Hongdae Bakeries ft. Richemont, Paul & Paulina, Jesters and Publique

Been here a while? Had your fill of Paris Baguette or Tous Les Jours? Want a taste of home or close to it?

Well you are in luck my friend! :)

I have a hand full of places you can visit in Hongdae to get your fix on some delicious breads and even a pie or sausage roll or 2... that's right a good old pie for all you aussies and kiwis missing a tasty meat pie and an essential sausage roll.

I will even help you out with directions! and perhaps a map (even though it a little small... but will be helpful in addition to my written clues).

By the way look out for my trendy Youtube video somewhere near the end of this post for delicious eye candy... (more pictures of delicious treats).

First things first:

Get to Hongdae Station. Take exit 9. You will immediately be on the main street with a little street to your left. Walk past that until you come to the next street on the left (it will be a big street). Turn left up it and walk to the next street. Right on the corner will be:

Richemont Bakery: ** Edit 27 February 2012 - recently Richemont bakery has closed :( **

Here is a landmark that will be across the street so if you miss it look for Mr Doughnut on the opposite side of the road then look around on your side of the road and you should see Richemont Bakery somewhere around where you are standing :)

Filled with delicious pastries and breads this is definitely the largest of the bakeries I visited and boasts a wide variety of edibles.

http://www.richemont.co.kr/a_about/open_eng.html

Jesters:

Just up the street past the KB* bank and a little further on (after the third street on the left after you exit the Richemont Bakery) You will come to a two storied eating building... filled with eating establishments. On the second floor about half way (or less) down the building is Jesters Pies!

Here is another landmark on the opposite side of the road.. Frisbee apple store... so if you see this turn around and look for a yellow and purple Jesters.

Filled with delicious pies and sausage rolls and chips its a must for those of us who come from "down under". Check out the flavors and prices in my video down below.

Paul & Paulina:

http://englishspectrum.net/seoul-restaurants/by-popular-areas/hongdae/paul-paulina

So you are on your way to Paul and Paulina for some freshly baked bread and even some scones! Well just head up the road until you come to the end. The University will be in front of you. Go left look for Nescafe cafe... turn left and walk about 20 or so meters and it will be on your left.

See there is Nescafe cafe in the background there...

Grab a scone or two and you are set for our next destination!

Publique:

http://blog.naver.com/inbp83

Now this place is a little hard to find and is a hidden gem.

So if you are at Paul and Paulina go back to where you were in front of the University. If you didn't go to Paul and Paulina then you are standing at the end of the street looking at the University. Turn right this time and be prepared for a little walk :)

Keep walking until you cross one big road then keep your eyes peeled for a Chinese restaurant on your right (it going to be about the 4th little road on your right). Once you see it take the little road immediately after it on your right.

If you cant see it look on the opposite side of the road for Hollys Coffee. Then you should be somewhere close.

So walk down the little road and it should be the second street on your left and it will look like this:

Jump inside and enjoy the sweet tasty treats they have to offer! Check out the qualifications in the window of the chefs and know you are going to be well satisfied :)

I cant say enough about this place. I have been there twice and will go again. I have not tried the cafe or coffee eclair yet so I will be back... oh yes I did say eclair so get yourself in there and since its winter you deserve something sweet to warm your soul :)

Anyway here is a map... or as best as I could do. The red dots are approximately the locations.

And check out this video to whet the appetite!

Wow so that all for this week... I haven't done this much work on a blog entry for a while so I hope you enjoy it! :)

Have a great week and see you next time! :)

New Years Eve & The Marionette

So if there is one show in Seoul right now that I recommend that you see it is The Marionette at the Art Hall in Building 63 (or the Yeoksam building).

I was totally impressed by this performance. I have been to a few performances now and I have been disappointed with some of the venues or sound. This place however is prefect, the sound was at an excellent level with no distortion and it was not too loud.

About the show... it was very ambitious and they pulled it off. Even with very simple props and a lot of imagination the audience was amazed and moved by the dancing and surprises that this show has to offer.

The show has a very moving and touching story which is illustrated through amazingly well drawn slides and really pulls at the heart strings on occasion.

Look out for cameo's of the Ghostbusters, ET and Optimus Prime (from Transformers).

I cannot say enough good things about this show! The dancing is amazing, the visual effects (although simple) are outstanding and the story was fantastic... I was totally blown away :)

Here is a link to an article about it... I believe a single ticket is about 40,000 won but remember at 63 building you can get discounted packages to visit multiple attractions at once so you could spend a good day there. For more on Yeoksam 63 building you can check out my prior adventure there... here:

http://rawrkorea.blogspot.com/2010/10/legend-of-flower-and-building-63-yook.html

For more on The Marionette have a look here:

http://www.dealiciouskorea.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=134:marionette&Itemid=890&lang=en

Also this week was New Years or the start of a new year. So I went to Walker Hill Hotel to celebrate in style at the Blue Spirit Dance Party. It consisted of two separate dance halls in the hotel which had special DJ and guests turn up to perform.

