“MINKPINK. Designed and loved for who we are. Be brave and free.”
We all know there’s a gigantic hole swooping the Australian fashion market for well designed, gorgeous, yet affordable clothing. It’s something that has been close to our hearts here at The Hidden Thimble and it’s the thing we LOVE most about MINKPINK’s philosophy. 8 Years on, the Australian iconic brand have stayed true to themselves designing inspirational, original pieces that girls can afford to buy and LOVE to wear. I for one know I’ve worn the death out my favorite floral MINKPINK skater skirt!
I am forever tired of the dreary colours that seem to come out in winter…I’m so sick of seeing dull grey and black tones being paired together. And when there is color, it’s always the same dark blues or purples. I mean, who said winter had to be boring?
If you’re feeling me right now, do read on. It’s time to get cheeky, sassy and edgy this winter because MINKPINK’s 2014 Wild Child of Rock winter collection is EPIC!
MINKPINK brings a fun, eclectic and old-school vibe to this winter – jam packed with a whole heap of grunge and sass – and we know how much us Aussies love street grunge and how much The Hidden Thimble loves sass! Ladies am I right? Am I riiiigghhtt??
Speaking of sass lovely ladies (and gents of course) who may be reading this, what better way to authentically carry out this collection than to team up with daughters Chelsea and Alexandra, of rock legends Aerosmith and Rolling Stone’s Keith Richards ohmagawd!
MINKPINK Winter collection 2014 pays homage to the age of rock stars so it’s time to get styled in your shaggy fur coats, bohemian bell sleeves and 70s vintage coats, studs and all else glam and rock!
I’ve only got six words to display my love for the next series of outfits. Fur, leather, metallic, gold, silver and lace. The best combination to glam up this winter!
I am in love with the print and metallic colour of that jumper.
Want some colour thrown in there? Don’t worry MINKPINK are one step ahead!
I’m really loving furry things this winter. The amount of comfort I feel from rugging up in something soft and nubbly in winter just brings a joy that is incomparable. And the colour of that baggy cardigan is just so minty fresh! Love!
Finally, my favorite pieces of the whole collection! Here’s some winter colour that’s not your typical dull and muted hues. I absolutely cant get enough of that matching blazer and shorts combo!
So I know the burning question on your mind right now….
Can I has?
OF COURSE!!!! >> Enter the competition below!! <<
Competition Time!!
How to Enter:
Post an Instagram of you and your BFF on a wild night out. Your spontaneous selfie could win you:
2x flights to Sydney thanks to Studentflights
A night at 1888 Hotel, Pyrmont, and
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If you don’t know who this little kitty is, well I’m gonna educate you on the awesomeness of this shirt because… it has freakin Chococat on it! Choco-freakn-cat!!
Yeah, possibly the cutest thing to have on a blouse. I got this Forever21 baby from my great friend as a Christmas present when she was overseas. She was still thinking of me when she was visiting long time friends, how sweet! So I’ll call her “Beloved M” here. She looks after me and my fashion endeavors, heart her long time~.
Rings – HOH | ASOS | Lovisa
Cuteness overload! This is from the HELLO KITTY FOREVER, FOREVER 21 X SANRIO Collection 2012. The items were really cute! I love the way they styled the pattern-on-pattern graphics for the photo shoot in the collection. It doesn’t look “kiddish.” The looks they portrayed were fresh and youthful for the pleasure of street style. So unique! I wish Australia had F21 so I could buy more pieces :(
Cute right?! Click on the image to see more photos!Pleather Skater Skirt – ASOS | Blouse – F21 | Shoes – hand me down
So I guess my take is more of a toned down version aww :( To toughen the look, I paired the blouse with my pleather skirt which gave it a nice contrast. The skirt is the wet-look kind of pleather skater skirts available which I love because it’s so sleek.
Cute oxford-esque heels in cream and brown to match. These types of shoe designs were popular in Japan once upon a time… still is for some brands like Liz Lisa :)
The forced “I’m-not-looking-at-you-to-look-natural-but-it’s-all-lies” look to finish LOL :P
Here is part 2 of our Themed Cafes and Restaurants Post. For the restaurants please read Part One here.
