As I think I've mentioned before, Korea has a big cafe culture. Particularly, themed cafes. So far we have visited a cat cafe, dog cafe, hello kitty cafe, and a sheep cafe. This time we went to something different. At the Mustoy Cafe in Hongdae, you can color these small little ceramic dolls called Mustoys. while sipping on some coffee or iced tea.

I had read about this cafe online and on a few blogs, and we thought it would be a good activity to do on our last rainy afternoon in Seoul during the Seollal weekend. The cafe is small but cute, with shelves lining the room with many colorful and interesting Mustoys. There aren't many tables but we got a seat before the cafe started getting much busier later in the afternoon.

The owner of the cafe was so friendly and she was really keen to chat to us. She explained to us the process before we could get started. There are a couple dolls you can choose from and they range in price. The dolls are big, small, white, have cat ears, have different head styles, are colorful or even can hold pencils. The prices range from 15 000won to 20 000won, The standard doll is 15 000won and this includes a drink of your choice and the pens you use to color the doll. After we chose our dolls, we were given cards that we could practice our design on. The dolls lining the shelves give you some good inspiration but in the end I decided on the Korean character of Petty. Dean chose to to draw a minion and Marcel a soccer player (which eventually seemed to turn into himself). 

After our preparation, we got started on the fun part. There were so many color pens to choose from and we didn't have to worry about mistakes because you can "rub out" using alcohol and ear buds. It was really peaceful drawing our dolls and listening to the classical music in the cafe. The owner kept walking by to check how we were doing and chat some more. 

When we were finished, our dolls were wrapped up and neatly packaged. I even bought 2 more dolls as part of a gift set which costs 30 000won. The set includes 2 dolls and color markers too. I plan to add Pororo and Doraimon to my collection. We thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon at the Mustoy Cafe and I can highly recommend it if you are looking to do something artsy and relaxing in Seoul.

We actually struggled to find this place a bit. I had read various instructions online but we still got lost and walked around for quite a while in the rain, Anyway, I found this business card online which gives much clearer directions. When you are in the right street, the cafe is obvious and has a big white doll outside. 

-For more information you can check out their website or here

A few weeks ago when we visted Seoul for a winter weekend, we checked out a 4Dx movie. This was something completely new to me as we don't have these in South Africa. We watched The Hobbit at CGV in Sinchon and it really was a mind blowing experience. 

We had to go to the morning show as the seats were all sold out in the evening and I definitely would not be able to stay awake for a 1am show. Seeing a movie in the morning feels kind of strange but we weren't complaining as tickets are much cheaper and we paid 12000won each. Booking movies is surprisingly easy for foreigners with the use of CineKorea and it worked perfectly for us. 

We have seen a couple of movies in Jeonju and one thing that is different from the movies in South Africa, are the snacks. Popcorn flavours generally come in caramel or onion and other snacks like dried squid are sold. In Sinchon however, they sold 'gourmet popcorn' including popcorn covered in chocolate and white berry popcorn. I tried the white berry popcorn and it was delicious!!

The 4Dx movie experience was literally amazing!! On top of the 3D graphics, the seats move and shake, water and wind blow in your face and you even experience different smells. The Hobbit was a good choice to check out in 4D as the scenes are dynamic and there is so much opportunity for 4D. I mean you really feel like you are in a fight scene when you are getting punched in the back. 

Watching a 4Dx movie was really worthwhile and I was captivated the whole time. You definitely aren't going to fall asleep in a 4D movie. I definitely wan't to check out a couple more 4D movies before leaving Korea. 

In a last attempt to check out any Christmas spirit in Korea, myself, Dean and our friend Marcel, headed to Seoul the weekend before Christmas. We were hoping, that like most major cities, we would see a substantial "Christmasy" atmosphere with lots of lights and high spirits. Unfortunately we were a bit dissapointed as there was not too much. We still made the most of our time and had some good food and experience some freezing weather. 

We started off our weekend with a stroll along the Cheonggyecheon Stream. The weather was icy but it was really peaceful to walk alongside the river.

We had lunch at Richard Copycat in Itaewon. The restaurant is at the end of the Itaewon "strip" near the High Street Market. It is quite a chic restaurant and kind of reminds me of places in Camps Bay in Cape Town. In summer the restaurant is open air so I can imagine it would be a cool place to hang out. They serve some good food, bottomless drinks, and we enjoyed great sandwiches and burgers. Since visiting I have read some terrible reviews about Richard Copycat on Trip Advisor but I have to disagree with them as our experience there was pleasant. 

In the evening, we checked out the giant Christmas tree near the Seoul City Hall. Just near the tree was some outdoor ice skating. We were really enthusiastic to try it out so we queued up. We stood in the freezing cold for 30 minutes, only to find out we had been in the wrong queue and were actually meant to book a session. The next session was sold out and as we didn't want to hang around for the next 2 hours, we ended up giving the ice skating a miss. The winter weather in Seoul can definitely be mean. The winds were icy and the evening temperature (not including the wind chill) was -10 degrees! 

We ended off our weekend with a 4Dx movie (more on this soon) which was amazing and definitely the highlight of my weekend.