Rain Tree–not the everyday brunch/pancake cafe. Decorated with souvenirs and photographs from the owner’s journeys, which are also displayed by albums–an inspiration to go traveling and experience the flavors from each country. Being a brunch slash pancake place, they offer oversized pancakes, sandwiches, and exotic teas–recipes strictly from Thailand, India and many others.

Having underestimated the size of the pancakes, we ordered one of each (Plain and Fruit) with fresh whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. The pancakes had a very balanced level of sweetness, not too overwhelming yet not too plain. Both of us, not being able to finish the pancakes, finished the meal with fresh pineapple juice and milk tea. Not using the artificial powder to give extra “pineapple-y” flavor, one can see the process of making your food through the open kitchen. If you want a quite place with tasty-healthy drinks + perfectly cooked pancakes–Rain Tree is one of the places to go.

Putting pancakes aside, already being November–had a sudden realization that the 6th Student Council’s term is soon ending. Having finished one of our last official events, it feels like this year went by so fast. .

With a week full of birthday dinners, casual drinks, cakes and celebrations–as of today (Sunday) it marks the time to go back to reading about free trade, and how relative wage will be the deciding factor of which country produces good A. Due to thoughtful, loving wish-wishers I have around me (which I can’t stop being grateful about) being away from home/family was less painful. With some of the most original (I got a Mango, YES–a MANGO) , yet touching gifts so far, it was just another reminder about the life style I got going on here.

Without thinking about what will come until the next day of birth, and obviously, without counting the amount of food we ate for the past 5 days, this birthday week could have not been better. A Special thanks/shout out to all of you who made it happen and all of those wish-wishers <3

After months and months of preparation, pr-ing and stress levels hitting the maximum level, the D-Day for Green Groove Festival 2011 came in a flash. Green Groove Festival–or GGF, being a music festival with no specific genre, was definitely a memory-filling/eye-opening experience for a first-timer in organizing festivals. After all the hard work paying off on a unimaginable scale, I thought it was a must-blog for those who wanted to come or did not know that GGF existed.

With an artist line-up that makes one count the days for Green Groove II, let me mention some of the artists that made this festival unforgettable and  to dance in the rain–literally. Busta Rhymes, Afrojack, Apl De Ap from Black Eyed Peas, Drunken Tiger & T, Supreme Team and many more.

This post being way over due–was a great experience/opportunity to meet outgoing, extravagant beings who are extremely passionate about what they do (culture).

**For further information about great parties/events/eats/career opportunities check out our official homepage! **

First of all, as every other restaurant–they have their specialty/ies. In “Everyday cafe” their hot chocolate cupcake is everyone’s favorite which is around 4,500W. We got a hot chocolate cupcake and a New York Cheesecake to see what is up. With a mesmerizing/rich smell of chocolate, as soon as a spoon touched the crust–a dense chocolate syrup explosion–that’s what happened.

To make this even better (HOW?) and enjoyable–order the set, which comes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (come on, 500W is definitely worth–for the palate and for the wallet)

The Cheesecake–which was forgotten for almost 5 seconds due to the non-stop awe and excitement for hot chocolate cupcake–definitely represented the cheese part very well. Without the excessive taste of cheese–it was a perfect ratio of cheese and cracker crumbs with a thin layer of chocolate on the bottom (woah). This cheesecake will definitely lessen the dense chocolaty flavor in your palate–it all depends on each one’s taste on richness/denseness.

Dig in the hot, melting chocolate with small cupcake crumbs + some vanilla ice cream and–voilà! The perfect dessert for a rainy-humid Sunday. Enjoy : )

UR Culture,is a company that strives to share culture with all kinds of people in Korea and even around the world. Urban Nomad (www.urban-nomad.net), being a division within this company, organizes different kinds of events in Seoul and outside as well that include nightlife, cuisine, hotspots, career affiliated opportunities that offer great internships and opportunities to improve one’s resume and experience. The last party @ club Answer being very successful–a new festival is being created with a big boost in scale. “Green Groove Festival 2011″ (www.greengroove.net) is a music event that promotes both ECO and GROOVE with a mission to encourage and emphasize an eco-friendly life by gathering people through music to generate a sense of awareness of our planet.

With famous artists such as Afrojack coming to perform–definitely a must follow-up summer festival!

Check out www.greengroove.net and like the Facebook page to get live updates from the eco-est & groov-iest music festival!

"..and the place was Smokey Saloon"

Smokey Saloon is located in Myeong Dong station (Line 4) inside Noon Square, where you can find CGV, Athlete’s Foot, Steve Madden and so on.

Once you arrive to the sixth floor, it won’t be hard to locate it, since the building is not massively large where once seen stores will never appear again. Being an open door restaurant, as soon as you walk to the entrance, you will be greeted by almost-human-size menu with all the different kinds of hamburgers.

Ambulance? Volcano?

Thumbs up for the" what-is-this?" names!

This will definitely catch your attention–look at that chilli sauce and all that cheese! Amazed and hypnotized by the chilli sauce, we ordered a Volcano and a Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad (you know, a small attempt to keep the meal “healthy”). As we started to dig in the salad, the long waited Volano came showing its magnificent chilli sauce. Wow-ing and complementing the thickest patty I’ve ever seen it came accompanied by pickles, jalapenos and their *smokey-signature* chilli sauce.

Apparently, this burgers are not supposed to be eaten the “nomad” way, but the fork-knife way. I didn’t really understand why, but after seeing the thickness and the height of the burger I was automatically looking for a knife to get a slice of this badboy. Covered by the thick/rich chilli sauce, I found out that the patty was the main star of the hamburger–and cooked perfectly, not too raw to make the hamburger messy but done to the point where you can still feel the meaty juice (give me 5 for well cooked meat!)

