Swim and sauna in paradise

For those torn between swimming and a sauna experience, Cimer provides a luxurious retreat with its combination of swimming pools and spa facilities.

Located in Jung-gu, Incheon, Cimer is primarily divided into two zones: the Aqua Spa Zone, which features a variety of swimming pools, and the Jjimjil Spa Zone, with spa facilities. In Korean, "jjimjil" refers to heat therapy, emphasizing relaxation and wellness.

This luxurious destination is ideal for friends, families, and couples looking to unwind.

The expansive facilities include warm-water swimming pools, luxury massage chairs, water slides, stunning photo spots, a fitness gym, and a variety of hot tubs, all designed to melt away stress.

The Aqua Spa ticket, priced at 60,000 won ($43) per adult, grants access to both the swimming pools, spa and bathing facilities across the first, second, and third floors of Cimer, including both the Aqua Spa and Jjimjil Spa Zones. Visitors can enjoy the facilities for a total of six hours.

For those interested only in the bathing and spa areas, the Jjimjil Spa ticket is available for 40,000 won per adult. This ticket provides access to the Jjimjil Spa Zone on the second and third floors and allows for four hours of use.

Free shuttle buses are available from Seoul to Paradise Hotel, where Cimer is located, at designated times. For more information, check the official website of Paradise Hotel.

Anyone can become a designer at "Wappen House"

Among the charming cafes, popular restaurants and picturesque stone walls to the east of Gyeongbokgung, there’s a store that stands out with its rainbow-colored exterior.

Wappen House, as colorful inside as it is outside, is a unique shop where visitors can create personalized items by attaching patches with various designs to fabric products. The word "wappen" comes from the German term for a coat of arms, but often nowadays refers to decorative patches or badges that can be attached to jackets or bags. Most of the patches here have intricate and playful designs embroidered on felt.

The store is filled with a wide variety of bags, pouches, phone straps, and other accessories, as well as an extensive collection of patches to adorn them. Located in a popular spot among international tourists, the store provides instructions in English, Chinese, and Japanese.

Customers first choose a fabric item to decorate, then select patches and decide where to place them, creating a custom design. For those who find themselves stumped for ideas, there are plenty of sample items on display for inspiration, which are also available for purchase.

The patches are priced between 1,000 won and 7,000 won, depending on their design and size. Once you’ve made your choices, the staff will help you using a heat press machine to securely attach them to the fabric, completing a one-of-a-kind creation.

Meaning of space

“Elmgreen & Dragset: Spaces” is the latest exhibition at the Amorepacific Museum of Art in Yongsan-gu that will run through February.

Contemporary artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, a duo in partnership since 1995, have set up five zones called: A single-family house, restaurant, industrial kitchen, public pool and an artist’s atelier.

Each space is meant to lead to a realization of “existential themes such as loneliness and the challenge of growing up,” according to a museum guide handed to visitors.

For example, a woman dummy fixated on a cellphone at a restaurant table explores the “expanding intersection between physical and digital spaces.”

The industrial kitchen, next to the restaurant, should remind of an “uncanny scene reminiscent of a sci-fi movie,” given how such kitchens are now almost mistaken for science labs with advanced equipment and gear for fine-dining.

The public pool in the meanwhile suggests “rapidly eroding community bond,” illustrated via an empty pool dotted with few humanoid sculptures, none of which appears swimming.

Life-size dummies and real-life household items make for an engrossing tour.

“You must navigate through it (space) physically, passing by other bodies -- both real and unreal -- each contributing to myriad existential storylines,” the museum said quoting the the Scandinavian artist duo.

The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday.