An afternoon in Hongdae

In honor of Korea's liberation from Japan, Hyeyoung, Cyndi, and I spent last Wednesday in Hongdae (Hongik University), best known for its artsy students and Club Day. Filled with trendy boutiques, cafes, and hipster art people, Hongdae reminds me of SoHo, just not as expensive and less pretentious. I dig Hongdae.

Our afternoon in Hongdae started off with a search for the location of my favorite new drama Coffee Prince, starring adorable 몸짱 Gong Yoo. Fortunately, we, along with 50 other teen girls, found the cafe.






























Sadly, Gong Yoo was nowhere in sight. 공유 없어서 우리가 실망했어요.



















We, then, cruised around the neighborhood where I picked up a pair of mouse pirate hoop earrings. I tried to bargain, and got a slight discount after purchasing a second pair of earrings. I need to work on my bargaining skills.
















I also forced Cyndi & HY to eat an 아이수와풀 (ice waffle), a waffle ice cream sandwich. If you're on a diet and want something lighter, you can order an 아이수파이 (ice pie), which is a waffle slathered with strawberry or vanilla cream. I recommend the ice cream version.































Despite a lot of eye shopping, we spent most of our time looking for an air conditioned cafe -- as did every other person in Hongdae. We were so desperate to find a cool place to chill that we considered going to the Ice Bar, a trendy lounge bar set at a sub-zero temperature. If I were an uber popular celeb like Gong Yoo, I'd hang out at Ice Bar, because at $15 a person (and this is just the day price), it is an unlikely hangout for common fan girls like us. Fortunately, the Ice Bar led us to a nearby cafe called Dicca.

I can't remember the exact description, but Dicca is a cafe/ photo studio. It's a place where you finish a cup of iced coffee, then head into one of three studio rooms and take photos. Use of the rooms (each features a different backdrop) and accessories (wigs, glasses, hats, etc) are free. Costumes are available for a fee, but we slipped on some of the dresses when no one was looking. This cafe/ photo studio is such an interesting concept. It combines two favorite Korean pastimes: coffee drinking and self photos.

The efforts of our ultra glamorous photo shoot may be seen in the following video: