Seoul's Themed Cafes

In this post I would like to summarize all of Seoul's themed cafe's that I have been to so far, and as I visit more I will continue to update.

Hello Kitty Cafe - Myeongdong
My very first themed cafe was the Hello Kitty Cafe in Myeongdong. I didn't order at this cafe; I only met my friends there. However, let me tell you I have never seen such a PINK place in my life, and pink just isn't my color. Haha. If you love the color pink or are one of those Hello Kitty obsessed people then this place is definitely for you, but it wasn't for me. It felt too upscale childish for me, which sounds funny considering I am fairly childish...but just wow...it really isn't my style. I will give it some credit though, the decorations were well done and the menu did seem very creative and followed the theme well. There must have been hundreds of stuffed Hello Kitty dolls in that cafe too.

또옹카페 - Seoul's 'Poop' Cafe - Insadong
My next themed cafe was staggeringly different from my first - Seoul's Poop Cafe. Now, maybe I am just strange, but this was much more my style. It was incredibly amusing to me. The waffles and other foods are shaped like the poop emoticon, the meals are served in troughs that resemble the squatter toilets, and the coffee comes in toilet shaped mugs. It was brilliant. I felt like if I tried to eat fried rice from a squatter toilet trough that it would make me a bit squeamish, but it made me giggle seeing others doing it. If you want to go here, it is located on the 4th floor of the Ssamzigil Mall (쌈지길) in Insadong. You can get there by taking subway line 3 (Orange Line) and getting off at Anguk Station (안국 역), exit 6. Careful, this entire area is an amazing wonder of Korean tourists traps mixed with traditional and shiny things, all of which you will want to buy.

My gorgeous toilet Mojito Latte :)

The Menu - just look at the dishes hahaha

Where you order

I went with two other friends. This menu was posted next to our table, and it all looked so fun and delicious that we each decided to try a different one. We ordered one of each, which are pictured next (Front - back: Rose Latte, Flower Ade, Mojito Latte). We all tried each others drink, and while I loved mine, the other two were also delicious. The flower ade was especially refreshing and good, since it had a much different taste than the coffee.

All the little poop messages people can leave stuck to the wall. No better memo than one in the shape of a cute little pile of sh*t .... LOL

So much fun.

Cat Cafe - Insadong
Coincidentally, this cafe is practically across the street from the last one I went to. I adore cats and have always had them growing up, however unfortunately I am mildly allergic to them. Since I had lived with cats my whole life, it was just a bit like living in a fog, but ever since I moved and lived away from the furry felines coming into contact with them again has made my reaction stronger. I had been wanting to visit a cat cafe since coming to Korea; I was deeply in need of some fuzzy cuddles, but worried it would just make me sick. Then came the weekend of my birthday, and I went to Seoul to spend it with my friends. Somehow, we ended up at a cat cafe. Everything inside was cat themed...and it was adorable. There were cats either roaming about or just laying around chilling throughout the room. The price for drinks was a bit higher, maybe closer to 10,000 won, but that includes getting to play and pet the cats for as long as you'd like. We drank our lattes and petted the cute cat asleep on the ledge near our table. Not all the cats at the cafe were nice.  A couple of the cats swatted at me when I tried to pet them, and one even snapped at me once. I assume this kind of behavior can come about if you are constantly being petted and pulled around all day though. At some point the cats have had enough love. Some cafes are better than others and this one was good in the way it treated their cats. They were not supposed to be picked up, petted in certain ways and etc, but you know that sometimes families with children probably terrorize them. The cafe also rotated them out, and would put the cats in a different room for privacy if they seemed to need it, so that was good. I thought that the munchkin cat that they had was irresistibly cute, with its short, pudgy legs. My favorite cat was the sleepy one at our table though. We stuck around until our drinks were empty, the cats seemed uninterested in us, and my allergies kicked in and I began sneezing. That was the sign it was time to get some fresh air and wash my hands. It was nice to be able to pet the cats and toss toys around for them though, and seeing various cat breeds was cool too. :)

The message's meaning meant well, however the translations...were a bit off.

