The Secret Nostalgic Seoul of South Korea
Seoul (South Korea) is a sprawling modern megalopolis of high-rises reaching for the sky, bedecked with neon signs and jumbotrons. Like stepping into a scene from Blade Runner, Seoul is the epitome of modern industrial East Asia. At street level the city is alive with a cheek-by-jowl mixture of the traditional and the ultra-modern. People in traditional dress run shoulders with the uber chic fashionistas, while sat at one of the many on street food tents. Soju, the local liquor, flows as fast as the ultra efficient subway system that snakes under the city and out into the satellite cities that encircle the capital. Buried deep in the heart of down-town Seoul is the Insadong area. Full of traditional tea-shops, restaurants, art galleries and shops full of tourist tat.
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You learn to look-up, when you walk around Seoul. Or you are likely to miss that secret little bar, authentic restaurant or boutique shop, sat one on top of the other in among the many delights on offer in the tightly packed cityscape. One such delight is Toto's Nostalgia Museum and Gift Shop. Climb the easily missed stairs, and you are presented with a place filled floor to ceiling with toys, games and vintage goodies to enthral the inner child in all of us. In many languages the squeal of "I had one of those", can be heard from every corner crammed corner of the eclectic 'museum' of childhood plastic and tin. Visitors squeeze themselves between dusty display cabinets, and shelves filled with kitsch toys from years gone by. Collected and displayed with the love only an avidly eccentric enthusiast could.
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Aside from the seemingly ever growing collection of kitsch junk, there is the 'shop' side of Toto. Used in the loosest sense. In among it all, you come across a few plastic baskets piled with stickers, postcards, mini posters, Korean snacks and candy. Absolute must haves are original Korean cigarette advertising signs and the 'Good job! Well done!' rubber stamps used by teachers in schools across the country for years. All utterly random yet key pieces of vintage Korean culture. There is nowhere else like Toto in the whole of South Korea, and as a museum of sorts, likely there's very little like it anywhere else in the world.
Those Toys You Wanted, And The Ones You Got!!! - Childhood dreams shattered by poor parental purchases.
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Love Land: The South Korean Sex Theme Park - On the island of Jeju off the peninsula of South Korea is a bizarre sculpture park, full of giant pastel coloured sculptures of people having sex.
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For The Love Of Ramen - A eulogy to the humble instant noodle. The history of ramen, and its iconic place in the culture of Japan and South Korea.
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