NYC vs Tokyo vs London vs Seoul

[projectmaximus]

I have spent a lot of time in NYC and HK and I have never been to London or Sydney. The rest I have visited a couple times each. These are all among my favorite cities and I have no doubt I would be happy living in any of them, even the two I haven't been to yet.

But how would I rank them? Hmm, without regard for COL, my best guess:

1) New York City
2) London
3) Paris
4) Tokyo
5) Seoul
6) Hong Kong
7) Sydney
8) Singapore

[bus man]

Originally Posted by Facts Kill Rhetoric

Seoul (continued part 2):

The picture showing the bridge out the window, where is that? I’m almost certain that there are no suspension bridges in Seoul. It looks to me like the Diamond Bridge in Busan, but you said you hadn’t gone there yet. Is it in Incheon perhaps? That’s the only place near Seoul that I could imagine having a bridge like that.

[ilovelondon]

I have been to all the cities mentioned. I have lived in London for at least 5 years (so I may be biased), been to Paris about 7 times, Hong Kong 4 times, Tokyo and Singapore 3 times each, Sydney twice, and NYC and Seoul once each.

My overall ranking would be:

(1) London
(2) Tokyo
(3) Paris
(4) New York and Singapore (tie)
(5) Sydney
(6) Seoul
(7) Hong Kong


Restaurants -- Tokyo for restaurants (for experiential dining, although some may seem gimmicky by others), but London for overall food and dining (diversity of cuisine and for various types -- casual, fast food, high-end, street food, pubs, etc). Both also do not have tipping ingrained in their culture.

Bars and clubs -- London (from sweaty basement clubs to large superclubs housed in industrial warehouses and viaducts hosting a diverse range of music; it definitely has one of the best nightlife around)

High culture -- London due to range, depth, and accessibility (you can get discounts on orchestra, opera, symphony, etc.; the annual London Symphony Orchestra live at Trafalgar Square during the summer; various free viewings from the Royal Opera House; £15 at the National Theatre and £5 at the Shakespeare Globe, etc)

Popular culture such as sports, music etc -- London (from Wimbledon to Premiere League, and hosting NFL and the occasional NBA games, and various concerts and live music)

Outdoor recreation -- London (from the various parks where you can play rugby, football, outdoor volleyball, to the various amateur sports leagues that have a high standard of game play where different amateur clubs compete, etc)

Economy/jobs -- Singapore or New York? I haven't worked in either, but I did not go with London due to Brexit

Education -- London (several world-class universities in the city, from Imperial to LSE; Oxford and Cambridge are just under a one-hour train ride away)

Architecture -- London (not as monotonous as Paris; from Tudor to Georgian, from Neo-classical to Gothic to modern; the various mansion blocks and terraces are top-notch)

Local character -- London (mainly for the diversity of local character -- classy and posh in Kensington or Belgravia; hip and trendy in Shoreditch and Soho; or if you prefer, the industrial-chic of Bermondsey or Borough; or perhaps the quaint, small-town feel of Hampstead or Blackheath)

The Suburbs -- London (I love the layout of the suburbs in London where everything revolves around a high street and people can go shop, dine, entertain within a 5-minute walk from their flat). I have mentioned this in a different thread, which you can read below:

Originally Posted by ilovelondon

London is a city of villages, or what London City Hall refers to as "town centres". There are about 1,400 town centres within London, and at the heart of these town centres is the High Street (equivalent to the "Main Street" in the US) where two-thirds of Londoners live within a 5-minute walk away making the city truly walkable to live in.

These town centres are divided into 5 different classifications -- International, Metropolitan, Major, District, and Local. To give you guys an idea what they look like, here are examples of each type (from smallest to largest):

Local town centre: Belsize Park composed of Haverstock Hill, Belsize Village, and England's Lane




District town centre: West Hampstead




Major town centre: Angel Islington




Metropolitan town centre: Kingston




International town centre: West End of London

[Trafalgar Law]

Originally Posted by bus man

The picture showing the bridge out the window, where is that? I’m almost certain that there are no suspension bridges in Seoul. It looks to me like the Diamond Bridge in Busan, but you said you hadn’t gone there yet. Is it in Incheon perhaps? That’s the only place near Seoul that I could imagine having a bridge like that.

