5/26

Sunday was a good day. It started out as usual, bakery and such. 명근 (Myeongeun) had the morning shift so as usual we messaged each other while each of us devoted our physical selves to working. He had invited me to the wine bar he works weekend nights at, so I agreed to go later that evening, bringing sweet Lisa along for the ride.

Dave messaged me at around 1:30 pm, announcing that he had finally slept off all his partying from the night before. I figured it was a good last chance to see him before I headed out the following Wednesday. So we did our usual, met up in 홍대 (Hongdae), wandering about until we could both agree on a cafe. We end up in the new three story Twosome Place, Dave surprising me with buying my coffee.
If you want a good place to watch busking but want to avoid the heavy crowds and pulsing sounds, I highly recommend taking to the third floor and grabbing a seat along the window bar.

Featuring an Orange Blossom Latte with Soy Milk

Dave is amazing in many ways, especially his talent of being amazingly annoying (just kidding Dave you know I had to). But one thing he absolutely excels at is art. He had also drawn me during our final meeting in January, so he was here to pick up the papers and well... gift them to me as well.

January

Now

A portrait he had begun in my last Seoul spree, I was honored to receive such a gift. It's definitely going about my fireplace at home. Dave will be heading out to Europe in August, then moving to Australia for a year long trial of living abroad. Depending on my ability to return yet this summer, it could very well be our final meeting for quite some time.
Although brief, we made the most of it, chatting and poking at each other all afternoon, until finally it came time to say goodbye. Luckily, our trains were headed in the same direction, as I was headed to 인사동 (Insadong) to meet Lisa for a cafe excursion. I said goodbye first, giving him a great big bear hug before hopping to my transfer train.

In 인사동, I meet Lisa at the top of Exit 6, where she leads the way to an adorable street of old time-y shops, one of the few areas yet to be touched by the ever evolving, English favoring future. Although tourists roamed freely, the appeal was in the cultural preservation that the local businesses upheld, shown in the sparsity of English signage, traditional style-buildings, and historical merchandise.
We enter an enclosed shopping area, that held 3-4 spiraling stories of hand crafted wares. It was crowned at the very top with our final destination.

So we spiral up, up, and up. giving each shop a moment of our attention before finally we reached the cafe that iced this 4 tier cake.

The Poop Cafe.

똥카페 (Ddong Cafe | Poo Cafe) is an... exotic themed cafe fairly well known by both tourist and natives alike. Although they lack any thing poo flavored (or at least listed on the menu), they are uniquely known to serve curry and specialty lattes in miniature porcelain toilets. And of course there are plenty of other spiraly globs to represent their brave image. chocolate 빙수 (bingsu), jam and scones, and outside you can even find chocolate filled 호떡 (hotteok). I order a blueberry lassi and Lisa a chocolate mint frappuccino. We of course wash it all down with jam and a scone. 

It was quite refreshing, actually. But we unanimously agreed that the should change the jam to any flavor that didn't come in the color of red.

We later find our way to the wine cafe, thanks to 명근's intricately drawn map. 

He mentioned we would likely be the only foreigners in the restaurant, but not the only foreigners in the entire area.

오늘 와인 한잔 is situated down in the alleys all across 서울. With many locations, this franchise strives as a fabulous place to relax on a romantic dinner or a perfect girls' night. The mood is delicately ornamented with soft neon lights and hanging flora, while the menu reflects foods inspired by Italian and Korean cuisine. 

And the wine is generally less than 7,000 원 (won | $6.50) a glass. So of course we were more than willing to try.

But even better? We were recognized immediately by the staff, even though 명근 wouldn't start his shift or another hour. We order sangrias, Lisa deciding on the flower flavor and I the mojito. We then share a sizzling plate of shrimp and vegetables to be topped on bread, as well as long 떡볶이 (tteokbokki). It was delicious.

명근 arrived shortly before 7:00, and he sat with us for approximately 30 seconds. It was enough time for me to ask how the rest of his day had gone, and introduce Lisa and him. 

He then surprised us with ice cream cake, which both Lisa and I agreed looked like inside out cheese sandwiches with the world's most plastic cheese.

But they were actually amazing.

We had such a good time that we ended up leaving a half hour later than expected, with one sangria and two glasses of wine per each of us. 

I think it's the fastest I've ever made such an amazing best friend.

 Thank you Lisa so much for such an amazing evening. And also for the albums! 

And thank you 면근 and staff for such kind and fun service. And Dave? Eh,

JK thanks Dave I'm so happy we're friends after all these years.