Kpop Birthday Cafes: A Fan's Dream Come True

Being a fan of Kpop has brought me tons of joy since July of 2013. It was fresh, new, and addictive. Now, it controls my life for the better, and being in Korea makes it all the more exciting. One thing that a Kpop fan can enjoy only in Korea is going to Kpop idols' birthday cafes. During a set period of time, certain cafes celebrate an idol's birthday by letting fans order unique drinks and receiving many goodies for attending. The cafes are decorated by putting the idol's pictures everywhere, having their group's music played throughout the day, and having banners placed outside the cafe to promote the event. The events end on the idol's birthday, of course. I have only been to one specific idol's birthday events, but during my stay, I have also seen idols' birthdays promoted on buses, outside vendors, and especially on screens in the subways. I'm going to share my experience with visiting these birthday cafes to celebrate the idol, Kim Mingyu from Seventeen. 

I am a huge fan of Seventeen, and I was luckily able to experience at least one of their birthdays in Korea. The members Vernon, DK, and Dino happened while I was in Korea, but I was in quarantine during that time, so I wasn't able to attend. There are no Seventeen birthdays in March, so April was the next month that had a birthday, and that happened to be Mingyu's month. His birthday is April 6th. I have heard from one of my friends that she was going to visit certain Mingyu cafes, and she gave me a list of them. I viewed the ones I knew I could make it to and picked a day to visit them. I actually visited the majority of them the day before Mingyu's birthday since it was still within the promotion time frame. Most of them were in Mapo-gu.

The first place I went to was called Ik Coffee. Outside of the cafe, there is a huge picture of Mingyu with his birthday date behind him: 19970406. Inside, the cafe was heavily decorated with Mingyu pictures. There were pictures of him on a tree, on the tables, and there was a whole separate room that had more pictures and computers playing Seventeen performances. Once I entered, I was greeted by the kind barista. He took my order and gave me cute Mingyu cups, cup holders, and photo cards. (Cups and cup holders are the common gifts that you receive). I was so enthralled with the scenery that I took many pictures, watched the performances, and listened to many songs for at least two hours. I even talked to someone who had a sister that loved Seventeen and got her into them. The barista also gave out past birthday event freebies just to get rid of them. (Even if I weren't a fan of some groups, it would be a nice souvenir to others at home). 

After Ik Coffee, I randomly stumbled across another birthday event at Andy's Coffee. The banners were displayed, so I immediately went in. There were huge framed pictures of Mingyu, a projector playing Seventeen's music videos, and even merchandise that you can buy. Apparently, you can only buy what the event has to offer, but that shouldn't stop your experience! For this, I received a macaron and more cup holders. At this rate, my stash was piling up. A friend met up with me so we could go to more cafes together. Before we left, I bought a small Mingyu mirror that I thought would be useful in the future.

Down the street, we went to another cafe that served different flavors of ade and coffee. I have been to this place twice, so the first I had was a condensed milk latte and the second was a fresh lemon lemonade. We also received two cookies. This place also had previous birthday event cups displayed, but they weren't for free nor sale. It was pretty small but still worth going to. Both drinks were extremely tasty.

The next one was in the heart of Hongdae. It was an upstairs cafe, and I would say it had the prettiest aesthetic out of all the cafes. With this cafe, I ordered strawberry milk as my drink, and it had a "Happy Mingyu Day" sticker on the bottle. Of course, I'm going to keep this bottle. There is a little room that has Mingyu's pictures, stacked boxes with Happy Mingyu Day on them, a little puppy cake, and HAPPY MG DAY letter balloons. We took pictures all around the cafe and listened to the music. My favorite song, "Getting Closer" finally came on after a long day of listening to mainly "Very Nice" and "I Wish" all day. If you're a person who lives for aesthetically pleasing atmospheres, this cafe is for you.

Lastly, we went to a cafe also residing in Hongdae. It was pretty much the same as other cafes, but this cafe had a book with Mingyu's photos inside. None of the other cafes had a book specifically made for Mingyu or any other idols. We received more cup holders, photo cards, a latte drink, and two macarons that were shaped like puppies. (MIngyu is known for being called a big puppy, and that is why most of the treats are puppy decorated). 

As you can see, these cafes vary in their goodies; some have ade to give, some have sweet treats. Some only give out cup holders for the specific event, but some may give more if you're lucky. Overall, I highly enjoyed this experience as a huge Seventeen fan. The next event coming up is their 6th year anniversary on May 26th. I am for sure going to a lot of these events in the future!