Seoul travel guide_"Hongdaerian"s habitat

There are probably hundreds of cafes in Hongdae area. Just like people, cafes come and go.

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There are probably hundreds of cafes in Hongdae area. Just like people, cafes come and go. The lifespan of a cafe in Hongdae is not very long due to steep rent of the area and "Hongdaerians" that are fastidious, fickle, curious and ahead of trends. The long running cafes usually went through a number of renovations, change of menu and so on
There are reasons I love going to cafes in Hongdae besides the fact that I live in the area.

(This is like an overview of Hongdae cafes. I'll be introducing my favorite cafes in depth later in separate posts.)

1. Coffee (of course!)

Since Hongdae area has become more and more popular, the number of cafes have increased at a very fast pace and they've been competing fiercely to improve service, and most importantly improve the quality of their coffee. So good for us customers, you can rarely find a Hongdae cafe with bad tasting coffee.

Some cafes have come up with specialty of their own. Some cafes specialize in drip brewed coffee with professionally trained baristas and some in espresso with world's top class espresso machines and trained staff to operate them, some in variations of coffee based beverages like affogato(a shot or two of hot espresso topped on a scoop of vanilla gelato ice cream, yum!), mochachino's, Viennese coffee and so on.

@ Cafe Code

2. and cigarettes

Hongdae area is a smoker's heaven. Korea is relatively still a conservative nation and as a woman, you can't smoke without being fingered or looked at in most other areas of Seoul, but Hongdae is an exception and almost all cafes in the area allowed smoking inside. As you may know already, Korean summers and winters are known to be brutal. Well air-conditioned or heated cafes are the best places to enjoy your cigarette breaks.

Good news for the non-smokers, now there are more non-smoking cafes than before and a lot of cafes have divided their spaces into two; non-smoking and smoking. Yet, Hongdae is still a very generous place for smokers.

Including me, most of my friends are chain smokers. (I'm not proud.)

@ Coffee bean and tea leaf

@ Cafe Code

@Cafe By-R

3. Much to see

Many Hongdae cafes offer much more than coffee and smoking place. Many cafes hold various cultural events like exhibitions, small concerts, mover nights, flea markets and parties.

@ Owl Bus, band called "Howl Dog & Double Trouble"

@ Owl Bus

@Rayon Vert, Flea Market "Used Project"

@Rayon Vert, Flea Market "Used Project"

@Rayon Vert, Flea Market "Used Project"

Some pics from
http://blog.naver.com/1min2?Redirect=Log&logNo=130020308

3. work (free wi-fi)

A large part of Hongdae population work in areas relating to arts, design and music. I think that's why there are so many freelancers. In many Hongdae cafes, you can see people working on their laptops and canvases and the cafe that has many of these freelancers is always the trend leading one. Most of these people are trendsetters(I hate the term but using it just this time). I don't mean they are dressed in fancy Gucci or Prada but they lead the industrious, self-reliant, cool, fashionable life style. They are extremely sensitive to fashion, trend, interior, music but too cool to care and most cafes that welcome these people provide free wi-fi.

4. Unique interior

From vintage, modern, country, retro, you can find so many styles of interesting interiors in Hongdae cafes.

@ Cafe Code

@ Cafe E-got

I really liked the tapestry and mobile hanging from the high ceiling.

@ Owl Bus, The window was taken from an old bus.

@ Cafe E-got, Reminded me of Hitchcock.

Seoul travel guide_Culture Vulture

I moved to Hongdae area about 9 years ago. It wasn't as busy as now back then but still vibrant and full of interesting people. Almost every day I saw street musicians performing in the streets and playground and bumped into artists,

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I moved to Hongdae area about 9 years ago. It wasn't as busy as now back then but still vibrant and full of interesting people. Almost every day I saw street musicians performing in the streets and playground and bumped into artists, designers, writers, journalists in cafes and restaurants. It was a perfect place for a culture vulture like me.

Now Hongdae is a popular spot for not only the underground musicians but for musicians that went major because more and more young people come to Hongdae to hang out, to party and to live.

Hongdae Playground is literally a small playground with kiddie swings and slide but you're not likely to find any kids there but adults, "Hongdaerians" performing music, tap dance, beat box. It has long been a center for underground or overground musicians to perform, flea markets, arts n' crafts market and an outdoor smoking and drinking place.

It's surrounded by shops, restaurants and bars so if you're a first timer to Hongdae, I suggest you check this spot out first. It's located across from Hongik University's main gate. If you can't find it, just follow the music, beats, and the screams.

Jang Jae-in, she was on Super Star K, a very popular talent show hosted by M-net channel, Korea's MTV.

Seoul travel guide_God is a DJ!

Last year's Global Gathering Korea was probably the event with probably the best lineup. Fat boy slim, Justice, Armin Van Buren played and we all went crazy.

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Last year's Global Gathering Korea was probably the event with probably the best lineup. Fat boy slim, Justice, Armin Van Buren played and we all went crazy. It took place at riverside park called Nanji which is 10 minutes by car from Hongdae and 25 minutes walk. We all had a drink or two at Hongdae before we went. Weather was perfect and breeze from the Han River cooled off our sweat. I also went this year but last year's one was better by far.

There's a rumor that it will no longer take place in Seoul. I'm keeping fingers crossed that it WILL, probably with an even better lineup of artists. I'm hoping to see Daft Punk and U2 play in Seoul someday.