I Hate Monday • 아이헤이트먼데이

If you have visited enough shops that sells local brands in Seoul, you’ll probably notice this one socks brand that keeps making appearances over and over again in different stores and locations. I Hate Monday (아이헤이트먼데이) is a popular Korean socks brand that was started with the main goal is to beat the Monday Blues.

The founder of the brand, sock designer Hong Jung Mi started this business because she used to hate going back to work on Monday after the weekend. "When you think of going to work on Monday, you often start to get nervous from Sunday evening onwards. So I decided to make something fun, creative and unique to help make people feel a bit more comfortable on their way to work," she said on an interview with The Chosunilbo. This sentiment clearly resonates with a lot of people since after started selling her socks on a vending machine in Sinsa-dong, it became really really popular and the business has only became a bigger and more popular until these days.

The brand has now expanded their socks line as well as working with other brands for collaboration projects. Their latest collaboration project includes working together with Innocean Worldwide to make braille socks for visually impaired (read the article here).

When I visited the store, I ended up talking with the person who was manning the store for a bit and she did told me about the story of her boss quitting her corporate job to start this brand because she really hated Mondays. Now that she owns this successful brand, I don’t think she hates Monday as much as she used to ;)

I Hate Monday • 아이헤이트먼데이

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 합정동 363-30
Telephone: 070-4028-1867
Hours: 11:30 - 19:00 (Weekdays. Lunch Break: 12:30 - 14:00) | 13:00 - 18:00 (Saturdays) | Closed on Sundays.

Website: I Hate Monday
Instagram: @ihatemondaysocks

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Mmm Records • 음레코드

I visited Mmm Records (음레코드) last spring with Ken and my cousin during one of our outings in Seoul. Ken was actually the one who wanted to check out this place and we just tagged along since we never been to this place either. Mmm Records sells vintage LPs, 7-inch records, as well as old school cassette tapes. The store is decorated with vintage furnitures as well as turntables and boomboxes that are for sale. The walls are plastered with black and white typography posters with musicians lyrics and names. Mmm Records also hosts record fairs, DJ events and even DJ lessons if you are interested in learning how to DJ.

On top of selling all these vintage analog music, they also have a cafe/bar section in the store. You can order food, like Poutine and Banhmi Sandwiches, or if you just want to chill and order some drinks, they have a good selections of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic options. They have seatings spread out around the two floors inside the building and they have a rooftop area as well that is pretty cozy to hang out at when the weather is nice. We actually ended up hanging out at the rooftop for a bit after checking out the store, ordered our drinks and brought them upstairs. The rooftop has a view of Namsan, Seoul Tower and all the small houses that made up the neighborhood around the area. Since the area is pretty quite, watching the view with the sunset in the background was really nice. If you’re into vintage LPs and vinyls, this place is definitely worth a visit. If not, you can always just hang out and enjoy the view from their rooftop with your friends.

Mmm Records • 음레코드

Address: 울특별시 용산구 한남동 620-152
Telephone: 070-4001-0625
Hours: 15:00-24:00 (Weekdays) | 12:00-24:00 (Weekends)

Instagram: @mmmrecords

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What's Your Cereal Number (WYCN) • 왓츠유어씨리얼넘버

What's Your Cereal Number (왓츠유어씨리얼넘버) or WYCN is another cereal cafe that I’ve visited just out of curiosity. Knowing full well after my visit to Midnight in Seoul that this could be another overpriced cereal cafe, I still decided to give it a go since the place’s newer, smaller, and less popular, thought I give the underdog a go. The cafe itself is pretty small, it only have seatings for around 6 people max. If there is more people than that, the cafe will already be full. Luckily, it was empty when I was there.

Ordering system is slightly different than Midnight in Seoul. Here, it is based on the cup size you choose and it has a flat rate for each cup which includes up to 2 cereals + 4 toppings of your choosing. The regular cup costs ₩7,000 and the large cup costs ₩8,500 (my prediction about the price was right, pretty pricey). The cereal and milk taste pretty standard but the combo that I ended up ordering was way too sweet for me. I think I just didn’t choose a good combo. Anyway, now I found another cereal cafe that is on the opposite side of Seoul, in case I have one of my cereal cravings episode.

Update:

This cafe is now closed down.

What's Your Cereal Number (WYCN) • 왓츠유어씨리얼넘버

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 연남동 384-11
Telephone: 010-3744-1792
Hours: 12:00 - 21:00 (Closed on Mondays)

Instagram: @wycn_kr

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Art Platz • 사는게꽃같네 아트플라츠

Art Platz (사는게꽃같네 아트플라츠) is a small store located in Yeonnam-dong (연남동) neighborhood that sells a number of different local products and arts & crafts. The neon decorated exterior was what attracted me to see what’s inside this place and sure enough there were a lot of interesting pieces to see inside the small store.

Later, I also found out that turns out, this place has been making appearance in a couple of popular Korean dramas including Your House Helper (당신의 하우스헬퍼), Jealousy Incarnate (질투의 화신), and Individualist Ms. Ji-young (개인주의자 지영씨). Anybody watched one of these drama? Does this spot look familiar? Let me know!

Art Platz • 사는게꽃같네 아트플라츠

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 연남동 257-5
Hours: 12:00 - 19:00 (Closed on Mondays)

Instagram: @artplatz.co.kr

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Underyard • 언더야드

Came to Underyard (언더야드) with my cousin for some late brunch on a Monday and we had to wait for quite a bit for our table cos the place was packed. We weren’t expecting it to be packed since, first, it’s a Monday, and two, the restaurant itself is located in the middle of a quiet residential area that does not necessarily attracts a lot of foot traffic.

After we finally got our seat in one of the tables inside of what felt like a contemporary underground kitchen, we looked through their menu to decided what we’re gonna order. Their food menu is pretty simple. There are sandwiches, salads, and homemade yogurt options, and also Shakshuka to complete the food menu. Their drink menu on the other hand consists of selections of coffee, tea, and soda.

We decided to order their Shrimp & Salmon Sandwich and Shakshuka and to share. The shrimp & salmon sandwich was light and fresh and a perfect choice to open our meal. The combination of shrimp, salmon, cucumber, eggs, dill, and lemon was really well balanced. The shakshuka—which is basically eggs in tomato sauce—on the other hand, came with bread and it tasted wonderful. The fresh juicy taste of tomatoes combined with the eggs gave us a perfect end to hearty meal. If you are looking for a brunch spot in Seoul, I would recommend to give Underyard a try.

Underyard • 언더야드

Address: 서울특별시 강남구 논현동 62-20
Telephone: 02-3443-3356
Hours: 10:00 - 19:00 (Closed on 1st, 3rd, 5th Monday of the month. Closed on Sundays)

Instagram: @underyardseoul

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