BINGELY TV/STREAMING

THE SEASON

Hulu Original

Hulu on Disney+

The Season takes us to Hong Kong in a world of high stakes finance, hospitality, super yachts, luxury and thrilling intrigue. We step into this series at the beginning of a period of time that includes a number of parties and functions that Hong Kong’s elite enjoys! While we meet some of the most important families in the region, we connect with an Asian American woman who is looking to be included in this society.

As we continue to watch the events unfold and see her navigating her new world, we realize that a decades old crime involves her family. She wants to right the wrong and to ensure that those that were involved get the justice that they deserve.

To what ends will she go to and how will she manipulate her new connections to bring her goal to fruition? How many skeletons will be unearthed and will this time of year be a complete failure?

EARTH, WIND & FIRE (TO BE CELESTIAL VS THAT’S THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD)

HBO Original

HBO

Earth, Wind & Fire is one of our favorite bands. We grew up listening to the music and enjoying

the phenomenal stage performances of this iconic band that continues to draw audiences to this day! In Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World), we learn about the origin story of the band that began with its founder, Maurice White. How he grew up informs how he created this band and then reimagined it to what we know today!

We also learn about the additional members of this band which includes his brother Verdine White as well as legendary artists that we have enjoyed hearing from for decades. In addition to seeing the formation of the group, we also hear about their discography as well as stories behind the music!

Hearing from the band as well as noted individuals that are fans of the music makes this documentary one that you will want to watch a few times to catch all the gems of this band!

THE BEAR

FX

FX and Hulu on Disney+

It’s a bittersweet moment in prestige TV as the final season of The Bear is out now! If you need to catch up on the previous seasons, we suggest that you do. Before you watch S5, you need to check a bonus one episode prequel, Gary which follows Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Mikey (Jon Bernthal) as they spend time for a day in Gary, Indiana which dropped last month. Then continue on to S5 to see what happens with the crew at our favorite Chicago restaurant and a culinary team that we have enjoyed seeing over the years!

Read the JUN ISSUE #126 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY TV/STREAMING in mag.

BINGELY BOOKS

COOKING THE BORDERLANDS: SPICE AND SMOKE BETWEEN MEXICO AND THE STATES

Clarkson Potter

Claudette Zepeda

In Cooking The Borderlands: Spice and Smoke Between Mexico and the States, Chef Claudette Zepeda S15 Top Chef contestant and Iron Chef Mexico Finalist, tells the culinary stories of those that live in the vibrant communities along the border in Mexico and in the US. This cookbook has more than 100 flavorful dishes. We’re looking forward to making Las Calandrias Caballitos (Chicken Sopes), Arroz Poblano (Poblano Pepper Creamy Rice), and Camarones al Ajillo (Baja Style Garlic Shrimp).

THE LAYERED HOME: AN INTERIOR DESIGN BOOK: INSPIRATION FOR CRAFTING COZY, COLLECTED ROOMS

Clarkson Potter

Benjamin Reynaert

We love a proper coffeetable book and The Layered Home: An Interior Design Book: Inspiration For Crafting Cozy, Collected Rooms is one that we know we will flip through frequently! We’ve been following Benjamin Reynaert as we have been fans of his IG as well as the fact that is a Market Director at Elle Decor.

This book will give you the tools and inspiration that you’ll need to transform your spaces in vibrant and cozy ways. His formula involves layers + personalization = absolute spatial magic. By integrating more patterns and colors as well as adding in preloved pieces, your home will be the canvas for your treasured objects.

To get into this aesthetic, Benjamin shares images of homes around the world that include his formula with their patterns, colors, textures, art, furniture and objects. With over 2oo images, this will begin to build the blueprint of how you can bring this into your space.

GUT CHECK: UNLEASH THE POWER OF YOUR MICROBIOME TO REVERSE DISEASE & TRANSFORM YOUR HEALTH

Harper Wave

Steven R. Gundry MD

We have previously included Gundry MD products within our roundups at Athleisure Mag from their olive oils as well as gut healthy olives. Steven R. Gundry MD is known for his Plant Paradox series and as we are always interested in exploring gut health, we have started Gut Check: Unleash the Power of Your Microbiome to Reverse Disease and Transform Your Health.

This book explores the gut biome and serves as a guide to how it controls us. He delves into the complex and intelligent ecosystem and how we can heal and protect it to prevent issues that we may be dealing with.

This shares research as well as a detailed eating plan with food lists and recipes that will heal and balance our microbiome!

Read the JUN ISSUE #126 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY BOOKS in mag.