Now onto the cafes! Korea is filled with cafes and all of them are so lovely!
I have never really been a cafe type person one, because I don’t really like coffee and two, the idea just never really appealed to me. That is, until I went to Korea. In Korea, it seems as if every cafe as its own little vibe going on which is so welcoming, so calming, so cozy and so comfy. I love the atmosphere that each cafe seems to be able to create. Cafes in Korea are the best places to chillax with friends and the best part of all – you only ever have to order one drink and you can stay there as long as you like – seriously – people do work on their laptops for hours! You never get that “can you leave now?” vibe from the waiters!
Unfortunately, I’m yet to find a cafe in Sydney that has quite the charm of a Korean cafe! But I intend to keep searching~
One of the first cafes we went to in Korea really captures this charm and vibe that all Korean cafes seem to have in common.
See this is what I mean, what would you call this vibe?? I just love it so much!! It’s so homely!Message walls/trees seem to also be a common feature of the Korean cafe culture. They are basically a collection of photos, drawings and hand written messages that people stick up on a wall or hang up on a tree in the cafe.You might be thinking…why is this photo here?? Well, another common trait in Korean cafes is the presence of notebooks whereby people use to draw, leave messages or play games with friends. Most amazingly, you wont see one penis, curse word or sexual image in these books!! Can you just imagine what kind of things would be in these books if a cafe were to include them in Australia…? Yeah…let’s not even go there..Some more cafe decor!
One of the many cafes Siree and I stumbled across was actually a couple cafe! We walked in not realising, and it was filled with couples! None the less it was a really amazing cafe. I loved it and it’s vibe! It totally lived out those Christmas scenes in Hollywood movies where its snowing and cold outside but the stars of the movie are cuddled up inside their immaculately Christmas decorated homes, by the fireplace…*sigh*…so lovely.
Yum!!
Some delicious food and drinks commonly sold in Korean cafes, which are not sold or easily found in Australia include:
Pumpkin Lattes – seriously delish!
Chestnut Lattes
Green tea lattes
A variety of teas – floral, fruity, herbal, traditional – sometimes there are mixes of all of these.
Waffles, sweet breads, parfaits
Tips:
If your looking for cool cafes, majority of them are located up in the second level of buildings, so when searching don’t just look for places on ground level, look up!
Hardcore Themed Cafes!
Unlike the general Korean cafe vibe, there are numerous cafes in Korea that go ALL out!! Here are some of our experiences:
Hello Kitty Cafe
Wow. Always in my life I have wanted to visit one of the notably famous Hello Kitty cafes. I have always been jealous of seeing my friends photos and finally, I was able to experience it myself.
If there was one word to describe the Hello Kitty Cafe it would definitely be PINK OVERLOAD. Okay two words! So much so that it kinda makes things hard to see, the lighting on your face is terribly unflattering (would not recommend for first dates! haha) and the photos didn’t turn out so nicely because of the light! But it does keep with the vibe so all’s good!
We forced brought along two of our male Korean friends to this restaurant and upon entry, they instantly commented on their masculinity decreasing …! However, being the good hosts they were, they swallowed their pride and joined in as enthusiastically as they possibly could haha. We appreciated the effort..
Wow, it looks so majestic! Haha any man would be scared of this buildingInterior decor! Pretty cool right. I mean they have Hello Kitty shaped chairs!!!The food is also Hello Kitty themed!Our drinks :) So cute!Our entire order!
If I’m to be really honest, the food here is only mediocre, but then again you don’t really visit the Hello Kitty cafe to eat spectacularly good food. You visit for the vibe and novelty, and judging by that aspect, visiting The Hello Kitty Cafe is worth it.
Directions:
Follow the pink line on the map
Original map from Visit Korea website.
From exit 9 out of Hongik Station, walk straight along yanghwa – ro and turn left into Hongik – ro. Turn right into the third street on your right. The Hello Kitty cafe is hidden up a little alley street, so keep an eye out on your left. The cafe is clearly visible when looking up into the alley.
Cats Living – Cat Cafe
Right next to the Hello Kitty Cafe, is Cats Living – a fully fledged cat cafe with real cats running around!! I’d only ever seen cat cafes whilst watching my favourite KPOP stars visiting them in Korean Variety shows, so naturally I always wanted to visit one myself – after all I love animals!!
