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Continue reading →: Exploring Korean Hagwon Lunches, Part ThreeThis is just another photo drop of school lunches I’ve eaten since May. Descriptions are in the captions. Enjoy! 맛있게 드세요!
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Continue reading →: Itaewon, Two Years OnYou can’t do this. You have to allow it. This is the scene of the tragedy, so shouldn’t we feed these kids (deceased) a meal? We still have names to remember.
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Continue reading →: Dongnimmun Arch 독립문, Historic Site No. 32Built in January 1898 and designated as a historic site in 1963, Independence Gate or Dongnimmun 독립문, was proposed by Soh Jaipil 서재필 (or Seo Jaepil in another romanization). It symbolizes the Joseon Dynasty’s end of being a tributary state of Qing China. It was built near the remains of…
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Continue reading →: The Aesthetic Charm of Manhole Coffee CaféThis beautiful cafe popped up on my instagram feed and I had to visit. Not only was it uniquely beautiful and roasts its own coffee, but it’s called “manhole” coffee, and I was recently made a moderator for a manhole covers around the world group and take many photos of…
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Continue reading →: 2024 Kim Kibum Birthday CafesAnd we’re back with more Key birthday cafes! I only went to two this year, focusing instead on hanging out with my friends, but one of my friends went to a Key cafe in a different area of Seoul and brought me goodies. To find the birthday cafes, there’s a…
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Continue reading →: Got7’s Youngjae Birthday Cafe 2024For the first time, I went to a company-sponsored birthday cafe. (At least I’m pretty sure.) Youngjae has been my bias in Got7 for a long time, since before I came to Korea. My first kpop album was Got7’s Present: You, and I specifically ordered Youngjae’s version. I carried around…
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Continue reading →: Gangneung Money Museum and Ojukheon on the 5,000 Won Note (Gangneung, part three)Let’s start with a poem by Shin Saimdang, mother of Yi I and accomplished artist herself. According to the translation, she wrote this while living at her in-laws’ house. Google Translation: Missing My Mother My hometown is a thousand miles away from here. Even in my dreams, I only think…
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Continue reading →: Munseongsa Shrine and Eojegak (Gangneung, part two)Munseong is yet another pen name for Yi I and this is a shrine to him. In front of the portrait of Yi I is a round incense burner and next to it is a pile of broken incense that you can offer by simply dropping in the incense. Here…
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Continue reading →: Rereading Goosebumps–Forty One/Sixty TwoHere’s books #32-41… I may have binge-read four Goosebumps books one Sunday when I wasn’t feeling like doing anything. The Monster Blood arc is finished! I really enjoyed the pivot the fourth book took, but am still annoyed at the random inclusion of a character that did nothing to help…
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Continue reading →: Ojukheon House (Gangneung, part one)One of the historical places I visited when I went to Gangneung, Gangwon-do for summer vacation was Ojukheon House. “Ojukheon” refers to the black bamboo that grows on the premises. Ojukheon is where Shin Saimdang gave birth to Yi I (pen name Yulgok) during the Joseon Dynasty. Shin Saimdang is…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The New Seoul Park Jelly Massacre, Cho YeeunYou know how you read the synopsis of the book, or even just the title, and know that it’s going to be the next book you read? That’s how I felt about The New Seoul Park Jelly Massacre. I got a copy thanks to Anthony over at Honford Star publishing,…
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Continue reading →: Manhole Collection May 2024-July 2024More of my manhole collection. Even my friends point out interesting manhole covers to me now. Some shots from my trip to Gangneung in August: And a stray one from the Philippines before I realized I was interested in photographing manhole covers: My honorable mention: Happiness (행복), 2020 Uijeongbu (의정부),…
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Continue reading →: Review: Junji Ito’s Horror House: SeoulI would like to thank whoever was the first to mention the Seoul Junji Ito exhibit in the facebook group What Kind of Junji Ito Bullshit Is This, because it had flown completely under my radar. “Coffee, then screams?” I texted my friend, who had never read anything from Junji…
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Continue reading →: Rereading Goosebumps–Halfway There! Thirty One/Sixty TwoI am now halfway through the original 62 Goosebumps books! This particular set of books were all quite interesting in their own rights. Some of them could have easily been tailored for a more adult audience, some had major plot holes, but most of them were really enjoyable reads. I…
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Continue reading →: Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI) Pop-Up, May 2024Back in May, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (also known as LTI) held a Korean writing pop-up event in Coex Starfield Library in Seoul. In addition to having numerous Korean authors give talks, they provided displays with information about leading Korean authors and included different editions of their books…
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Continue reading →: Best Coffee in GangneungI recently went to Gangneung, in Gangwon Province, along the eastern shore of South Korea. One of my taxi drivers was very confused as to why I chose Gangneung, of all places, because in his words, “Only Koreans come here–and only to see the ocean.” I wanted to see the…
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Continue reading →: Cafe Review: Blue Bottle, YeoksamMy silly little side quest of visiting all (permanent) Blue Bottle locations in Korea is quickly coming to its conclusion… Blue Bottle in Yeoksam is on the first floor of a big building and features large, floor to ceiling windows that allow in a lot of natural light. The wood…
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Continue reading →: Cafe Review: Blue Bottle, HongdaeLocated on the first floor of the Ryse hotel, the Blue Bottle in Hongdae has a unique set-up. In addition to tables, there is built-in seating along the stairs, and the iconic Blue Bottle image reflects a blue wall behind the espresso bar as well as a blue art installation…
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Continue reading →: Lee Taemin (태민) Birthday Cafe, July 21st, 2024Oddly, despite his ever-growing popularity, there was a dearth of birthday cafes for SHINee’s “ace” maknae, Lee Taemin, and many of them ended on Saturday. This was unfortunate as we were planning on visiting the cafes on Sunday, so we ended up just going to one birthday cafe before calling…
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Continue reading →: Cafe Review: Intelligentsia, SeochonI was super excited to see that Intelligentsia Coffee had opened their first Korean store in the Jongno district of Seoul. While I personally haven’t had any of their coffee, their reputation is favorable, with their sourcing of coffee beans directly from growers as well as a successful bid to…
Welcome to Koffee & Kpop, adventures of an errant American barista living in South Korea.
Koffee & Kpop 