From Where I Sip: A Cafe As A Beauty Shop!

Continuing on with my From Where I Sip series...

There used to be a sandwich restaurant next to our office, Joe's Sandwich, where I'd order a tuna sandwich for lunch on  days when I didn't have time to properly sit down for a real mid-day meal.

On one of my lunch time visits to Joe's Sandwich, I was surprised on one table, a couple of girls were clipping their finger nails and coloring them. I asked myself, 'Isn't this a restaurant where food is served and sanitation should be observed?'  I don't know Seoul's sanitation regulations when it comes to restaurants, but when clippings of dead finger nails are scattered around the restaurant and these colored chemicals are introduced into the room, I was pretty sure health and sanitation should be a priority. Fortunately that day, those girls were only doing their hands, and not their feet. Eeew!

But I guess, in Korea, that is very acceptable. Putting your sandwich next to your finger nail clippings and nail cutter, or sipping your iced cafe americano while you paint your finger nails red, or perhaps, interchanging the two tasks, is normal.

I'm not sure if that finger clipping and nail-polishing scene at Joe's Sandwich may have been an exception. Perhaps, those girls were meeting their respective dates after lunch and needed an emergency nail-beautification session inside the restaurant before going back to the office. 

On some occasions, it's less surprising. At times, I'd see a group of girls at Starbucks in Itaewon seated in between students studying and ajussis talking about business, while they duplicate a scene out of a beauty shop, minus the hair drying and perming. Ha-ha-ha!

I was amazed that they even brought their own make-up kit. And in between sipping my iced cafe mocha and reading the pages of my report, I observed as they painted their faces with all the colors at their disposal. Brushing, pencilling and lining every square centimeter of their skin that faced the world. Or in the case that night, the skin that faced all the other people in Starbucks. Ha-ha-ha!

I am not sure if this sisterhood of turning any cafe into a beauty shop is prevalent all over the city, or perhaps, the whole peninsula. 

I haven't seen this face-painting scene for quite some time now, and I'm thinking, maybe, just like the nail-clipping and nail-polishing at Joe's Sandwich, this make-up session in a coffee shop is only common to those having an emergency. After all, shouldn't you be groomed and ready when you step out of your apartment?  

So, the next time you're in a coffee shop and you see a group of girls having a make-up session together, don't be surprised. They're having an emergency. 

From Where I Sip: Textbooks And Students

To continue on with my From Where I Sip series...

In most coffee shops, on any given day (or night!), there would always be people reading text books, scribbling notes and discussing lessons with their classmates. 

These are the studious students. Mostly high school and college students doing their homework, writing their papers or cramming for an exam. In my high school and college days, there was only a library and a study hall. Nowadays, these students have another venue: coffee shops!

I can understand it's always difficult to concentrate or get your homework done at home where there's TV and a comfortable bed. And perhaps, noisy neighbors.

These students I always see at coffee shops would buy a drink, occupy a quiet corner, get their textbooks and iPods out, and study away! The whole morning, afternoon or night! 

I used to see a lot of them at Starbucks and at the 24-hour Tom N Toms in Itaewon. But when a group of noisy people seated at the next table is as noisy as a jet plane taking off, you would need more than the concentration of a pilot flying an Airbus 380! It's always irritating when two or three people facing each other at a table are talking at a volume so loud it's as if they are a kilometer away from each other. I'm not sure if they have hearing problems, or maybe, they just don't care that a student seated nearby is cramming for an exam the next day.

I was a good student myself (naks!), and I know that getting good grades needs a lot of hard work and studying. 

So, the next time you and your friends are in a coffee shop babbling loudly away about a new thing you bought or gossiping about other people, try to look around and be considerate. The student seated next to you is studying for his or her future. Who knows? Perhaps, that student would become somebody some day.

From Where I Sip: Brunch Cafes!

To continue with my From Where I Sip series...

They're more than just coffee shops. They're more like a cafe with a small kitchen.

          (Cafe Apassionato's mocha frappuccino, cheesecake  
                                     and a ham sandwich)

My all-time favorite cafe that served sandwiches and omelettes was Cafe Appasionato in Hannam-dong in the Yongsan District of Seoul. The location was perfect. It sat by the main Hannam-dong intersection; the seats by the window and at the entrance were always taken. Their mocha frappuccino was served on a tall glass, and they also made omelettes and sandwiches. 

