The Best Croissants You Can Never Have

Remember when I said we came to Fritz Coffee Company to work and play on my previous post? The main reason why we came here was because Soo Zee and Leigh need to shoot some stuff for their Do Stuff Video. They were nice enough to let me tag along and introduced me to this place. Here are some of the behind-the-scenes shots that I took when they were working. Some of these shots were taken at another location that we visited after we left Fritz. 

If you haven't seen their video, check it out on the link above. And then grab a croissant after that if you must ;)

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

---

Sunset at Gyeongbokgung

After walking around Hongdae (see my Lunch at Hongdae post for the first part of this post), Ken & I decided to go to Gyeongbokgung (경복궁) cos none of us have ever been there during sunset. It was an impulsive decision, really, so we didn't really pay attention to the time when we made our way to the palace. By the time we arrived at the ticketing counter, we already missed the last time for entry. Bummer. But the sunset was pretty, so we decided to just hang around for a bit, do a little shooting and people-watching around the palace's gate. 

There was quite a lot of foot traffic around the area. The people exiting the palace combined with the evening rush hour crowd made the area very interesting to observe. The tourists who stayed in one spot for a good 15 minutes retaking selfies after selfies to get that perfect shot, the locals who leisurely taking their afternoon walk with their friends, family, and loved ones around the palace's ground enjoying the sunset, and the office workers in suits walking in a rush without even glancing at the the palace, kept me entertained as we stayed and lingered there for almost an hour. One thing for sure though, everybody's slowly (and some, rushingly) making their way away from the palace. And soon after that, we decided to joined the crowd and called it a day.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

---

Mono Sushi

Passed by Mono Sushi (모노스시) when I was on my way home after exploring Samseong-dong (삼성동) for a little bit. It was during that weird hour when it's too early for dinner, but I already felt a lil' bit hungry from all the walking around I've done earlier that day. So when I see this place, I thought, the place looks nice, they sell savory stuff, let's give it a try.

I walked into the minimal store and headed over to the counter where there were only a couple of selections left. I picked the Sweet Chicken with Nut Maki (견과류 달콤 치킨) and the Prawn Mayo Wasabi Maki (와사비 통새우마요) and to my surprise, they tasted better than I expected. Lots of flavors, definitely uncommon flavor combinations for makis. They also give you free soup with your orders. I think for next time, I gotta come at an earlier time so I can try the other options that they have.

---

Gentle Monster Garosu-Gil (pt.2)

The second floor has the bathroom theme going on and bedroom was the theme for the basement floor. They did a really great job setting up and picking up all the furnishing for the rooms. And I definitely appreciate the little details that they got going on, like the soap they put on top of the sink. Nice touch. I definitely wouldn't mind having this kind of bathroom in my house btw :P

After looking up the concept of the store online on the Gentle Monster's website, here's what I found:

"Gentle Monster's 5th Space, 'Home and Recovery', is the intersection of space with emotional context of home and recovery. The space which covers up past traces presents emotional recovery through intuitive objects and different themes."

If you're ever in the Garosu-gil area and you are into nicely designed spaces and cool sunglasses, definitely check this place out.

ps: See part 1 of this post here.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

---

Gentle Monster Garosu-Gil

Gentle Monster (젠틀몬스터) has become one of my favorite store to visit in Seoul. Apart from the cool sunglasses they have on display, their stores are one of the most artistic, well-designed spaces I've ever been to, especially for a retail store. Every locations has their own distinct design. How cool is that? They have a couple of locations in South Korea—as well as overseas—and this particular one that I visited was the one in Garosu-gil (가로수길), Sinsa (신사) area.

This was my first visit to this location and I was super impressed with the space. It has 4 floors with 4 different vibes. My intended 5-minutes quick stop at this place turned into an-hour long visit cos I lost track of time looking through every floor of this building. Everything is so fascinating and some of them are weirdly intriguing. A good example of this is this white and red themed interior that they have going on on the first floor. The stark blood red objects that are displayed around the room really pop out against the white walls and furniture.

Since there are a bunch of shots from the other floors, I'm breaking this post into two parts. So stay tuned for the next part! :)

ps: see my post on one of Gentle Monster's Quantum Projects at their Hongdae location here.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

---