Around Pyeongtaek: Grim Hanjan 그림한잔 Drawing Cafe
Summertime in Korea is the worst time to be outside! Between the heat and monsoon season, it is unbearable and exhausting so finding indoor activities to keep cool and dry is the only way to survive.
Pretending to be an artist for a few hours.
One place that’s been on my radar for a bit is Grim Hanjan (그림한잔) a drawing cafe. My daughter loves art and my mother-in-law is a great artist so I thought this would be the perfect summer activity for us to enjoy together.
The inside is cozy, yet spacious, and literally dripping in color. There are painters aprons and sleeves to keep your arms clean, and fun hats and sunglasses for dressing up as well.
On the left, artwork price list: 캔버스 (canvas) 24,000₩ ; 미러페인팅 (mirror painting) 25,000₩ ; 캔버스조명 (canvas with lights) 32,000₩. On the right, drink price list. Both of these are also available in an English version.
There are 3 painting options - canvas, mirror painting and canvas with lights. My mother-in-law joined us for the day so we chose to do one of each painting. Once you’ve selected your medium, you flip through book of image to choose what you want to recreate. You can also freestyle if you’re that good! Once you trace your design, it’s time to paint! The acrylics dry fast so keep that in mind when mixing colors on your palette.
For the canvas with lights, you need to let them know when you’re done. They’ll give you a tool and show you how to poke 20 holes into your canvas. After that, you’ll re-poke those holes with a screwdriver for a larger hole. Once you’re done, they’ll string the lights in and hot glue them onto the back.
The mirror painting had a different process than the canvases. First you start with a white paint pen and draw your design. Then you follow up with paints on top of that. If you’re using several paints, layer one at a time. After that, you get paint pens to add details on top - like eyes and a mouth on a smiley face design. My daughter’s was a graffiti style and she finished before we did.
This would be a fun birthday party event or even a fun spouses event for your unit! It looked like the whole space could accommodate somewhere between 10-15 people but I would make a reservation if you plan on going with a large group, as we weren’t the only people there.
One grapefruit ade and one chocolate milk behind the acrylic paints.
Like most theme cafes, your admission also includes a drink option. We chose a grapefruit ade, a lemon ade (not to be confused with an American lemonade) and a chocolate milk. However, you can purchase extra and you can also purchase your drinks for take out.
All wrapped up and ready to take home!
From walking in to walking out, we were there just over 2 hours. All instruction was in Korean, so keep that in mind. It was pretty easy to understand her gestures and instruction, but feel free to use a translation app to help you along.
This was such a fun activity and a great way to fill a summer day! Keep this in mind when you’re trying to figure out how to entertain your kiddos this summer break - or even for rainy days and holidays throughout the school year!
Front door of Grim Hanjan 그림한잔
GETTING THERE
Location: Grim Hanjan
Hours: Closed on Monday. Open 12:00-21:00 Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. On Thursday’s they are open 12:00-19:00.
Parking: This cafe is located on the corner in a residential area of town, so the side streets are narrow and parking can be hit or miss. There’s one paid parking lot a few blocks away, but if you’re local, your best option is to walk. It’s about 20 minutes from Osan Air Base Walk-in gate and about 10 minutes from Songtan Train Station.
What other things do you like to do to keep cool during the summertime? Let me know in the comments!
