Wanggwan House (parrot cafe), Sinchon

Halfway between Edae and Sinchon is an awesome little place called Wanggwan House. Why is this place so awesome? Because it's a cafe that's filled with parrots, and parrots are something that everybody needs more of in their lives. Hurrah!

The place is owned by a parrot breeder and if you're in the market for a parrot, you can find your future pet here, along with food supplies, toys, health supplements, and all other necessities. If you're not looking to buy though, this is still a great place to hang out with some cool birds and learn a thing or two about them.

Upon entering the cafe, this was the view that greeted us:

We were there on a weekday so it was pretty quiet, and that gave us an excellent chance to get up close and personal with these gorgeous parrots (and some finches, hah).

Cockatiels

African grey

Cockatoo

Blue-and-yellow macaw

Cute little finch

In the exterior section of the cafe are even more birds, including some beautiful little babies..

Adorable babies waiting for their feeding time :3

We spent most of our time inside, sipping on our drinks (included in the entry fee of 5,000 won) and just watching the birds do their own thing. The drinks aren't really anything special, but if you're at a parrot cafe then chances are you're not there for fancy-schmancy gourmet drinks. Plus a lot of dog and cat cafes will charge you at least 8,000 won for a very mediocre drink, so this is a lot cheaper. Bargain!

Tomato juice, with a stalker in the background

Entry to the cafe is 5,000 won and that includes a drink of your choice 

The cafe also sells snacks for 1,000 won that you can feed to the birds.

Omnomnom

This cockatoo (a girl, we were told) was uber gentle and didn't seem to mind being patted. However, my absolute favourite was this handsome fellow: 

It was love at first sight. :3

I asked the owner if it was okay to touch him and she replied that he might be a bit dangerous and that I should go pat one of the other birds instead. But you know me.. I'm the kind of idiot who doesn't listen to people, so I stuck my arm out to him anyway. And hey, it was just as well that I did because all he did was lick my arm gently before tentatively climbing on. 

How many licks does it take to... Oh, never mind.

He even obligingly posed for a selfie. Such a gentleman!

I'm not sure what it was, but perhaps he liked the taste of my hand cream? Or perhaps we had amazing chemistry that caused him to take an instant shine to me? I personally like to think it was the latter, and that we have now forged some kind of ever-lasting spiritual bond.. It broke my heart to say goodbye at the end, but as people say, true love never dies.. Here's hoping my love will remember me next time I go back!

Wanggwan House, Sinchon

Hours: 11am - 7pm

Address: 서울시 서대문구 대현동 101-5, 2층 (2nd floor, 101-5 Daehyeon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul)

Website: http://www.parrot-house.co.kr/

Directions: From Edae Station exit 1, head straight down the road and take the third right. Then, take the second right onto 이화여대3길, and look out for Wanggwan House on the right, a couple of metres from the entrance of the street.

OR

From Sinchon Station exit 4, go straight and take the 5th left. Cross over the street and take the second right onto 이화여대3길, and look out for Wanggwan House on the right.

Ddo-ong Cafe (poop cafe), Insadong

Poo. Dung. Faeces. Number two.

No matter how you put it, in the wise words of Taro Gomi, "everyone poops" and there ain't no shame in that. In fact, pooping is a ritual that should be celebrated. (It's far better than being constipated, is it not?) So.. If you're an open-minded cool cat who's down for glorifying poop in its resplendent nature, then Ddo-ong Cafe in Insadong is the perfect place for you.

The theme of the place is poo and, in true Asian style, it takes excrement and portrays it in the cutest way possible -- using swirly spirals, cartoon faces, and a multitude of toilet-shaped decorations.

A poop pole and a message tree

The wisest words I have ever heard

Paying homage to the humble squat toilet. Hurrah!

Toilet door

Drinks range from 4,800 to 7,000 won and you can request your hot drink to come in a toilet-shaped mug. (If you don't make any requests, it'll simply come out in a regular mug with poop decorations on it.)

Rose latte, 5,500 won, dark chocolate latte, 6,500 won,
and a poop scone, 800 won.

Another view of the poopy goodness.

Can't get over the adorable poop latte art. XD

If you like the toilet mug enough, you can purchase it for 20,000 won, along with other mugs that have various poop decorations printed on them.

I personally loved that my rose latte came with an actual rose in it and a big, white, smiley-faced turd. Talk about amazing (*cough* Instagram-worthy) presentation. Here's a closer shot for good measure:

You can probably tell that my drink was stone cold by the time I drank it because I was too busy being a photo-whore. u__u;; Still, it was pretty good. Combining coffee and roses definitely made for an interesting and unusual flavour.

Cafe counter & interior

I'm a sucker for any place with succulents

All in all, the cafe has a nice atmosphere and is a great place to lounge about with friends. If you're flying solo, it's still a nice, chill place where you can sit down and ponder the deeper questions in life. You know, matters such as who created the spiral shape that's so synonymous across Asia with poop? Is there anyone or anything that has ever dropped a dingleberry in a perfect spiral?

