Hilton Garden Inn South Bend

Unfortunately, this most recent trip of mine was a whirlwind so I didn't get a chance to snap any decent pictures (or video for that matter) of the hotel room. As you may (or may not) know by now, I'm fairly loyal to Marriott brands but a) this was a block of hotel rooms for a friend's wedding and b) the hotel was attached to the reception venue.

I haven't really experienced many Hilton Garden Inns but this one was quite nice. The lobby and restaurant area were well lit with lots of natural light in front. The check-in counter was easy to locate and the elevators were about where you expected them to be (I walked right in and took a wild guess).
The breakfast available was decently priced ($9.99) and included a hot station where you could get made-to-order eggs, pancakes, or french toast. There were other hot items available as well as yogurt, cereal, breads, etc.

My friends and I were sharing a Queen room (2 Queen beds, desk, microwave, mini-fridge). It was nicely appointed, I liked the comforter. I do, however, have a couple of gripes about the room. Yes it was clean, the AC worked great, nice to have the fridge and microwave...BUT...you would think they would have fitted sheets that actually fit the mattresses. Both beds had fitted sheets that barely fit...in fact, in the middle of the night the one on my bed just pulled off. The whole corner of the mattress was exposed. One other little complaint was that the bathtub did not drain very quickly. It could not keep up with the shower head (which was great by the way).

I had a horribly early fight the day I left so I had the front desk arrange a taxi. This was all fine, the taxi was there on time but they had arranged for me and some other random guest to share without asking either of us...I was alright with this but I wish they had asked me before hand. It saved me about $10 but still...it was a weird ride to the airport.

Overall, my small gripes with the hotel wouldn't prevent me from trying it or another Hilton Garden Inn again. I guess I should be explicit in that I want my own taxi next time? Oh, and sheets that fit...

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My Korean Summer 2013: Day 14 - Hongdae Free Market and another Cat Cafe

[Day 14]
My friend wanted to check out the Hongdae Free Market (no the items are not free of charge) today so we decided to meet up for lunch and then head over. The market venue is the "Hongdae Playground" right across from the university. It runs from 1PM-6PM every Saturday (March to November). After a quick meal of Galbi Tang we walked over to the market area. I didn't take many pictures there because a lot of the artists had signs prohibiting photography of their work...

The above stalls are not actually part of the free market but this street is representative of the area.

Many of the items for sale are handmade goods, or at least goods that appear handmade. Another popular item for sale are caricatures. My friend wanted to get one but the line for the artist she wanted was actually quite long :(

[Cat Cafe #2]

The next stop of the day was another cat cafe. We went to Toms cat cafe which frankly was not as nice as Cat Attic in my opinion. There was a noticeable smell of cat in the cafe. One thing that made me nervous was they had you put any purse/bag/pack you brought in with you inside a plastic drawstring bag. This was just in case the cats decided your bag was their new litter box. 

This cafe had more cats than Cat Attic but I don't think this was necessarily a good thing. They had over 30 cats on their roster including a few kittens...it was all a bit overwhelming for the cats and humans...

It was still a decent time but I would recommend Cat Attic.

[Anyang]

I spent the evening in Anyang visiting my friend who used to work in the USA but has since returned to Korea. We ate shabu-shabu which is delicious. I recommend trying it! You may have had the Chinese version before...I'm not sure what really differentiates the two but below are a few pictures of the Korean version!

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