Category: Hondage

Aloha Table & The Shower Bar - Date Night in Hongdae

9/21/2013

Date night in Korea is never dull.
There is always something new out there just waiting for you.
This week was no different.
We had been dreaming of Hawaii, so why not find a little Hawaii in Seoul?

OK, so there was no beach, but this quaint restaurant in Hongdae made me feel like I was in Hawaii for a split second - especially when our pitcher of Mai-Thai's arrived!

Then I was taken right back to Seoul when I checked out the menu.
Pasta & Pho?
What the what, what?!?

Once the edamame arrived I was taken right back to the table at Dukes where Hubby and I had one of our first meals in Hawaii with this CRAZY good garlic edamame.

Edamame, Mai Thai's, the love of my life....the only thing that could have made it better was to have a little sand under my toes and a nice ocean breeze... OK, maybe being IN Hawaii would have made it better.

We ended up ordering the set menu.
The first course was unlimited edamame & french fries. ??
Unfortunately you are only allowed the plain edamame with the set meal, even if you are willing to pay extra for the garlic.

Next up was this sweet set.....
A little odd, but tasty.

But the main course was WONDERFUL.
There were BBQ ribs, soy garlic chicken & rib eye steak.
All were equally delicious.
And the corn.
That wasn't Korean style corn on the cob, that was TRUE corn on the cob.
YUM - O!
My mouth is watering and is not even 7AM yet!

You won't be able to get out of this restaurant for less than 30,000 won per person.
I'm trying to find the directions on how to get there (because my memory sucks), but for now I will just leave you with their information:
364-14, Seogyo-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul
02-324-7718
www.alohatable.co.kr/waikiki/

After stuffing our faces at Aloha Table our friends wanted to take us to this fun bar they found. I'm sorry, I cannot give you the name or directions as I was not paying attention at this point. But if you see this girl, you know you are here.

Somewhat of a dive bar.
Cheese puffs are the snack of choice & I ordered this groovy blue drink.
Yes, I ordered it because it was blue.
No, it was not very good, but it went well with cheese puffs.....

....and the stream that went through the bar.

Somehow we accidently ordered this delicious concoction.
Spicy chicken, onions and cheese.
HOLY GOODNESS.
Even though I was full, this was THE BOMB!
I would totally go back and order this.
If I could ever find the place again.

They came over and made rice balls for us to cut down the spicy....

I'm not sure what I liked more about this bar.....
The stream, the rubber duckies, the cheese puffs, the blue drink or the shower.
That's right.
A shower in the middle of the bar.
Apparently drinking games begin a little later in the night and the loser ends up in the shower - with clothes on.

Seoul...what's not to love?

6 Comments

Not Quite Right #21

1/26/2013

3 Comments

Next time you are in Hondage or Gangnam make sure you don't pass up The Ho Bar.
This picture was taken in Hondage, but I saw one in Gangnam on Friday so this must be a chain.
And it makes me chuckle every time I see it.

3 Comments

Not Quite Right #19

1/10/2013

2 Comments

It's a clothing store in Hondage.
It is right above the Cat Café I took Girl to a few weekends back.
We checked it out.
Inappropriate I know.
But we had to.
Giggles all around.

2 Comments

Girls Day Out - Hello Kitty Café, Cats Living Here & Thanks Nature Café!

12/31/2012

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And the snow, snow, snow came down, down, down and girlfriend started singing..
(I think I'm clever and that is all that matters.)
Maybe she wasn't singing, maybe she was freezing.
Either way we bundled up and head out to the Hondage area for a little Mother/Daughter fun!

The first stop on our list was the Hello Kitty Café!
I've read about this place for years and really couldn't wait to go to the Hello Kitty Café. (Girl just came along for the ride. She is a good daughter.) Not that I am a huge Hello Kitty fan, but because it is a HELLO KITTY CAFE. I mean Hello Kitty, whose real name is Kitty White was 'born' in Japan in 1974 and she is going stronger than ever here in Korea. Not only are there 4 or 5 Hello Kitty Cafés here in the Seoul area, but you can find Hello Kitty on everything! Pens, pencils, erasers, backpacks, purses, clothes, mugs, key chains phone covers, and just about anything else you can imagine! I had to see what was so fantastic about the Hello Kitty Café. The entrance is cute enough.

Here we go!

My first impression was that of disappointment.
I was expecting a 'sit down' dining experience.
The Hello Kitty Café is more of a 'coffee shop'.
You enter and the counter is right in front of you.
You place your order at the counter.
They were out of all the super cute Hello Kitty cakes I had read so much about. They young lady behind the counter said you have to come early to get the cakes, even though the store had only been open for 2 hours when we arrived.
Humm.
Girl and I just ordered hot chocolate and coffee.

All those empty plates on the top shelf are the 'sold out plates'. Grrrr...

We took our buzzer and headed upstairs to look for a seat.

While we were waiting for our drinks we explored the place a little.
The Hello Kitty décor was cute and everywhere.

After about 10 minuets our buzzer FINALLY went off.
How cute are these drinks?!

After one sip Girl said, "This isn't hot chocolate, this is warm chocolate."
She was correct. Warm chocolate and coffee.

When we picked up our drinks we ordered a waffle. Koreans are CRAZY about waffles. They don't eat them for dinner, they eat them for dessert. True story. (It only took about 5 minutes to get the waffle which was a HUGE improvement from the coffee.)

As we were leaving the Hello Kitty Café these two guys caught my eye. They were sitting in the Hello Kitty Café with their computers spread out across the table and they were working. IN THE HELLO KITTY CAFE. If we were in the states I probably would have called the police. I meant that is just weird. But who knows, maybe they are the owners. :o)

Pros:
Ridiculously cute!
Prices were pretty average for Seoul.
They deliver on Hello Kitty.
If you have a little girl that loves Hello Kitty, she will LOVE this place.