Yes, you're completely right on all points, minus one minor one (as I mentioned we are heading to Busan, not that we have not been there yet though I would still argue that we have yet to experience Busan as visitors yet).

My friend (in the picture) and I started our trip from Tokyo but we decided to fly into Busan instead of Seoul. We both live and work in Tokyo at the same place and compared to my friends in America we have more flight connections to South Korea than they do. For us it was $220-$280 USD less expensive to fly from Tokyo to Busan and then take KTX to Seoul where I would meet up with my 3 friends from the United States (it was cheaper for them to fly to Seoul because flying into Busan would require both higher fees and one, perhaps two flight connections since their American city didn't have a direct non-stop to Busan). When we arrived in Busan we didn't know how to get to the Busan Station where we would have to take KTX to Seoul, so we got help from the person at the service desk at the airport. She told us to download an application that would allow us to get free WiFi (Wiman) by taking advantage of the free WiFi spots throughout the city and it would automatically connect to the next available signal. She also recommended that we purchase our tickets together because it would be a bit cheaper when you travel with a companion as compared to alone on the KTX. We asked her if there was a restaurant near the KTX station that we could eat in before we got on the train and she didn't know, so she asked her coworker who recommended taking the 2-Line to Gwangan Station and eating near Gwangan Beach (close to where he lived) and that it would only be a 10-15 minute train ride from the KTX station. We decided to taxi after the restaurant because we couldn't figure out the train system to get us there.

We went and ate there and then took a taxi to the KTX station and thereafter headed for Seoul. So far we have just skirted through Busan and ate lunch there while heading to the train station but our flight back to Tokyo is from Busan in a few days. My American friends are flying out from Seoul back to the United States. After we drop them off, we are going to go and see Dajeon and Daegu and head back to Busan where we will spend 2 days before flying out to Tokyo.

I included the two pictures from the restaurant in Busan as they are a part of this Seoul trip and I wanted to share the photo of the food itself on our trip so far. I should have separated them but didn't think much of it when uploading here.

[usuariodeldia]

Originally Posted by ilovelondon

I have been to all the cities mentioned. I have lived in London for at least 5 years (so I may be biased), been to Paris about 7 times, Hong Kong 4 times, Tokyo and Singapore 3 times each, Sydney twice, and NYC and Seoul once each.

My overall ranking would be:

(1) London
(2) Tokyo
(3) Paris
(4) New York and Singapore (tie)
(5) Sydney
(6) Seoul
(7) Hong Kong


Restaurants -- Tokyo for restaurants (for experiential dining, although some may seem gimmicky by others), but London for overall food and dining (diversity of cuisine and for various types -- casual, fast food, high-end, street food, pubs, etc). Both also do not have tipping ingrained in their culture.

Bars and clubs -- London (from sweaty basement clubs to large superclubs housed in industrial warehouses and viaducts hosting a diverse range of music; it definitely has one of the best nightlife around)

High culture -- London due to range, depth, and accessibility (you can get discounts on orchestra, opera, symphony, etc.; the annual London Symphony Orchestra live at Trafalgar Square during the summer; various free viewings from the Royal Opera House; £15 at the National Theatre and £5 at the Shakespeare Globe, etc)

Popular culture such as sports, music etc -- London (from Wimbledon to Premiere League, and hosting NFL and the occasional NBA games, and various concerts and live music)

Outdoor recreation -- London (from the various parks where you can play rugby, football, outdoor volleyball, to the various amateur sports leagues that have a high standard of game play where different amateur clubs compete, etc)

Economy/jobs -- Singapore or New York? I haven't worked in either, but I did not go with London due to Brexit

