10/23/2012

On vacation~^^

Can you guess where we are heading?

We'll be back shortly! :)

10/22/2012

Hongdae cafe hunting

Hongdae is a charm on its own.  Strolling out for cafes is one of the joys of Hongdae.  A recent increase in foot traffic around this area has made it less "relaxing" in some sense.  An increase in cars going through the streets has made it less "pedestrian" friendly too.   It was perfect when it was.

These are photos from 2010.
Hongdae was a hidden treasure then.  It's now so "hidden" nowadays~^^ 

hongdae cafe seoul

hongdae cafe seoul

10/19/2012

Breakfast - Bali, Indonesia

I love breakfast - the most important meal of the day!  I am a believer in eating a hearty breakfast (only when my stomach tells me so).  This spread jump started our day.  

bali breakfast coffee

bali breakfast coffee

bali breakfast coffee

bali breakfast coffee

Garosugil (Shinsa) - street view

It has changed so much since... until we see again~~~*

seoul cafes hongdae

seoul cafes hongdae

seoul cafes hongdae

seoul cafes hongdae

seoul cafes hongdae

seoul cafes hongdae

seoul cafes hongdae

seoul cafes hongdae

seoul cafes hongdae

seoul cafes hongdae

seoul cafes hongdae

Migo - bakery @ Shinsegae department store

Shinsegae department store (kangnam branch) has great selections for pastry, bread, cakes, and sweets.  They have the sweetest selection for desserts.  Migo is one of the bakeries there.  They have a decent selection of small individual cakes great for dessert on the spot (take it to another coffee place around the area if u want coffee with it, no problem!) or to take home with you.  They put it away nicely for you in a cute to go box since you can't really eat it there anyway.  There are many other sweet shops on the lower floor as well where the food court is located.

Tiramisu cake from Migo

BETWEEN - Cafe by day, posh bar at night

BETWEEN is a restaurant/cafe/bar located in Itaewon.

I posted earlier about the sweet side of this restaurant, but at night, it turns to a bar/hangout place where well dressed Koreans and foreigners grab a drink or two. 


Itaewon is usually is known for its bars/night scene, but I prefer their "day scene" where you will see smaller cute cafes, bakeries and eateries. 

Itaewon has both :)





Gwanghwamoon closed street & performance

Closing of the streets across Kyungpool Palace in Gwanghwamoon (Jongno) area was very intriguing!  We weren't the only ones that were excited about such scene, but many gathered to take photos on the closed street.

Later ,we find out that it was for some festival that was being held by the city.  There was a weird performance I talked about earlier of blue faced men and weird music.  We stuck in for a while until the performers started putting a show that I didn't quite get...  I didn't want to get spit with blue colored water, so we got out fast before they could even try.

You never know what you will come across in Seoul!

Kraze Burger - just okay burgers


Sure, craving a burger is totally normal! (when we I was in the "fat-consumption" conscious days) As I would tell my husband just a month ago, but now it's become me who's suggesting burgers for dinner!  Yes, people change.

burger korea seoul kraze

10/18/2012

Happy faces/coffee - Dunkin' Donuts

Gotta love the cute little sleeves & cups!

cute coffee sleeves seoul cafes

cute coffee sleeves seoul cafes

Samcheongdong streets

in the midst of all~

samcheongdong

Berry ice cream & waffles - Moss Cafe

Waffles with ice cream is one of my favorite cafe eats!  You can definitely make a lot of sense of the cafe as a whole in this one dish.  Any cafe that boasts this plate should be able to "wow" it.

seoul cafes waffles ice cream


10/17/2012

Cappuccino - Trevia

@ Trevia around Noksapyung station.

seoul cafes coffee

Airport Subway - which one to take?

An empty airport subway is a rare sight nowadays.  Just a year ago, it was pretty empty.  That's all changed now.  The last time I rode it, people were actually standing!

korea seoul airport subway

It's great that there are newly added stops to Hongdae and our town, Gongdeok.

The airport subway is pretty convenient, but takes a bit long.  Be prepared to bring something to entertain yourself with.

korea seoul airport subway

The pros of riding the subway over an "airport bus" is that it's much cheaper.  Less than 4000won one way.  But again, it takes a bit longer than the direct bus.  The direct buses to the airport takes around 50 minutes(more or less), but this depends on the driver and where you are. 