When I first visited the cafe years ago, it was run and owned by a foreigner, a white male, and probably American. A year later, a Korean lady took over (she must have bought the cafe) and was always there to take orders. She was always dressed nicely and probably had an Asian blepharoplasty, or a double eyelid surgery, because whenever I saw her, her eyes were so wide open when she looked at me. Or maybe, she was just happy to see her regular customer. Ha-ha-ha!

I like these cafes, especially when I just want to work quietly on a corner with iced cafe mocha and some real food, without having to worry about getting hungry while I am trying to finish my work. I especially liked that cafe because they also had big tables. I could spread my papers in the middle, my laptop on the left, and my food on the right. I used to commandeer one of their two big round tables, which also had an electric outlet for my laptop. Now, that cafe is gone and its previous location is now occupied by a bar and frequented by people who'd rather drink alcohol than caffeine. 

                  (Patpingsu and ham-and-cheese 
                        sandwich at Paris Croissant)

In my neighborhood, the only brunch cafe left is Paris Croissant. The other brunch places are actually restaurants with small tables and bigger kitchens. You can't occupy a table for hours in these establishments. Customers here eat and go, as coffee and a cafe atmosphere aren't really their main attraction.

Of course, the omelettes and sandwiches on the menus of brunch cafes may be pricey. The KRW19,000 is the price to pay for not being able to fry your eggs with cheese and with french toast on the side. Or the price to pay for not knowing how to make a very good pancake. Ha-ha-ha! So, on days when you're lazy to cook some breakfast, or when your kids pressure you for some pancakes, you can always drag them to these brunch cafes and enjoy a relaxing brunch. Who knows? I may be seated on the next table.

So, what's your favorite brunch cafe?

                  (Blueberry pancake from Cafe Alice)

From Where I Sip: Leonidas Cafe!

I have always claimed that theirs is the best coffee in Seoul!
How else can you describe an iced cafe mocha mixed with Belgian chocolate?

(One free chocolate for every coffee ordered at Leonidas!)

Before I continue on with my From Where I Sip series, I just want to write this shoutout to Leonidas Chocolates and Cafe. Yes, they sell the best chocolates, but they make the best coffee, too!  I first discovered their chocolatey cafe mocha at their Myeong-dong cafe years ago, which then closed, and then recently opened again. 

And I always thought I always had to run to Myeong-dong to get the best iced cafe mocha in Seoul...until they opened a cafe in Itaewon!

Their coffee shop used to be the one occupied by Jubilee coffee, just above Olive Young. That location is one of the best places to people-watch in Itaewon. You order your coffee, sit by the window, chat with friends, and look down at everyone passing, enjoying and having a good time in Itaewon! 

Of course, when I visited their Itaewon coffee shop for the first time this week, I ordered for an iced cafe mocha! And just like before, the rich chocolatey-ness of the coffee flooded my palate with flavorful enjoyment, which momentarily let me forget that I had to work overtime that night. Ha-ha-ha!

               (My chocolates are inside this metal heart!)

So, thanks to the Leonidas baristas Randy and Cora, I was able to enjoy the best chocolate coffee in Seoul again. I told them both that I would be back. Hopefully, next week!

From Where I Sip....

The cafe culture in Korea is huge. That's why, when you walk around Seoul, you'd see one coffee shop after another. A neighborhood wouldn't be complete without one, even if it's just a kiosk.

And just like any Korean, I also like sitting in coffee shops or cafes. But unlike any Korean, who usually loves to order iced americano, I prefer an iced cafe mocha! Ha-ha-ha!

All these years of living in Seoul, I must have sat down in hundreds of cafes. Why? Because that's where I update this blog, chat with friends, grab something to eat, read a book, write my essays, and most important, work overtime! 

Yes, during my busy work days, I usually extend my working hours....at a coffee shop! That's why I always like sitting in a cafe that closes past midnight! I remember one time, at a coffee shop in my Hannam-dong neighborhood in the Yongsan District, I was so engrossed in my work that I lost track of time until...the crew told me that they were closing! It was 11:30PM! I got kicked out of a cafe! Ha-ha-ha! Too bad, that cafe already closed down; I liked their soft seats and tables. And of course, their iced cafe mocha in tall glasses!

During those hundreds of cafe visits for me, I sometimes observed what other people were doing, which gave me an idea. What about a series of blogs about them?

I will be sharing stories soon...from where I sip.