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Korean summers are a torrid affair. The wide, New York-style avenue leading downhill from Yeoksam to Gangnam is fuzzy under a blue haze of swirling water vapour. Streets bake, buildings drip, people are threatened with evaporation. Wedged uncomfortably between several former invaders and a would-be one, only Christianity has been successful in conquering South Korean territory, residents declaring their Catholic and Protestant ambitions by tarring the city with neon crosses. An impermeable commercial fun spot, central Seoul is a vibrant metropolis of sound, colour and shopping, the Myeung-Dong and Hongik University districts attracting girls to shoes like electromagnets to cobalt alloys.
In Gangnam, both consumer paradise and hedonistic trough, the art of spending and acquisition is accompanied by rich pretension. Sexy ladies? Oh yes, disproportionately so - although much of it comes with a receipt, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
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