[BLOG UPDATE] New look for the new year

Hello! I've been trying to give my blog a  new look for 2016 by getting a new template, but unfortunately, I just can't get a compatible template that won't require me to do a lot of modifications with the CSS and HTML. T_T... And since I don't really have much time for all that anymore, I decided to just edit my current template. I've made the following changes so far:

• Updated the images and links to the slider
• Change the thumbnails per post to full size photos per post at the home page (I didn't like the photos getting all distorted in the thumbnail versions)
• Updated the dead links and titles in the navigation bar
• Added a bucket list page
• Added some links at the side bar.

I'm hoping to be able to come up with some new posts too^^

2015 has been a tough, yet equally great year, and I want to thank everyone who dropped by and read my blog. Hope I was able to impart something good to you, and I look forward to your continued support next year. ^^

Let's all enjoy the rest of the holidays. Happy New Year to all! 

May we all have a brighter, more blessed, and more awesome 2016!

Read More

[REVIEW] Visit Korea VIP Invitation Tour Day 1: Hello Kitty Café in Hongdae 헬로키티카페

Hi! After my reviews for Nature Kitchen 자연별곡 and Trick Eye Museum and Ice Gallery in Hongdae, I’m here again for my Visit Korea VIP Member Invitation Tour blog series to give you my review of Hello Kitty Café, which is also in the same area. ^^

I’m not really a fan of Hello Kitty, but I’m a coffeeholic and I love all things cute and girly, and this café is super cute and more! ☕ This is another item crossed out of my bucket list, so thanks again Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) for including this in the itinerary of our trip.^^

Seoul is home to a lot of amazing themed cafes, and Hello Kitty Café (헬로키티 카페) is one of the most popular. It has branches in Hongdae, Shinchon, Myeongdong, and Jeju.

For our tour, we visited the Hongdae branch, which was transferred to its new location last 2014. According to our guide, the new location is bigger than the previous. It was my first time to visit so I can’t compare them, but I really love how cute this café is. It’s covered in pink and all things Hello Kitty, so if you’re a fan, I’m sure you’ll be ecstatic. I think it’s the cutest and girliest café I’ve ever been to^^☕

The Hello Kitty Cafe in Hongdae has a huge gate at the front, and you have to go up to see the actual café. There are potted plants on the way up, and there’s a tree beside the café. I like how they infused touches of nature here and there into this cute little pink paradise.

The view from outside. Credits to the Hello Kitty Cafe Website

Over-all view of the Cafe on a sunny day (because we came on  a rainy day) :) Credits to the Hello Kitty Cafe website

The café is quite big. There’s a spacious front lawn, a gift shop at one side, kitchen and counter area, restroom, and a second floor with a huge area for patrons and a bedroom. It’s really more like a Hello Kitty House than just a regular café.☕

 All of us had umbrellas because of the rain. It was getting cold then.

Everything is covered in varying shades of pink and white with some touches of brown.

There's a separate entrance to the gift shop from the outside, but you can also go there from the inside.

Gift shop entrance

The signage that will greet you beside the door before you enter the cafe

The café implements a reserved seating system so you have to wait for the staff to escort you to a seat. When we got in, a staff greeted us and guided us to the 2nd floor where we chose our seats. There weren’t many people at first, but eventually, they started coming in. We came at around 3:30pm.

The rest of our group all busy with their coffee. It was cold that time but I still chose a cold drink ^^

Hello Kitty Cafe Welcome Counter

My cell phone battery was almost dying on me that time. Good thing there was an outlet for charging at the café. They also have wi-fi for those who want to upload their cute pics right away ^^

I read in one of their table top displays that they implement some rules, which are as follows:

• Upon arrival, you need to inform the staff about the number of your companions (if you have any).
• After receiving a waiting number, a staff will guide you to find your seat. 
• The staff will escort you to your seat, and give you the menu so you can order. 
• After you’ve chosen from the menu, you’ll need to pay for your order in the 1st floor, and they will give you a buzzer. 
• Once the buzzer lights up, you’ll need to bring it to the pick-up area where you will get your order.
• After eating, you need to clean up and take all your cups and dishes to the pick-up area. 

I read them here :)

These rules were stated there but based on my experience, they didn’t ask us to clean up after :) I also read at the welcome counter that the café implements a “one beverage per one person” policy, but I’m not sure if they are strict in implementing that.

If you’re a foreigner, no worries about ordering in the café because they have English translations of the menu and the staff speaks English too.

