Signs of South Korea

Long-time followers of this blog will know that I'm fascinated by the signs one encounters along the roads and streets of a foreign country.

There's something intriguing about the design of these, as if they're somehow a distillation of the thought processes of the culture that created them.

Either that, or they're just amusingly puzzling. Here are some interesting signs I encountered on my journey to South Korea last year...

1. Cat cafe. No explanation needed:

2. Starbucks - Korean style. In the historic Seoul district Insadong, businesses are required to display their name prominently in Korean, though they're also allowed a smaller sign in English. So this is one of the few places you'll see a Starbucks sign which looks like this:

3. Inviting menu. Check out the tagline at the Radio M cafe:

4. Men's loos. With diagrammatic instructions:

5. Women's loos. As above:

6. Pizza ninja cat. Spotted at a restaurant in the Korean countryside:

7. Men's entrance. Step through this door to the men's section of a Seoul jjimjilbang (bathhouse) and you will instantly be as attractive as this dude:

8. WTF? Spotted in the funky Hongdae district of Seoul. I have no idea either.

Disclosure: On this trip I travelled courtesy of the Korea Tourism Organisation.