The first shopping district we went to in Seoul, Korea was Hongdae. It’s the area where Hongik University is (best known for their Fine Arts and Design programs) and where lots and lots of shops, cafes and clubs are (presumably because it’s near a popular university). Click this for more of our Hongdae exploration.
One of our discoveries in Hongdae was the infamous Hello Kitty Cafe. (UPDATE: as of November 2014, they’re now in a new location, see below) I placed the Hello Kitty Cafe as one of the tourist attractions in Hongdae on my kodigo (cheat sheet) i.e. our TripCase travel app. It wasn’t easy to spot, though. It was located in one of the inner streets.
New location of Hello Kitty Cafe: (map nicked from their official website)
Anyway, a stone’s throw away from the old Hello Kitty Cafe was a cat cafe! Yup, a cafe where you can interact with cats while you have drinks and food. It was a nice, random find, actually. We didn’t plan to visit a cat cafe in Seoul, Korea so finding Cats Living cat cafe was a pleasant surprise especially for my brother, who just adores cats. I must admit, I’m more of a dog person but seeing these cats also melted my heart. They were so cute and furry!
My brother petting one of the cats at Cats Living 🙂
We paid 8,000 KRW each (roughly US $8.00). The fee is inclusive of one drink. Before you enter, you need to use one of the slippers provided for. There’s also a big bottle of hand sanitizer at the door. Customers can also leave their bags and other belongings in one of the cubby holes near the counter.
How to go to Hongik University / Hongdae area:
Take Seoul Subway Line 2, exit 9. That’s Hongik University station. To go to Cats Living, go straight about 200 meters, cross the road, turn left to Hongik-ro Street. The cat cafe is very near the old Hello Kitty Cafe location (inner street).
Want to follow more of my Korea trip? Click on Mindanaoan In Korea
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Mindanaoan is a multi-awarded blogger, content creator, seasoned social media strategist and publicist with undeniably successful track record. 2012 International Visitor Leadership Program (for global leaders) alumnus and O visa grantee (for people with extraordinary skills and who have risen to the top of their field). Avid traveler and a proud relief operations volunteer. Regular resource person for social media, blogging and content creation. Available for work and travel – [email protected]
