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Continue reading →: Cafe Review: Coffee Nearby (커피니어바이)I’m known for ordering two drinks at every cafe I go to, but the cafe I visited prior to discovering this one wasn’t that great and Naver showed me a ton of cafes in the area, so I decided to pop in for a pour-over. I was so happy to…
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Continue reading →: A Day in Manila, January 2023It’s going to be below zero Celsius early next week so mentally I’m going to be on a beach on the Philippines like I was this time last year. We spent a day and a half in Manila before boarding a flight and then boat to the island of Boracay,…
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Continue reading →: We Still Have Names to Remember: Itaewon, 2023The following was written for a Manhole Covers internet group. I felt moved to share the story of the tragedy in Itaewon with people who, perhaps, had not been aware of it. You can watch a subtitled video entitled “Seoul Halloween Crowd Crush, the stories of survivors” by Undercover Korea…
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Continue reading →: Books I Read in 2023Featured image: “Armchair Traveler” by Henn Kim. 2023 was the first year that I can recall “reading” an audiobook. I’ve tried listening to a few but was never able to get into them. Spotify Premium included Jennette McCurdy’s book, “I’m Glad My Mom Died” so I listened to that while…
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Continue reading →: Cafe Hyehwamun Arae & European Christmas MarketOn December 9th, my book club had a “non-book book club meeting” at a cafe, followed by a visit to a European Christmas market nearby. Cafe Hyehwamun Arae is located in Seongbuk-gu. It’s a cute little cafe that offers basic espresso drinks as well as yummy pour-overs and bakes its…
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Continue reading →: Books I Read in 2022I forgot to post my book round-up for 2022, so I’ll post that while I work on reading the remaining book for my reading challenge in 2023. (Here’s 2021’s version.) (Featured Image by the amazing Henn Kim.) I no longer taught kindergarten from March 2022 on. I visited my family…
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Continue reading →: Kim Jonghyun, April 8 1990 – December 18 2017Today marks the 6th year since you’ve been gone. In a way, you pulled me back into K-pop, which led me to actively pursue my dream of teaching English in South Korea. I’ve been here since 2020 and recently renewed my teaching contract for another year. Shinee was my first…
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Continue reading →: Restaurant Review: Cafe Travel Maker, HongdaeFor a friend’s birthday, we met up at Travel Maker near Hongik University Station, for an all-American brunch. The restaurant is on the second floor of a building off the 경의선숲길공원 (Gyeongui Line Forest Park), and as it’s a small location, you must add yourself to the waitlist via the…
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Continue reading →: Memorare — Manila 1945On our way to San Agustin Church, we passed this monument, Memorare — Manila 1945. It was a stunning and tragic memorial to the innocent people who lost their lives during the Battle of Manila’s Liberation in 1945. Image description: the stone statue with the following engraving in gold on…
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Continue reading →: San Agustin Roman Catholic ChurchLocated in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines, is the historic Roman Catholic church San Agustin. Built in 1607, it’s the oldest stone church in the Philippines. It was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1993. It’s actually the third Augustin church on the site, as it had previously been burnt down…
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Continue reading →: Kim Kibum (키) Birthday Cafes, September 24th, 2023September 23rd was Key’s birthday, so on that Sunday, the 24th, it was time for another round of birthday cafes! Kim KiBum (김기범), better known as Key, is a member of Shinee as well as an actor, songwriter, fashion designer, television presenter… He’s very well known and well-loved even outside…
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Continue reading →: Cafe Review: Blue Bottle ApgujeongI stumbled upon this Blue Bottle walking back from having visited another cafe in the area. I didn’t purchase a drink, as I was sufficiently caffeinated, but I did buy a bag of coffee and took the following photos. I was quite surprised when the barista spoke to me in…
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Continue reading →: Day Trip Around Jung-gu, SeoulThis post will be a mix of cafe review and other things my friends and I got up to on a beautiful August day wandering around Jung-gu, Seoul, near City Hall Station. It’s very frustrating to travel an hour by subway to visit a new cafe only to discover said…
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Continue reading →: Covid Finally Caught Me
I moved to South Korea at the very start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Looking back on the posts I’ve written about the precautions we’ve taken here in South Korea, I’m a little disappointed I didn’t write more about all the little things that are now at the edge of my…
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Continue reading →: Cafe Review: Rose NoirI get a lot of advertisements for cafes on my personal Instagram, which is where I found the following cafe. Decked out in a color scheme of pink and black, Rose Noir cafe opened in late June of this year. I passed by quite a few cafes to get to…
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Continue reading →: Happy Birthday, Your HolinessMay your three am prayers continue for centuries.May the soft clicking of your mala reverberate throughout the universes.May your exuberant laughter ring into the hearts of all beings.May one day, your people will not have to prostrate to radios, the only sound of your voice that echoes through the land…
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Continue reading →: Cafe Review: Blue Bottle HannamLooking to rub elbows with G-Dragon, a BTS member, or an elite K-drama star, all while sipping your daily joe? Look no further than Blue Bottle’s Hannam location. Blue Bottle Hannam is located in Gourmet 494, a grocery/restaurant connected to Nine One Hannam, a residential complex where units go for…
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Continue reading →: Fort Santiago, Manila, PhilippinesWe visited Fort Santiago while we were staying in the Philippines. Fort Santiago, a citadel built in 1571 for the new city of Manila, was beautiful on the day that we visited. I don’t have much to say other than Fort Santiago is an important piece of history and you…
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Continue reading →: Kim Jonghyun’s Birthday Cafes in Hongdae생일카페, or birthday cafe is a common event in South Korea where people rent out cafes for Kpop idol’s birthdays and they give away free paper cups and sleeves, stickers, photocards, and other items branded with the idol’s photos. You can read about how one is managed by clicking here.…
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Continue reading →: Trash in KoreaLet’s talk 쓰레기–trash. One of the initial hurdles that an expat faces is what to do with their trash. In the US, you pay for a trash pick-up service that comes once a week on a specific day and collects your trash bags (purchased from any store) from either the…
Welcome to Koffee & Kpop, adventures of an errant American barista living in South Korea.
Koffee & Kpop 