Korea Travelogue: Day 4 - Banana Tree Cafe, Klive and Yoogane

Day 4 Itinerary (Part 2)

• Banana Tree Cafe (Itaewon branch)

• Klive Kpop Experience

• Yoogane (Dongdaemun branch)

Moving on after the DMZ half-day tour and lunch at Itaewon (Part 1 is here), we headed for Round 2 at Banana Tree Cafe which is a themed cafe that specializes in cute desserts. Banana Tree Cafe has 3 branches in Seoul, we went to the one that is located in Itaewon as we were in the vicinity.

Directions

Alight at Hangangjin Metro Station and take Exit 1. Walk straight ahead and you will see the cafe on your right. You can walk from Itaewon Station Exit 2 as well but it is further! You will walk past a Commes des garcons store (pictured below) along the way.

Address for reference: 서울특별시 용산구 한남동 739-5

The space at this cafe is very small, probably about 7-8 tables maximum so if you are in large groups (more than 4) you may find it a little difficult to get a table. We managed to land ourselves 3 empty tables and combined them together to seat all of us comfortably. Deco wise it is very quirky, bananas (duh!) and monkeys all around and you can have a look at their famous flowerpot cakes in their display. Menu-wise there are the regular caffeinated drinks available and their signature beverage is the Som-Som Latte (Latte with candy floss adorning the top of the cup). I've visited the Singapore outlet of Banana Tree cafe (review) which opened last month and I honestly prefer the SG version because it is more spacious.

Since we were still pretty full after lunch, five of us all ordered a drink each and 2 of the Flower Paap (Espresso and Banana) for sharing.

INSTAGRAM SPAM-WORTHY! These are just plain adorable and look at the spoons lol. I can see why this place has garnered so many posts on Instagram already.

These Som-Som Lattes come in the hot and cold version.

I ordered a hot pistachio flavoured latte. WORST.CHOICE.EVER. I honestly regretted my choice because it tasted so bad! Was expecting a savoury tasting latte but it was just... eeeeeurgh! Couldn't taste the pistachio and all. My face really says it all really -.-" Literally had to pinch my nose and drink it down because the smell and taste was just bad. I kept drinking other people's ones though lol. Those were much nicer (banana, green tea choco and tiramisu!) than the pistachio one. Luckily this flavour isn't available in Banana Tree Singapore lol.

After the cafe experience, we left to get to Dongdaemun for Klive Kpop Experience which is a hologram concert starring Psy, Big Bang and 2NE1!!!! Now you know I am a huge fan of Big Bang and 2NE1 so naturally we could not not go for this. Managed to get a discount coupon to use from KTO in Singapore so tickets were discount hehe.

Directions

Alight at Dongdaemun History Cultural station Exit 11 or 12. Head up to the 9th floor of LOTTE FITIN and you will see directions to direct you to Klive. More information on the place here

The shows run at certain timings so tickets will run out once the capacity of the concert hall is filled. It is free seating (with free standing areas in front) so please come earlier before the start of the show to grab good seats. We hung around the area because there were so many things to do there! They placed the car prop that G-Dragon used in his One of A Kind tour there on display.

There's a Star Photo Box which is a machine for you to take pictures with the stars featured i.e. Big Bang, Psy and 2NE1. Just pose and take the picture then print out the corresponding ticket. Bring it to the counter, pay for it and ta-dah! Your own photo with your favourite group/member #moneysuckingscheme #takeallmymoney All of us ending up buying at least 2 pictures each lol.

There are also alot of life-sized cut-outs for you to molest take photos with. We all took a ton of pictures there and time past very quickly. I would say allocate at least an hour before the show to have a good look around if you are a fan.

Big Bang :D

With the husband xD

Can I bring you home pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee :P

TOPBOM <3 #OTP

Interactive videos are also available on the screens around the area. You can just touch them on the screen and something will happen hahaha!

봄이엉니~

Here's how the concert area looks like:

You can choose to stand or sit (lazy us went for seats obviously!). The hologram concert is pretty fun - cheap thrill actually HAHAHAHA - and I would recommend it only if you are a big fan :D

After that it was already closing time, around 10pm so we decided to quickly grab dinner. Found a Yoogane along the streets of Dongdaemun, near either Hello APM or Migliore and we went ahead to grab a table. This Yoogane branch is operating for 24 hours daily and you can spot it directly above a Face Shop outlet. Link to store's location here.

I am obviously a huge fan of Yoogane and even if this is available in Singapore, I would still try the Korean one if I'm in Korea simply because it is cheaper! But I am majorly sad that they changed the menu compared to when I was there in 2013. So sad, no more pumpkin slices T.T

Menu is now similar to the Singapore outlet so I guess they really changed their menu. WHY LIDDAT YOOGANE D:

Ordered the Yoogane Chicken galbi as usual and cheese topping. Ate it with beer - it was a good meal!

Called it a night after walking aimlessly around Migliore - there's really nothing much to buy at Migliore cos we're too cheapo to spend lol.

Alright and that's it for Day 4. I'll try and be uber hardworking before I leave for Tokyo at the end of the month man. This series has been dragged for almost 6 months HAHAHAHA.