I think I giggled about the "Don't smash their ass" part for about a good three hours after reading the sign. I just could not forget it, it was too funny. 

Edible Cafe

The Edible Coffee Cafe I had heard about from a friend of mine, and he really wanted to visit and try this cafe's menu. The reason being...it's a cafe where the menu contains edible insects. Naturally nearly anyone would understand why I was hesitant to join him. However I met with two of my friends and we went to check out this 'edible bug cafe'.

Since we were unsure of the taste or our ability to be brave enough to drink anything on the menu, we decided to get two drinks and split them between the three of us. The drinks we chose were the 300 meal-worm shake and the grasshopper tea. I was skeptical; I didn't want to drink it. Everything in me shouted...that's a bug...don't you dare drink it, but I did. AND I SURVIVED. It was actually quite delicious. I will say that the grasshopper tea was my favorite. It tasted very fresh and natural but it didn't taste well...like a bug. It was a greenish-yellow tea containing a tea bag filled with grasshoppers. Once my friend took the tea bag out and hid it from our sight, we drank it happily. Unless you look at the the tea bag, you would never guess it was grasshopper tea.

The meal-worm shake was a little different. Its taste screamed protein. I knew that bugs contained lots of protein but wow, it really tasted like a hard core protein shake. I can only imagine what the 500 meal-worm shake tasted like. I think if you're one of those people that are into protein shakes then this would be a good choice for you. It not only was heavy on protein flavor, but oddly enough it also tasted somewhat like cookies. It was a strange combination, but it was delicious. My only issue with this drink was that after a while the taste got to be too much for me. I don't think I could have finished off an entire drink on my own, especially since the taste seemed to grow stronger towards the bottom of the shake. In my opinion, it was the perfect shake to share with two of my close friends. It was just the right amount of protein for the three of us. So if you are ever in the mood for some protein filled bug drinks, Edible Coffee Cafe may be a place for you to visit.

Edible Inc. About Us Page

Learning to Cook Korean Food

I have decided that living in Korea and not learning how to cook at least some Korean-style foods would be a huge mistake. So I dove into the land of YouTube and found myself a channel that I believe is perfect for me to learn from. The best part is, the channel is run by a Korean couple, but the recipes and measurements are in the American measurement system! Meaning I can understand them easily. Also, since I am living in Korea, the ingredients are much more accessible than if I were living back in Michigan. (There are no Asian stores within several hours driving distance of my house.)

With that being said, I would like to share the channel I found. I've only tried one of their recipes so far, but it seemed to work out and I was very proud of myself for it turning out well. 

The YouTube Channel's name is Future Neighbor - Here they have short, but simple videos on all the recipes they make. Some recipes are traditional, while others have a more fusion flare to them.

If you are more the standard, written recipe type person (like me) they also have a website: Future Dish

My first step was to view one of their channel's very first videos, and get some stock items. I still have a lot of stock ingredients that I will need, but I bought a few of the basics. What I really liked about the shopping list they provided is that they listed the ingredients in both English and Korean, so I could not only know what it was, but find it in the store also. Then I watched probably close to a dozen or more of their videos and found one I liked to start with. 

My first dish was 계란찜 (Gyeran-jjim) or Korean steamed eggs. I have been served these steamed eggs many times in restaurants here as a side dish and thought, 'I can do that'. I went all in, and even bought myself the ttukbaegi pot (뚝배지) at Emart for about 11,000 won (maybe $10.50 USD). I had been wanting to buy one of these pots for a while as a keepsake of my time in Korea, but needed a reason to own one. (Maybe that's why I really chose this as my first recipe...) One of my Korean friends also really likes these steamed eggs, so I thought 'Ahhh if I can make this, then my friend will be impressed with me!' I had decided. I would attempt to conquer Korean steamed eggs. 

