REPORTING FROM SEOUL FASHION WEEK - FINAL DAYS

The last three days of Seoul Fashion Week were mostly women's so we took this time to meet with designers at their showrooms and explore the city.  

We started the exploration with Mr. Tyler Brown.  He convinced us to go try 보신탕 (Bosintang) in an industrial and artistic neighborhood not too far from where Fashion Week was being held. Bosintang is dog soup. We were (and still are) a little weirded out by the whole experience but we are firm believers in trying anything once.  It was served in a pretty great broth and Tyler taught us how to make the dipping sauce - a mixture of vinegar, red pepper paste, pepper, salt and a few other ingredients. We still aren't quite sure how we feel about it.

Later that night we went to a huge club in Gangnam called Octagon for the General Idea fashion show.  General Idea is one of the biggest menswear brands in Korea and there were tons of celebrities there.  Matt almost got trampled by the crowd when famous actor Lee Jong Suk showed up. Afterwards, we got to hang out with other buyers (Atrium, Behavior, Opening Ceremony) and discuss all the shows up to that point.

Lee Jong Suk sucking a lollipop.  Apparently this is the thing to do now.

The next day, was completely free after a couple of meetings in the morning.  We met up with Alex and AJ so they could take us to this amazing cafe.  All of the tables are set up like bunk beds.  We put in our order at the counter and then took our shoes off and climbed up into a bunk bed with a little table. If that isn't enough, there are about 5 or 6 cats running around playing on catwalks and running wheels.  Apparently Cat Cafes became famous because most apartments are too small for pets so local cafes started to bring in cats for the neighborhood. 

That night, we met up with Kayoon, one of the designers for Cy choi, who took us out to dinner. It is safe to say that this was the best restaurant ever.  We went to Outdoor Kitchen in Hongdae and it was themed as an outdoor, camping style restaurant.  There were logs on a fire, everything was wood, and instead of a table, there were benches surrounding a fire pit.  We had a few different types of meat, a few bottles of makgeolli (unfiltered rice wine aka the most delicious alcoholic beverage ever), two different kinds of ramyun and marshmallows.  We want a restaurant like this in every neighborhood in Seattle so no matter where we are, we can eat like this all the time.

Alex, Matt and Kayoon

After dinner ended around midnight, we met up with a friend of ours from our last trip to Seoul. We met up with Khellin in the big park in Hongdae which was basically an outdoor club at night on the weekend.  There was a DJ and people dancing and drinking - even though it was just above freezing outside.  We headed to an Izakaya for Soju and tempura and discussed a little bit of everything as Soju tends to make one do.  Khellin brought his friend Hongyul along for some more drinking at a bar and more discussion on life and kimchi.  

Hangyul, Alex, Khellin, Matt

The next day was the day of our departure. We met up with some friends for one last dinner before we had to return to reality the next day. We gorged on samgyupsul, exchanged goodbyes, and headed towards Incheon. As much fun as Seoul was, seeing the grey Seattle sky and Ballard landmarks brings joy to our heart. We also arrived back to a BIGBANG postcard and pencil at our desks.

The Last Supper

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