Looking for the best coffee in Seoul (coffee lovers heaven)

Seoul skyscraper 

I don’t know how to start writing on my Korea’s trip. I have so much to share. But I think I’m not a good travel writer. I do love reading those who blogged about their travel experience. It helps a lot, especially to someone like me who planned her trip totally based on what she google! Yes, I google everything (who’s not, rite?). 

I guess I’m not going to write every single detail of my trips starting from Day 1, 2, 3….. So much as I want to but I don’t think I will be able to remember everything. As I mentioned in my previous entry, this is really a last minute trip which I didn’t get to plan for it properly. My itinerary is just on a piece of paper. There is no details on where & how should I go to every single places. Did I mention that we spent almost freaking 2 hours at Incheon Airport just trying to rent a portable wifi device so that we can google on how to go to our hotel in Seoul from Incheon. I don’t know how time flies so fast :-P. Hmmm? Maybe I should start with what we’ve been doing for those 2 hours. Should I? Ok maybe not.

We are lucky to experience the first snow for the season in Namdaemun Market. Can you see it?

I will start with my favorite drink, coffee. I love coffee, the bitter the better :-P

Seoul is a coffee heaven for me.  I love the fact that they have variety of coffee shops in every corner of it streets. Coffee shop is everywhere! However, it is not that cheap especially all those big cafe chain. It would cost you almost about the same price Starbucks charge u here in Malaysia (around RM12 – RM16 per cups).

Let see which coffee shop win my heart!

Caffe Bene 

This is the first cafe we tried. We are on our way to Yeoido Park when the wind blew hard in the cold early winter weather. It is damn cold and we just stomped in to the nearest cafe we saw. The cafe interior was sleek and modern. We both ordered Caramel Macchiato. According to Paparil, this is the best Caramel Macchiato among all. I guess the first is always the best, agree? 

 Caffe Bene signature, Crayon Pop girls 

Tom’s & Toms

We dropped by to the one near Cheongyecheon stream. It is nice strolling down the stream with a cup of coffee in hand (minus the cold weather).  

Cheongyecheon stream, river in a city

Cafe Pascucci at Myeongdong Street

Our tour guide’s friend recommended this cafe and rated their Caramel Macchiato is the best among all the cafe she tried. This is not a Korean based cafe chain but Italian based instead. But, honestly, I can’t remember the taste of the coffee, maybe it’s not something worth remembering? Or am I too sleepy or exhausted after a few trips back & forth in Myeongdong shopping street? :-P

Holly’s Coffee

I remember this cafe! Do you know why? *wink wink* There are 2 reasons which make me remember this cafe the most. Firstly, this is where I tried Citron Ice Tea for the first time and I really love it! I can still remember the taste even now. Hmmm...I have to change my earlier statement on “the first is always the best” to “the first is the hardest to forget”, sounds familiar?

Holly's Coffee, a cafe to remember

Apart from being a coffee lover I’m also a shopaholic myself. I went a little too overboard while shopping in Ewha. I have abandoned Paparil for about an hour at Hollys’s Coffee to continue my shopping spree. Sorry Paparil :-) I love shopping! 

 Man's heaven, the beautiful Ewha Women University. Girls are everywhere + magnificent view

Paris Baguette

The last coffee we had while in Korea is in Paris Baguette. We tried the one in Incheon Airport itself while waiting for departure. Other than coffee, Paris Baguette is famous of selling bread and pastry.

Flying to Coffeeland, anyone?

So the winner is Citron Ice Tea in Holly’s coffee! My most memorable drink in Korea is not even a coffee. Hehehe…Till we meet again. Bye peeps!

Incidental trip to Legoland Johor (hot) & Johor Premium Outlet

As usual, this is a long overdue post for a trip happens a few months back. Peace.

A trip to Legoland Johor

Shopping at JPO, Johor Premium Outlet

This is supposed to be Paparil’s trip for a paintball tournament in Johor. While Rara and me ‘menyibuk’ hoping for a side trip to Legoland & JPO. However, the tournament was cancelled! Yeehaaa! Since I have made the arrangement and booking for both hotel & flight, we decided to go on with the trip. Yeehaaa2x! (sorry Paparil..*peace*)

We stayed at M Suites Hotel which is near to Danga Bay area. The room was spacious and they have big swimming pool with slides suitable for kids (Rara’s favorite). However, the hotel is quite far from Legoland itself and the taxi fare was expensive! Phewww…

We are in Legoland on their 2^nd day of opening. Hence, the crowd was huge! And the park itself was huge too! I don’t think one day is enough to explore the whole park, let alone trying every ride. They don’t have much option for a 3 year old kid like Rara. I think a 6 year old and above will have more varieties of ride to choose from.


The weather was very hot! Please make sure you bring a lot of water and spare clothes for your kids. They have café and mini kiosk selling food, drink and ice-cream (of course) along the way. Most of our money goes to all this café (and it’s quite expensive). However, we do enjoy ourselves, strolling the park minding our own business.Hahaha...Till then, bye!

