According to the latest Cost of Living Survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting for 2006 Seoul has climbed up a few positions being ranked now the second most expensive place on earth behind Moscow. Tokyo has moved down two positions to take the third place followed by Hong Kong. This survey is known to be the most comprehensive index guide for expats worldwide. It measures the general costs for housing, food, transportation and much more. In Europe London is still the most expensive city. Hanoi is ranked on 32nd position just 4 places behind Los Angeles. As for the best quality of live ranking Zurich, Geneva, Vancouver and Vienna remain the top scoring cities. For those among you that are interested in this overview click here

want a free hug ? There are people worldwide that are following the idea of Juan Mann whos sole mission was to hug a stranger. It seems as if this idea had found it’s way to Seoul. If you go to Myongdong you may come across this young man who gives hugs for free…

During my stay in Seoul I was given the opportunity to give two talks. These are pictures from my second presentation. I really enjoyed it and it felt great knowing that I was the only woman trying to balance the gender quote

only a few hours more and I will be heading back to Germany Met a couple of interesting people here. Will be looking forward to coming back hopefully next year.

The picture was taken on my way up to Seoul tower. The trees are still reflecting the fall season. It’s so pretty.

Wow. This is a real great experience. My night was awesome. The ondol was not hard and the floor was well heated. The room is tiny but so cute. Almost all 7 rooms face the little bamboo courtyard. The bathroom is nice and clean. You can lock your room and the outer door to the guesthouse is secured via a passcode. Each room seems to be equipped with a flatscreen where you can watch tv and a computer with wireless internet access. This area is a pretty residential area with many traditional korean houses and little shops and restaurants around. The access to the subway is not bad either (~7 minutes walk). It is well situated and close to Dongdaemun and Namdaemun. Overall I can highly recommend this place and for a price of about 40 dollars this is really unbeatable! I give this place stars for being so unique

I went out yesterday with Herena and Danny to a place where on the staircase many people signed various tiles with distinguished phrases in korean. We took it as a contest to sign a piece of paper figuring out who from us would have the best signature. I mentioned that I would upload a scan of it onto my website and have people vote for it

So guys, let us know who should sign the tile. Is it Danny (1), me (2) or Herena (3) ? lol

I am looking forward to my trip to Seoul. For the business part of my trip I was able to get a decent hotel pretty central. As for the private part of it the hotel that I had initially tried to book was unfortunately sold out. But maybe it’s my luck. After browsing the net I came across a new guesthouse that was just opened this year which pretty much caught my attention. It’s called the tea guesthouse and it is located close to the Anguk subway station. It’s a place where you can experience traditional korean housing and tea at their tea room for free. It’s great. I got the booking confirmed. I am so thrilled!

For those who want to check it out please click here

Hier je suis tombé sur un magazin assez innovatif qui m’a attiré tout de suite puisque le magazine est me semble-t’il très créatif au niveau des photos et l’éditorial est contemporain. Les articles se portent sur la mode asiatique, des créateurs, des artistes et des top modèles. Le prix aussi est raisonnable (3 Euro). C’est certes un magazine à suivre pour ceux qui sont folles de la mode japonaise contemporaine.

a famous singer in Indonesia, Italy and France but unfortunately less known in other parts of this world. At the age of 25 she became successful with her song ‘La neige au Sahara’ also known as ‘Snow in the Sahara’ from her album ‘Au nom de la lune’ which she later on recorded also in english. It’s a mesmerizing blend of traditional and contemporary pop music.

She has in the meantime released a couple of other albums though the first one still remains my favorite.

I was just browsing through my Vietnam pictures taken back in march of this year and came across these pictures from Halong bay. The most famous natural place definetly in Vietnam. There are about 3000 islands scattered along the bay. It’s a place inscribed in the World Heritage List and covers an area of 150,000 ha. There are people that live on floating houses on the water. Many local travel agencies offer tour packages around the Halong bay with visits to one of those innumerable caves. Make sure you don’t miss them.