Gyeongbokgung Palace | Seoul, South Korea

Back in 2011 when we first arrived to Korea, we traveled to Seoul for a long weekend. Many of our friends from other cities decided to go and we wanted to see them.  We spent a good part of our first day exploring Gyeongbokgung Palace in northern Seoul. The palace was first built in 1395, during the Joseon Dynasty. The complex itself is absolutely massive. When you think it's finished, it just keeps going. We didn't even see everything because it was just too big! Nevertheless, it's quite amazing that there is a huge palace in the middle of the city. It was a great way to begin our exploration of Seoul!

Hello Kitty Cafe | Seoul, South Korea

One of the greatest things about Korea is the overwhelming amount of cafes. They are everywhere. You can walk down any street or alley and you can bet there will be some kind of coffee shop or cafe. Not only are there popular chains, but there is also a great variety of diffenent types of cafes. love themed places and when I heard there was a Hello Kitty Cafe in Seoul, I knew that we had to go.

I've always been a fan of Hello Kitty. What can I say? I'm a girl and I'm Asian. It's almost a guarantee that you owned something Hello Kitty. When I was in middle school, I went through a ridiculous Sanrio phase. It was so bad that every birthday or Christmas all my presents were somehow Sanrio themed. I will admit that I was a bit of a tomboy in middle school and Hello Kitty was too cutesy for me. She was too much of a girl and I couldn't handle all the pink. I think I was too insecure to be able to connect with her. I felt much more comfortable witih the other less cutesy characters.

Even though Hello Kitty wasn't my favorite Sanrio character, I always had a fondness for her. Just seeing her little white face and red bow brings back so much memories. My childhood is forever intertwined with hers. The Hello Kitty Cafe was a nice way to relive those memories and was purely nostalgic for me. It wasn't my favorite cafe and it was actually a bit disappointing. The place looks a bit rundown and it's pink overload. The entire place looks like it was coated with Pepto-Bismol. The food and drinks are overpriced and taste pretty awful too. If you're passing through Seoul, I definitely recommend visiting the cafe, but just to take a few pictures and walk around. It's way too busy and overpriced to be anything more than a photo opportunity.