17th June 2014.
Kona beans, Grill5Taco, JYP building, Cube cafe, Cube building, FNC building, SM building.
Day 6 of our Korea trip and we planned to go to all the cafes and places related to Kpop. It was supposed to be a slow moving day but we still ended up walking a whole lot! I guess that's something normal especially when you're in Seoul. People walk like everywhere!
As per usual, we woke up around mid morning and headed out. I honestly don't remember if we had anything to eat but we mostly ate at the same few places.
Our first stop was Kona Beans at Apgujeong! It's a cafe that was owned by the mothers of Super Junior's Kyuhyun, Sungmin and Leeteuk. But just this year, Kyuhyun and Sungmin's mums pulled out from the partnership.
Address: 13 Apgujeong-ro 42-gil (640-9 Sinsa-dong) Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
We alighted at Apgujeong station and exited from exit 2. We walked quite a fair bit before arriving at the cafe. Of course, we stood across the road to take a photo before entering.
The cafe was surprisingly empty. There used to be photos of Kyuhyun, Sungmin and Leeteuk but now there were only Leeteuk photos left. We were deciding what drink to get and while doing so we took photos. As tourists, taking photos seemed like the basic thing. But then, we were told off rather rudely by the counter staff to stop taking photos and to buy a drink. She was really rude and she gave us like dirty looks. We eventually bought a drink and left, feeling rather upset.
We left the cafe and stood outside I think to open the drink and take selfies, not of the cafe but of ourselves when another staff approached us. He came from across the street, maybe from a smoke break or something. He told us, once again really rudely, that we should go inside. So of course, we just left. I've no idea what's up with the staff. It wasn't like that when I went there in 2012. There were people, fans and we could take photos. It was like totally empty when we went there. Totally. Empty.
After Kona Beans, we took the subway to Sinsa where Garosugil was at. I don't remember what exit we took but I believe there were signs in the subway station. Most of the time we really just followed the signs. Haha.
It was basically a street that has many fancy shops and cafes. It's not for those on budget.
We went there just because EXO went there to shop for Chanyeol's birthday present. We tried looking for the shop that Kris and Tao were shopping in but the shop fronts looked quite similar and we didn't want to walk into a store if we weren't buying anything. We did though, manage to find the hat shop that some of the members went to. I think we did take a photo outside the shop though I can't find the photo >< Countless of disorganised albums on Facebook. Sigh.
After walking from one end of the street to the other, we took a cab and headed to Grill5Taco! The outlet that Donghae owns.
Address: Cheongdam-dong 88-10 beonji Bo building, 1st Floor (서울 강남구 청담동 88-10번지 보빌딩1층)
We ordered a burrito, a taco and a double cheese quesadilla. I don't remember what burrito and taco we order but it tasted pretty good! Even the fries were quite delicious! The only thing I didn't like about the place was the oil smell. Thankfully, I don't think the smell stayed on our clothes.
By the time we finished lunch, I think it was already around 3 or 4. I can't really remember if we took the train or we walked but somehow we ended up at the area where many Korean entertainment companies were at.
Due to the lack of preparation, we probably ended up walking more than needed. But that's alright! Since holidays and trips like this are meant for adventures and well, getting lost. Haha.
We arrived at the old SM building first, where the huge EXO poster stood. So, of course, we took pictures. Though it was really difficult to get the whole poster! We would need to cross the road to do that. And even if we did, there were trees right in front of the poster -.-
It took us awhile to find the new SM building with the magic glass door that all the SM artistes walk through. Yes, it's probably quite obvious which company I favour, rather I favour their artistes.
We passed by JYP and Cube before arriving at our destination.
We spent I think around 30 minutes or so at the Cube Cafe cos G.NA and Eunkwang from BTOB were filming there! So we stopped and hung around to watch. Whoa, Eunkwang is really good looking in real life! Sometimes I think the cameras don't do them justice at all!
We hung around a little while longer to see if anyone else would stop by the Cube Cafe but unfortunately no one else did. But as we walked passed the JYP building again, someone came out! Baek A Yeon! We should have gone up to her and greeted her but by the time we realised who she was, she already disappeared round the corner.
Then, we continued on our journey to the SM building. We passed by the FNC building as well. But they have a huge gate and there weren't many people waiting around. But while walking there, a black van drove past us and the windows were down. My sister thinks it's a FT Island member. He winded up his window when he realised we probably weren't fans.
Finally, after much walking, we arrived at the SM building!
This photo was taken when the sky turned dark but just so you know, we stayed outside the building for almost 3 hours! Of course, our efforts paid off and have a lot of names to add to the list of people we saw that day!
I think since this post is already pretty long, I'll write a separate post on our experience outside the SM building! Hehehe. I think it's actually really depends on like the day that you choose to go though. I guess we chose a good day!
Stay tuned for more posts on our trip to Korea! Days 7 to 14 left!
