Le monde de Tokyobanhbao: Blog Mode gourmand

Streets of Seoul

Mon 22 Apr, 2013 · Fashion, Travel

Seoul is a huge city. Going from point A to point B requires quite some effort (and time) walking: to cross the street, the green man light lasts about 20 seconds and then turns red for 5 minutes – you’d better not miss the boat!

That’s why the subway is one of the easiest ways to move around in town. After it took us a bit of time to get used to it (pay the ticket according to the place to go to, make sure the direction is right), we simply kept using this mean of transport.

As for taxis, they’re also convenient to use, not too expensive (compared to France), however most drivers don’t speak any English and can only read addresses written in Korean… So being in a cab there always feels like being on the Peking Express reality game show! Quite an adventure!

That said, once you are in a given area it’s rather enjoyable to just walk around. Many street food stands pretty much everywhere (I believe I have tasted EVERYTHING that came my way… I will talk about this again soon!), very animated streets full of people, colourful markets…

In terms of look, for a walk at the Namdaemun market, I wore a skirt found in a shop of the Bukchon Hanok village. Korean fashion is quite hard to define: I noticed that large and fluid volume trench coats were a highlight this season. The looks are rather sober in general (if we compare them to the Japanese) but always with nice cuts.

So… still enjoying the visit in my company?

My Outfit

Jacket Samy Vero Moda
Necklace April, May
Jumper American Apparel
Tights Velvet deluxe Wolford
Skirt 103 (Samchung dong, Seoul)
Bag Alex Medium MySuelly
Boots Pistol Acne

Hello Kitty Café

Fri 19 Apr, 2013 · Food, Illustration, Travel

I have quite a few yummy Seoul addresses to share with you (even though you’ll still have to be able to find them once in the city!) but I wanted to start with a place that any cuteness addict must visit: the Hello Kitty Café! Just the name will get eyes shining and a couple of excited hiiiiiiis!

When I found out there was one in Seoul (there are more than one actually) I did all I could to get there – which didn’t prove easy, for once in the area, even when asking all the students-that-seemed-like-the-type-to-love cute-things-hiiiiii! that I crossed, I felt like I was fresh off planet Mars. “Hello Kitty Café”? Confused look … no one knew. Or my pronunciation wasn’t convincing enough, I don’t know.

After having bothered all the neighborhood counts of Seoul students, gone through endless detours and prayed St Gertrude de Nivelle (the patroness of cats, evidently), here we are! Hello Kitty is something I’ve been trying to quit for a while now, but I just can’t.

She’s so preppy I want to shake her up (don’t call animal welfare)…everything is just TOO perfect in her pink-candy world, but she just comes in so many cute variations I just can’t resist. She overpowers me. And it’s exactly what happened here too! I must have exclaimed at least 10 times over each decorative element (bathroom included).

But let me tell you right now, you don’t come to the Hello Kitty Café to satisfy your tastebuds: they may be kawaii, but the pastries are rather average. The “homemade” fans will be disappointed (What do you mean Kitty and Mimmy are not baking away in the back kitchen all day?!! (Don’t call animal welfare, or labor inspection)).

But you’ll hardly dare eat (or drink) anything you order for fear of destroying this blessed extremely kawaii moment.

On that day, I ordered hot matcha milk and a waffle (rather ordinary, as I was saying, but Hiiiiiiiiii! So cuuuuute! … See, here I go again).

I could have gone for the brownies or a Kitty Strawberry Cake, but I rather felt like keeping my appetite for the korean barbecue that was to follow! (Ah, there Kitty, you see! You don’t know how to cook korean barbecues now do you?!!! I found THE flaw in your perfect life!)

All in all, it’s rather a place of pilgrimage than one for sustenance, but it’s still worth the detour, just to be able to say: I was at the Hello Kitty Café. (ENGLISH translation by Bleu marine)

HELLO KITTY CAFÉ
358-112, Mapo-gu Seogyo-dong, SEOUL
(In Korean: 서울시 마포구 서교동 358-112 )
(Métro : Hongik University Station)… Bonne chance !

Changdeokgung 창덕궁

Wed 17 Apr, 2013 · Fashion, Travel

In Seoul, the most impressive palace to visit is (take a deep breath …) Changdeokgung, the Prosperity palace. From what I read, since its construction in 1405, it underwent a whole lot of destructions and reconstructions, for the result that we can admire today. It really lives up to its UNESCO classification as World Heritage!

In addition to the various royal chambers, you can also visit the Biwon secret garden (all in all, not so secret): a garden that is best admired during the autumn, when the leaves are fiery red. On my part, I saw leaves the color of …. nothing (damn late spring I tell you!) but it didn’t keep me from enjoying the visit.

And for what concerns my tourist outfit, I had the pleasure of getting my almost-Ulyse jacket out and my “trompe-l’oeil” tights (almost like those from last time, but warmer) … and add another “trompe-l’oeil” with my “camera” bag! (English translation by Bleu Marine)

My Outfit

Jacket Vero Moda
Sweater American Apparel
Shorts Maje
Tights Gipsy
Boots Pistol Acne
Bag Lazy Oaf