By Jae Jae (novelty macarons), Seongnae

Warning: The following post contains adorable content that may or may not cause you to squeal like a schoolgirl at a Justin Bieber concert.

Ladies and gentlemen, have you ever noticed how sometimes the best looking food actually turns out to be pretty awful tasting? And that principle also works in reverse; sometimes the frumpy looking dishes turn out to be amazing? This rule seems to hold especially true when it comes to desserts.. I can't count the number of times I've oohed and ahhed over something sweet and then bitten into it, only to find it lacklustre and mediocre at best. But what if I told you that now you could have both aesthetic pleasure AND fantastic taste for dessert?

Wait, what..? Have your gorgeous cake and eat it too? No way!

YES WAY!

This little place called By Jae Jae, run by two sisters, does some very attractive desserts -- specifically, macarons. Feast your eyes upon these gorgeous little critters!

Are they not the most adorable macarons you have ever seen?!

Now let me start by saying that I don't actually like macarons (or at least I didn't until today). Previous experience left me scarred and thinking that all macarons were far too sweet, like edible diabetes in circular form. So at the shop today, my original intention was to buy just a couple of macarons at most. But as I stood there, with rows and rows of adorable little faces gazing up at me, I realised I couldn't choose between them and ended up buying one of each flavour. And boy am I glad that I did!

As it turns out, the macarons from By Jae Jae's are nothing like what I've had before. They're not overly sweet at all and the texture is fabulous -- crisp shell on the outside, soft and moist on the inside. And the filling.. Oh man, the filling! It's incredibly flavoursome and delectable.

Cuteness overload!

Black sesame flavour.. look at that beautiful piping!

The macarons come in two sizes: small ones, as pictured above (2,000 won each), and double-sized ones (3,500 won), and they are of course handmade and hand-decorated by the two sisters themselves. The designs and flavours change every week and you can check their website or Instagram account for updates on the current week's releases.

This week they have black sesame, salted caramel, mocha, double blueberry, chocolate banana, Oreo, and cherry rose.. and that's just for the small ones.

Cherry rose, chocolate banana, Oreo flavours

I am so sorry.. but I must eat your face.

Cherry rose. My favourite flavour so far! Amazing rose-flavoured cream 

with a splodge of cherry jam in the centre.. :F

Check out the double macarons!

Pineapple, soybean, lemon orange, strawberry yoghurt,

milk chocolate, passionfruit, double blueberry..
Urgh... I want them ALL.

Small macarons.

The showcase is empty because I bought them all. u__u

More macaron options!
(Excuse the poor photography T__T)

As mentioned before, By Jae Jae is a little place.. and by that, I mean literally little. It's a tiny shop and when you enter, you're greeted by a showcase refrigerator and that's pretty much it. There's no eating area, they don't sell drinks, it's just straight up macaron retailing and you can be in and out of the shop in a jiffy. (Unless you're like me, and it takes you forever to decide on anything.)

As the designs and flavours change each week, it's hard to imagine ever getting tired of these and I think you could easily keep going back for more. They also do custom orders (for example, macarons with people's names on them) which would really make great birthday gifts, or Christmas gifts, or any kind of gifts really.. or not even gifts, just.. something to gobble down at home all by yourself. *cough* .____.;;

If you love macarons and/or cute things, I would say this place is definitely worth checking out! Go there and show them some loooove!



By Jae Jae, Seongnae-dong
Hours: 11am - 9pm, Thurs - Sun (closed Mon - Wed)
Address: 서울시 강동구 성내동 405-45 (405-45 Seongnae-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul)
Website: http://blog.naver.com/wodms172
Instagram: @byjaejae
Directions: From Dunchondong Station (line 5), exit 4, take the second left and cross over to right side of the street. Head straight for four blocks. By Jae Jae will be on your right.

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.