National Assembly-Hello Living Kitty Cafe-Times Square Sluts

On the first night of the 5-day Seollal holiday we went to Suwon to enjoy another night at the Lucy, but for the next two days we just remained in a vegetative state in our officetel. By Friday, it was time to get out and do something... but what? We have a list of things we want to do in Korea before we leave, but this list was drafted almost a year ago so we're almost out of ideas. We decided to hit up two locations quite low on the list, but that were at least close in proximity to each other: the National Assembly building and the Hello Kitty Cafe.

Here it is, the National Assembly building. This building is where the members of legislature meet. We've seen it from afar many times, and it's always stood out as a unique looking building, especially at night, when it's all lit up. We were the only people there when we visited, aside from a half dozen bored-looking guards.

There were a few nice statues, a small park and a library on the grounds, but otherwise there's not really much to say about this place (even though it felt thrilling to visit a new place after 2 days of cookies and MTV "I Used To Be Fat" marathons).

We got back on the subway and traveled 4 stops north to Hongdae, where the Hello Kitty Cafe is located. When we crossed the Han River I got to see it frozen over for the first time. I don't believe it froze over the last time we lived in Korea, but it's been a lot colder this winter than it was then.

On our way to the cafe we passed by the Cocks club.

We also passed by this tiger-bunny fusion graffiti. I'd been meaning to take a shot of this artwork for the longest time.

Here it is, the Hello Kitty Cafe. We had a few memorable visits to the Hello Kitty Cafe in Taipei (here and here), but this is a super-lame version of that cafe. The Taiwanese version was massive and served desserts that looked like artwork. You could even watch the bakers as they prepared their masterpieces. Korea's version was two small rooms, maybe 10 tables total, so there was nowhere to sit. We were turned away, and no one turns away Shawn Q. Keddy without a scathing review on a blog nobody reads! Oh, and the menu sucked too! There wasn't a single fancy cake or special pastry. Instead it was the same old Korean cafe crap on offer: waffles and thick toast. They should be ashamed. The real Hello kitty would use this place as a litter box.

Spitefully, we walked next door to give our money to a different cat-themed cafe... except this one was full of real kittehs! If you want to visit, it's called "Cats Living" and it's conveniently located just under "Fuckfake". That's just up the road from "Cocks", if you're keeping notes.

We knew we were in the right place because of all the cat fur glued to the mat at the entrance. Just the sight of it made me miss my own cat at home immensely.

This was a lot cleaner than the cat cafe we visited in Taipei, and the cats seemed happier too. There were a lot of places for them to hide, play or just chillax on the windowsills. There were toys laying around to use with the cats, too.

What's on the other side of the wall? A million litter boxes, of course!

We particularly liked this fellow, who looked an awful lot like Wilfred Brimley.

We left the cafe for a crowded, but satisfying meal at Taco Bell and then decided to check out the recentishly-opened Times Square shopping mall in Yeongdeungpo. We'd been meaning to visit it for a while now, but we're never in that area. Since Yeongdeungpo is only 4 stops from Hongdae, it was a convenient stop for us.
Most surprising was red light district directly outside of the shopping mall! There was no confusing what was for sale in this strip of 20 or so bare, red-lit rooms with one young girl in each.

I'm sure this hooker appreciated my photography as much as she appreciated that gross adjoshi a few minutes after the picture was taken. Oh yeah, and on the other side of the mall is a huge, and obviously effective, police station.

The Times Square building is pretty big but actually only has 5 floors of shopping, plus a Shinsegae Department Store. The rest of the floors are officetels, a gym and a movie theater.

We picked up some random stuff from Hot Tracks (I needed a glaze to finish off the set of nesting dolls I'd been painting this week), but otherwise didn't do too much shopping. It's a pretty nice mall, but very similar to the COEX, which is a lot closer to where we live. If you're in the area, we found that the subway station has some very good shopping too. I got two pairs of nice dress shoes for 29,000/each and a pair of runners, too. So, yeah, that's three new pairs of shoes! It was a good day of cats, cafes and hookers, but it was time to go home and resume our "I Used To Be Fat" marathon. Isn't vacation great?