one cup of coffee

Here's a late Korea travel post from back in March. Named "커피한잔", meaning one cup of coffee, this became one of my favorite coffee shops my cousin and I discovered, tucked inside a small neighborhood behind Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul.

Unlike a lot of contemporary coffee shops I'd stepped into in Seoul, this vintage coffee shop was completely vintage without the pretentiousness. From the exterior, it looks like the shop's been there for ages (maybe it has been. I didn't ask). It's a quiet shop that exhibits a glimpse of what coffee shops might have looked like in 1970s Seoul, with shelves full of vinyls, old comic books and disco balls hanging around in random corners.

Made me feel nostalgic for the... "older" Korea. Why does this country change so rapidly all the time?

crumbs & whiskers! DC's first cat cafe

If you live in DC metro area, you've probably heard of Crumbs & Whiskers - this city's first cat cafe. The place opened not too long ago to much anticipation after its successful Kickstarter campaign (more than $35k! cool), resulting in a long wait list and people being turned away on weeknights. The owner/founder, Kanchan, is my age (I think) and listening to how she came to start gave me a little nudge in my heart, because honestly, opening a cat cafe (or even just a cafe) is not easy. This whole thing, to me, is pretty inspirational.

I wouldn't say I'm a cat person but I still do like cats. Just unfortunate that I'm allergic. Not terribly, but if I touch a cat or be near a cat for more than 10 minutes I'll start going crazy. So how did I survive shooting/doing interviews for ~2 hours at a place swarming with like 30 cats? I'd say the place is pretty well ventilated - and clean. And my sheer willpower to not die.

If you live in DC area and are not repulsed by the sight of cute cats, you should definitely check it out! It's nested in an adorable building in Georgetown and the people (and cats) are incredibly nice. When you first enter the place feels a little tiny but there's a second floor where the VIP cats choose their favorite human to go home with. Jk. But all cats are from the DC Humane Society and are adoptable. When we went, they had been open for 6 days and had 6 cats adopted - so that's a pretty good rate!

^ cat giving me his/her fierce look

And here is Kanchan! (below) I mean, how adorable is she?

Video for PBS NewsHour coming soon!

The Wydown of DC

About a month ago, I had the privilege of shooting + writing for Sprudge about The Wydown's new location on 14th & U St. I had a blast interviewing Alex and Chad -- they're truly some real nice guys (from the midwest!) having so much fun with coffee. Here are some outtakes from the shoot:

Finding gems on the gulf coast: constant coffee + tea

I'm always hunting for good coffee spots whenever I enter a new city. My hope is always that even in a smaller city like Pensacola, FL -- there must still be a small demand for unconventional, non-machine brewed, and genuine (Okay yeah I know. Let's just get over the fact that I'm incredibly pretentious and snobby when it comes to coffee. What can I say? Life is too short for bad coffee.) fair trade coffee. It took me a bit of sniffing around the internet to finally come across Constant Coffee & Tea and a few other places in Pensacola. So right when S picked me up from the airport, I demanded that we hit up this place first so I can get my caffeine on. And we're so glad we did.

The cafe was pretty quiet when we turned up around 11AM-ish. There was one girl who seemed to be engrossed in her studies and an old couple who happened to be leaving right when we got there. The barista was welcoming and helpful -- plus I loved the abundance of natural light in the place. It felt more like walking into someone's house rather than another typical cafe.

I ordered a pourover of Counter Culture's REKO (my current fav as it is in season) beans, and while it was a leeeettle bit more saturated than I would've liked it to be, it was still really good. I need to stop chugging hot coffee like it's water. The cold brew was subtle and excellent as well - both cups strong enough to get us going for the rest of the day.

And the last photo taken with the iPhone. Also: I know. I need to redo my nails.

If you ever find yourself in Pensacola, you should definitely go check it out. It's spacious enough for even large groups, a pretty great study/work spot if you wish, and a pretty neat pit stop for travelers going through Pcola.

Dolcezza at Mosaic district

An adventure that started out on the sheer mission of checking out the coolest-looking Target in Virginia turned into a total self-indulging and borderline barbaric gelato fest that perfectly wrapped up the warm spring weekend. One cannot simply go wrong with some gelato on a Sunday afternoon, especially if it's flavored dark chocolate and black sesame. Plus I was glad to finally check out Dolcezza - even though I've been more dying to try their Union Market location. This place is a happy concoction of coffee, ice cream, and beautiful interior. Yum.

It certainly seems like they have great coffee, but I was already too caffeinated at that point. Next time, though.

Also: you're not doing gelato right if you're not getting super messy and sticky while inhaling the cup in like, 5 minutes.