May Island (study cafe), Gangnam

The other day I was out and about and had a couple of hours to kill before my shift started. This left me with two options: either go in super early and twiddle my thumbs at work... or not go in super early and twiddle my thumbs at a nice cafe instead.

I suspect you can guess which one I chose. :P

May Island in Gangnam has been on my list of cafes to visit for quite a while and I figured it would be as good a day as any to head on over and finally check it out. I'd seen pictures of it before on the internet where it was touted as a "study cafe" and my curiousity was definitely piqued. My mind was ablaze with all sorts of questions... How do study cafes work? Do they play background music, or is it completely silent? Can you study in groups? Are you allowed to talk? How long can you sit there before you get booted out?

Well good sons, the answers to those questions were soon revealed.

May Island takes up the 4th and 5th floors of a building very close to Gangnam Station.

After entering, take the lift up to the 4th floor and order your drink at the counter.

The rule is one drink per person, and one drink buys you 5 hours of cafe time. Drinks are kind of pricey and start from 6,500 won, which is a fair bit more than you'd slosh out for your average cup of joe in Korea (even at overpriced chains like Starbucks). But I suppose when you consider the fact that you're essentially hogging a table for 5 hours in an environment where you can actually concentrate and be productive, it seems fair enough.

Keep your receipt with you as proof of the time you entered. If you're planning to stay more than 5 hours, or you want another drink, bring your receipt to the counter and you can get up to 50% off your next order.

On the 4th floor are also group study rooms, which you can rent out per hour. If you're studying solo though, take the stairs up to the 5th floor and let the cramming magic begin.

1 drink per person, free wifi, free books on the shelves to read, no talking!

Okay, I'm not going to lie. When I first entered the room, I felt slightly creeped out. It was completely silent, except for the occasional sound of someone clearing their throat or chair legs being scraped across the floor. It was so quiet that you could even hear pages being turned from across the room. The silence seemed to hang in the air with an eerie heaviness. It brought back garish memories of being at uni and cramming for exams in the library... except this place had better lighting and much cooler furniture.

You can see some funky airplane-inspired seats along the left wall. I wasn't bold enough to take any proper pictures of them though as they were all occupied. ^^;;

Airplane seats! (Image is courtesy of their website: mayisland.com)

Originally I had planned to just sit and read on my Kindle in a leisurely manner, but most people there seemed to actually be working really hard. Some were furiously typing up documents on their laptops, others were studying from textbooks as fat as phone directories, and here I was dawdling along, reading a trashy fiction novel. I suddenly felt grossly inappropriate. Fortunately, I had some typed up lesson plans in my bag so I fished them out and laid them on the desk in an attempt to look like I was being somewhat productive. Hah!

It got me thinking though.. Even though you could just as easily drink coffee or tea and study at home for free, there's something about being in a room with a bunch of other people who are all doing work that makes you want to do work too. Is there a name for that? 'Collective productivity effect', perhaps? o__O

Well, whatever it is, it works and I can see now why people readily fork out money to study somewhere outside of home. Perhaps I'll go back there with my Korean textbook and actually get some studying done for once!



May Island, Gangnam
Hours: 9am - 11pm Mon - Sat, 9am - 10pm Sundays
Address: 서울시 강남구 역삼동 816-6 (816-6 Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul)
Website: http://www.mayisland.com
Directions: From Gangnam Station exit 11, take the first right and then the first left. Continue down the road a few more metres and May Island will be on your left.

For anyone interested, there's also another branch of May Island close to exit 2 of Apgujeong Station on line number 3. Check out their website for details. :)

Koopet (reptile cafe & pet store), Samsung-dong

Update 31/07/2015:
Koopet now runs programs on weekends where children can feed, touch, and learn about all the reptiles in the store. The cost is 10,000 per child.
You can also feed tortoises with fresh vegetables for 5,000 won. :)

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One night back in autumn, my co-worker and I decided to take a stroll around the neighbourhood where our work building is. ('Cause you know, this is what all normal people do at 11pm on a Friday night, right? Fire Friday, anyone? XD) At that point in time, she hadn't yet been to Brooklyn Burger so we figured we'd head on over for a look-see. The place would be closed, but that was okay.. We could always just stand outside looking in and drooling, like peeping toms in the middle of the night. No shame.

As we neared the restaurant though, something caught our eye. Something in the window of a shop across the street. Something in the window that was very cool.... It was none other than a giant green lizard wearing a pink bow.

As it turned out, someone was setting up shop just across from Brooklyn Burger and it happened to be a reptile cafe and pet store they were opening. Regrettably, I didn't get any pictures of said lizard with his (or her) fluffy pink bow, but I assure you that it was most awesome and I vowed to come back later once they were done setting up the place.

Fast forward to last weekend, almost 5 months on, when I finally made it back there. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I can say it definitely didn't disappoint.

The place seemed to be primarily a pet store selling everything you would need for your own reptilian companion, such as glass tanks, food, sand, and of course the actual reptiles themselves. If you're not in the market for a new pet though, that's okay. You can still buy a drink and wander around looking at the different creatures they have.