SMALL LIFESTYLE CHANGES THAT CAN SAVE YOU MONEY

Near the end of the month, many people look at their account balance and wonder where the money went. The balance is lower than expected, but there's no obvious purchase to explain it. There was no expensive gadget, no extravagant weekend, and no single purchase that caused the problem. More often, the money disappears through small spending habits that have become automatic. It might be a subscription that keeps renewing, an outdated service plan, or convenience fees that have become routine. Taking another look at those habits often reveals easy ways to spend less without making major changes.

You're Still Paying for Things You Signed Up for Years Ago

Many phone carriers continue offering older plans long after they've stopped promoting them to new customers. Someone paying $75 a month may not realize a similar plan now costs $55 because carriers rarely point out cheaper options. Auto insurance rates shift year to year, internet providers roll out lower-priced bundles for new signups, and streaming services reshuffle their tiers periodically. Existing customers are rarely notified about these changes. Fixing it is usually simple and doesn't require any negotiation. Pull up your carrier's account page, find the name of the plan you're on, and run a quick search combining that plan name with your provider's name. In many cases, you'll find a cheaper option with similar benefits. For the rest of your recurring charges, open your bank statement, filter by recurring transactions, and scan for anything that no longer matches how you actually use it. News subscriptions started during free trials, cloud storage upgrades that were never downgraded, and fitness apps you stopped using months ago often stay on autopilot until you review your statements.

PHOTO CREDIT | Magnific

The Cost of Convenience

Convenience has a price, and it often arrives in small amounts that seem harmless. Take someone who orders food delivery twice a week. Parking directly beside the entrance instead of walking a few extra minutes. Paying extra for same-day shipping when standard delivery would work perfectly well. None of these decisions feels expensive on its own. Imagine someone who orders delivery twice a week. Each order includes service fees, delivery charges, and a tip. Add a few premium parking sessions and a couple of rushed purchases with express shipping. By the end of the month, the total might reach a few hundred dollars. When people add everything up, the total is often surprising. That's because each individual expense felt too small to matter. At the same time, the combined amount could have covered something far more useful. One habit tends to cost more than the rest. Last-minute purchases tend to cost far more than planned purchases. When people wait until the final moment, they lose access to discounts, cheaper shipping options, and price comparisons. A bit of planning can save more money than many people expect.

When Other People's Spending Habits Start Influencing Yours

Spending habits often become more expensive gradually, making it hard to pinpoint exactly what changed. A friend starts ordering from a pricier delivery app, and you do too. The group shifts from cheap wine at home to a wine bar running $18 a glass, and you go along because the alternative is staying home. A coworker mentions upgrading their phone plan, and yours starts to feel insufficient. These small changes add up over time, and none of them trigger a budget alert or register as a meaningful upgrade at the time. Over six months, though, they add up in ways that show clearly in the numbers. A useful check: pull three of your most frequent spending categories from twelve months ago and compare the average transaction size to the current month. If the per-transaction amount moved up across multiple categories without a matching change in income, social influence may be part of the reason. One useful approach is simple: pick one category where the average feels inflated relative to your actual preferences, set a personal ceiling that reflects what you'd genuinely choose on your own, and stick with it for four weeks. That's usually enough to tell which habits were actually yours.

PHOTO CREDIT | Magnific

Discounts You're Probably Missing

Many loyalty programs and cashback offers rely on the fact that a large number of users never redeem their rewards. Kroger and Target push app-only discounts through their weekly pricing cycles, and shoppers who pay full price help offset discounts claimed by those who use the app. Cashback credit cards often return between 1 and 2 percent on everyday purchases, but a large share of cardholders go years without clicking into the rewards section, leaving rewards unclaimed for years. That math holds in any category where an account opening or first deposit is involved, and most platforms allocate welcome offers the same way grocery chains allocate weekly app pricing. The same principle applies to online casinos and other digital services, where promotional offers are often available to new users. Level Up Casino promo codes can be found at https://casinosanalyzer.com/casino-bonuses/levelupcasino.com before making a first deposit. Many players head straight to the deposit page without checking for available offers and end up missing a discount they could have claimed. Food delivery apps rotate first-order credits on the same schedule, and most new users miss them for exactly the same reason. Streaming services carry trial extensions that take about thirty seconds to find, and most subscribers never request them.

Do You Really Need an Upgrade? 