But I have to admit, it was not exactly what I was expecting…I guess TV really does put a glossy shiny bubble of shazaam over everything, making it look extra spiffy that you tend to forget about the possible negatives of such a cafe. I mean the cafe looked nice and some of the cats were kinda cute too (SOME WERE SERIOUSLY EVIL)…but the smellwas terrible!! I was honestly not expecting that at all! I don’t know what part of my brain put together the fact that a place with 12+ cats all in one room would not smell, but I was so shocked that I actually remember saying to Siree “I don’t want to do this anymore..” I don’t know I guess the thought of eating and drinking in a place with such a smell was kinda off putting…
Nevertheless, it was a very unique experience and I’m glad I did go even though I felt highly uncomfortable…
And I guess after a while you do get over the smell…
The front!Cute signage! I love this aspect of Korean cafes and their use of signs and drawings. Also I may be mistaken here…but I think they spelt “open” wrong haha. Konglish! Love it!Some of the cute cats! I like the ears on the one of the left hahaThe cat on the left was so cutely tragic. Poor thing was so old and I felt sorry for its eyes!!The decor was also very fitting. I though this idea was really cute.More of the interior. I really liked that cage chair!Nawww. Siree and I couldn’t tell how many cats were bundled in here – I’d say 3? Maybe just two lol!
Directions
Follow the pink line on the map
Original map from Visit Korea
From exit 9 out of Hongik Station, walk straight along yanghwa – ro and turn left into Hongik – ro. Turn right into the third street on your right. Cats Living is located right next to the Hello Kitty Cafe so keep an eye out for that in an alley on your left ( Cats Living is not visible when you look into the alley way only the Hello Kitty Cafe is). As you walk towards the Hello Kitty cafe you will see Cats Living.
Price
The entry fee to the cafe is 8,000 won which includes a drink. The drinks provided here are the standard drinks you might find at Starbucks, so they aren’t that great but its better than nothing. Again though, you visit for the cats not for the food/drinks.
Tips
When you enter Cats Living there is a protocol foreigners may not be aware of.
Upon entry, you are required to take off your shoes. Your shoes can be locked away in a locker and you will be provided with slippers.
Sanitize your hands at the door.
Charlie Brown Cafe
I think out of all the themed cafes, Charlie Brown was my favourite. Maybe because I really love Charlie Brown – I think the drawing style of the characters is super cute! Also I remember watching the cartoon series when I was younger – it was so cute and hilarious!
The front of the cafe! It looks so cute! Charlie is soooo cute!!One thing I really liked about the Charlie Brown Cafe was that they actually served your drinks in actual Charlie Brown mugs, whereas the Hello Kitty Cafe and Cats Living served their drinks in paper/plastic cups.More of our drinks! Snoopy and Charlie Brown dusted chocolate.Cuteee!I liked all the figurines that decorated the cafe! Especially seeing the way Snoopy’s character has changed through the decades.Our buzzers were too cool!Cool lighting!
Directions
Follow the green line on the map
Original map from Visit Korea
From Hongik station, exit via exit 9 and continue walking straight along Yanghwa -ro. Turn left into Hongik – ro and walk straight until you reach Honik University’s front gates. Facing the gates, turn right down Wausan -ro and turn into the second street on your right (it should be after a small park). Continue walking straight down that street, down the length of the small park.
When you go travelling, it’s usually for two reasons: holiday or work/study. And when you hear about your friend’s student exchange for (XX) of those awesome months, you’re not only gonna be bitter about those awesome experiences, but also sour over all those new exotic friends they made (When. You. Were. Being. Replaced!! Ahh lolz).
But! For the unlucky few who have not experienced a foreign school experience for credit *raise hand* making friends overseas on your short time there (or most likely not even thinking about it because you so crazy busy), friendships can be hard to initiate. When we went to Seoul, we didn’t expect anything but we walked away with not only our shopping, but with some really nice memories of friends (both Korean and foreigners) we met during our trip. Friends who some are now our Facebook friends.