I ordered the Cookies and Cream Crunch (KRW 6,500 or Php 260), which was kind of new in their menu, and reminds me a lot of Caffé Bene Cookies and Cream Bingsu. It tastes really good, but not really extraordinary. I was hoping to try their cute cakes but we had to go already. I’ll make sure to go back and try them next time. Here’s my detailed review for now:

Food: 8 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- As mentioned, I haven’t eaten anything when we visited, but my drink was quite good. I am yet to find out though what their café specialty is (what people love to order). Maybe next time I’ll make sure to try.

In terms of presentation, they are quite good. Most of the drinks we ordered has Hello Kitty’s face on top. I also found their cakes really cute, and of course, they also have Hello Kitty cake!

They also have a whole variety of cakes, teas, coffee and non-coffee beverages (hot and iced), yogurt, and other desserts to choose from. They have a waffle set, hotdog set, Ricotta Cheese Salad, Croque-Monsieur, and Bread Set if you don’t want cakes and coffee.☕

Look at all those cute Hello Kitty faces! To drink or not to drink?!

My drink is the one at the bottom. It's yummy!^^

All those yummy looking cakes are making me hungry!

But this one is the cutest for me, Hello Kitty Cake! Costs 11,000 KRW

Ambience: 10 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- I love this café’s light and, girly vibe. I’m sure my girlfriends would love it there, Hello Kitty fan or not. The ambience looks quite elegant with touches of some intricate furniture accents, small chandeliers, and very relaxing and comfortable too with wooden floors, white and pink walls, nice, and cute pink sofas, and soft lighting. The place is also well-maintained and really clean. I can spend a whole afternoon here just reading a good book, working on a report, or just chatting with friends.

On the first floor, you can find the counter on your right side

It's complete with all the pink boxes and menu :)

Lots of cute Hello Kitties around

This way to the gift shop please!

If you have Hello Kitty fanatic friends, this is the best place to look for a gift as they have all sorts of Hello Kitty souvenir items.

From Hello Kitty mugs, tumblers, cups, stationery, and calendars...

To Hello Kitty stuff toys, bags, etc.

I was so tempted to buy those cute little Hello Kitty head bands for my niece! I wasn't able to check their price list though.

And then on the 2nd floor, you can see the Hello Kitty Bedroom at the right side. How I'd love to sleep here for a night. Sweet Hello Kitty dreams!

And then there's this cute Hello Kitty Sofas right before you enter the main area for patrons.

All the couches are really cute, right?

Looks like a Hello Kitty altar to me :)

To give you an over all view of the 2nd floor. Credits to the Hello Kitty Cafe website

Even the rest room has Hello Kitty in it

I'd love to have a pink bathroom at home ^^

Value for money: 8 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- I find their price quite higher than most cafes that I’ve been to in Seoul, like double the price. But I guess the ambience and experience more than compensate for it. And if you’re a fan, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind paying extra.

Oh, and I also read in their website that Hello Kitty Café, under Jacob F&B Co Ltd., donates a percentage of its profits to charity, so buying from them is in a way a support to their noble cause.

Check out their menu, and all the other things you can order aside from coffee, tea, and cakes ^^

The waffle and hotdog set are making me hungry. And yes, I still want to eat you Hello Kitty Cake :) 

Accessibility: 8 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- The café is located at an alley. We have a guide with us so we got there easily, but if you’re new in Hongdae, you might get a bit lost so please make sure to bring a map.

Hello Kitty Cafe (Hongdae) map from their official website

Service: 9 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- The staff is quick, accommodating, well-mannered, and best of all, speaks English :)

Will I go back to this place? : Yeah!

It’s a puurrrfect hangout place for Hello Kitty fanatics and a pink paradise for coffee and tea lovers who love all things cute and girly like me. It’s more than just having coffee or an afternoon snack but having that whole Hello Kitty experience. 

Actually after visiting the café and I learned there’s a bigger one in Jeju (Hello Kitty Island), I instantly thought of going there someday. It’s really a wonderful experience to visit such cute and adorable café.☕

Other important details about Hello Kitty Café ☕ :

Operating Hours: 

10:00 am- 22:30pm (10:30pm)

Price Range: 

KRW 4,000- KRW 12,000 (Php 160- Php 480)

How to get there?

[SUBWAY]
Get off at Hongik university station Line 2 and take exit 9.

Walk straight onto the wide street on the left, and turn right after 2 small blocks. 

