University areas are always fun: lots of shops, coffee shops, restaurants and bars that are usually relatively inexpensive, young and trendy. The Kyungsung University & Pukyong National University Station in Busan is no difference. There is a big Artbox shop, many shops and alleys filled with coffee shops and restaurants. Coffee and desserts are easy. There’s always another stomach for them.
On the day of hiking along the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress from Paldalmun to Seojangdae Command Post (the section from the South Gate to the West Gate), I took a lunch break by walking down the stairs back to the Palace which is the center of the Fortress. That’s where the shops and restaurants are. Fried chicken is one of the famous food in Suwon. Not going to the fried chicken street at the point, getting a chicken noodle is a good option. Well, it’s still fried chicken.
After visiting Leeum Museum, I took a walk towards Itaewon. There are a lot of cafes and restaurants in the area and I found this “One in a Million” coffee shop in Hannam-dong area the most interesting. The cafe is in the alley of Hannam-dong area where there are small shops and unique restaurants. Then there is this entrance which looked like a parking area with a simple sign saying “one in a million” and some pink outdoor chairs.
While many coffee shops and restaurants try to run gallery/exhibitions/shops at the same time, very few do it well on both aspects. Miel in Gangnam is one of the few art gallery cafe I’ve visited that serves good food, offers nice environment and runs frequent art exhibitions consistently. It is a popular restaurant/cafe for many popular artists, including Tiffany Hwang of Girls’ Generation, Bae Yong-joon，Song Joong-ki, Big Bang, 2PM and Jun Ji-hyun. So you never know, there may be a good chance of running into some famous artists when you are having coffee here.
Gangnam K Star Road is really fun in a sense that there are so many spectacular buildings, flagship stores, well-designed restaurants and bars. Even selling ice cream bars is a little fancy. Bardot is a US ice cream bar brand and the red lips are the signature icon. It’s amazing how such a simple design is turned into a successful business. Well, it’s an attractive design not only for men…