Cons:
It took a long time to get our drinks.
Drinks were warm, not hot.
Restaurant was dirty.
They were out of Hello Kitty cakes 2 hours after opening.

I can now say I have been there, done that and don't feel the need to every do it again.

Next up, "Cats Living Here" café!

Girl was super excited about the Cat Cafe!
I forgot she had never been to a cat cafe....remember her birthday?
Cat Living was about the same as the Cat Cafe in Myeongdong - 8,000 won for me, 7,000 won for Girl. Plus you get a FREE drink - more coffee and hot chocolate :o)

However the rules at this cat cafe were way more fun to read!

Don't take my picture with a flash! NO.

Please don't pull my tail. If you do, I will cry.

If you push me hard on my tummy my eyes might pop out of my head.

Do not feed hotdogs, hamburgers, packaged foods or fish to me. I would love it, but the mean owners say no.

Don't drip nasty fluids from your hand while I lean against the wall. I will not like that.

We are not Yin & Yang, don't pretend we are.

If you let your baby pull my head off and poke me in the eye I will put them in the sink and wash them like clothes.

Girl followed all the rules.

The cats at this café were SUPER LAZY. Girl tried and tried to get them to play, but they would have none of it.

We hung out with the cats for about a hour before heading out to our next adventure....

Thanks Nature Café
No REALLY that is the name of this place.
Thanks Nature Café.
This place is a SHEEP CAFE.
Sheep, as in bahhh, bahhh....
SERIOUSLY, SHEEP.
Are you as shocked as I am?
No?
You should be.

At least the sheep were not INSIDE the café roaming around. They were in a little enclosure outside. During the summer months they open the doors to the café so you can have more of an 'outdoorsy, sheepy' experience.

They left their food container outside near the pin so Girl started helping herself.
The sheep were super nice.
Of course girl now wants one as a pet.

In between stops we did a little shopping, people watching and we took a few pictures for the "Not Quite Right" portion of the blog. You will have to wait and see what they are, but for now we leave you with these....

This girl did not get the memo that it is the middle of WINTER!! Temps are in the 20's! Hello. You know she was freezing.

I tried to get Girl to go check on the discolored Garfield to see what was wrong with him, but she was afraid. :o)
We really thought his pink boots were a nice touch.

This is what we were walking on for most of the day. Sheets of ice.

To get there by subway take line 2 to the Hongik University Station go out Exit 9 walk straight then turn left at the big street. Walk for a little while, you will pass Taco Bell on your right and then you will see a Starbucks Coffee shop on the left - turn right at this street go to the next street, alley and turn right walk until you see the street fork off to the left and go up a hill - take this hill - you should see Hello Kitty Café on left - about 2 stores past the Hello Kitty Café is the Cats Living here Café.

To get to Thanks Natural Café - continue on the street with Taco Bell and Starbucks. Cross over to the left side of the street. You will see a long shopping center with 2 floors. Thanks Nature Café is on the far end bottom corner.

Have fun!

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Trick Eye Museum

10/9/2012

4 Comments

Hubby read about the Trick Eye Museum in one of the Expat magazines we get and knew it was a must for this camera lovin' family. The Trick Eye Museum is in the Hongdae area. To get there by subway take line 2 to the Hongik University Station go out Exit 9 walk straight for a little while - you will pass Taco Bell on your right and then you will see a Starbucks Coffee shop on the left - turn right at this street - Trick Eye Museum is on the right maybe 250 meters down. (not very far at all!) It is in the basement of the Homi Atelier (a famous art supply store for professional artists).

The Trick Eye Museum has some famous works of art and some just fun works of art that have been edited to create the illusion that the objects in the images are 3-D and it allows you to join in and become part of the pictures!

Our day started off rough....Boy 1 didn't want to hang out with his family, Boy's 2 & 3 were fighting over who was going to be in the picture, I thought I was going to pull my hair out and have a meltdown before it even started, but after a little while everyone forgot they were mad, bothered, annoyed, and upset and we had a pretty good day playing & goofing around here at the Trick Eye Museum! :)

Grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and sit back and enjoy our pictures! You are sure to have a laugh or two!

Every few months the museum changes the art work to keep you coming back for more! If you decide to visit the Trick Eye Museum make sure to take your camera and check to see that your batteries are charged and you have plenty of room on your picture card! I only showed you our favorite photos! I took well over 100 photos here!

Ticket prices are 13,000 won for adults, 11,000 for youth and 3 and under are free.
They are open 7 days a week from 10AM-10PM.

What are you waiting for? Grab your camera and GO! :)

4 Comments

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you
did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou

Author

Hi, I'm Trish, the writer, creator and photographer of this blog. I started this blog for 2 reasons, 1 - When I found out we were moving to Korea back in 2008 I was a little freaked out and started scouring the internet for information on Korea. At that time there wasn't much out there so I am doing my part in helping families across the world not be so freaked out when it comes time to move to Korea. The 2nd reason I started this blog was to help stay connected to family members back in the states. Today it is so much more that.
I hope you enjoy our journey.

Are you moving to Korea? Do you have questions, concerns? Are you freaking out? Freak out no further - click the button to ask a question. I'll do my best to answer open and honestly.

Moving to Korea?

Aloha Table & The Shower Bar - Date Night in Hongdae

Not Quite Right #21

Not Quite Right #19

Girls Day Out - Hello Kitty Café, Cats Living Here & Thanks Nature Café!

Trick Eye Museum

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