The Epic Search for the Elusive Hello Kitty Cafe in Hongdae

Good morning! Today was the day we went to Hongdae. We had planned to meet Jess's cousin Ashley and her youngest little boy at Yeoksam station first so we could all grab some breakfast (I think he's 2-3? He's totally epicly adorable and smart as hell). 

Obviously Paris Baguette is always my choice for breads and meals on the go, since they package everything individually. And it's just awesome. 

I was adventurous today and tried new ones I hadn't tried before. I got some Sweet Pea Bread, a Spinach & Ham tart, and a Roasted Garlic puff pastry kind of thing. I liked the tart and garlic thing (the garlic is cooked btw, it's super soft and delicious, not hard and spicy)! The pea bread was far too sweet for me, which seems to be a common theme for me here in Korea. A lot of foods I don't expect to be sweet (like garlic bread chips) are super sweet (like honeyed or syrupy tasting) and it just throws me off/turns me off. I'm more of a salty kind of person, as opposed to sweet (STEVEN IM LOOKING AT YOU heh).

Oh also, there was this hilarious Squid Ink Bread at Paris Baguette...it's like black and everything and has little "squid" tails poking out the sides hahah. Speaking of hilarious, we saw this pretty in pink Hyundai just parked randomly on a street in Hongdae. Never seen that before lol.

The streets of Hongdae! Some cool buildings and the biggest H&M I've ever seen. We didn't go along the main drag really, and since I've been here several times it didn't much. We searched the side streets and alleys looking for the HK Cafe instead. This one building was getting demolished with terrific noise and lots of spectators. It was actualy really cool, I was spellbound for awhile. Stuff was just falling everywhere and the crane was like a god; whatever it touched, it immediately crumbled and came apart. NUTS.

Hongdae is just such a really cool place to be. The atmosphere is different, as are the people. I talked about this in my last trip's blog, but people just come here to hang and spend time with friends. There's no rushing, no grumpy old people, or irritable office workers. There's lots of street food vendors and cheerful chatter and colorfully dressed folk. There's lots of chic cafes, prettily designed shops, random modern buildings, and brightly lit bubble tea places. Don't know how to explain it really, so you'll just have to go visit yourself ^.^

I bought an adorable HK mug, the asian kind with a lid (to keep the heat in longer). If you look closely at the pic, you can see the white lid with the Hello Kitty poking up on top!

Sitting inside "adorable" made manifest

After about an hour of searching the streets, checking directions on phones and trying to ask passerby for direction (I knew what to ask in Korean but the people I kept stopping were foreigners -.- So when I finally WANT someone who speaks only Korean, all you give me are foreigners?? COOOOOOOL), we finally found an information booth and got directions from them. And thus, we FINALLY arrived at the ridiculously cute Hello Kitty Cafe. It is seriously SO CUTE. It was decked out in pink everywhere, with Hello Kitty shapes incorporated into everything possible. I felt like a little girl all over again!!! The drinks were so adorable, I sipped it slowly and carefully with my straw so the design didn't get messed up haha. I had my usual green tea latte, iced. I have to say, as many GT lattes as I've had, this was definitely one of the better ones. I was surprised. Most places with too much hype generally have mediocre quality goods but this one was really really good!

Wandering the streets! Plus some random army guys I saw crossing a road, marching in perfect synchronization. Amazing.

After the Cafe, we wandered around a bit and did some street shopping! The infestation of Hongdae doesn't really start until around late afternoon (when all the students get out of school, as I told Ashley), so the streets weren't too bad.  Many clothing/hat/jewelry/etc stands and food carts don't even set up until then and the crowds are totally managable. Nighttime is a different ballgame...by the time we were leaving Hongdae it was already nearing that time and getting super congested everywhere. I love Hongdae at night even more though, because of the energy it brings to the already awesome atmosphere of the area. I also have a thing for lots of different colored lights from various shops, stands, and eateries lighting up the streets and the people walking, it just seems like there's so much life coming from all directions. Hard to explain >.<

I WANT THIS SHIRT SO BAD. But I didn't go in to ask the price because I'm 99.9% sure it's more than I'd want to pay for it lol.

Before leaving we got dinner at my FAVORITE Abiko Curryhouse (thanks to Yeji who first showed it to me!!). I honestly would do illegal things for this curry. Like the strawberry latte from last night, I have no idea what they put in this stuff but it's addicting as hell! You want more already WHILE YOU'RE STILL EATING IT. I got my beef curry with chicken cutlet and garlic crisps. Omnomnomnomnomnom. Ashley and Jess enjoyed it a lot as well and agreed that it was booooooomb curry :) Ashley even ordered a to-go set for her husband. With full, happy bellies we headed back to the station to ride back home.

I've noticed a lot on my walks that the skyline looks different from my last trip and I've finally pinpopinted why; the trees are bare. Last time I was here, it was fall so many trees were a riot of color and blocked the buildings when I took pictures. Now they are bare and I can see everything clearly!

We relaxed the rest of the day until we got hungry again later that night. Too lazy to go back out, we ordered delivery with the aid of the desk staff and happily munched on pork cutlet (and curry in Jess's case) from my favorite delivery place. Jess said the curry was SO good at Abiko, that's all she was craving then hahah so she got curry pork cutlet from the place. I TELL YOU, THEY PUT SOMETHING IN THE CURRY. It's crazy addicting @.@