When in Seoul: Visit Hello Cat!

I have an intense love for furry animals. I just love to pet dogs, cats, and any adorable animals I could get my hands on. My dream is to be able to hug the following: bears, tigers, lions and wolves. Since my dream could kill me, I’ll settle with being surrounded by adorable cats for now. But the cat cafés in Manila were a bit far from my area and I hate to say this… the cats are not that cute for me to brave the traffic. And so I kept delaying my trip to the nearest cat café and ended up visiting Hello Cat! in Hongdae, Seoul, South Korea instead. 

Meow*, Hello Cat!

My sister and I were supposed to head to another cat café that seems more adorable with its chic interiors. But the tourist information center failed us and we ended up visiting a smaller cat café which is located on the third floor of a building with a bingsu place on the second floor. 

Since it was drizzling that afternoon, my sister and I didn’t bother to look for the other cat café anymore even if we have some discount vouchers for it. 

We were greeted by a black cat signage on the wall heading to the front door of the café. Once we got in, we were instructed to remove our shoes and wear the slippers provided by the café. We were also instructed to sanitize our hands before entering the cat zone. 

Once inside, we settled our bill (KW8,000 per person) and ordered a drink each. We both got hot chocolate as we were really cold from the pre-winter breeze. 

While waiting for our drinks and after putting our stuff inside the lockers under the seats, we ogled over the adorable cats. Some were grouchy while some were just mesmerized by the raindrops on the window or taking a cat nap. 

Since we were not allowed to lift the cats, we decided to buy a cat treat for KW2,000. It was worth it! 

Green Tea Heaven: O’sulloc Tea House

Hipster. That’s how R described this quaint tea shop known for its wide range of teas from Jeju Island. Yes, I’m talking about O’sulloc Tea House.

Hello, O’sulloc Tea House.

The two storey high tea shop was quite packed on a rainy Saturday night.

It has a wide range of teas and sweets displayed on the ground floor. The packaging of its teas is also so adorable, perfect as Christmas gifts! (I personally love its Wedding Tea. It smells so great!)

Since we were still full from our Jjimak dinner, my mom and I decided to share a glass of King O Fredo (8,500₩) while my sister opted to get Jeju Milk Ice Cream (6,000₩).

While waiting, I explored the tea shop and went up to the second floor.

And it has a different feel to it. It was warmer with its wooden interiors. It also has interesting wall details and I spotted a door that says OSULLOC LABORATORY. It must be where tea magic happens! *drools*

When in Seoul: Andong Jjimak

Living in Seoul for 5 months on a student budget was tough. I survived thanks to milk, free study-hard noodles, and those “military” tasteless free biscuits given out in Myeongdongs. (Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit here as I also get to occasionally buy $5 pizza from Pizza School and splurge a bit with a cup of Dunkin Donuts Caramel Macchiato.)  This is why I promised myself that I’ll buy a fancy (or at least good) meal or two when I visit again. And when I finally did, we had a nice start with…

Andong Jjimak.

Thanks to my good friend, R who happens to be a very fluent and you’d-think-is-local, we got to discover Andong Jjimak. He said that it was one of his favorite restaurants in Myeongdong and even thought of bringing it in Manila. Hearing these from him made my expectations really high.

And seeing the place packed seems to prove it. We were lucky though as the diners eat fast here.

We opted to get Jjimak (37,000 ₩, one and half order good for 3-4 pax) and four bowls of rice.

While waiting, we enjoyed the free appetizers—pickled radish and spicy kimchi.

The pickled radish was pretty refreshing and cleanses the palate while the spicy kimchi was…spicy. One bite was enough for me as it made me gag. (Yes, my tolerance for anything spicy is very low.)

Service was pretty quick and our huge bowl of jjimak was served in less than 10 minutes.