For many American households, the phone upgrade cycle now runs closer to two years than four, even when the current device still functions fine. A new model comes out with a slightly better camera, and the existing phone suddenly starts to feel outdated. In practice, a two-year-old iPhone handles navigation, everyday photography, streaming, and calls at a level most people wouldn't distinguish from this year's model in daily use. The cost difference between upgrading every two years and every three, run through a standard carrier installment plan, adds up to roughly $400-$600 over five years before accounting for trade-in value lost on a working device. Before committing to an upgrade, write down the three things you use your phone for most and check if the new version offers a concrete improvement in any of them. For most people, one item surfaces, usually the camera, and that improvement alone rarely justifies the full price difference. The same calculation applies to laptops: if the machine handles the current workload without slowdowns, the upgrade is mostly a matter of preference rather than necessity.

PHOTO CREDIT | Magnific

How Grocery Stores Encourage You to Spend More

Supermarkets route customers past as many product categories as possible before they reach staples like dairy and eggs, which are placed at the back specifically to increase time in the store. High-margin items sit at eye level, and checkout lanes carry small additions specifically for shoppers who are less selective by the end of a trip. Understanding the layout changes how you move through it, and checking the unit price column rather than the sticker price is one of the easiest ways to save money consistently. Most major chains, including Kroger, Safeway, and Walmart, print both on the shelf tag: the package price and the per-ounce or per-unit cost. A 28-ounce jar of pasta sauce that looks cheaper than the 16-ounce version is frequently more expensive per ounce, and the larger package creates a false impression of savings. Comparing unit prices across five or six recurring items typically saves a two-person household between $18 and $30 a month without changing brands or buying in bulk. A quick step worth adding before walking in: open the store's app and clip whatever digital coupons are available. Kroger and Target both push app-exclusive discounts that activate with one tap, often running 15 percent or more off selected items, and new offers load each week.

None of these changes require a new budgeting app or a stretch of cutting back. Sometimes all it takes is one small habit, such as canceling a subscription you no longer use, checking for a discount code, or comparing prices before making a purchase. Each change may save only a small amount, but several small improvements can add up surprisingly quickly. After a few months, the difference is often noticeable in your account balance.

KOREAN HERITAGE: SEOUL'S ENERGY AND HISTORIC SOUTHERN LANDSCAPES

South Korea offers travellers a fascinating blend of cutting-edge innovation and centuries-old traditions. Bustling metropolitan districts, peaceful mountain temples, royal palaces, and scenic coastal regions exist within a relatively compact country that is easy to explore. While Seoul introduces visitors to Korea's dynamic modern identity, the southern provinces reveal historic cities, traditional villages, and beautiful natural scenery that showcase another side of the nation. Travelling between these destinations creates an unforgettable journey through Korea's cultural heritage.

PHOTO CREDIT | Unsplash/Neo Y

Fast Connections Across the Country

One of the greatest advantages of travelling through South Korea is the excellent railway network. Many visitors choose the KTX train to move quickly between major cities while enjoying comfortable seating and impressive punctuality.

High-speed rail allows travellers to leave Seoul in the morning and arrive in the southern regions just a few hours later. Along the way, passengers watch dense urban districts gradually give way to rivers, forests, farmland, and mountain landscapes. The convenience of rail travel makes it easy to include multiple destinations within a single itinerary without feeling rushed.

The railway has become an important part of South Korea's modern identity, supporting both domestic travel and international tourism.

Experiencing a Classic Korean Rail Journey

While high-speed services receive most of the attention, the Mugunghwa train offers a slower and more traditional way to discover the country. These services stop at a greater number of towns and smaller cities, allowing travellers to experience places that many visitors overlook.

The slower pace encourages passengers to appreciate changing scenery while observing everyday life across different regions. Traditional markets, agricultural communities, and quiet stations provide a glimpse into Korea beyond its largest metropolitan areas.

For travellers who value the journey as much as the destination, this classic railway experience offers a rewarding alternative to faster services.

Seoul's Modern Character

Seoul is one of Asia's most exciting capitals, combining advanced technology with deep historical roots. Towering skyscrapers stand beside royal palaces, while traditional markets continue to flourish only a short distance from fashionable shopping streets.

Neighbourhoods such as Myeong-dong, Hongdae, Insadong, and Gangnam each reveal a different aspect of the city's personality. Visitors can spend the morning exploring centuries-old architecture before enjoying contemporary art galleries, rooftop cafés, or innovative restaurants later in the day.

The city's efficient public transport system makes exploring remarkably straightforward, allowing travellers to experience both famous landmarks and quieter residential districts with ease.

PHOTO CREDIT | Unsplash/HONG KYU PARK

Royal Heritage in the Capital

Among Seoul's greatest treasures are its historic royal palaces, which preserve important chapters of Korean history. Beautiful gates, elegant courtyards, traditional pavilions, and carefully designed gardens provide a peaceful contrast to the city's modern skyline.