Education -- London (several world-class universities in the city, from Imperial to LSE; Oxford and Cambridge are just under a one-hour train ride away)

Architecture -- London (not as monotonous as Paris; from Tudor to Georgian, from Neo-classical to Gothic to modern; the various mansion blocks and terraces are top-notch)

Local character -- London (mainly for the diversity of local character -- classy and posh in Kensington or Belgravia; hip and trendy in Shoreditch and Soho; or if you prefer, the industrial-chic of Bermondsey or Borough; or perhaps the quaint, small-town feel of Hampstead or Blackheath)

The Suburbs -- London (I love the layout of the suburbs in London where everything revolves around a high street and people can go shop, dine, entertain within a 5-minute walk from their flat). I have mentioned this in a different thread, which you can read below:

Pff Sydney has much better outdoor recreation places than any of the other cities. Amazing parks, beaches, mountains, harbour, natural reserves, rivers, etc. Sydney has also a MUCH BETTER weather than London and the other cities too.
In quality of life Sydney also easily wins, higher salaries per capital than London and cheaper housing.
I give Paris the restaurants
London/NYC the bars and clubs
NYC / London the high culture
Sports Paris/London. Paris has the Roland Garros, it will host the Olympic Games in 2024.
NYC Economy/Jobs but Sydney honestly has great career opportunities
London/Paris/NYC education
Architecture Paris

[Brave New World]

Restaurants and bars - Paris prides itself on it's restaurants, and Tokyo does well in terms of the much criticised Michein Guide. However both cities like the diversity of restaurants offeed in NYC and London. I will still give restaurants to Paris, however in terns of bars, a traditional British pub with a large fire burning is hard to beat.

High culture - a straight fight between Paris and London, and whilst Paris does have lots of art galleries, London has an abundance of free museums and galleries coupled with the famous Wet End, so I would give tjis to London. NYC comes in 3rd with it's great museums and Broadway.

Popular culture such as sports, music etc - Popular Culture probably goes to NYC which has a lot of 20th century culture, however in terms of music London has always been a powerhouse and people still tour the city looking for Feddie Mercury's home, Abbey Road, where Jimmy Hendric died and numerous other such locations. I will call it a draw between NYC and London in terms of music.

Sport - London has so many football teams with vast stadiums coupled with famous rugby, cricket, tennis ground and even NFL and NBL games, and the city has hoted the Olypics numerous times.

Outdoor recreation - Possible Hong Kong with it's trials or as mentioned above Sydney.

Economy/jobs - I'll give this to NYC, however the other major cities mentioned also have very string economies.

Education - Singapore has a very good education system. Although in terms of Universities, London and NYC have the highest ranking in terms of those international tables publised every year. I will however still give this to Singapore.

Architecture - Historical architecture would probably be Paris, but London also has a lot of fine architecture, whilst in terms of glamorous art deco skyscrapers that would be NYC, one of the few cities in the world that has geniuenly beautiful skyscrapers.

Local character - The Japanes for at least being polite, followed by Londoners who will hep you, then New Yorkers who are usually in a real rush and then Parisians, with Paris known for it's rude waiters and the Parisians clear disdain for tourists.

Jobs and The Suburbs - Not sure about this catergory however the London stockbroker belt suburbs are very nice, as are parts of Long Island and other surrounding areas. However unless you live in a city for a long time you can't really comment on the suburbs. As for jobs all these cities generate a lot of jobs, however in terms of job security the far east annd especially Japan is notable in that many people soend their whole lives with the same company and work is often almost like family.

Infrastructure - possible Tokyo, although both Paris and London have substantially invested in infrastructure and more especially transport in recent years with such schemes as the Grand Paris Express and Crossrail. NYC has some well documented problems in relation to the subway and is currently trying to come up with a plan to modenise it's system.

[Trafalgar Law]

This is my highlight video for Seoul's food scene, this is Sannakji, otherwise known as Octopus Tentacles and it was absolutely delicious:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0E2...ature=youtu.be

[ilovelondon]