Escapism
Anyone wanting to travel Gangnam style can now book direct flights to Seoul, capital of South Korea, with British Airways, which launch on Saturday 1 December. The wealthy Gangnam district is famous for K-pop clubs, cool bars, shopping and celebrities.
• Return flights from £650, ba.com
Snow watch
It's all starting up again. A scattering of Alpine resorts open this weekend including Val d'Isère and Chamrousse. Les Deux Alpes and Val Thorens are already open, with about 22cm of snow falling there earlier in the week. And in Canada, Whistler and Revelstoke already have a metre on the lower slopes.
Travel trash
Hotels are clamouring to reinvent the concierge in increasingly imaginative, and naff, ways. The latest is the "horcierge" at The Stafford Hotel London, who can arrange morning rides in the royal parks, a VIP tour of military stables, polo lessons or even assistance in buying new jodhpurs.
What's new?
Spa
A new health retreat in Co. Durham has an unusual theme: the car workshop. The Garage, pictured above, in Greta Bridge, offers packages called the Country Lane, the Scenic Route and Off Road. Facials and massages are done in the Body Shop, manicures in the Paint Shop. Smellies can be bought on the Forecourt. As well as the steam room, sauna in a shepherd's hut on wheels, salt baths and mud pit, there's a "car wash shower".
• thegaragespa.co.uk
Farm stay
The original founder of Neal's Yard Remedies, Romy Fraser, has opened a farm in Devon, where she creates organic beauty products, teas and loom-woven blankets. For 2013 Trill Farm will also offer "supper and conversation" clubs (£17.50pp) and courses and activity days, on sustainable living, cooking with wild foods, yoga, love and sex and more. Guests can stay over in a small guesthouse (£45pp per night including breakfast) or on the campsite (groups of 10 minimum). It also offers WOOFING and volunteering breaks.
• trillfarm.co.uk
Alps transfers
SnowCat is a new shared airport service from Geneva offering independent skiers private people-carrier transfers to Courchevel and the 3 Valleys resorts and Moutiers for €50pp each way.
• +33 479 000913, firstclass-transport.com
Catch it while you can! Tokyo's fish market to close
Tsukiji fish market, the must-see slice of Tokyo life that tourists flock to before dawn, is set to close in late 2014. The world's largest seafood market will move to the neighbouring district of Toyosu and is set to become 40% larger. The increasingly decrepit state of Tsukiji and its position on prime Ginza real estate made the decision inevitable.
I visited Tsukiji a few days ago and was glad I had the chance. After queuing at 4.45am for entry to the wholesale tuna auctions, we were herded by security guards through the frenetic inner market. We dodged porters and forklifts, heading for a makeshift viewing area of pallets in the middle of the auction, where we were captivated by the rows of huge tuna, all auctioned within seconds.
The market imposes strict regulations on visiting: visitors are limited to 120 a day and have an allotted time period. Once ours was up we wandered the market's fringes in search of breakfast in old-school sushi bars that serve the freshest sushi in the city, and probably the world.
The new Toyosu market, 2.3km to the south, will be more modern and tourist-friendly, with observation decks, shops and restaurants, and cooking demonstrations. But it is unlikely to have the same feel. Charm and authenticity will be lost to the bulldozers and visitors are likely to be more removed from the auction floor. This will be practical for day-to-day business, but the sense of theatre will probably be diminished, so go now before it disappears. Osaka's central fish market is a good alternative if you don't make it to Tsukiji.
Max Brearley
Tweet ur trip
Your drunken tales
• Missed same 6am bus four days in a row in Nicaragua thanks to 50p beers and $1 steaks
@AIJMQ
• Drunk at a bar in Key West, woke up on another island
@HouseofNahyan
• Too much Sangsom whiskey in Thailand, tried to jump burning skipping rope, failed
@Helen_Elfer
• Staggering into an illegal card game in a Beijing hutong at 5am asking in my best mandarin for 1 more beer!
@TheTravelBible1
• NYE in Mexico, hitched from Guatemala drank rum all the way. Made it, inert
@zafarrancho
• Inebriated chap on the London tube: 'I AM the French aristocracy and I MUST be upheld!'
@esthercrumpet
• Drunk in New York with cute US army boys, walked into glass door
@goldensandsmand
Tweet us @GuardianTravel #TravelCorkboard