So here is a little taste of the action... walking from one dance hall to the other then the New Year countdown!

So until next week "Happy New Year!" have a great week and enjoy the start of something new. :)

Seoul Doll Fair 2011 COEX Mall

Get your skates on if you want to see this exhibition. It runs from the 23rd of December to the 2nd of January 2012 at the COEX Mall Exchibition Hall A.

http://dollfair.mt.co.kr/2011/

I think... actually I cant remember the cost because someone paid for me :) but it was not more than 10,000 won to get in.

I went on Friday the 23rd and there were 1000's of dolls there or all kinds and designs.

Yes there are some "action" or movie dolls there as well so you wont be bored if you go with your girlfriend :)

So I tink thats enough of me talking about it so here are just a few of the dolls that I took a picture of... you can see many more in the Youtube video posted at the end :)

Oh yes while I remember there were some Girls Generation, KARA and 2NE1 dolls there for all you mania maniacs :)

Also I decided to make a short video looking at the different types of Korean food you can get at a typical food court. This one was in Home Plus Mullae in Seoul.

So its starting to get pretty cold here now (around -12 or so) so keep yourselves warm and I will see you all next week! :)

Motor Life Car Cafe

Motor Life Car Cafe - Lotus & Ferrari

Address and phone number in the link below

http://www.at-life.co.kr/main.html

This fantastic little cafe is located only a few kilometers from the center of Seoul (4 - 5km approx) and is well worth the taxi fare to get there if you do not have your own transport and you want a unique experience and a delicious break from the hectic Seoul lifestyle.

The Cafe display car changes regularly so don't be surprised if there is a Ferrari instead of a Lotus parked in the middle of the floor :)

Downstairs is the showroom with several other models of Lotus. Obviously downstairs is also a workshop and some of the cars were in several stages of maintenance when I was there. We had the showroom especially opened for us as we were there very early (check the timetable below for the cafe and showroom operating times).

The coffee and the sandwiches are a little expensive even for Seoul standards but you will be pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food you get. It is all hand made on quality bread and the coffee is brewed perfectly. Some of the sandwich combinations may seem strange (tuna and apple...?!) but are surprisingly delicious :) Far better than my expectations!

Lets get on with some pictures:

I believe this is the owner in a video he posted on youtube

Winter is definitely here so we shall see what I post later... and Christmas is coming... I want to avoid the crowds :)

Wow I also went to Cats on Saturday. It was a fun performance and probably one if not the best musicals on the stage.

if you want to see it here is the link for tickets for the 2011 run until December 31.

http://ticket.interpark.com/Global/Play/Goods/GoodsInfo.asp?GoodsCode=11009504

Have a fantastic week and see you next time! :)

Bucheon Robot Park

A rather cold weekend this weekend! Friday also brought the first snow of the year to Seoul!

So off to visit Bucheon Robo Park. A museum of sorts dedicated to robots....?

It is quite small covering 3 levels. There are no fancy movie or anime robots there but there are a lot of real functioning robots.

Anyway if you are interested here is the official Link:

http://www.robopark.org/english/introduction/overview.asp

I have no idea what the next week brings! So until next time have a fantastic time! :)

YG Family Concert 2011 Big Bang and 2NE1 Special ! ! !

YG Family Concert 2011 was amazing! There was a HUGE line up including 2NE1 (my favorite girl group), Big Bang, Gummy, Seven, PSY and many more.

No camera's were allowed >:(

So I had to leave my big Canon camera behind...

But luckily for you and me I have my back up pocket Nikon camera :)

I didn't take any photo's because in such darkness and strange lighting and at a distance of more than a few feet the photos are not good...

However I did take 12 video's for you all to experience the concert ! ! ! :)

I only filmed Big Bang and 2NE1 and some GD and Top and that was at some risk because I was kindly told once to not use my camera and some people had theirs confiscated but I got some footage in the end :)

So here enjoy:

2NE1 ..... yay !!! :)

Big Bang..:

G Dragon and Top ... :

Wow so I hope you liked it! I picked up about 20 more youtube subscribers in just a few hours after posting so I am very happy right now :)

If you are in Korea and you get a chance to go to a K-pop concert like Big Bang or 2NE1 or another group I would recommend it definitely! Also keep a look out for Lotte Duty Free Family Concert that will probably be happening next year. I went earlier this year so you can also check out those Big Bang video's in my earlier blog posting or on my youtube account :) I will try and go again next year. Lotte Duty Free is not so hard on cameras so I hope to be able to film the whole concert if I am lucky :)

Until next week have an excellent time!!! :)