South Korea has some of the most generous, most hospitable strangers you will ever meet in a fleeting moment. It doesn’t matter if you can’t speak a word, just use the universal language of hand gestures to try your best to communicate and you’ll be understood soon one way or another. And ladies, Korean boys can be so gentlemanly helping you with your heavy luggage up or down the stairs even in peak subway human traffic! Swoon~ <3
So how do you meet Korean friends in Korea without going to university or work?
Well, probably the worst setting to make chit chat but the best to meet someone is…
…Clubbing!
Clubbing + Kpop = POWERHOUSE (bigbangupdates)
I don’t want to be smug *evil grin* but no one can top the experience we had when clubbing overseas, and I literally mean best. This has to be the B.E.S.T clubbing experience we had in our lives! When in NB1, a famous club in Hongdae owned by YG, we felt a little shy and out of place at the start. We went there at 10PM, a little early for clubbing, and no one was dancing! It felt really odd being on a dance floor and not have people dance except a few couples. Is there some Korean clubbing etiquette we weren’t aware of?! But that was short lived when we met some university students who were so nice to put us out of our awkward state. They taught us dance hand gestures for LMAO – Party Rock Anthem, and also told us that the armband we had lets us have free club entry to three clubs: NB1, NB2 and Harlem for the price of ₩11,000! That’s amaze-balls!! Less than $11 for three clubs?! I don’t even!
What clubbing looks like inside NB1. Though NB2’s crowd is more like this when we went. (tumblr)
A good couple of songs later and we were ready to hop somewhere else and under the offer of our new friends, they invited us to go to another club which was popular for foreigners with them. How nice! Accept we shall! If you ever felt shy whenever there was some really impressive dancer next to you and all you knew was the two-step and everyone was closed off to their own group, the thing I liked most about our foreign bar experience was that it didn’t feel ‘cliquey’. Everyone was just group dancing with cool random encounters and our circle just grew bigger with everyone shuffling. Horray! Oh and did I mention free shots of soju…twice…yeah your mind in blown right? But what we didn’t expect was when asked if we were feeling hungry we would stopped over at a famous street food stand for some late night tteokbokki and twigim. We didn’t get a chance to get our wallets before we left NB1 but they said it was ok and paid for us both! Double niceness! Can I tear up over how well we were being looked after?! They would be rivers I can assure you.
Since we went clubbing in Hongdae, which is a university district, we met people our age who were learning English so obviously they would be looking for friendships over hookups. Though it does depend on where you are as there will always be people who want to hook up in clubs, lucky we only encountered only one sleaze of a guy who was on a humping spree.
Anyways, enough of my bragging but have a facebook account ready as well. Though a lot of Korean people use Kakao, many prefer Facebook so keep that in mind when making friends overseas. Also you might find that your new friends would want to contact you while you are still in Korea to have dinner and show you around, unfortunately for us we left clubbing to the last week of our itinerary so we couldn’t make it as we had a lot of things to do before we left. But next time… kkkkk
Insadong is one of the most tourist-y places in Korea and is a great place to pick up souvenirs for friends and family. Unlike our Dongdaemun experience, I would like to say that Siree and I did Insadong well – exploring 80% of shops and only passing by shops which were not to our taste.
What I absolutely love about Insadong is its quirky kinda vibe blending traditional Korea with modern Korea, but at the same time still maintaining that “artsy craftsy” style that Korea does so well.
We arrived in Insadong around lunch time and instantly fell in love with this pretty looking traditional hanok restaurant called “Insadong Geujip,” located down the first side street on your left from the Insadong main street. Unfortunately we didn’t know anything about this restaurant prior to arrival so unfortunately…we didn’t order the best dishes…apparently recommended dishes for foreigners include “Insadong Seafood on Rice” or “Geukip On Rice”.
ooooohhh so pretty!Traditional indoor settingLOOK AT HOW CHEAP THIS MENU IS!!!! $6 bux for a freaking huge meal!!! You would never get that in Sydney. Ahh Korea how I love thee~
Siree and I, we needed to be exotic and order something that looked truly maginificent….
But unfortunately….our order was not so great…not that it wasn’t good, it just lacked as much flavour as we expected…probably because the food was traditional based.