Now, not many things can be conquered on their first attempt, as is the case for my steamed eggs. However, I think it was a very successful attempt. They were not perfection, but they were good. For my first try, that was good enough for me. I would include the recipe I used, but I would only be copying and pasting from Future Dish, so instead I will just include a link to their recipe here.

It is a simple dish with rather few ingredients. Mainly you just need eggs and water, the other ingredients add the flavor and authenticity that makes it Korean though - a little fish sauce, a little sesame oil, pepper, and some onions.

Some notes about my cooking process:

1. Keep an eye on the heat. There are heat instructions in the recipe, but every stove has a different idea of what is considered high and low heat. In my stoves opinion, low heat doesn't really exist. It putters from maybe an easy medium heat to nearly none at all. It may take some adjusting. 

2. Just keep stirring. This lets the eggs set properly and also prevents any egg from overcooking along the edges of the pot. 

3. It won't always be perfect. I followed the recipe exactly, but back to the issue regarding heat, my eggs cooked differently than my YouTube example. In the end my eggs were just the tiniest bit watery at the bottom. I think it is a learning relationship with my stove to find what heat setting works best. I also think that my eggs could have used a little more salt and pepper for my taste. So next time I will season the eggs more. In time I might try to Americanize them a little and season them differently and see what happens, but I will learn how to make it the Korean way correctly first. 

4. It really is a 2-person serving with this recipe. One person can eat it, but that is a lot of eggs, so you will be about bursting if you eat it all by yourself.

Below you can check out my (probably ridiculous and much too long) video of myself narrating as I cook. 

Stay tuned for my next cooking adventure hehehe

Korean Must Have Apps

If you are visiting South Korea, whether for travel, study, or work, here are a list of applications that you may want to consider:

First and foremost - everything Kakao is a must


1. Kakao Talk
If you are looking for a messenger application that nearly every Korean uses, including businesses and hostels, this is it. The app is simple to use, with your phone number or email used to set up an account. You can add contacts several different ways, by using their phone number, Kakao ID, or scanning their barcode. Kakao Talk also has many useful features such as creating polls, events, sending files, videos, photos, and announcements. These features make using the app for contact and coordination with larger groups very useful.  You also have a place for your own personal chat room, where you can save important messages to review later.  While having WiFi access this app allows for free voice and video calling from anywhere, including internationally. Another useful feature is that you can send friends your location. When you are traveling in a foreign country it is super easy to get turned around in a large city, so having the ability to send a friend your location makes things much easier. (It only works if you have WiFi access or the ability to use cellular data.)




2. Kakao Metro

Kakao Metro is the ultimate subway application. With both written English and Korean, it has the metro maps for all the major cities in South Korea. You can set your departure and destination and the app creates routes (simple/fast) and instructions. This includes any transfers you need to make, what subway car you should be on for your transfers, subway arrival times, minutes between stops, and the overall estimated time to reach your destination. At first I had been trying to use an all Korean app, but obviously using one that has both Korean and English makes things much simpler.




3. Kakao Taxi
In the case that there are no taxis in a given area, you want a more trusted driver, or if there is a big event and finding a taxi is impossible, than this may work. I know that many Korean people prefer this app when finding a taxi. Kakao Taxi can also be used to call a taxi to your current location and almost always works as long as you are not either in the middle of nowhere or in an are that is EXTREMELY busy at that time. I believe you can also call and set up to have a taxi pick you up at a prearranged time and destination as well, which could be useful if you plan on seeing an event and want to ensure a taxi will be available for you once it finishes. (I am not sure about this though.) The best part, is that this application just recently got an English reboot, and now has a fully functional English app.




4. Kakao Bus
As you probably can assume by this point, this is the Kakao application that will allow you to find buses and bus stops in your area, their arrival, and bus fare costs. It depends on the area though, the rural area in which I live only has any one buss listed on this app. So it is a wild guess where the buses go and when for me. I am sure if you live closer to a main city, then this app would work well. It is worth a try when you first move somewhere for sure, it could help you familiarize yourself with the area.