Keep going straight on the street with many restaurants and cafes. 

Cross the street and keep going straight toward Sang Sang Madang. 

Turn left into Wausan 19 gil at a corner with Snow Spoon. If you walk into the small street for less than 1 minute, you will find Hello Kitty Cafe on your left.

Address: 364-14, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea

Nearby Attractions: Hongdae Playground 홍대 놀이터, KT&G Sangsangmadang KT&G 상상마당, Snow Spoon 스노우 스푼, Hongdae Mural Street (Alley) 홍대벽화거리


For inquiries, you may check out the following sites:

• Website: http://www.hellokittycafe.co.kr/
• Facebook Account: https://www.facebook.com/HelloKittyCafe/

You can also call their Hongdae branch at 02-334-6570.

UPDATE (Jan. 2, 2016): OMG! Good news to Hello Kitty lovers here in Metro Manila^^ I just found out today that Hello Kitty Cafe recently put up 2 pop up stores here. There's one at SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City (open till Jan. 6) and another at the Fiesta Duty Free Mall in Parañaque (open till end of January 2016). And they're opening the country's first Hello Kitty Cafe in March at Bonifacio Global City. Can't wait for that! Check out the original article HERE. (Thanks gmanetwork.com for this good news!)

~~~

If you want to know the rest of our itinerary for this trip, you can check out my first blog post about the Visit Korea VIP Member Invitation Tour.

Many thanks again to Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) for making this trip possible. You can check out the KTO official website and follow their accounts on Facebook and Twitter for details on tour sites and packages, as well as helpful tips in travelling to Korea.

For Filipinos, follow Korea Tourism Organization Manila at Facebook, Twitter, and KakaoTalk (@ktomanila) for the latest updates on Korea tourism, events, tour packages and promos. :)

Read More

[REVIEW] Visit Korea VIP Invitation Tour Day 1: Hongdae Trick Eye Museum & Ice Gallery

I’m back with my Visit Korea VIP Member Invitation Tour blog series^^

Previously, I wrote about my dining experience at Nature Kitchen (자연별곡). Next up is my review of the Trick Eye Museum and Ice Gallery in Hongdae. This place is just walking distance from Nature Kitchen, and has been in my Korean bucket list ever since my first visit last 2013. That’s why I was so thrilled when I found out that it’s part of our itinerary. ^^

Trick Eye is a 3D interactive museum that’s famous around the world. It has been featured on TV several times and has branches in Singapore (Sentosa), China (Jinan), and Hong Kong. It's also the first optical illusion museum that was recognized by Trip Advisor visitors as the no.1 museum in Seoul.
The word trick eye came from the English expression 'Trompe-l'oeil', meaning ‘trick of the eye’. Unlike traditional museums where you just look at the art and displays and have a guide to tour you around, Trick Eye Museum gives you a unique experience via optical illusion, which makes flat 2D paintings look like 3D images. And you don’t need a guide in exploring the facility (and there are no ‘Do not touch’ signs too!), you can freely tour the museum, touch and interact with the various art creations, and best of all, take pictures with them! You can create your own stories, and come up with creative poses for lots of SNS-worthy pictures. Trick Eye is like a huge and entertaining photo op facility with paintings on the walls, floor, and ceiling, and is a very popular date and hangout place in Korea because of all the cute, unique, and creative art images that one can find there.

The museum also offers a lot of activities. There are fun activities like art toy experience, mask making, and educational programs for children where the concepts behind the art illusions are explained. Then, for adults you can try the Hanbok experience and enjoy all sorts of carnival games. You can even have your own caricature and digital oil painting made!

An artist doing a caricature of a couple visitor

There are several facilities inside the Trick Eye Museum (aside from the museum itself). There’s the Ice Gallery, Carnival Street, and the Experience Hall, which were all in the same floor. There are restrooms, locker rooms, a Greek-styled café, a Greek mythology educational room, and exhibit halls that feature contemporary artists as additional attractions. Also in the same building is the Love Museum, an adult only sensual erotic art attraction, which we were not able to explore.

our ticket to the museum (front and back)

Here's a very cute map from the Trick Eye leaflet that we got there :)

We were supposed to have group photo ops in the museum and we were the first to arrive. We took a lot of photos and it was indeed a lot of fun to pose with all those art. After that, it was time to take photos with ice!

Lol, the giants are gonna get us!

Haha, this is one difficult pose XD

The Visit Korea VIP Invitation Tour group photo

