I come to this place often enough that they smile in slight recognition as I enter. And they speak to me using as much English as they can, because they know that I don’t speak the local language.
It’s warm inside, very warm. My glasses fog instantly. I shiver once as residual cold air kisses my skin farewell.
I order in broken Korean. They smile patiently.
It takes too long to translate the cost in my head, so I just hand them a large bill. The change I get back looks about right.
It’s a cozy cafe. The floor is dark, but the multi-coloured glitter embedded in the tiles makes the light dance. Rustic chairs and tables occupy the walls, surrounding the island bar.
Self-serve water and a chalkboard menu waves to me from the right. A raised platform of tables greets me from the left. I choose a window seat so that I can see the cloudless sky. I prefer summertime when I can sit outside.
Finally I am warm enough to remove my scarf and jacket. I settle down comfortably, and open my laptop. I love how fast the internet is here.
My order takes a while; they’re meticulous with their drinks. But when it arrives, it’s beautifully designed. A soft thank-you passes my lips. Any louder and I worry that they’ll be able to pick out even more mistakes in my pronunciation.
It’s a little bit more expensive than the other cafes around here, but I come here anyway. I like it here, though I’m not quite sure why I prefer it. Maybe it’s the good memories, maybe it’s the atmosphere. Or maybe it’s just the fruit and ice cream waffles.
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I love cafes. I love relaxing and writing, or reading, or studying, while sipping a delicious drink. Cafes here also tend to have amazing desserts, such as waffles or thick toast.
I was debating whether to post this here or in my Creative Writing blog, but in the end I decided that it fit better here.
It is awesome how wide a range of choices in coffee shops, even if they all carry ‘Americanos” and “Machiattos” there are here. If I could find a way to do a ‘cafe tour of Korea’ I would love to. It would be the most tweaked blog in history and damn fun doing it too! I do find the non-chain coffee shops to be overall nicer in atmosphere but failing that, I usually default to Tom ‘n Toms or Caffe Bene.
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That would be a super fun, but unfortunately very expensive endeavour.
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It’s funny…. I will pay more for nice atmosphere. This looks like a good place.
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Yeah, the atmosphere makes it worth the price 😀
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