More Seoul Adventures! Pt. 2

Casanello Sicily

On February 16th, there was a Single's Inferno S3 event at Casanello Sicily (Gangnam location), which is Jinseok's cafe. My friend found out about the event through Instagram and we decided to go check it out since we all watched the show. I technically didn't finish the entire season, but I still had a good idea of who all of the cast members were, so I was interested.

When we got to the cafe, there was already a line forming. It wasn't terribly long, but there were at least 40+ people in front of us. I think initially customers/fans were able to choose to either sit in or take out their drink, but the employees underestimated how many people would show up, and decided to only allow take-out. The three of us were already planning to take out our drinks, so this was no problem. We just wanted our pictures with them (which we got! :^D)

While waiting to get inside, we were able to see the cast members (mainly Gwanhee, Hajeong, Habin, and Sieun) pass through. Standing in the line for 2 hours was a little tiring, but whenever one of the cast members would come out to say hi, everyone would freak. I just wish I took better photos of them. But they were all very attractive in person.

I think more than 2 hours later, we finally entered the cafe. While ordering, we were able to see Jinseok behind the counter making drinks. I felt bad to see him working so hard, but he was making good business 👍🏻.

We were able to take pictures with Minwoo and Hajeong inside the cafe while waiting for our drinks to come out (Sadly, I wasn't able to get a photo with Habin). I don't think I have ever stood beside such good looking people before... I also noticed a lot of chemistry between the cast members when I would see them talk and sometimes bicker, which was nice.

I ordered a Lemon Lady Grey Iced Tea, which was super delicious. Just wanted to mention that all of the cups had the design above on the left, which we thought was pretty clever of them. Back to the drink, the iced tea wasn't too sweet and to my surprise, it was also carbonated. Both of my roommates have heard enough of this, but I am obsessed with carbonated drinks, which they refer to as "ade" in Korea. I would definitely return for this one drink.

Overall, it was an awesome experience visiting Jinseok's cafe and being able to meet some of the cast members. They were all sweet, polite, and I'm going to say it again, very attractive!

Insadong Dynamic Maze and Alive Museum

We bought tickets on Trazy to go to the Alive Museum and Dynamic Maze, both of which are in the same building. The Alive Museum had various object art and interactive walls of art, making it a cool place to take funny pictures. Check out some of the photos we took there! :-D

The Dynamic Maze was a little more exciting and involved more physical activity, as we had to complete several mini games to continue on to the next part of the maze. Throughout the maze, we had to squeeze through tight spaces, climb ropes, and get on all fours. The maze was pretty short; I think we got out in around 20 minutes. Sadly, I couldn't get much pictures because we were too immersed in completing the games and finishing the maze.

Insadong Ssamzigil and Acorn Caricature

After the Dynamic Maze and Alive Museum, we walked around and stumbled upon Acorn Caricature, which we all recognized from TikTok. The three of us decided that we had to get our caricatures drawn. You could choose to get your caricature drawn on either paper or a canvas, which was more expensive. I opted for the paper because I was afraid that the canvas would eventually take up space in my suitcase. I think it ended up turning out really cute and accurate.

We then walked to the nearby Ssamzigil (쌈지길), which is a four-story, open-space shopping center in Insadong. Majority of the stores are small businesses that sold crafts and unique knick knacks. I truly regret not taking more pictures because the shopping mall and stores had so much charm and artsy appeal.

Snow?!

On February 21st, we noticed on our weather apps that it would snow later in the evening. I was super excited as it would be my first time seeing snow. Just for the snow, we stepped outside and took some pictures. But we couldn't really see the snow that well in the pictures, so we went back inside.

The next day, we looked out the window and saw streets and the top of buildings coated with snow. This was super cool to see, making me appreciate our high-rise view more.

We headed to American Brunch Cafe for well, brunch! I ordered the Meat Combo Omelette, which came with salad, potatoes, and two slices of toast. Everything was amazing, especially the potatoes. They were perfectly seasoned and cooked. I had a Grapefruit Ade with the meal--also super yummy.

After this hearty meal, we walked to the nearby Bukchon Hanok Village for some sightseeing. While this is a popular tourist attraction, there are residents living in these traditional homes, so we had to remember to talk quietly. While you're there, you'll likely see signs, or even people holding signs that say to be quiet. The three of us took a stroll around the village, occasionally stopping to take photos and play with the snow (I made my first snowman :^)).

Looking at these pictures now, I really should have taken better photos of the houses. But there were a lot of people passing by, so it was a little difficult to get nice pictures. After around half an hour, we headed to our permanent place.

To say the least, move-in day was quite eventful. We dragged our heavy suitcases up three flights of stairs and typed in the door code, but we were unable to get inside the apartment. We tried retyping in the same code (maybe around five times lol) but were met with that same dissonant chime. Realizing we were at the wrong place, we had to bring our suitcases back down. Our apartment was actually inside a church right next door to where we were.

We trudged up the stairs with our suitcases, but we were met with the same problem. The door would make a strange clicking noise after typing in the code, so we assumed that something was wrong with the lock. A girl working under the leaser came to the rescue and quickly realized that the door wasn't opening because it wasn't fully closed properly or in the right position. Now I make sure to fully close the door when I leave the house. We spent the rest of the day buying household necessities, which I felt gave me a taste of adulthood.