When I was in Seoul, I hung out with YouTube stars Eat Your Kimchi in their studio apartment — and it was fantastic, child !
I toured EYK ’ s Nasty headquarters, and chatted with Simon and Martina about their upcoming Korea projects — including a coffee shop for their fans. Read on for the inside outdo, and tons of funny photos .
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For those who don ’ triiodothyronine know, Simon and Martina Stawski run the extremely popular EatYourKimchi YouTube channel, which specializes in videos about Kpop music, life in Seoul, and zany adventures with their pets and friends .
much like my own La Carmina blog, Eat Your Kimchi ( EYK ) began as a hobby, fueled by their passion for korean culture. today, they have a firm postdate of fans ( aka Nasties ), and have expanded EYK into an independent studio, clothing line, worldwide appearances and more .
Simon and Martina are just as friendly and fabulous in person, and we spent over an hour laughing together. I immediately felt at base on their empurpled sofa, and we dished about start culture and manner as if we were old friends .
I borrowed a stuffed octopus and “ poop pencil ” to write down notes ( I ’ ll be doing some magazine stories about Eat Your Kimchi, so stay tuned ). Fans will recognize the fresh penguin sitting on Martina .
The marry copulate is from Toronto, Canada, and constantly loved subcultures. They moved to Korea to teach English, and began making casual YouTube videos ( about Korean food, Hello Kitty, K-pop ) for their friends back home. similarly to my own career arc, they built up a loyal following, and finally quit their day jobs to do Eat Your Kimchi full-time .
nowadays, they have their own colorful studio located in the youth culture district, Hongdae. I was impressed by how they custom-designed the space, with especial lighting setups and kawaii interior decoration all over. It ’ s like walking into a K-idol dream .
Viewers will recognize these backdrops, as seen in their even uploads ( Kpop Music Mondays, FapFap, livestreams and more ) .
Martina and Simon gave me a go of the studio, which includes a reasoned room fully of pillows, and happy Kitchen. And how about this pink walk-in closet? It ’ s a wardrobe fantasy, filled with wigs, constitution and shark hats .
( My pastel walrus peak is c/o Show Me You Mumu. This breezy brand is my current darling ; they besides make a floral princess maxi surround, and black shuffle dress. )
everywhere you turned, there was fan art. The duo genuinely cares about their audience, and pull inspiration from the drawings and dolls they receive .
here ’ mho where the video-editing magic happens. You shouldn ’ triiodothyronine be surprised to see that their laptop has an adorable custom keyboard!
I met business director Soo Zee ( love her empurpled hair’s-breadth ! ) and other team members, who were hard at work. Everyone works together on the stand desk, a healthier option than sitting around all day .
Simon and Martina spoke sky-high about their newest project : You Are here, an Eat Your Kimchi coffee shop near Hongdae station ! The finish ’ mho to create an receive outer space where they can hang out with their fans and host special events ( since their studio space is for work only ) .
It can be arduous for first-time visitors to figure out where to go in Seoul, and for alone travelers to meet others. Hopefully, the EYK cafe can help to bring people together.
Martina and Simon have barely opened the doors to the cafe. Martina is excited to bring her home-cooking to customers, and to have the coffee bean brewed just right. If this cunning studio apartment is any indication, their coffeeshop will be a hit .
I ’ molarity excited to see the in-shop videobooth, where fans can record messages to be incorporated into television. It ’ south inhale to see how a lot EYK interacts with their “ Nasties. ”
I was sad that their pets weren ’ triiodothyronine in the studio that day. Everyone loves Spudgy the cad, and Dr Meemersworth — a Scottish Fold cat, merely like mine !
here are our earless babies ( Meemers on the entrust, Basil Farrow on the properly ). We bonded over the breed ’ randomness quirks, like the direction scottish Folds dangle their big paws and love to cuddle .
Simon and Martina have lived in Seoul for many years immediately, and I asked them about the peculiarities of Korean pop culture. I learned that tattoos are taboo, like in Japan : only doctors are legally allowed to ink others, sol tattoo shops stay underground ( there aren ’ t signs advertising them ). In June, Seoul had a tattoo convention but it was shut down by officials. How funny story that in line, credit card operation ( a more incursive “ body modification ” ) thrives here !
Their job looks like it ’ sulfur all play : make goofy videos in a space filled with toys, and yes, that ’ s a purikura booth in the spinal column. however, I can see — and personally know — how much heavily work goes into each project, and how commit they are to their team and Nasties .
They love what they do, and try to give back to their fans. Simon and Martina spoke about approaching appearances at anime conventions, a possible road trip with meet-ups, and more .
I wanted some cool locomotion tips, and who better to ask than Eat Your Kimchi ? Martina drew me a map of hotspots in this neighborhood ( Hongdae ) while Simon watched .
I ended up visiting all the places they recommended, with my photographers. In my adjacent posts, I’ll show you the Hongdae Hello Kitty cafe, Zombie coffee, Robot bar and more. ( Stay tuned to my Seoul class to see ! )
naturally, she drew this map with colorful pens, on cunning lesser panda newspaper. As you can see, she marked her favorite cupcake shop and Kpop fashion boutiques .
I think Martina is imitating the big robot that guards her darling bar. Can you spot the tattoo of her frank and folded-eared kat ?
We couldn ’ metric ton blockage taking photos with the stuff toys .
If you want a long checkered skirt like Martina’s, here is a similar one by JOA and by Stylenanda. Wildfox makes a seahorse top like mine, and Revolve has a alike silver metallic skirt.
therefore much winnow artwork everywhere. Martina gave me a few Scottish Fold items from EYK’s fashion line, including a empurpled knit ceiling with Meemers ’ round face on the corner. Everything is made locally .
( photography by Jacqueline Kwok of noircorner and Ken Yuen. )
Funny how Simon is growing a beard, so he no longer looks like the older fan art .
We could have chatted all day hanker ! Huge hug for Simon, Martina and their team for inviting me to their Seoul headquarter. I ’ megabyte psyched to see their new coffee shop — you can see updates on their website and YouTube. They ’ ra on both Twitter and Instagram under @eatyourkimchi .
I ’ ll upload more from our visit on social media : I have a La Carmina Facebook page and am @ lacarmina everywhere, including Instagram and Twitter.
Have you ever watched Eat Your Kimchi’s videos? Are you acute to visit Seoul and their cafe? Below is an iPhone photograph that they decorated with the Line app .
Coming up future : My birthday is on August 17, and I ’ ll be releasing not one, but TWO videos .
If you enjoyed this post and want more, let’s keep in touch! Simply enter your e-mail here or below. You can besides check out my travel guides ( including Jpop shopping and nightlife tips ). Thank you !
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