Dreamy Camera Cafe
Today was a rare day off for my husband that both kids were also in school, so we enjoyed a fun day date together. Always a good sport and up to go anywhere with me, we hopped in the car for a two hour ride to Yangpyeong to check out the Dreamy Camera Cafe.
Dreamy Camera Cafe on a hazy winter day
When we stepped inside the warmth of the cafe, we were greeted with a welcoming smile by owner Kwak Myung-hee and offered a choice of menus in Korean or English. As my husband perused the menu and I took a look around the first floor of the cafe, she explained the Dream list tablet on the table. Though the cafe is in the form of a camera, created after her husband’s hobby of collecting old cameras, the real theme of the cafe is dreams, more specifically, naming and pursuing them. The tablet is there for you to list your dreams or bucket-list items, and if you are visiting with a friend or significant other spend some time chatting about them together.
Owner Kwak Myung-hee
The Dreamy Camera Cafe started as Kwak Myung-hee and husband Park Sung-hwan’s dream in 2008. In 2011 they sketched an image of what that dream would look like and by 2013, made that dream a reality. Their goal with the cafe is to inspire visitors to use that visualization technique to achieve their own dreams.
My husband and I filled out our dream/bucket-list and laughed when we realized that we had the same thing written for number four on the list. While we finished our lists and chatted, we enjoyed the fantastic honey bread, croffle and coffee in the quaint little cafe.
Honey bread at the Dreamy Camera Cafe
Croffle at the Dreamy Camera Cafe
When you are finished with writing down your dream list items, they will take a polaroid of it to give to you so you always have it on hand. What struck me was that Kwak Myung-hee took the time to chat with us and ask questions about our lists-she was genuinely interested to hear what we had to share. They keep your original list in an album at the cafe and encourage anyone to reach out and share with them if any of the dreams on your list come true in the future.
The scenic drive was worth it for the lovely morning we spent at the cafe together. Going at the beginning of the year was the perfect time for ruminating on future dreams and goals. I typically don’t share my big dreams and goals out loud, so chatting with Kwak Myung-hee about them was quite refreshing. We ventured out thinking we were just visiting a cool cafe, but we got so much more.
Address: 341-13 Jung-won-ri, Yongmun-myeon, Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11:00-18:00 | Check their Facebook page for holiday updates/closings
Parking: Small lot on site