6. Kakao Maps

I use Kakao Maps for practically everything. It helps keep me from getting lost on labyrinth like streets, helps me find new routes to places, shows me hiking trails, and shows where the stores I need to find are. As long as you have the place you want to find IN KOREAN, then this app works very well. The only downside for an English native speaker is that the addresses are mostly only searchable in Korean, not romanized addresses, which are usually what hostels provide their foreign guests...

Make sure you have the Korean address.



There are more Kakao applications, but these are the ones that I find the most useful.




7. Naver Dictionary
Even though it is a dictionary it doubles as a translation app. Since Naver is one of the main servers in Korea, it is one of the best dictionary applications that you can use when referring to Korean language. It has lots of great features and also allows you to save words you've learned, look up sample sentences using those words and more. Check it out. If you can read and understand Korean, the general Naver search app works much better than Google in Korea when you are looking for specific things.




8.) Papago 
Papago is a translation app that runs by using Naver Dictionary. Koreans I've met are fond of using this app. My mentor teacher uses this app because she can speak to it in Korean and have it translate to English things she wants to tell me. (I think she speaks English fine, but she is too self-conscious.) So for any cases where you need to speak to someone and either do not know how to say something or are just not confident like my teacher, you could try this app. It doesn't translate perfectly, as I think no app really does, but it can get the general point across enough for people to understand.



9. Goseok Bus and Korail Apps

These two apps are very useful when buying tickets to travel without needing to go to the actual station. Easy, convenient, and in your hand ability to purchase tickets. The Korail app has an English setting, but the bus app does not. That being said, you may need a Koreans help to set up your bus application account and use it the first time or two. Also, for the record, when it says (in Korean) "password" at the checkout page...it is referring to your card PIN number NOT the password you made for the bus account. I confused this and entered the wrong thing too many times and have been locked out of not only the bus app, but the Korail app as well, for months now. I have been told I need to go to the bank and change my pin number to regain access. I have been locked out because the bank things someone is trying to hack my card. It is very frustrating.





10.) Yogiyo Food App
This is a food delivery service app that foreigners like to use because you can place a delivery order with many restaurants without talking on the phone with someone. Just enter what you want, your address, and then wait for your food. It unfortunately does not work well in my area because it is somewhat rural and less restaurants use the app, but I know it works great in other areas. Depends on the region, but is worth a shot.





11.) T-Money Balance App
Again, great app if you rely on a T-Money card to get around on public transportation. This app lets your phone scan your card and tells you how much money is still charged on it. This is especially great if you only use the card every few days and never know the balance. It saves you needing to go to a store somewhere to check it/refill it just in case, because in areas like where I live, there are no subways and so no machines to check the balance...

HOWEVER, this app is not available for iPhone users. So if you are like me and have an iPhone, you are out of luck and have to hope that some company rises to the occasion and makes an app that is compatible with iOS.



12.) Bank App 
Getting access to a bank app so that I could check my account balance wasn't easy. It took maybe over an hour at the bank in my town with paperwork and lots of processes. You can'y just download the app and use it, you need permission codes and information from your bank to do it. I have no idea what I did to get it. I signed what they said, and downloaded what they said, and the bank set the application up on my phone. I also don't have the slightest idea how to use the app because it is all in Korean, but I can check my balance and withdrawal/deposit history and that is enough for me.

*As a side note, if you have a choice in the matter, I do not recommend NH bank... I've heard KEB Hana is much much better for foreigners to use, especially if you plan on sending money home.



13. Emergency Ready App

If you have a Korean phone number sometimes you will occasionally get emergency alerts sent automatically to your phone. These can be quite startling if you don't know what they say (and can't copy/paste them to find out.) The only thing that I had found which worked was to take a screen shot, and then use Google Translate's photo scan option. (So get Google Translate too lol.) HOWEVER, this app has the alerts conveniently in English and has lots of information telling you how to prepare or what to do in those types of situations. It also has information on shelters in your area, how to call the police, ambulance, fire department, and much more.

