Beliefcoffee Roasters • 빌리프커피 로스터스

I've been spending time back home these past few months and after 1.5 months of hiatus from this blog, I'm back with new updates. I'm currently back in Seoul and gonna stay here for a bit, so hopefully I got more stuff to share these up coming weeks. Spent my first day back in the city being reminded on why I picked summer as my least favorite season in South Korea. It's pretty hot and humid around here, although since I just came from Jakarta, it wasn't a rude awakening, but still... I'm pretty sure I can say the summer weather is in full swing right now with the temperature in 30°C range, high humidity in the air, and cloudy sky followed by occasional rains throughout the day. 

I ended up spending my afternoon at Beliefcoffee Roasters (빌리프커피 로스터스) in Hapjeong (합정) drinking ice green tea latte and catching up with Soo Zee. We stayed there for a good couple of hours with the rest of the crowd that filled the place even though it's only Tuesday. Soo Zee said they're probably escaping the heat in their houses and opted for the cool air-con in the cafe. With the weather outside, I could totally understand that. The cafe is pretty spacious. They have 2 floors, 1st floor and an underground floor. Plenty of tables available available on the first floor and you can find more seatings on the underground floor that has a very interesting interior. If you are looking for a place with cool air-cons to escape the summer heat, this place is definitely worth a visit.

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Beliefcoffee Roasters (빌리프커피 로스터스)

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 양화로11길 50
Tel: 02-322-3100
Hours: 09:30 - 23:30

Instagram: @beliefcoffee_roasters

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Fritz Coffee Company • 프릳츠 도화점

Went to Fritz Coffee Company (프릳츠 커피 컴퍼니) on a nice spring Sunday afternoon with Soo Zee and Leigh to do some work and play. It's been a while since I hung out at a coffee shop on a weekend, I forgot how crowded it can be. This place was especially busy and packed when I walked in. Since I was the last one to arrive, I tried to look for Soo Zee and Leigh when I came in, but couldn't find them anywhere. Apparently, they were on the second floor on the balcony area, which I didn't know this place have. The whole coffee shop is definitely much bigger than it lead on from the outside.

The place is famous for its pastries it seemed like, cos they have a bunch of pastries selections laid out on trays displayed across from the coffee bar. I got the usual, my usual, pain au chocolat with a cup of warm hot chocolate. They were good. I also tried the plain croissant, and I would say it's pretty good. Soo Zee and Leigh thought it was alright, the Old Croissant Factory has better. I never been to the Old Croissant Factory so I didn't know better. 

Anyways, one of the thing that happened during this visit was since the place is pretty big, they have this loud speaker installed on the balcony area to call out orders. The volume on that thing was a little on the loud side and it gets annoying after a couple of times. We just laughed it off after the baristas shouted out the fourth order number. If you are looking for some peace and quite, definitely stay away from the speakers or try to find a seat in the first floor area.

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Samovar Tea Bar

Samovar Tea Bar is one of the places I wanted to visit when I was in San Fran. I found out about this place after I moved out of the city and so I didn't get a chance to check this place out until this trip. The cafe's interior is very different and intriguing. So I decided to look up what's the philosophy behind this brand. According to their website:

"Samovar is an alternate reality. A place where we can step out of the rat race. A place where we invite people to slow down, to inhabit the present moment, to disconnect in order to connect.... We’re about enjoying the basic goodness of being present in the moment."—Jesse Jacobs, Founder.

If that's the case, I definitely can see myself disconnecting and slowing down at this place. The interior does exudes a sense of tranquility and calmness. Definitely a good place to just sit back, relax and recharge yourself. I ordered the green tea latte and it was good. The aroma of the green tea was really nice and it was unsweetened so it gave a really clean taste. I especially enjoyed watching how the teas were being prepared. If you are looking for a good place to drink tea, I would recommend you to check this place out.

Hope everybody have a great weekend and for those of you who are in the States, enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend! :) 

ps: they have another location at the Yerba Buena Gardens, Samovar Tea Lounge, which is bigger than this one and have more food selections. 

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Paul Bassett

For those of you who doesn't know, I've been spending time in my hometown these past few months and now I'm back in Seoul again. Spent the first day back just chillin' with @unlikelysquiggle at Paul Bassett (폴 바셋) the whole afternoon after meeting with @soozee324 to wish her a happy birthday. I've passed by Paul Basset hundreds of times before, but never actually tried this place before. The places always seem to be crowded for some reasons when I passed 'em by. Ordered royal milk tea lattes and the earl grey roll and we were pleasantly surprised on how good the food and drinks are. And by good, I mean not too sweet. The cake was really moist and fluffy too.

Anyways, I will be staying in Seoul for a while so things should be interesting in next couple of weeks. You can follow along daily on my instagram or my snapchat (@greysuitcase) to get a peek on what I'm up to here in the city. 

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Sightglass Coffee

Up to this point, I have posted many posts about cafes that I've visited in the past. And if you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that I'm no food or coffee experts by any means. Most of writings involved the description of the place and whether or not I enjoyed their food or drinks. Some common things about the places I've shared are: first, they are usually nicely designed or cozy spaces and/or, second, they have great selections of tea, non-coffee drinks, or hot chocolate. So with that said, to make it a little bit interesting, from now on I think I'll try to share a little story about interesting things I saw or experienced during my visit or maybe just something random about me to mix it up a little ;)

I've never been a big on breakfast kinda person. I don't really get hungry when I wake up, not 'til a couple of hours later anyway, so breakfast is not something that is mandatory for me. But when I'm in the mood for breakfast, there are certain things that I enjoyed the most during these morning meals. A cup of rich but not-too-sweet hot chocolate with a perfectly baked pain au chocolat on a warm spring morning is one of them. And Sightglass Coffee actually serves that combo. I had a really pleasant morning hanging out with my mom at this place, eating pastries, people watching, and enjoying the warm sunlight that came through the window next to where we're sitting. If their famous coffee selections doesn't really convince you to check this place out, maybe their beautiful floor tiles will ;) 

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