Cafe 1010
Last Friday was a public holiday in Korea, and Youngdoo and I met in Hongdae to drink coffee and play with toy cameras. It was a summery day, begging for hot dogs and ice cream cones, so instead of coffees we opted for late afternoon beer and sausage sets at Cafe 1010 (www.cafe1010.co.kr) So cute!
Part [...]
Buddha’s Birthday
Each spring, Seoul comes alive with glowing lanterns strung along the streets and among the temples in celebration of Buddha’s Birthday. The Lotus Lantern Festival is a 2-week affair of temple events and lantern making, culminating in the famous Lotus Lantern Parade through downtown Seoul, a particular favorite among expats and visitors.
Café
The Coffee Lab in Hongdae serves fresh roasted beans, a mean affogato and a perfectly quiet Sunday morning.
It would have been perfect if only…
I moved a large marble table to get the perfect framing. I moved the lever back and forth endlessly until I was certain the focus was perfect. But when I pulled the tab on the polaroid, the film came out sliding on the emulsion and a gooey, unfortunate, light-leaking mess.
Not so perfect.
On New Year’s Day, [...]
First Snow in Seoul
There have been flurries and snowsqualls, but this was the first one to stick. It made everything in Seoul so, so quiet. Well, except for the screaming college girls. They weren’t very quiet. But their excitement and snowball fights and giggling almost made up for the screaming.
Sunday in Samcheongdong
Given the Very Long List of Things I Have To Do Before July 19th, I should probably not be prancing about in Samcheong on a Sunday afternoon, lollygagging in cafes, drinking Mango smoothies, buying necklaces, shooting Agfa, poking heads in shops, eating woodfired pizza and having a rather perfect summer afternoon with a Finn and [...]
One morning, last November…
One Saturday morning last November, after inadvertently closing down Baby Guinness the night before, Youngdoo and I slept late and then meandered our way down Namsan Mountain, through the winding streets of Haebangchon, in search of hamburgers.
Along the way we stumbled on a tiny little shop with ddeokbokki steaming in the window. For $1, Youngdoo [...]
Summer Night, Around the House
Thursday evening, Summer: A trip to the lab, drop off/pick up, a run on the river at sunset, This American Life, freshly picked flowers on the table, mushroom spaghetti, tending to plants, washing clothes, chatting with Doo, a blue couch and freshly washed windows.
사랑 우리 나너
It’s been a long, weird week. Between the former President’s suicide, the rumblings north of the border, and the swine flu quarantine of a slew of foreign English teachers (of which a friend is part of the house arrest quarantine), Korea has been all over the global airwaves, and it’s not been very pretty. I [...]
Piccata
It all started at lunch last Friday. I spied a photo of pasta something with something sauce and CAPERS, slammed the menu shut and declared, “I am going to make chicken with lemon caper sauce tomorrow.”
“Excellent, I have planned nothing,” declared Erik, inviting himself over.
And so it was that I found myself hosting my first [...]
at Corner
One of the things I love most about Seoul are all the teeny tiny shops and their amazing merchandising and design. Everything is presented so beautifully, you want to buy everything in the place even if you can’t figure out what the hell they are actually peddling.
at Corner near Sangsu Station in Hongdae is such [...]
Perfect Rain
You know that perfect kind of day? You know the one. The kind where nothing is particularly perfect, particularly spectacular or amazing, it just is? And in that is-ness is the perfect? That kind.
Because today was not the kind of day in which birds follow you down the street attending to the hem of your [...]
The Sand
I believe I’ve mentioned that I used to live in a cave in the remote corners of Seoul. Once or twice. I no longer live in a cave, and I now live in the exact opposite of remote. In fact, I live in the very center of perhaps the most vibrant part of Seoul. As [...]
Seoul Flea Market
A few weeks ago, I went to Seoul Flea Market to find weird, old Korean stuff to hang on my walls. I suffered a case of what my friend Tina calls IKEA Syndrome — in which one spend hours browsing and collecting, only to leave everything mere inches from the check-out due to overstimulation — [...]
On Deck
On Deck this weekend:
Wine, cheese.
Rain.
Therefore, couch + book.
Paella & tapas in Hongdae.
[Perhaps a flamenco lesson, as well.]
Korean Rock-a-billy.
[No, really.]
A big fat lantern parade.
Lomo Shop.
I hope your weekend is really, really…
Perfect Sunday
The Perfect Sunday
A Report by Stephanie Cornell
Early morning run along the river to Okkervill River and Bon Iver
Old men gathered in clusters playing MahJongg and Dominoes
Small pig-tailed children bowing and waving “annyong” on the street
Sweet, fragrant lilacs bursting everywhere
Stumbling on the garden of a shrine, in full bloom
Stumbling on yet another amazing pocket of my neighborhood, as if [...]
Home
Before I had furniture I had tchatchkes, breakfast, a view, a mismatched collection of books and a roll of Fuji 400H in my camera.
