When you’re wearing high heels, the last thing you want to do is walk a long distance from your parking space to the store. Well, frankly, the last thing you want to do is walk at all, which is kind of impossible. But the city of Seoul in South Korea is all over this one with its Women Friendly Seoul Project, a plan to turn the city in a more heel-friendly place. Sounds pretty awesome, huh?

The city plans to paint close to 5,000 public parking spaces pink to reserve them for women. Other measures are being taken as well to improve the overall quality of life for women in the city. The program will pave streets to make them more high-heel friendly, improve lighting, build additional women’s public restrooms, create safe parks for women, add more public day-care centers, and expand an already-existing women’s taxi service. By 2010, the city’s transformation into a so-called women-friendly haven will be complete.

While these improvements may help reduce the frustration of everyday inconveniences for women in Seoul, they will probably not foster gender equality, which is a hot-button issue in South Korea that the government has had limited success in addressing. In fact, these efforts just might undermine women’s attempts to compete in a male-dominated society. Read More »

Americans are well known for their affection for, and addiction to, theme parks.  We have Disney Land, Disney World, Lego Land, Sea World, and a plethora of other immensely entertaining places.  What we don’t have is a theme park about sex.  Guess who else doesn’t have one?  China.

While that may sound like a no-brainer, China was recently set to open a theme park called Love Land.  It was meant to promote open sexual discussion in a society where tradition and conservatism still reign with an iron fist.  The park was to feature huge reproductions of male and female genitalia, how-to workshops and other fun activities and displays.  However, all of that was razed today after a weekend inspection by government officials deemed the park vulgar and sensational.  Well, duh, but how awesome is that? Read More »

Plastic surgery is all the rage these days making imperfections a thing of the past.

But what happens when things go too far?

We’ve seen many a-celebrity eff up their once beautiful images at the hands of plastic surgery. For example, as CC has previously discussed, Lisa Rinna has gone just a little too far. And let’s not forget, MJ. Michael Jackson was sooo cute as the youngest member of Jackson 5. Then his skin started changing color and his nose started getting smaller and pointier.

But when us lowly civilians catch wind of the plastic surgery bug, some people take way too far.

Enter, Hang Mioku. Who you ask? Allow me to explain. Read More »

Got a lot of time on your hands this summer? Like spicy smelly food that’s been fermenting for a while but tastes great? Make kimchi!

Kimchi is a dish that is to Korea as french fries are to the United States. (Editor’s Note: Great when you’re drunk/depressed?) In other words, it is much craved and eaten with everything.

So what is it? Well, generally speaking, it’s spiced up, fermented cabbage. Like super fermented. Like days – and sometimes years-long – fermented.

No, but seriously, it is. But, I mean, it’s delicious. A bajillion Koreans (and Americans and Europeans and all the other world-wide kimchi converts) can’t be wrong.

So satisfy your ferment tooth (mmm…fermented…) with this tasty recipe and broaden those horizons. Read More »