The Libertine

February 06, 2015 by greysuitcase in Food, Weekend

Despite of the fact that I am not a morning person, there's something about weekend brunch that I love (anything that starts before 12pm on a Saturday is early for me :p ). Especially, on a bright sunny saturday like the day I went to the Libertine in Itaewon. My friend actually picked this place for our brunch date. I haven't explored Itaewon all that much so I pretty much followed her lead on this one. The moment I walked in, I immediately loving the vibe of this place. Black and white tiled floor and the natural light coming in from the windows won me over already ;) We got there not long after their opening time and there were plenty of seats available. Sat on the table next to the windows and ordered the Eggs Royale, Cobb Salad, and Greek Yogurt Fruit Bowl. All and all, the food was pretty good, although I wish my eggs were more runny. Wouldn't mind coming back here to try their lunch or dinner menu though.

Mo' Better Blues Cafe

January 21, 2015 by greysuitcase in Cafe

What do you do to unwind? For me, reading and listening to music is one way to do it. Jazz in particular can give me that relieve of tension when I needed one. Of all the cafes I've visited so far here in Seoul, Mo' Better Blues Cafe probably has one of the better jazz playlists playing in their cafe. It's not necessarily new musics, lots of them are from the times I grew up or even way before that—the classic jazz songs—but nevertheless, it gave me a nice sense of familiarity in this city that's still fairly unfamiliar to me.

A little about the place, the whole cafe is actually bigger than what I imagined. They have 4 floors, but I think they only open all floors during busier times. They have good selection of drinks and snacks. And the place is good for a study place as well, unless you run into a bunch of noisy high school girls which I did. Even so, you can escape that by trying to go to another floor if that happens to you. The cafe also has a patio area on the first floor which can be used even during winter (they turned up the heater pretty high in there).

With that said, now I'm going to make myself a cup of hot cocoa, listen to some jazz, and unwind. Hope everybody is having a great week so far :)

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! :)