Many visitors enjoy watching the ceremonial changing of the royal guard before wandering through palace grounds that once served as the centre of political life. Museums located nearby provide additional insight into Korea's royal dynasties and cultural development.

These landmarks demonstrate how Seoul continues to preserve its heritage while embracing rapid modern growth.

Gyeongju and Korea's Ancient Legacy

Often called the museum without walls, Gyeongju introduces travellers to one of the country's most historically significant regions. As the former capital of the Silla Kingdom, the city contains royal tombs, ancient temples, historic observatories, and remarkable archaeological sites.

Walking through Gyeongju feels very different from exploring Seoul. Wide green parks, quiet streets, and centuries-old monuments create a calm atmosphere that encourages slow exploration. Historic landmarks blend naturally with the surrounding landscape, offering visitors opportunities to reflect on Korea's long and fascinating history.

The city remains one of the finest destinations for anyone interested in traditional Korean culture.

PHOTO CREDIT | Unsplash/Dmitry Voronov


https://unsplash.com/photos/pink-field-overlooks-mountains-and-building-at-sunset-y5GM2u8cCiA?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink

Busan's Coastal Appeal

South Korea's second-largest city presents another completely different experience. Busan combines sandy beaches, lively seafood markets, modern architecture, and scenic coastal viewpoints within a vibrant maritime setting.

The city's waterfront districts attract visitors throughout the year, while colourful hillside neighbourhoods provide excellent panoramic views across the harbour. Fresh seafood, local festivals, and welcoming cafés contribute to Busan's relaxed atmosphere.

Despite its size, Busan feels less hurried than Seoul, making it an excellent place to slow down and enjoy the country's southern coastline.

Traditional Villages and Mountain Landscapes

Away from the major cities, South Korea preserves numerous traditional villages where tiled-roof houses, narrow lanes, and local customs continue to shape daily life. These communities provide valuable insight into architectural styles and cultural traditions that have survived for generations.

Mountain national parks offer another rewarding experience. Well-maintained hiking trails lead through forests to peaceful temples where visitors can enjoy spectacular scenery and moments of quiet reflection.

Exploring these rural landscapes helps travellers appreciate the close relationship between Korean culture and the natural environment.

Regional Cuisine Along the Journey

Every region introduces its own distinctive flavours. Seoul offers countless dining options ranging from traditional family restaurants to contemporary cafés, while Busan is particularly famous for fresh seafood and lively fish markets.

Southern Korea also celebrates regional dishes prepared using locally grown ingredients and long-established recipes. Markets become ideal places to sample seasonal specialities while observing everyday community life.

Trying local cuisine throughout the journey provides another meaningful way to understand the country's cultural diversity.

Planning a Rewarding Korean Adventure

Travellers can comfortably combine Seoul with southern destinations within one holiday thanks to South Korea's outstanding transport infrastructure. Spring and autumn provide especially pleasant weather for sightseeing, while each season offers unique scenery and local festivals.

Allowing several days in both the capital and the southern regions creates a balanced itinerary that combines history, nature, modern culture, and authentic local experiences. Spending time in smaller towns between major cities also adds depth to the journey.

A flexible schedule allows opportunities for unexpected discoveries that often become the most memorable moments of the trip.

Conclusion

South Korea presents an inspiring combination of vibrant cities, remarkable historical sites, beautiful landscapes, and efficient transportation. From Seoul's modern energy and royal heritage to the peaceful historic landscapes of Gyeongju and the coastal charm of Busan, every destination contributes something unique. Travellers who explore beyond the capital will discover a country where ancient traditions and contemporary innovation exist together in perfect harmony.

FROM PARISIAN CAFÉS TO AZURE COASTS: ROMANCE AND GLAMOUR OF FRANCE

Order a café crème at a zinc-topped bar on a Tuesday morning in Paris, take a seat facing the street, and notice how the people walking past carry themselves - unhurried, dressed with consideration, apparently untroubled by the fact that it is a Tuesday morning. France performs a particular version of the good life so consistently that it becomes easy to forget it is a performance and harder still to resist participating in it.

PHOTO CREDIT | Unsplash/Rich Martello

Paris: The City That Invented the Idea of Itself

Paris is the most self-conscious city in the world in the most productive sense - it has been thinking about what Paris should look like and feel like since Haussmann reorganised it in the 1850s, and the result is an urban environment where the quality of the light on limestone facades, the arrangement of a café terrace, and the geometry of a bridge over the Seine feel like decisions that have been refined over a very long time. That quality of considered arrangement is what most visitors are responding to when they describe Paris as romantic, and it holds up across the arrondissements in different proportions.