Yeeees. Deep thinking, this stuff is.



Ddo-ong Cafe, Insadong
Hours: 10am - 9pm
Address: 서울시 종로구 관훈동 38 쌈지길건물 4층 (4th floor, Ssamziegil Building, 38 Gwanhun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul)
Directions: From Anguk Station exit 6, take the first left into Insadong and continue down the street until you see the Ssamziegil complex on the left. Ddo-ong Cafe is on the fourth floor.

Blind Alley (raccoon cafe), Sookmyung Women's University

Move along, cats and dogs... the raccoons are here to take over! Yes, you read that right.

Raccoons. At a COFFEE SHOP.

Because dog and cat cafes are so five years ago. *Valley girl accent*

Now I'm no animal expert but when I first heard about this, it worried me a little that someone would want to combine raccoons and coffee together in the same place. What came to mind when hearing the word "raccoon" was always something like this:

Image credits: africageographic.com

We don't have raccoons in Australia, so I'd kind of imagined them to be snarly, disease-ridden little beasts that gave zero f*cks about anything.. a bit like the honey badger.

Well, as it turns out, they're more like this:

Cheeky, naughty little critters, but undeniably adorable.. a bit like a a rascally puppy. I learned this after going to Blind Alley near Sookmyung Women's University, where you can get up close and personal with the cafe's two pet raccoons.

The cafe itself is cosy and comfortable with plenty of warm brown decor, and it has lots of very reasonably priced drinks. WINNING.

But let's not pretend. We all know you're really just here for the raccoons. :P They're kept in a separate section of the cafe and for obvious reasons, you can't take any food or drinks in there. 

Note: Children under 16 are not allowed to enter.

Watching the two critters ferreting around was actually kind of therapeutic. :3

A scuffle broke out over ownership of the tea towel.

So much chill!

Getting a whiff of my gnarly toes. Poor fella.

Of course the biggest concern with animal cafes is whether the animals are well treated and properly cared for. From what we could see, the raccoons here both looked happy as they had plenty of toys, lots of space and things to climb, and their own enclosure to hide in, away from prying human eyes. When one of the cafe staff came in to feed them treats, it was also clear from the way they interacted that they had a good relationship. It was nice to know that this wasn't just some dodgy, abusive circus show.

Begging for treats.. just like doggies.

A final note though... Avoid entering or exiting the area if you can see the raccoons are near the doors. The enclosure is double gated (and for good reason), but the raccoons can still get through and this is what happens when they do:

Om nom nom.. sugar and ice cream for all! O__O

Blind Alley, Sookdae

Hours: 9am - 10:30pm

Address: 서울시 용산구 청파동2가 63-20 (63-20 Cheongpa-dong2ga, Yongsan-gu, Seoul)

Directions: From Sookmyung Women's University Station, exit 10, make a U-turn and take the first right. Keep following this road straight for about 5 minutes, passing through the tunnel and crossing at the intersection. Blind Alley will be on your right, before you reach the university campus.

CaFace (selfie latte cafe), Hongdae

If there's one thing Koreans love doing, it's taking selfies. Anytime, anywhere, ain't no shame in snapping a picture of your own mug... Ha ha hahhh. Hah. *cough*

 
So... Taking this blatant love of self photography and combining it with the fact that Korea is no stranger to kookily themed places, it stands to reason that someone would eventually open up a selfie-themed cafe, right?

Well, at CaFace in Hongdae you can have your selfie and drink it too. Here's how:

First, select your drink from the menu. Prices range from 3,000 won to 5,000 won, and there's an added 2,500 surcharge to have your photo printed on the drink. (At the time we visited, the owner told us photos could only be printed on cold drinks.)

Next, step into the photo booth beside the counter and take your selfie. Use the tick button on the screen to send the photo to the counter where it'll be printed onto your latte using a food printer.

Finally, pick up your drink when it's done and proceed to take more photos of your own face (in latte form).

Here is an excellent stalker picture of the owner focusing on our latte as it goes through the printer. Hoho!

I went there with my monkey son on the last afternoon of her holiday here, and this was the end result of much monkeying around:

We are goons, yes.

One thing that I really liked about the cafe: there was no shortage of power outlets, so if you need to charge your phone or have some important work to do on your laptop, you can come along and plug in just about anywhere.

Sooo many outlets... >:F

They also have big, fancy booths with comfy padded seating:

I'm not sure how this cafe will fare come winter time when subzero temperatures set in and people start drinking hot lattes instead of cold... Then again, maybe people's love for selfies will outweigh the discomfort of freezing their insides with icy drinks in the middle of winter?
We shall see, eh?



CaFace, Hongdae
Address: 서울시 마포구 서교동 358-51 (358-51 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul)
Website: www.facebook.com/caface.seoul
Directions: From Hongdae Station exit 9, take the second left. Cross over to the side with Forever 21, and take the third right. Go straight and take the third left. Follow the alley up and you'll see CaFace on your left.