BookPark • 북파크

I still remember the first time I stumbled upon a picture of a book cafe online. It was a couple of years ago and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Back then, book cafe hasn't became a thing. My association of rows of books wasn't usually paired with a cup of hot chocolate or ice green tea on the side to sip on. The consumption of food and drinks is usually prohibited in libraries and bookstores. And reading books in libraries or bookstores usually involved some level of discomfort caused by standing too long in one of the corners of the bookstore or sitting down for a prolonged period of time on one of those uncomfortable library chairs.

I don't know when the book cafe trend started, but it's definitely a thing in Seoul. I stumbled upon quite a number of book cafes in the city and BookPark (북파크) is one of the recent book cafe that I visited. Located on the 2nd and 3rd floor of Blue Square (블루스퀘어), the place is pretty huge for a bookstore. Other than great selections of books, you can also find Hollys Coffee inside the store, plenty of chairs and tables if you decide you wanna read a book or do some studying, and there's even a balcony area for you to chill at if you want to enjoy the nice weather outside. If you are not into books, there's a section on the third floors that sells accessories, toys, stationeries and other knick knacks that you can browse. And they also have another cafe on this floor (which name I didn't pay attention to) and a sitting area with tables bigger than the one in Hollys Coffee area.

If you're looking for books, definitely check this place out. If not, this is also a great place to meet up with people or to get some work/studying done. Or if you are not into all that, you can always come for their instagrammable tall bookshelf and stairs ;)

p.s: thank you @seoul_stateofmind for bringing me and @_marshellia to this place!

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And oh, started to upload video to my Youtube channel. Subscribe of you wanna see more! :) Here's the first video.

 

BookPark • 북파크

Address: 서울특별시 용산구 이태원로 294
Tel. No: 02-6367-2018
Hours: 10:00 - 23:00
Subway: Hangangjin Station (Line 6) Exit 2

Instagram: @bookpark_

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Mr. Holmes Bakehouse Seoul • 미스터홈즈베이크하우스

Mr. Holmes Bakehouse has been on my radar since the time their infamous cruffin started popping up on Instagram a couple of years back. I still remembered the first time I heard about this cruffin hype in San Francisco where people lined up early mornings just to get a taste of the croissant textured muffin. As much as I'm curious on how good it actually is, I never once made the effort to go to Larkin Street at 7 am to join the hype. But then, lo and behold, a couple of years after that, Mr. Holmes Bakehouse opened its Seoul branch. And there it started again, the whole cruffin hype and the stream of people posting cruffin and ootd shot from Mr. Holmes Bakehouse Seoul (미스터홈즈베이크하우스). Since my friends wanted to go, I finally got to try this cruffin that I've been hearing so much about.

Ordered the cruffin (크러핀) and the Ferrero Rocher croissant (페레로 로쉐 크로와상). To be honest, they both were pretty good but the filling on the cruffin was a tad too sweet for me. If it has less fillings, it might be better for me since I don't really like super sweet stuff. But overall the pastries were good, although I still don't know if I would spend a couple of hours lining up for a cruffin early in the morning.

Apart from trying the cruffin, I also got to see their super awesome branding design in store. If you are into dessert, cafes, and ootd, you probably have seen their famous 'I GOT BAKED IN SEOUL' pink neon sign somewhere online. The designer/co-owner of Mr. Holmes Bakehouse, Aron Tzimas, apparently has successfully made this neon sign and the store's carry-out boxes into a must have Instagram shot if you are visiting Mr. Holmes Bakehouse. I have to say this Mendl's Bakery (from Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel) inspired design for the carry-out boxes is executed beautifully. If you are looking to try some cruffin in Seoul, definitely give this place a visit. If not, you can always come for their other pastries or their neon/marble interior for some great ootd shots ;)

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Update:

Mr. Holmes Bakehouse Seoul has closed permanently. The San Francisco and Los Angeles locations also have closed permanently after the company filed for bankruptcy in February 2021.

 

Mr. Holmes Bakehouse Seoul (미스터홈즈베이크하우스)

Address: 서울특별시 강남구 압구정로10길 34
Tel. No: 02-547-2004
Hours: 10:00 - 22:30
Subway: Sinsa Station (Line 3) Exit 8

Instagram: @mrholmesbakehouse_kr

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Haedong Yonggungsa • 해동 용궁사

Haedong Yonggungsa (해동 용궁사) is probably one of the most well-known temple in Busan. Located on the coast of the north-eastern part of the city, this temple by the sea attracts a good number of tourists who are visiting Busan, including first-timers like me. Ken has been here before and he was telling me about how magnificent the view of this temple is on a cloudy day when the waves are crashing on the rocks surrounding it. Too bad that I couldn't witnessed such dramatic scenery on that day but instead, greeted by a clear blue sky and calming waters when the temple's structure came into view.

We explored the area quite a bit soon after we arrived. I watched a couple of young people racing on their jet skis trying to top each other's speed up on the nearby waters, a bunch of tourists sitting on the rocks right by the water and some even took their shoes and sandals off to soak their feet in the cooling water. Can't blame them, really. On a hot day like this, dipping your feet into the cool blue water sounds like a pretty good idea to me. To be honest, the sun was too bright and too hot when we were there and after the first thirty minutes or so, I pretty much tried to stayed in the shades as much as I could.

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Suminine • 수민이네

For lunch, we headed to Suminine (수민이네), another recommendations from my friend, Sally. We stepped into their main dining area and took a seat on the green plastic chairs surrounding one of the empty tables. The place was not too busy. It was filled with a couple of locals who seemed to have picked the same place to get lunch as us. After hearing the recommended menu from our server, we ended up ordering 조개구이 for two persons. Our server came back not too long after with our order and start grilling the food for us and it was delicious. Everything was nicely seasoned and cooked (and probably the fact that we were pretty hungry just made it even better). After we finished our lunch, we just hung around for a bit and I took a walk around the restaurant. I wasn't expecting this, but the view outside the restaurant wasn't bad either. Must be pretty nice to have a meal with this kinda view. Maybe not on a hot summer day like when we were there though.

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BEXCO • 벡스코

After our somewhat disappointing visit to Busan Cinema Center (영화의전당), we decided to check out Bexco (벡스코) since it was nearby. I actually went the day before to check the place out so this was my second visit to the place. There was barely anybody in the vicinity compared to how huge the structure is, which kinda made it more fun. Felt like we had the place all to ourselves. There are lots of windows in this place, which makes photographing the interior area quite fun but those windows also made the temperature inside so hot (plus since there were not much going on, the AC was off). I took a good amount of shots in this place and decided to move on to our next destination after we feel like we've seen enough of the space.

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