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Continue reading →: Nancy Drew Challenge: #2, The Hidden StaircaseCovers sourced from this website. #2, The Hidden Staircase In the second book, we meet Nancy again, and this time her friend Helen has a mystery for her to solve. Her great-grandmother’s house is being haunted by a ghost! While Nancy is investigating, her father is working on his own…
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Continue reading →: Nancy Drew Challenge: #1, The Secret of the Old ClockIn 1930, an author was paid $125 (roughly $2,355 in 2026) to write a book. After writing the book, all rights to the material were forfeited and they could not identify themselves as the author of said work. This was the job of the ghostwriter, a profession that has been…
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Continue reading →: Starbucks Daegu Jongro Old House“Oh, you went to THE Starbucks,” my friend commented on Instagram. “THE” Starbucks in question is the Daegu Jongro Old House Starbucks, aka the Hanok Starbucks. It is the only Starbucks in the world located in a 100-year-old 한옥, hanok, or traditional Korean building. I arrived in Daegu mid-morning and…
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Continue reading →: Hyunjin Birthday Cafes, 2026The second Stray Kids birthday in the calendar year belongs to our beloved artist and leader of Paboracha (iykyk), Hwang Hyunjin (황현진). Seeing as this was the first weekend of birthday cafes for me since moving back to the Seoul region, I planned on visiting 4 or 5 of them.…
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Continue reading →: Mariage Coffee, DaeguDaegu’s Apsan Cafe Street was eerily quiet the day after Seollal 설날, the Korean Lunar New Year. After visiting Donghwasa Temple on the spur of the moment, I had a few hours until my train and was planning on going to at least two cafes on Apsan Cafe Street. My…
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Continue reading →: I.N Birthday Cafe @ Vanilla 808, 2026It’s a new year, which means… new birthday cafes! Since last year, I also picked up another ult group that happens to have 8 members so that means I’ll be going to a lot of birthday cafes this year. (My poor wallet… ㅠㅠ) There were approximately 13 birthday cafes across…
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Continue reading →: Books Read in 2025You can read my Mid-Year Book Review here! Here’s a list of the books I read in 2025. My Mid-Year Review was pretty much a year-end review as well, as I didn’t have much time to read in the latter part of the year thanks to job hunting. My top…
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Continue reading →: Enjoy an Iced Americano with Jesus, Christmas 2025Last year, my friends and I went to a Birthday Cafe for Jesus. It’s happening again this year but a lot of the advertising is in Korean, so I thought I’d break it down a little bit for any English-speaking foreigners that might want to go. (It’s certainly a unique…
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Continue reading →: Cafe Review: Blue Bottle Busan Millak CafeLocated along the Suyeongman Bay, Blue Bottle’s Millak cafe in Busan is a small cafe with an impressive view. This particular cafe was full of natural light thanks to the large windows along the side of the cafe, and there is an outside patio for when the weather is nice.…
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Continue reading →: An Otter-ly Adorable Cafe in Seoul, Cafe SudalThe last time I visited Seoul, I checked out a new-to-me cafe that’s been around for a few years: Cafe Sudal (수달, “otter”), located in Anguk. We went shortly after opening so there was only one other group there, which allowed me to get some great interior shots. The cafe…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: One Hundred Shadows, Hwang Jungeun“What I’m saying is, you need to keep your eyes peeled when what’s in front of you has teeth.” Sometimes we go in search of books. Other times, books find us. “One Hundred Shadows” by Hwang Jungeun, translated by Jung Yewon, found me. This novella focuses on the relationship between…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The Night is Short, Walk On Girl (Tomihiko Morimi)Back in 2018, fresh off a break-up, I heard of the anime film “The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl” and upon finding no one interested in going to watch it with me, turned watching it into a date night with myself. I remember it was screening at the local…
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Continue reading →: Sangnam Traditional MarketI recently visited a traditional market, Sangnam Market, and took some photos and videos. I like visiting traditional markets and seeing all they have to offer. Some are open every day and others are only open on certain days. Enjoy!
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Continue reading →: Mid-Year Book Review 2025Even though July 2nd was the middle of the year, here’s my Halfway Through the Year Book Count! Individual reviews are linked to their titles. Children’s Books When I was a kindergarten teacher, I always loved having books in my classroom for my kids to read when they finished their…
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Continue reading →: Why Eero Cafe Should Be Your Next Coffee SpotEero Cafe is one of the most impressive cafes I’ve visited in Korea. Not only was the coffee delicious, but it features a number of art exhibits, including one downstairs past the bathrooms that is not to be missed. A recurring motif of the cafe is the haechi (해치), a…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: A Thousand Blues(feature image taken from this article) “A horse that wasn’t considered a horse was not allowed to continue living. A horse that couldn’t run had no compelling reason to remain on Earth.” I had never heard of A Thousand Blues until I read an article about the rights being purchased…
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Continue reading →: Flower Cafe Of Your Dreams, City GardenI visited this beautiful flower cafe on a rainy Tuesday morning after running an errand. Even though the opening time was stated as 10am, the doors were open at 9:45 and I was warmly welcomed in from the rain. I had a delicious hand-drip coffee and slice of cinnamon cake…
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Continue reading →: Must-See Exhibits at the Arario Museum in SeoulOne of my favorite museums in Seoul is the Arario Museum in Space, a quirky modern art museum next to Fritz Coffee in Jongno. As I’ve told a few friends I’ve taken there, “it’s an experience” as you move through the museum in a disorienting and non-linear way. Don’t be…
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Continue reading →: Korean Translations of Goosebumps: Most Wanted SeriesI recently went to Aladin secondhand bookstore and discovered five of the Goosebumps: Most Wanted series translated into Korean. (It appears that seven were translated, and the store was missing books number five and seven, which seem to be and Creature Teacher: The Final Exam and Son of Slappy, respectively.)…
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Continue reading →: Korean AirBnB, a Block From the BeachLast month, my two friends and I rented an AirBnB for Friday and Saturday night in Busan, about a block from Gwangalli Beach. I’ve got tons of photos from the Gamcheon Culture Village I need to edit, as well as from a solo trip to the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, aka…
Welcome to Koffee & Kpop, adventures of an errant American barista living in South Korea.
Koffee & Kpop 