So, I was walking around Seoul a few days ago, dropping off copies of K-Pop Now to some of the companies that helped me out with the book. When I went to Sidus HQ (home of Jay Park), I was surprised to see they had found a new home. Their longtime location, close to the COEX Mall in Samseong-dong, was pretty drab. But their new building (about one subways stop away) is really swank.

Sadly, it was also too big for my lousy camera. But the building really does look like an impenetrable fortress. Finding the entrance was not easy.

 

Here is a view from the interior stairwell:

I then took a ride in the subway, where I discovered an ad for a plastic surgery clinic — for men. How common are they?

(Sorry for being out of focus … I was trying not to creep out the people sitting there).

I thought I found another one in the same car, but it turns out this ad is focusing on women getting surgery:

It reads, “Boyfriend quietly, I am on my knees, begging you to recommend me the place…” (meaning the place where his girlfriend got her surgery).

A bit later, I took a walk along the Cheonggyecheon stream. In wintertime, it is a bit sparse, but on the plus side, there was almost no one there. Very peaceful for the middle of Seoul.

Of course, the last time I took a photo of the Cheonggyeocheon, when I returned to Korea last summer, it looked like this: