i was a creature of appetites

Last Friday, I got word of Paul + Alice's sample sale, so Sunny and I hightailed our ways over to 헤화동 (near 대학로) to get our fix. Sunny picked up this khaki sleeveless cape/trench thing from Fall (which looked SO good on her), and I got a striped skirt from their SS11 collection. I noticed that we're both carrying beige bags. We first spotted her Miu Miu bag at the duty free store, and I convinced her that she needed it. We're both enablers and should never be allowed to shop together.

Afterwards, we went to 가회동 to eat oven brick pizza at 대장장이 화덕피자. We ordered the rucola pizza, and it was pretty delicious. We were skeptical over the ability of the tealight, but it did indeed melt all the cheese in the center of the pie. Power may come in small packages?



Celine Bi-color Pouch

Miu Miu small satchel bag

build the foundation with bricks they've thrown

Aside from my computer classes and obsessively documenting the outfits of the hottie in my Dreamweaver class, I've been doing this:








01. Spring is coming. Except it's snowing right now.
02. Extra large book collection in a Hyoja-dong cafe.
03. I bought a book journal. It's motivating me to read voraciously.
04. Got my nails did in at Nail Love near Ewha.
05. The best nail art I've seen.
06. Where my great-grandfather's house used to be. Now it's an art museum. And the house where my dad was born is now a Kolon printing office.

Neighborhood: Garosugil #3

On Friday, Felicia and I met at Garosugil to celebrate my second removal of my braces. We had dinner at Allo Papergarden and went to Deux Cremes for dessert. I've come to associate cake whenever I see her, so I feel disappointed if I don't eat some type of pastry after a meal. I've had my gripes about Garosugil, but I've really grown to love it. Aside from hosting the world's best hairdresser (Sung-hee at Jacques Dessanges) and one of my favorite shops in Seoul (Caramel), it's a great place to people-watch. And you will see all sorts of people. For instance, Felicia and I had the delight of sitting next to a couple who thought their table at Deux Cremes was located in a love motel. (This is scandalous for a relatively conservative country. You will never see a couple kissing in public here. I witnessed an old man nearly have a heart attack when he witnessed a couple making out.)

Dinner notes: Allo Papergarden is one of the more popular destinations here. Located on Serosugil (a backstreet), it's a store-cum-restaurant/cafe that serves Italian basics like pasta, risotto, sandwiches, etc. Not pictured are our dishes: I had the seafood risotto which was super luxurious and relatively well done, while Felicia had some pasta dish that was creamy so I didn't partake.

Dessert notes: Deux Cremes is poppin'. Get there early or be prepared to wait - for possibly long amounts of time. Despite its exterior, the space is insanely small for its traffic. The tarts are pretty decent, but can someone tell me why every pie/tart has a rock hard crust in Seoul?!?! Deux Cremes would be an embarrassing place to go on a first date; I'd spent more time stabbing the pastry with my fork than paying attention to anything else.

How to get there: for Allo Papergarden - coming from Sinsa Stn. (신사역 #8출구), walk down Garosugil and take a left at the street before Nescafe, then take the first right. Walk straight and Allo Papergarden will be on your left. Deux Cremes is located on the main street (Garosugil), near the Kate Spade store.




I love the interior at Allo Papergarden.

Neighborhood: Garosugil #2

I've been quiet lately, because I'm taking some computer classes that run five days per week for 4 hours in the morning. I'm now officially the girl who drools while sleeping with her mouth open on the subway. My head may be down (and my hair all over my face), but that slurping noise means that I'm slurping up a string of drool that's almost reached my lap.

Yesterday, I finally got to catch up with Sunny with an impromptu lunch date in Garosugil and squeezing in a quick shopping trip to Myeongdong before calling it a day. My feet ache still, but I think we've seen everything there is to see. We even dropped by the Celine store inside the Lotte Duty Free to drool over the Celine trio pouchette in yellow. They also had a black zippered Cabas, a yellow rectangular Cabas, and the zippered box bags in red and black.

But back to the food. Lunch was at Deli Heinzburg, where I ordered the turkey panini while Sunny had the mushroom panini with the balsamic sauce. Pretty damn juicy. We popped by Deux Amis afterwards - the last place in Seoul for my macaron taste test. Their rose macaron was the best rose flavor I've had in Seoul, but the cookie didn't crumble very well. The earl grey flavor was too overwhelmed by chocolate, and the raspberry tasted too bland.

How to get there: from Garosugil's main street, turn into the street with Nescafe on your right, go straight and you'll pass Deux Amis before Deli Heinzburg. (Deli Heinzburg is closer to allo papergarden.)


The menu folds into a neat square.


The mushroom panini. Check out the beautifully sliced cheese.

Turkey and cranberry panini.

I love the color of the pink radishes.

Neighborhood: Apgujeong #2

Hidden away on one of the many back streets of Apgujeong-dong is a bistro/lounge called Abbey Road. Felicia and I were initially attracted by its London Metro logo and promised to check it out the next time we were in the area. The walkway inside is quite long, and I felt unsure of whether or not this was indeed a restaurant. The building looks like it could be an art gallery, which I later discovered, kinda is. Serving up pasta, pizza, and sandwiches, it's not the ideal place for a full dinner. They boast an extensive drink list and serve one of the best apple martinis I've ever tasted (as seen in photo with Felicia).

On the way to the bathroom, I spotted some type of exhibit and snapped a photo. The work made sense when the waiter handed me a CD containing a music compilation plus an explanation guide for the art work they're hosting. All works were done by Hongik University's Textile Art and Fashion Design's students and graduates.

Food was okay, a little heavy on the olive oil. Go there to get drunk. If you don't like smoking beware, there's no nonsmoking sections. Also, it tends to be dead during traditional dinner hours on the weekdays; we went on Thursday at around 6:30pm, and we were the only people there. Then again, the weather was crap that day.

How to get there: Apgujung station (압구정역) exit #2, walk straight for around 10 minutes. Pass the large intersection with the S-Oil gas station (성수대교 사거리), turn right at the KB bank. Pass the Starbucks on your right. Abbey Road will be on your right, near the Princess Hotel. Look for the London metro sign.

Hours: 5pm-3am
Tel.: 02-546-9505






Spicy pepper pasta

Bacon aioli pasta

Apple martini

Neighborhood: Hongdae #5 - Vinyl

I don't usually make new year's resolutions because it feels like you're setting yourself up to fail. I told myself that I wasn't making a resolution but a life goal - why kid yourself when you know the truth? I've been sober since January, but that was all shot to hell when I found out that my girl Felicia is in town. I can't tell you how much I love girls who are DTDA (down to do anything). What began as a hunt for chicken brought us to make a list of all the places we wanted to try around the Hongdae area, and Vinyl was one of them.

Drinks in plastic bags are usually associated with boxed wine (mistake) and homeless men (bigger mistake), but Vinyl is just so damn cute. I'm so glad I didn't go to Hongdae University. My butt would've been sipping a bag of this in every class. It's like Jungle Juice/Hunch Punch with a straw.

Large groups not recommended, but you can always take your drink to go.

Price: 4,000 - 7,000


The menu.




Dumb hippie decor, in the style that permeates the Hongdae area. I'm slightly angry by how much effort is actually placed into making places look like this.



How to get there: Sangsu Station (상수역) exit #1. The cafe, At Corner, should be on your left. Walk for 2-3 blocks, and Vinyl will be on your left.