Why I have been MIA since October Part 2

Okay, picking up on where I left off, here are 5 more things that have happened since October.

6.) I spent Thanksgiving in Seoul and cooked dinner (but not turkey) with my friend.

We didn't quite have all the Thanksgiving fixings, but it still was a great meal. Nice hunks of steak, creamy mashed potatoes and baked beans, squash, salad with hard boiled eggs and California cheese, and soju (which we never got around to drinking - too focused on the STEAK!) Definitely an impressive meal when you add in the fact that we cooked it at my friends house and she only has a 1-burner stove...

7.) I had a terrible month of December, spending most of it alone and at the doctors office repeatedly with severe strep throat and tonsillitis. Luckily Korean doctor visits are much more affordable than my home country. Still... I have never had so many shots repeatedly in my life, and I hated it. I had my first IV, and was prescribed more pills than I could've ever possibly imagined. Thankfully, I survived. However, getting my tonsils removed is on my list of things I need.

As a side note, the doctor office was pretty cool. Just once small office, but they did my diagnosis, blood work, IV, injections, and everything all in one place (There were only 6 rooms plus the waiting room) quickly and with ease. Plus, the pharmacy was directly downstairs from the clinic. 

8.) Spent my New Years Eve in Seoul with friends, gleefully happy to finally have company after a month being sick in my lonely apartment. 

Saw one of my friends play guitar for the first time and WOW...he and his friends are great. Watching them perform was a blast, and everyone attending seemed like a small, yet close knit group of kind people. The video below is just one short clip from one of their sets, but I think it was their most energetic and fun one. The guy who is dancing makes it all the better for certain. It was cute because when my friend and I arrived the people selling tickets thought we were in the wrong place, I guess we are the first foreigners to ever show up for one of their shows. They were super excited about it. 

Spent my New Year's Eve at Cheonggyecheon Stream, just like I did two years ago during my first visit to Korea. To let the nostalgia really kick in, my friend and I sent our handmade lanterns down the stream just like we had done before. We didn't stick around for the 'ring the bell' ceremony this time though. We decided once in a lifetime was enough of that, too many people. Instead we kicked back at my friend's apartment, toasting with OJ because we didn't want to drink. haha

I also visited with a friend that was out on release from his military duty. We ate and went to Hongdae with another one of my friends and went to the sheep cafe there. It was a really nice cafe, but I will show more about it in another post soon. That day we spent a lot of time in Hongdae, watching street performers busk and just enjoying the atmosphere of the busy and energetic street.

9.) I taught 3 weeks of winter English camp at my school.

They learned the word: Snowflake

Some of the 4th grade boys helped me make this snowman after our classes ended, since we had received quite a lot of snow. Then we proceeded to get into a snowball fight and one of the boys sabotaged our snowman. They are all so cute.

10.) I went on a one-week trip to JAPAN! Wow was that fun and exciting!

Tokyo

The taxi's were so retro - looking, I thought it was cool.

Senso-ji Temple

These are the first Pokemon cards I have ever had in my entire life...and now I have an addiction to them at a very late age I think...Now I have a well-developed collection in both Japanese and Korean cards.

Kyoto

Arashiyama

Fushimi Inari Taisha 

 

 

I thought that this temple and the one below were both absolutely stunning. The deep red and orange colors were perfect for some awesome photography. Since this is a blog about my life in Korea though, I will not go on in too much detail except just show a  few photos from my trip.

Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Osaka

Universal Studios and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Universal studios, and especially the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, were like a dream come true. Finally I could live like a wizard for a day, get wizard clothing, try wizard sweets and foods, and taste some delicious butter-beer. The virtual reality included on the roller coasters was amazing and added an awesome dynamic to the rides as well. 

Osaka Castle

At the top of Osaka Castle, the view was great. Also, check out that Dragon-fish! Pretty neat looking.

Me, with the silhouette of Osaka Castle and the snow in the background. 

Overall, a great vacation. Topped it off with massages and a bit of shopping once my friend and I returned to Seoul. What a great 10 days off it was.