Our really yummy side dishes!!
Our side dishes were super yummy! Especially the kimchi!! We ended up asking for 2 serves which we – extra sneakily – chucked into our hot pot meal to add more flavour ahahahaha! What foreigners we were at that moment.
Our meal :)
After our meal, we ventured off to what is the highlight of Insadong – Ssamziegil. I think Ssamziegil is amazingly cool because it’s just that little bit quirky and that little bit alternative. I can’t even describe what exactly this style is, but it is just so nice and seriously something that is in the essence of everything Korean. I just LOVE it!!
Ssamziegil is filled with amazing little accessory stalls/popup shops and boutiques and every time I leave Korea I wish I bought more things from here. They have some of the most quirky/cool accessories ever!!
Awesome map of Insadong!The shopsChristmas Decorations
On the ground floor of Ssamziegil there are the snack food.
Poo shape filled cakes…this stall was always SOO busy!! I didn’t try any though, I’m not really into sweets…
Traditional snack foods
I bought soo much of these rice snacks, and they are really yummy, my mum loved them. They are a mixture of rice puffs, grains, seeds, sultanas etc. but they are quite nice.
I absolutely loved this little cart stand…look how beautiful it is! It totally has its own charm and character!!! This little pop up stall sold all different kinds of tea drinks which helped you in different ways – emotionally or physically. I ended up buying a lemon honey one which was really delish.
Quirky shop fronts!
As you go up the levels of Ssamziegil there are mainly accessory stores selling jewellery, phone charms, little gadgets, tea sets, scarves and so on. Whilst there are some clothing stores, its not really the place you go to to buy clothing. None the less, things here are SUPER cool!! I swear all the quirky earrings KPOP stars wear in their videos are bought from Ssamziegil haha.
Cute accessory store. Look at the detailing with the product labels, its all so pretty
If you’re ever in need of chopstick holders…?
Inside Ssamziegil there is also a miniature museums with little figures that are so cute. Unfortunately the store is TINY and always super crowded!!
Miniature museum! Sorry about the poor picture quality – we were trying to take the photo in secret as no photos were allowed…
Another must – do experience in Insadong is to go to a rice cake cafe. We went to Jilrisu at around 5PM but I recommended going there a lot earlier than we did, because almost all rice cakes were sold out!!
Our order~ I got the pumpkin latte!! First time I tried a pumpkin latte was in Korea and they are AMAZING!!Siree’s orderHahahah check out the shopping bags in the background
Map
Map of Insadong
Transportation
As with most places in Korea, there are many ways to get to Insadong including different stations you can get off at etc, however I recommended getting off at Anguk Station (exit 6), one because it is such a short walk and two, because getting off at Anguk puts you at the beginning of the Insadong main street where as Jongno 3-ga station will drop you at the end.
How long should you spend here?
Siree and I spent 1 -1.5 days there, but really, one day I think is sufficient.
Time to go?
You definitely want to come to Insadong during a weekday (shops close around 6PMish). Weekends are usually crowded especially Ssamziegil.
Tips:
Eat as many foods as you can here because some things you cant find anywhere else in Korea. With almost all snack food places in Insadong ask to try – even if its tea or something, you can try it!
Don’t try bargaining here as souvenirs are already relatively cheap.
Make sure you shop around before buying something, many shops in Insadong sell the same things and different places can sell the same item for more or less.
Bonus Round!
Quirky AF! Check out the rooftop of Ssamziegil and you will find the Poop Cafe, a themed cafe restaurant for poop face emoji love.
If you do go definitely pick up a coffee as it comes in the most cutest toilet mug you will ever see. But before you think this place is too gimmicky for real taste, rest assured the coffee quality is no joke. The milk was creamy, the coffee taste was rich and the seasonal drink: rose water latte’s flavour had a nice floral scent that tasted quite nice with the bitterness of the espresso. Plus the addition of flower petals for that perfect Instagram shot to finish off, this place does gives a crap about their coffee!
Run by two travel and lifestyle bloggers, The Hidden Thimble focus’ on creating truthful and in-depth travel guides, food & beauty reviews. Enjoy drool-worthy photography from around the world!
