Ikovox Coffee

A strong smell of coffee immediately greeted me as soon as I stepped into this place. I guess it's a good thing since it is a coffee shop after all. Went to Ikovox Coffee (이코복스) in Itaewon (이태원) by the recommendation of Soozee, who said they have good coffee and good vibes here, which were true. The space is small, a little dark with hints of afternoon light coming through the windows here and there. Two gentlemen talking in the middle of the room, another gentleman was sitting on the counter waiting for his order, and the one that we sat next to was working on his laptop. I think this is a good place to chill, catch up with friends, or simply to read a book. Although when we were about to leave, the place suddenly got really busy, people were waiting for tables and looking for empty chairs. I think it's a weekend thing.

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Seoul City Hall

Can't believe the first 6 months of 2015 is almost over. It's almost the end of June and time sure flies fast. The first half of 2015 have been super awesome for me. I think I've learned and experienced lots of new things that I've never imagined before. School life, work, (new) friends, and traveling probably occupied most of my time. Made lots of great memories and hopefully I can share it here later on :) Now that I'm back in Seoul, I finally have a down time to work through all the backlogged photos that have been sitting on my hard drive all these times :p

Sharing one of the sessions from earlier this year, a visit to Seoul City Hall (서울시청) with Ken and Davina in one cold winter day. To be honest, the interior of the city hall kinda reminds me just a little of Singapore's famous Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay (but of course Cloud Forest is much more impressive) just because they have all these green plants on the walls with the concrete structure on the background. But anyways, the whole building is pretty cool. Lots of natural light (we went on a pretty bright sunny day), tall windows, and interesting building structure. A lot of different angles you can play with when taking shots. There were lots of older people that were hanging out in the cafe on the upper floor—reading or meeting up with their friends. Although seeing that made me think of how much official business actually going on around here? ;p

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A.blick Cafe

Seogyodong (서교동) neighborhood is one the neighborhoods that I usually go to if I want to get away from the hustle and bustle of Hongdae. Feeling like drinking fresh juice on one of my outings with @inner.pastiche, we decided to check out A.blick (에이블릭), a cafe that sells detox juices. The place was pretty quite when we got there, only a couple of people were there—a guy working on his laptop and an older gentleman reading a book—while soft jazz music playing on the background. Went ahead and ordered their top two best selling juices, and they were delicious (and fresh). And the price wasn't that expensive compared to other places that sells detox juice. I think this place is perfect for studying or working. Plus, a glass of cold fresh juice sounds so good for a hot summer days like these days. 

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National Museum of Korea • 국립중앙박물관

I got a chance to go visit National Museum of Korea (국립중앙박물관) during a school field trip. The complex is really huge. You have to walk across an open area before entering this big tall building. My first impression stepping into the museum was this place has a really nice natural lighting. High ceilings with windows really gives a nice soft lighting around the open area of the museums. For architecture fans, this place is worth a visit. Plus if you venture outside the museum, you can see the N Seoul Tower on the background. 

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Hana Okonomiyaki

I'm starting this post with a little confession that I didn't know the name of this place until I was about to write this post. The main reason is this place is right around my neighborhood, passed this place like thousands of times, but never bothered to read the name of the place. I only knew this spot as 'that-okonomiyaki-place-that-always-have-people-lining-up-for-seats'. First I thought maybe because the place is pretty small, but after I finally had the chance to try this place, I can see why.

Hana Okonomiyaki (하나 오코노미야키 야키소바 a.k.a 신촌 하나) is located in Sinchon neighborhood, in between Sinchon Station and Ehwa Station. The place is famous for their okonomiyaki and yakisoba, and I asked my Japanese friends and they said the taste is pretty good and authentic. The price is also relatively not expensive, ranging from 7,000—9,000KRW. I let my friends ordered last time so I'm not exactly sure what we ordered, but everything was delicious. We even ordered seconds too. Tips: If you come here during dinner time, come early or you'll most likely will have to wait for seats. Go during lunch time since there's usually fewer people waiting in line.

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