The offerings on the menu were quite simple: basic Americano coffee for 4,500 won and organic tea (camomile, rooibos, peppermint, etc.) for 5,000 won. There were only four or five tables too, which meant the cafe part was quite small. This makes sense though, if their primary business is to sell pets and pet supplies. Plus, once you're inside, chances are you won't be spending much time sitting down and drinking as you'll be too busy roaming around and peering into all the different tanks there.

I was quite surprised at the number of different reptiles they had, but while some tanks had tags on them with the names and prices of the scaly creatures inside, unfortunately others did not. As I'm not a herpetologist, or even in the least bit knowledgeable about reptiles, most of the time I was clueless as to what I was looking at, which was a pity. Still... that didn't stop me from stalking around for a good 30 minutes or so, shamelessly snapping as many pictures as I could:

Check out this adorable little guy passed out on his branch. :3

Short, stubby, and uber cute!

Some baaaaad ass iguanas(?) with super long tails

Funky eye action going on right there. Besides their awesome, bulbous eyes, chameleons also have such cute little feet!

Looking very majestic...

I've never thought of snakes as cute before, but this one was so pretty! :3

This lizard appears to have found inner peace. He can meditate even with his next meal flaunting it on top of his head.

How many chameleons can you spot? :D

The reptiles seemed to be pretty well cared for, what with lots of tree branches to climb around and plenty of live food.. But I felt a bit sorry for some of the bigger ones whose bodies took up pretty much the whole width of the tank, like this guy:

Hopefully someone buys him soon and gives him a nice big space to live in. :3


Apart from scores of tanks to admire, there was also a small enclosure in the middle of the store with several tortoises and you could buy cups of fresh vegies to feed them with:

All in all, it was a pretty cool place to visit especially if you're into animals and are tired of the typical dog and cat cafes. Added bonus that you can have lunch or dinner at the scrumptious Brooklyn Burger first before you pop in for a visit. >:D



Koopet Reptile Cafe & Pet Store
Hours: 10:30am - 10pm, closed on Mondays
Address: 서울시 강남구 삼성동 147-7 (147-7 Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul)
Website: http://www.koopet.co.kr
Directions: From Samseong Station exit 5, go straight until you hit the first set of traffic lights (you'll pass Hyundai Department Store on your right).
Cross over to the side with McDonald's and the K-Tower building, then turn right and head straight up the road. Take the fifth left. (Along the way, you'll pass by CALT Mall and Seven Luck Casino on the opposite side).
After you've turned left, take the first right and continue up the street a bit. Koopet will be on your right.

Cafe Majo & Sady, Dongdaemun

If you've lived in Korea for any amount of time, or even just visited on a holiday, chances are you've heard of an app called Kakao Talk. Kakao Talk is pretty much the Korean version of Whatsapp, except with much cooler emotions. Along with the default yellow smileys, there's also a set featuring these two webtoon characters called Majo and Sady:

Majo is a brown bear and Sady is a white rabbit, and supposedly they're married. Hmmm.

Hehe

Even though I don't know much else about them, there's a special place in my heart for them because they have a pooping emoticon. This is the emoticon Angry Eddie and I always use if one of us needs to go to the bathroom:

Well, now that we're all up to speed on my bowel movements and have thus become intimate buddies, let us move along!

In August of 2013, the first ever Cafe Majo & Sady (a themed cafe dedicated to these two characters, in case you couldn't tell by the name :P) opened up in Sinsa-dong of Seoul. Since then, a multitude have popped up including two in Jeonju city and several more around Seoul (Dongdaemun, Nowon, and another coming soon to a spot between Cheongnyangni and Sindap stations). If you're not in Seoul, fret not as they're also planning to open branches in Suwon, Dongtan, Bucheon, and Busan.

The one in Dongdaemun happens to be closest to my area, so off I went to check it out. It was a grey, gloomy day out, but even that couldn't detract from the awesomeness of the place:

It was half snowing, half raining so these little guys got moved inside.

Mmm... sweet, sweet desserts.. 4,800 won for a cupcake, 5,800 for tiramisu, 8,500 for pancakes, and 9,500 for the brunch set (pancakes, salad, soup, and a sausage)

Funky waiting buzzer

Okay, I'm not guna lie. Despite being hungry, I thought the cafe was kinda pricey so my miserly reflexes kicked in and I ended up settling for just a latte.. A cheese latte. I live on the wild side, yo!

Cheese latte (4,800 won)

On the first floor, the corner beside the counter was set up with plenty of merchandise for purchasing:

And the second floor was where all the decorating and plush toy magic happened:

Although it's a bit expensive by my cheapo standards, I would probably still come here again because it's really hard to say no when everything is so cute. Even the drink cups are adorable!

Luckily I'm the kind of person who can nurse a single drink for several hours, so forking out a bit more is fine if it means I get to loiter around for as long as I like and soak up the pleasant atmosphere. Hooray for Korean cafe culture where it's considered acceptable to linger for extended periods of time, and hooray for Korean cafes with uber cute deco! XD



Cafe Majo & Sady, Dongdaemun
Hours: 10am - 11pm
Address: 서울시 중구 광희동2가 172 (172 Gwanghee2-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul)
Website: http://www.cafemajosady.com
Directions: From Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station, exit 3, you can see the cafe across the road to your right. It's best to take the crossing that's a little to the left of the exit, as there isn't one in front of the cafe.