The Marais district in the 3rd and 4th arrondissements gives the most complete picture of Paris before Haussmann - the medieval street layout survived the 19th-century reorganisation because the neighbourhood was already too dense and too valuable to demolish entirely. The Place des Vosges, the oldest planned square in Paris (completed in 1612), is surrounded by arcades and red-brick mansions that give it a residential quality that none of Haussmann's grand squares replicate. Victor Hugo lived at number 6 from 1832 to 1848 and the apartment is now a free museum that is visited by far fewer people than the address deserves. 

Lyon: Where France Actually Eats

Lyon's claim to be the gastronomic capital of France is made with less tourist pressure than Paris and more local conviction. The bouchon tradition - small, informal restaurants serving traditional Lyonnais cuisine to a regular clientele - is the institution that defines the city's food culture. The dishes served in a genuine bouchon (tablier de sapeur, quenelles de brochet, cervelle de canut, tarte praline) are specific to Lyon in a way that makes the city's food culture legible rather than generic. The Halles Paul Bocuse in the 3rd arrondissement, the covered market named for the chef who put Lyon's cuisine on the international map, is where the ingredients behind the bouchon menu are sourced - the charcuterie, the quenelles, the St-Marcellin cheese - and a morning there before lunch elsewhere is the right order of operations.

The TGV high-speed service from Paris to Lyon takes around two hours on the LGV Sud-Est, France's first high-speed line (opened in 1981) and still the backbone of the network. From Lyon, the train service continues south through the Rhône valley toward Marseille and the Mediterranean coast - the progression from the industrial outskirts of Lyon to the limestone scrubland of Provence visible from the window over around 90 minutes of travel is one of those journeys where you can watch the climate change around you. 

PHOTO CREDIT | Unsplash/Beth Chobanova

The Côte d'Azur: Light and Water

The train from Paris to Nice takes around five and a half hours from Paris Gare de Lyon and the Nice arrival at Nice-Ville station puts you ten minutes' walk from the Promenade des Anglais and the seafront. Nice is the starting point for the Côte d'Azur rather than its entirety, and the towns along the coast - Antibes, Juan-les-Pins, Cannes, Saint-Tropez to the west; Monaco, Èze, Menton to the east - have distinct characters that make moving along the coast by the regional TER trains or by boat more interesting than staying in a single resort.

The light of the Côte d'Azur is the specific thing that attracted Matisse, Picasso, Chagall, and Renoir to the region, and the museums dedicated to their work here are worth building an itinerary around. The Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, set in a pine forest above the village with a garden of Calder mobiles and Miró sculptures integrated into the landscape, is the finest art foundation in the south of France and makes the drive or bus from Nice worthwhile. The Musée Matisse in Nice itself, in a 17th-century Genoese villa in the Cimiez neighbourhood above the city, holds the largest collection of Matisse's work including the full-scale cartoons for the stained glass windows of the Vence Chapel - preliminary studies for a building 20 kilometres away that the museum makes fully intelligible.

PHOTO CREDIT | Unsplash/Christian Harb

Provence: Lavender, Wine, and Stone Villages

Provence inland from the coast operates at a different pace from the summer intensity of the Riviera and rewards visits outside July and August when the lavender fields around Valensole are in bloom but the roads are manageable. The Luberon range of villages - Gordes, Roussillon, Bonnieux, Ménerbes, Lacoste - are clustered closely enough to cover by car in a day but each has a specific character that makes the comparison between them interesting rather than repetitive. Roussillon is built from the ochre rock that underlies it; the 17 shades of red, orange, and yellow in the cliffs and buildings create a colour saturation that is unlike anywhere else in France. The ochre mining trail above the village, a 45-minute walk through the former quarries, is where the full range of the geological colour is visible at close range.

The Pont du Gard, the Roman aqueduct bridge northwest of Nîmes, is the architectural monument in the south of France that most consistently exceeds expectations. The three tiers of limestone arches spanning the Gardon river reach 49 metres at their highest point, and the engineering precision of the structure - built without mortar in the 1st century AD and still standing without significant restoration to the main structure - is visible in the tight fit of the stone blocks from the river bank. The site is most atmospheric in early morning before the day visitors arrive, when the reflection of the arches in the water below and the silence of the garrigue above create a quality of stillness that the Roman engineers probably didn't intend but that their structure has earned over two thousand years.

Conclusion

France works as a travel destination because it has enough variety within a manageable geography to satisfy almost any combination of interests - city, coast, wine country, mountain, historical architecture, contemporary art. The train network connects most of it at speeds that make multiple regions practical in a single trip. Whatever draws you to France initially, the country tends to redirect you toward something you didn't plan for, and that unplanned version is usually the thing you remember most clearly afterward.