Chooch refilling his T-Money card at our precious Seodaemun station whose 7-Eleven and self-service shop selling Levain cookies I miss with my whole heart. I love South Korea so much that even these little moments of mundanity have me half in the fetal position now that I’m back home. And I know, if I lived there, you want to tell me that the novelty would probably wear off and not be as fun and shiny BUT MAYBE NOT YOU DON’T KNOW.
This was the day our ring-making class was scheduled! It wasn’t until 10am but we still got a head-start just in case Henry got us lost – this happens often. Sorry, Henry stans – the man ain’t perfect.
Chooch loves it when I bark, “STAND BY THAT WALL” so I can take a picture. I would STAND BY THAT WALL too if Henry actually took acceptable photos of me.
I took this for Megan, who loves the Beatles like I love the Cure, but then I think I forgot to send it to her.
This was where made our rings! I wrote about this while we were still in Korea, so you can read that here if you missed it, assuming you want to. YOU DON’T HAVE TO. I will never know. Well, I kind of will because I can look at my stats BUT I WON’T KNOW IF IT WAS OR WASN’T YOU SPECIFICALLY, HAROLD.
Afterward, we walked toward the area of Hongdae we’re most familiar with now that it was later in the day and Chooch had a better chance of finding whatever airpod case he was on the hunt for.
It was a really pleasant walk! I love Hongdae so much. When we were there, I was kind of hoping that Chooch would pull a 180 and declare that he wants to go to college in Korea because I would not stop him.
MAYBE I COULD GO TO COLLEGE IN KOREA?!!?!? They say it’s “never too late” after all, lol.
There’s a whole new walking area called the Red Road which I don’t think was there in 2019 so that was fun to explore.
While we were in Hongdae, we decided to go to Plant for lunch – they have a new (to us) location in Yeonnam which is walkable from the part of Hongdae we were at, but I wanted coffee first. We started to get at each others’ throats around this point because we were starting to be hungry and it felt like we were just walking in circles but then!!!!
I looked to the right and saw this nestled in a corner!!!
Excuse me?? Honey do you have a license to look that adorable?!
“Well, I found a cafe,” I said, and Henry and Chooch were like, “fml.”
Everything about this place was extra. And we were the only ones there!
It was really set up like someone’s house if it was styled for a Delias catalogue shoot.
Ugh, I didn’t realize that I focused on my idiot husband person and not the cute punch card that I accepted even though it will probably be at least 4 years before we make it back and who knows if Judy Mary will even still be there what with the insane turnaround there.
Anyway, this place had a strong 90s Japanese vibe to it but I can’t find any info online to confirm its origins. I mean, even the puddings were very Japanese and there was a Japanese band in the 90s called Judy & Mary?! There must be a connection there somewhere?! All I know is that it didn’t give Korean vibes to me.
The bathroom was adorable too, natch!
My favorite .5 selfie that I always forget about!
I felt like I was dressed appropriately for Judy Mary though because TRUE STORY I bought the striped velour-ish shirt I was wearing that day at Penney’s junior department several years ago simply because it reminded me so much of Delias (and, to a lesser extent, Contempo Casuals).
Then our drinks and snacks arrived! The adorable barista pointed to one of the puddings and then showed us her phone which said, “On the house.” More reason to love Judy Mary! I don’t know if they always give something for service (that’s what “on the house” is called in Korea), or if it was just because we looked like we needed a hug in the form of extra sugar, but it was well-received!
Chooch and I both got these delightful orange lattes. We were instructed to “eat some of the cream first” and then “stir it all together.” I freaking loved it. You don’t see orange coffee / espresso combos very often so I lunged at this. Chooch did not like his AT ALL and ended up swapping for Henry’s IVL.
OMG I tried to buy one of those little pudding dishes but they were sold out :( Henry was being me, probably touching a finger to his lips and raising it up to god because those dishes were around $40 if I remember correctly. So instead, I settled for a coffee cup that was only 15,000 won, so something like $12 or $13?
Honestly, the 90s twee vibe was sending me. It felt like being inside a candy bracelet. You know, that feeling. That one.
I need a surveillance TV set up somewhere now. I think my old camcorder still works!
Anyway, we surfed out of there on a sugar rush and let the caffeine steer us toward Plant, where we would desperately devour some non-sweets.
To be continued, but until then here’s my cutie Judy Mary cup!
Henry liked it better when I was just buying magnets everywhere but somewhere along the way, I graduated to coffee cups. We do not have the room yet I can’t stop!