Either way, getting around to and from the airport is not so bad and you have many options.. direct bus, regular subway(airport subway), or the faster train (which is not really that much faster..shhhhh don't tell them I told you that..).  And of course, there's taxi - which is not an option unless you have money to spend.  It takes 60,000won and up from Gongdeok.  Don't take one unless you're a group of 4 or more and have many many bags ;)


They have been advertising the "faster airport train" heavily (that runs to and from Seoul station) - but it's only 15 minutes or so faster and runs at odd times(every 30 minutes?) - so I never caught it.  I think it's a waste of money on their part - I would only take one if it was 30 minutes faster.  It's too bad that's not working well.  They have slashed the price pretty low now.


If you have some time to spare and don't have many bags to lug around, I would recommend the regular airport subway. 




Paris Baguette's bingsu

A "lighter" version of a bingsu from Paris Baguette. 

seoul cafe bingsu

Most bingu and the more famous ones are "fancy" and "heavier" with many toppings on top, this one is simpler with frozen blue berries and giant seedless grapes as the main toppings. 


Just a few years ago, many bakeries like Paris Baguette have been turning their "bakery" into "cafes" with tables and seats and of course drinks! 

Their coffee drinks are pretty decent and it really depends on who makes it/what store you go to.  Some will have great coffee and some will taste like water.  I've had both from PB before.  Same goes with their baked goods.  Some store will have the best stuff while some will taste like they've been sitting there for a few days.. 

So if you happen to have a bad experience with them, don't be discouraged~^^ not are all the same.






Cafe D-55 - with the cat boss

Behold another "cat boss" of a cafe.  All the photos are of the cat.  I apologize.  As you couldn't tell already, we adore anything with cats..and when there's a "real cat" + cafe = we go gaga (not lady gaga!). 

seoul cafes cat
hey there baby cat
I'm not even going to bother about the drinks or food here.  Since that was the last priority we had.  Our eyes were on the cat.  Period.  This kitten (less than a year old?) baby was a curious one.  It strolled around the cafe like it was its own.

seoul cafes cat
chasing a "bug" on the window

Seoul subway - Gwanghwamoon

Here are some photos of Gwanghwamoon station.

seoul subway station
Name of the station/#/in Chinese & English
 A lot of signs are in English and Chinese

Masks on sale - Olive Young

Masks. Facial Masks.   
ON SALE!!!! 

olive young
Get em while they're on sale! @ Olive Young

Mini mini cup cakes!

I still can't believe how adorable these mini cupcakes were....



just adorable~~~*




Cafe in Shanghai - Element Fresh

Grabbing an early lunch at a cafe called, Element Fresh, in Shanghai.  I really enjoyed the coffee and the sandwiches/salad were really tasty and indeed fresh! :)



I had a few days to myself while hubby was in his meetings and I got to really soak in all the city.  I never once felt out of place and loved the food!  I couldn't get enough of the "jelly dessert" yummies that I fell in love with.. will have to post more soon~


My favorite of all sweets...

Macaron... love~

macaron korea seoul cafe

Gwanghwamoon at night

Walking to gwanhwamoon station coming from samcheongdong.

You'll be surprised how all the areas are actually quite close to each other.  Insadong, Gwanghwamoon and Samcheongdong are only blocks away from each other.  And very walkable.  Enjoyable too, even more so when the weather is perfect.

gwanghwamoon

gwanghwamoon

vanilla ice cream - Mobsie


Mobsie Cafe - favorite thus far... except.. except...
that scoop of vanilla ice cream was a big disappointment.

seoul cute cafe 
You can't dare mix good chocolate with a meh ice cream... :(
It tasted too icy and not vanilla enough.
Something creamier would have better suited the hot chocolate.   
Until next time~

seoul cute cafe

Blue faced performers - Gwanghwamoon

It was a very interesting night.  Hubby and I decided to meet up in Gwanghwamoon for dinner and we stumble upon this. 

A bunch of blue faced performers on the middle of the closed street in Gwanghwamoon.  Drinking blue colored water and spitting it on the crowd.  Live band and weird music.  Strange.  Very strange.  Maybe I've been reading too much on the "zombie attacks" at home.

We parted away from the crowd.  The performance was...Uncomfortable?!  Anyways, at least we got to have dinner and got home safely without any zombie scare :P

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