pushed on by the fingertips of dreams

The last photos from Seoul, seen through the cheap lens of a T50. I used to be really obsessed with film cameras, but I feel like I'm coming to see the value of a digital lens. Maybe it was spending that extra $400 to fix my Leica, but the Digilux has really become a metal extension of myself lately.

I used to be drawn to film because of its "magical" quality. It still has some sort of magic, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't use Photoshop to manipulate some of the images. It might just be this particular camera, but some of the photos came out too grainy for my satisfaction.

Sunny, who's been featured on this blog a number of times, is one of my favorite people because she's so multi-talented. You wouldn't believe some of the skills this girl has - one of them being a great shopping enabler. "Get it. It looks good on you." A phrase that I heard one too many times, and my suitcase barely survived to tell the tale.

Brunch at Original Pancake Story, buying masks at the local pharmacy because of the yellow dust, wandering around Hannam-dong and seeing celebrity vans (연예인 차), picking out our future houses in the UN Village, going to Passion 5 (also chronicled here).
My last day in Seoul had me running to the hairdresser last minute, so I was in Garosugil where we grabbed a really late lunch at Abiko Curry and stopped for some of the best coffee in Seoul at Cork & Turtle.

We found these masks hilarious. We looked like birds.

Penthouse style apartments in Hannam-dong.

Colorful houses in Hannam-dong.

Entrance to 2nd level at Passion 5.

At Abiko Curry.

At Abiko Curry.

Tables at Cork & Turtle.

View from balcony at Cork & Turtle / sipping Americano.

People To People on Garosugil.

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: Garosugil #1

I've been meaning to check out Palette in Garosugil for weeks now but didn't get a chance to until yesterday. Garosugil has become my go-to area lately, which is baffling to me as it's got a lot of characteristics I despise the most in Seoul. It's rather totally charmless with an air of unnecessary pretension. 100% urban planned, it's predictable but easily navigable. It also has some of the best bakeries in Seoul.

Palette is tucked away on a perpendicular street. It's a bit of a hike, and the walk isn't that attractive. Lots of construction is happening around the area, and lots of cars roam around the street with hapless ajummas behind the wheels. That said, the cafe is a great place to take a book or catch up with a friend. Spacious with limited seating means that you're not sharing the table with couple next to you. Although they serve canneles, their main line of business is clearly macarons. Traditional flavors include vanilla, pistachio, and caramel, but they also offer seasonal flavors like cassis, black sesame, and wasabi.






L to R: Passion Choco, Earl Grey, Roseberry, Orange Choco, Cassis, Chocolate.



L to R: Black Sesame, Pistachio, Lemon, Caramel, Roseberry, Cinnamon.



Verdict: the filling in the macarons at Palette had a different texture than the other places, as you can see from the photo. Overall, I found passion choco and lemon the best flavors. The flavors I enjoyed the least were black sesame (though I can see this being popular with Korean taste buds, as the flavor is really similar to the sesame seeds - nutty and creamy) and chocolate (too sweet). The earl grey had too strong hints of chocolate. I also had an issue with the softness of the macarons. A part of me is suspicious that these weren't made the same day, as they felt a little less fresh.

Price: 24,000 for 12 pack (also sold in 6 and 15 packs)

How to get there: take line 3 to Sinsa Station (신사역) and use exit #8. Walk straight until you see the phone shop and turn onto Garosugil (가로수길). Walk straight and take a left at the 2nd Starbucks. Walk straight down this road for approx. 5 minutes. Palette will be on your left. (Next to a 7Eleven, I think.)