to wear in daily life, modern Hanbok is comfortable to wear and the design is cool. Young Koreans wear it not just for Gyungbokgung Palace free entry but also for work or going out. Though price is not cheap (a dress☝ costs around 100 USD), it could make a cool fashion to make your travel pics special and a great souvenir to remember your time in Korea. There are many modern Hanbok stores in Insa-dong, Seoul which is close to the palace.

My historical K-Drama recommendations

Speaking of Hanbok, there are many historical series in which you can appreciate many kinds of beautiful traditional clothes. I want to recommend three of them,

Princess Hours (2006) 👸 Historical dramas were mostly loved by old Koreans until this drama. The series is set in an alternate, 21st-century Korea which has retained its monarchy. One day, an ordinary high school student gets to marry the Crown Prince who attends the same school. Joo Ji-Hun who is known for Kingdom, a Netflix zombie horror series, played the Crown Prince. Available on Viki.

The Crowned Clown (2019) 👑 MUST-WATCH ALERT I might say this drama is the best historical drama made during the past decade. Superb acting from every cast and beautiful and cinematic scenes! In the series, there’s a clown in the lowest class who exactly looks like the King. The King replaces himself with the clown in order to rid the threat of assassination. But the clown slowly becomes the ruler the country really needs. Available on Netflix.

The Red Sleeve (Coming next week) ❤️ This drama is more of my wish list item? rather than recommendation since it has not started yet. It’s a love story between the King who puts the country first before him and a palace woman who wants to live her life. It’s based on a real-life love story between King Jeongjo and his concubine. Lee Jun-Ho from 2PM, a K-Pop group, plays the King. He’s a good actor! Will be available on Viki.

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📺 Learn Korean with Memories of the Alhambra (2018)

If you love that handsome North Korean soldier in Crash Landing on You and you love fantasy, romance, and thriller, you’ll love Memories of the Alhambra. In the series, a CEO of an investment company travels to Granada, Spain to meet a creator of a groundbreaking AR game⚔️ who has gone missing. He meets the creator’s sister who runs a hostel in Granada and they get entangled with mysterious events. I picked a quote from the first conversation between the CEO and the hostel owner which you might find useful when traveling. Check it out,

너무 늦었나요? 혹시 방 있습니까?

The quote means, “Am I too late? Do you have any rooms available?” You can use these sentences when you try to get a room late at night at a hotel or hostel. I want to tell you about 혹시, the most interesting word in this quote. It literally means “perhaps” but it actually means much more than that or means something else sometimes. 혹시 can be a filler in a question sentence making the tone of the sentence more suggestive and polite. 방 있습니까? sounds a little blunt but 혹시 방 있습니까? sounds politer. If you add 혹시 when asking for information, it will sound much more legit Korean!

Like always, I made three daily Korean sentences using expressions in the quote 👇

1. (늦어서) 죄송해요 I’m sorry (I’m late).

2. 오늘 (방청소) 해야 돼요 I have to (clean my room) today.

3. 혹시 여기 자리 있어요? Is this seat taken?

Change a bracketed word to make a different sentence! You can practice speaking the sentences with my podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or other your favorite podcast platforms.

🎤 Rap your Korean

Send me your Korean voice message! If you’re a beginner Korean learner, speak the three sentences you learned today. You can change a bracketed word in the sentences to make a different sentence. If you’re a more advanced learner or adventurous, send me your voice message about today’s newsletter (your opinion about WUK stories, etc.).

Send it by next Tuesday KST, then your voice will be on the next podcast episode. If you want my feedback for your Korean speaking, leave a comment after submission. I’m all ears!

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🍳 Sundubu Ramyeon

Ramyeon or ramen is the most popular instant food and the biggest enemy for people who are on a diet in the country. One Korean found a solution to enjoy ramyeon healthier, tastier and less spicy. The recipe went viral, it’s called 순두부 열라면 meaning soft tofu Yeul Ramyeon. Yeul Ramyeon is one of many Korean ramen brands and it’s very hot. Its flavor goes very well with soft tofu. Even if you’re not a big fan of tofu or spicy Korean ramyeons, you’ll probably enjoy this food. Super easy to make, a very short list of ingredients👇 Watch a how-to-cook video and try for yourself!

• 1/2 Yeul Ramyeon (can be replaced with other Korean ramyeon)

• 175g Soft tofu or silken tofu

• 1 Tablespoon chopped green onion

• 1/2 Teaspoon black pepper

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment, like or share this newsletter! You can also send me your voice message💖 or leave your song/drama request in comments👇 See you next week! 안녕👋