Cute photo, a selfie within a selfie. Photo credit to Jean Therese Kurniawan

Kim eonni taught me how to 'fly' at Trickeye. I was posing my usual pose, when she said, "Oh, there's a better way to do it" and she showed me that super cute pose. Lol, this is my attempt to mimic Kim eonni's pose. :D

It was really cold at the Ice Gallery/Museum (I think around -4°C). Good thing we were wearing our K-Smile Supporter Jackets.^^ We posed with all the ice sculptures, tried the ice slide, laid down the ice bed, sat down at the ice sofa, and even played (well, I tried) the ice piano. There’s even a toilet made of ice (and there’s a toy poop in it, lol!).

Selfie time!^^

I tried to play the piano, lol

Nat, Tere, and me hanging out at the Ice Bar. Photo credit to Jeanne Therese Kurniawan

Here's a video of me trying the ice slide. It was short, but really fun. Hope they'll make a longer one!^^ I'm sure the kids will love this....Haha, it was slippery so its hard to get up :)

Read on for my detailed review:

Ambience: 9 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- The museum gives you a light and fun feel. There is ample lighting and the place is also well-maintained. The art masterpieces and the optical illusions are very entertaining. The art displays are divided into several rooms, and I noticed that each room seems to have a certain theme (e.g. under the sea, etc.).
I think I just expected it to be a lot bigger, and didn’t really expect to finish in just 60 minutes or so. The entire facility is 2,314 square metres big and can accommodate a maximum of 700-800 people.

Value for money: 10 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- The price of KRW 15,000 per adult (approx. Php 600) and KRW 12,000 per minor is just right for the unique experience being offered by the museum. It’s a very good place to hang out, enjoy, and bond with family and friends.

They accept cash as well as credit card payments (major credit cards), but refund is not possible after the tickets have been issued.

Accessibility: 9 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- The museum is very easy to find and is at the second basement floor of the Homi-hwabang building.

Here's a detailed map from the Trick Eye leaflet :)

Will I go back to this place? : Of course!

- Trick Eye Museum and Ice Gallery is a good place to let your imagination run wild, and to bring out the kid in you. It’s a good and unique experience to interact with various art masterpieces, and to create your own stories while taking pictures. I think people from all walks of life will enjoy exploring this museum, and I’m sure it will be a remarkable bonding experience with family and friends.

Other important details about Trick Eye Museum and Ice Gallery:

Operating Hours:

The museum is open every day (Monday-Sunday) all year round.

09:00 am-21:00 (9pm)

*Last admission is at 20:00 (8pm)

Admission Fees:

15,000 won per adult; 12,000 won per minor (under 18)

Special rate for groups of 20 or more: 11,000 won per adult; 8,000 won per minor

50% reduced admission fee for disabled and handicapped (The museum has facilities for the disabled and handicapped such as wheel-chair accessible ticket and information booths, as well as ramps)

Free for children under 3 years old

*Pets are not allowed inside the museum

How to get there?

Address: 

20, Hongik-ro 3-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea 121-838
서울특별시 마포구 홍익로3길 20 (서교동)

[Subway]
Hongik University Station (Seoul Subway Line 2), Exit 9.
Go straight 150m, cross the road, and turn left onto Hongik-ro Street.
Go straight 120m, and turn right down the second side street (in between TONYMOLY and Holika Holika).
Continue going 100m to arrive at Trickeye Museum on the right.

If you have a car, parking is available at B3 & 1F of the building. It’s free for the first 30 minutes and costs KRW 1,500 for each additional 30 minutes for Trick Eye Museum patrons.

Approximate length of tour:

60-90 minutes


For inquiries, you may check out the following sites:

• Website: www.trickeye.com / www.icemuseum.co.kr
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/Trickeye.museum

You can also call these travel hotlines for more details:

• 1330 Travel Hotline: +82-2-1330 (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)
• For more info: +82-2-3144-6300 (Korean)

~~~

If you want to know the rest of our itinerary for this trip, you can check out my first blog post about the Visit Korea VIP Member Invitation Tour.

Many thanks again to Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) for making this trip, possible. You can check out the KTO official website and follow their accounts on Facebook and Twitter for the details on tour sites and packages, as well as helpful tips on travelling to Korea.

For Filipinos, follow Korea Tourism Organization Manila at Facebook, Twitter, and KakaoTalk (@ktomanila) for the latest updates on Korea tourism, events, tour packages and promos. :)

Read More