Look at that pattyyyyy

If you like hamburgers that scream m-e-a-t and give you a delicious food comma, then Smokey Saloon is the place to be. A small tip: following reviews–Ambulance is supposed to be the best!

Enjoy and start hamburg-ing : ) Bon Appétit!

Meeting my high expectations–Chinese cuisine is very unique, nothing like sesame chicken or fried noodles (quoting my best friend Violet Kim–fwendy.tumblr.com) that we see in movies in white boxes. Chinese cuisine being very versatile according to different countries and cultures, it seems that the “legit”, the real thing is in China. Our meals being very greasy but tasty, come with some “packages” due to their extreme oiliness. The first thing that the tour guide “warned” us was about the concept of cold water + greasy food. Apparently, one is not to drink cold water or water at all before 40 minutes after food is eaten due to the danger of stomachaches leading to an unexpected, unpleasant experience during one’s trip.

Their meals consist on a variety of ingredients, ranging from meats, fishes and vegetables–gives the diner an opportunity to pick and choose from the spinning dinning table.

However, Chinese cuisine wasn’t all about variety and spinning tables–their street food is filled with diversity and dynamics. In Wang Fu Jing Street one can really experience Chinese street food from Stinky Tofu and fried noodles to scorpions. Only few people who were brave enough to try them said they taste “crispy and with a chicken-like taste”.

Wang Fu Jing Street

As for the grand finale of the trip, courtesy of Professor Han, we went for almost a 10-course meal a la seafood only–where you get to choose your wants and favorites from the “tanks”–literally. Having picked shrimps, scallops and a wide range of fishes–let consumption begin! (from cold to hot)

pick & eat

combination of boiled/friend shrimp

From cold-hot, street-fancy–diversity–seems to be the best word to describe Chinese cuisine. For those who plan to visit China in the future, drop by with an open mind and palate to fully experience Chinese culture!

cook your own and eat your own!

Since there are so many alleys in Sinchon, let me put it the simplest way–the alley where it leads to the famous park in Sinchon that intersects with the biggest dak-kalbi place. Look to your right and you will see a red&blue sign.

What I really liked about this restaurant is that they have sets where you can choose your second course with your skewers. My friend and I decided to go for the rice course with spicy tofu-sauce on top. It might sound a little bit strange and new–but definitely a must-have if you decide to have some lamb and spice up the flavors by a factor of 10.

To complement the meal in a perfect way after a wave of hotness, is to have a bottle of Tsingtao–a Chinese beer that has a perfect balance of smooth aroma and taste, which will cool down the spiciness and repeat the cycle! 

My new discovery of "Makkoli"

However, the festival is not only about consuming alerting amounts of alcohol, but also an opportunity for upcoming bands, singers, dancers to show what they got. Supporting for(e)play, a rock band formed by talented UICans they performed in the middle of the road in S-town on Thursday, May 12th. Showing their skilled moved with instruments and vocals, they definitely impressed the other participants and marked their presence through this public opportunity.

for(e)play

With the base player--who's hair I love.

After enjoying my Wednesday and Thursday eating, and sipping on alcohol AKARAKA arrived in no time. This time was extra special for me, because being a senior, this will be my LAST AKARAKA as an enrolled student in Yonsei University.

blue everywhere

AKARAKA–is a time where all Yonsei students gather and cheer, singing to old school cheers made by our previous ancestors that reflect our love-and-hate relationship with Korea University and our love-pride towards Yonsei. This cheers come with specific dance movements which make it hard to stay still and definitely raise school spirit. This is how we show Yonsei pride!

After a crazy/intense-last-minute-cramming/stressful midterm period, all there is left is to enjoy the good weather, eat and party. Even though the weather hasn’t been on it’s best in Seoul, today (May 5th–Children’s Day) early summer breezes are on full swing. Enjoying a national holiday here in Korea, waking up at a random hour and coming out with my mac–and mac only seems to be the perfect way to celebrate Children’s Day.

For those who don’t know already, I am a huge fan of food. However, who isn’t!? A week ago, my friend and I were trying this new lamb place in Sinchon (Sinchon–famous for being the center of 3 universities, Yonsei, Ehwa & Seokang, is the best place to enjoy both food and alcohol) and proposed the idea of me finding the “underground/hidden/people’s choice” restaurants, which are affordable but leave you wanting to come back for more on a weekly basis.  Having this on mind, I found a very summery-appropriate place to eat and have some cocktail soju.

Last night, through a friend’s birthday party we went to a bar/restaurant in Sinchon–”the Yaletown alley”, a Korean-themed restaurant with diverse flavors of cocktail and fruit soju called “생가리”. Even though the were  drinks not up to the expected standards, the food was definitely an A+.

The dish called dakgalbi–chicken with vegetables (onions+cabbage+sesame leaves+green onions), boneless chicken and Korean hot pepper sauce. This dish definitely has many Korean features that make it have a unique flavor and a sprinkle of hotness, which makes it a MUST try.

A known finale to some of the Korean dishes is mixing rice on the left over stew (which should be thick and a little bit salty, perfect to eat it with a fist-size rice bowl)

Before eating, wait until the rice burns a little bit, not to the point where you can not savor the rice and the pepper sauce, but only until you see a slight redish-gold color on the bottom. After that, turn off the fire and scrape away! 

*Big shout out to creativity!* Definitely a new experience eating on a shovel looking-like pot!