My first ever island vacation – Tioman Island

Oh yes, the title is so true. Hmm…wait a minute. Ok, not 100% true. I went to Pulau Pinang & Pulau Pangkor when I was a little kid with my beloved family. But, it doesn’t really count because I never got to do all those island trip thingy as such snorkeling, island hopping. Ok, fair enough.

We went to Tioman somewhere in June. This time around is not just the 3 ‘angry bird’ trip. We went with my big family (parents & siblings). Tioman is indeed a peaceful island with beautiful beaches. I don’t want to write much but just want to share the beautiful memories with pictures. (I do actually want to write more but a few emails from work make me sick and hence the sudden change of mood :-(..)   

The 6 excited people getting ready for island hopping. Lil Rara opts for another trip with my parents..hehehe

We are here! The happy faces :-)

We went to a few islands but I can’t remember the exact names for each of the island. Hmm...Taman Laut, Renggis Island and etc. We were charged RM100 per person for the trip (quite expensive, rite? Hmm...) For a first timer, we do enjoy our day! Even though it’s quite scary to let myself into the water when only 1 from the 6 of us can swim and the rest is just flapping our way around the water in a ridiculous motion..hahaha. We had a great time laughing to each other :-P

Rara favorite place: the pool

We stayed in Berjaya Condo. It’s not that far from Berjaya Tioman Resort but it’s a hilly ride though. So, it’s not advisable to walk (at least for us). However, they do provide a bus every hour to go up and down from the condo to the resort.



And the last picture..Rara’s Tioman style

P/S: Salam Aidilfitri to all my readers! Mucho gracias...:-)

…less angry birds hit the road to Genting Highland

We went for a short trip to Genting Highland somewhere around April for Rara birthday’s trip. At first, I was contemplating to choose either Genting or Damai Laut Pangkor (they have Groupon’s promotion!). In the end after considering the amount of travel that we need to go through, we choose the nearest which is Genting.

Go Go Genting!

Paparil and I have been there twice as a couple. So I guess this is a trip back to memory lane when we were still young and lovey-dovey. Ahaks! Will the feeling still be the same? (Alhamdulillah…)

We stayed at Theme Park Hotel for RM128 per night via Agoda. It’s a new hotel and VERY near to the Outdoor Theme Park. It is just a jump away from the window..Hahahaha.

Our little girl is beyond excited, especially during the Skyway trip. However, when we reached the theme park she refused to take any of the rides! Why Rara why? So, we took the fun train ride as a warming up. She always loves taking the lrt. So this is definitely her most favorite thing to do in Genting. In the end after a few persuading & forcing session, we managed to get her on a few rides (with either one of us accompanying her…).

The Solere shot is definitely not for me and Rara :-P

The winner of Rara’s heart is their Rainforest Splash pool (water park). This is among the new attraction in Genting. Even though it’s just a basic heated water park with a few slides and limited space, she really enjoys it. We have to drag her out in order to get her out of the pool. She loves water! (But not the beach…).

Rainforest Splash pool, Rara's favorite

We have fun and a little bit of drama (when ‘someone left the car security’s lock key in the hotel room after checkout *ahemm*). Other than that, I would say this is among the best trip we had (not that we have many). We are getting less angry than our previous Cherating/Kuantan trips. Job well done!

3 angry birds hit the road

We went for a short trip recently. The original reason for the trip is to attend the wedding of our dearest “blog inspector”, Izyahya. Congratulation Izzy, wish you luck on your new journey as a wife :-). Jadi, alang-alang dah sampai Kuantan…Haruslah stay sehari-dua untuk makan seafood dan mandi laut!

Selamat Pengantin Baru Izzy!

Hmmm, I’m not going to write every single details of our trip, no. It is not the intention. But a paragraph or two won’t hurt. We stayed at Vistana Hotel Kuantan for the first night and Cherating Bayview Resort for second night. Our short trip full of eating out session and “mandi laut” session. Sekian, terima kasih.

  

I am actually wanted to share my experience going for a vacation as a small family unit, which consist of Coffee Mama, Paparil and Ms Rara. Yes, the three of us. This is our first time having a trip on our own (usually, we will have other family members around). When I was a kid, my family and I always have this kind of trip during school holiday. I remember enjoying the trip very much! So, I have high hope for this trip.

I'm not guilty face by Ms Rara

Well, the trip to Kuantan wasn’t turning out bad. I definitely would want to have this kind of trip again. But, being a parent or the one in-charge in a trip is not an easy task. It can be stressful sometimes. I guess I like being the kid in a trip rather than a parent. But, I’m an adult with hubby and kid now. So, I should act like one, rite? 

I mean it’s hard to keep the “am having a vacation mode” all the time. It is not easy when Rara keeps messing the car with her coco crunch, Paparil refuse to eat food I want to eat and I refuse to go places they want to go kind of thing. Hence, we became 3 angry birds hit the road. 

Do you play this game?

However, in the end all those small little things make family ties stronger. We learn to compromise and tolerate each other. Even though it means no sight-seeing in the evening because Rara and Paparil is sleeping soundly in the hotel room, be it. That is the beauty of family trip. If you can’t cope with that, travel alone (more like a reminder to myself). I'm looking forward for our next trip and wonders what's ahead for us :-)