Furs & Paws

January 17, 2015 by greysuitcase in Cafe

All of the many things I'm fascinated with living in South Korea, one of them is cafe with animals. As some of you might know, cat or dog cafe is pretty popular around here. It's certainly a new thing for me when I first read about it and I'm a little curious on what the experience of going to a cat or dog cafe would be like. And so, when one of my friend was in town visiting, he had the same curiosity. Only probably his curiosity's bigger than mine because that's how we ended up (actually) going to a cat cafe in Hongdae area.

We went to Cheong Chun Cat Cafe (청춘 고양이) that's located on the 3rd floor of a building on an alley in Hongdae (홍대). We took off our shoes, put on some slippers, and sanitized our hand before coming into the cafe. Then right away, when we entered the waiter instructed us to pay our entrance fee (W9,000) which gave us a free drink as well. After paying, we were given a locker where we can put our coats and bags into, you know, to avoid the cat furs I guess and assigned us a table. From then onwards, we pretty much free to play with the cats in the cafe.

Funny thing, although we decided to went to a cat cafe, both me and my friend actually have an allergy to animal furs. So we stayed as long as we can until one of us started to have teary eyes and sneezing continuously. And of course not long after that, the other one followed. So after that, we concluded our cat cafe adventure and left. It was definitely and a fun interesting experience.

The Bap (더밥)

January 14, 2015 by greysuitcase in Food, Seoul, South Korea

With holiday is over and school kickin' off this week, everything is (almost) back to the normal routine for me. After a couple of weeks of holiday, I think it'll take me some time to adjust back to the school & work schedule. I kinda wish we have longer holidays like the rest of regular university in Korea but, oh well.

Anyways, lately I've been craving for Soybean Paste Stew (Dwenjang Jjigae 된장 찌개) everyday and can't get enough of it for some reason :P So sharing one of my favorite places to get a traditional Korean meal such as the soybean paste stew, The Bap (더밥). Located around Hyehwa Station, this place is famous for their Stews (Jjigae 찌개) and delicious side dishes (Banchan 반찬). Ordered a couple of things from the menu, everything was great and the Dwenjang Jjigae didn't disappoint. And their eggplant side dish has probably became my number one favorite banchan. We'll see if anything will top that eggplant in the near future :)

Lasim Cafe

January 11, 2015 by greysuitcase in Cafe, Food

A small quite cafe tucked in Ehwa University's area. The most memorable thing for me about this place is probably that they served Lucky Charms cereal with your ordered drinks. I mean, how great is that? (I'm a sucker for Lucky Charms :P) Haven't had that cereal for a while so it was a lovely surprise :) They also give you lollipop with your order. According to their menu, they have brunch available too during the day. Pancakes and everything. Maybe I'll try that for my next visit.

And oh, I'm back in Seoul from my vacation. Will post more stuff soon (hopefully). Happy New Year 2015! :)

The Hanok (더한옥)

December 16, 2014 by greysuitcase in Cafe

Stumbled upon this place when I was exploring Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을) area with my friends on one afternoon. I was just peeking through the front door, trying to get a glimpse of what's inside and that was when a lady came out and opened the door inviting us in. First we were reluctant to go in because we weren't sure if we wanna spend time at the cafe, but the lady was nice enough to say it's okay for us to just look around the place and we don't have to buy drinks. So we went in and did just that. Entering the cafe is just like entering an old time hanok house because of all the vintage furnishing that's around the cafe. The cafe's atmosphere is pretty cozy and quite overall and we decided to sit down and order some drinks. Nobody was there when we came in but a couple of couples came in not long after we did. They have different rooms inside the Hanok and an outdoor area so you can sit wherever you like. And oh, as it turned out, the lady who invited us in was the owner of the place. She was very friendly and kindly chatted with us for a while. If you're curious about the story behind the place, you should asked her because she'll gladly explain it to you :)

New England Lobster

December 13, 2014 by greysuitcase in Food, Travel, San Francisco

Today, I went on a little lunch date with my mom at New England Lobster Market & Eatery in Burlingame, CA. We found this place through yelp and decided to give it a try since we didn't know what to have for lunch. The ambiance of the place is really nice. They have plenty of tables on different rooms that you can sit on, so you wouldn't have to worry to have to fight for tables during lunch/dinner time (although I read the place got pretty crowded on weekends so you might have to wait for tables). We ordered the Dressed Lobster Roll, 1lb Maine Lobster Platter, and Lobster Corn Chowder to share and they were delicious. The lobster roll and the chowder have plenty of big lobster chunks and the lobster meat is very fresh. Eating it plain is good, but we squeezed some lemon juice to the meat and dip it into the melted butter that came with the order and we liked it better :) Also, they have a market section where you can buy fresh lobsters and east coast shellfish right from the restaurant.