25 August 2012
Baby Cafe (Hong Kong)- Opened By HK's Famous Model, Angelababy
Trixie and I walked around Tsim Sha Tsui on our first day of hanging out together in HK. After a long day of sightseeing and shopping, we were
both tired and began our search for a place to eat for dinner.
Eventually, we wandered into a mall called ‘iSQUARE’ initially to find some wifi and google up some restaurant spots nearby. However, while we
were walking inside, we saw an ad for this restaurant called ‘baby cafe’. We both knew about this cafe
before coming to HK and we even laughed about it because this cafe is ‘created’
and centered around this famous HK model called 'Angelababy'. We both thought it
was a funny and weird concept but it nevertheless intrigued us.
The interior was modern and all of the pictures of
Angelababy were all mimicking Audrey Hepburn’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Their menu was pretty simple. For $128 HKD (~$16.50), you can choose a soup or salad, an entree from
the list, and you’ll get a free drink.
As we were waiting, we both thought it was pretty impressive
for Angelababy to open her own cafe (3 locations too) as she’s only a year or
two older than us.
22 August 2012
Meat-ing (Seoul, Korea)- 'Meating' Friends in Seoul Over All-You-Can-Eat BBQ
On my last day in Korea, my friend from Vancouver
brought me and a bunch of his friends to this AYCE (all-you-can-eat) BBQ place
in Seoul. He said he had a very enjoyable visit the last time he came and the
price is also very affordable.
This place is called... Meat-ing.
I can only guess that their intention of naming this place “Meat-ing” is to
encourage you to ‘meet’ friends while eating ‘meat’. LOL Hahaha. Oh Asians. :D
For a fixed price of 10,800
won (~$10.00 CAD), you have access to everything including appetizers,
soup, raw meat, all drinks, dessert, and salad bar. These appetizers consist of
French fries, fried dumplings, fried pork, and some patty. All of them tasted mediocre
but I had no complaints as I was glued to the BBQ meat section. :D
The raw meat section had about 11 different varieties of
meat.
My favourite was the pork belly and they had two flavours
for you to choose from. One was rubbed with spices while the other one was
plain.
20 August 2012
Dragon Hill Spa (Seoul, Korea)- The Jimjilbang (Korean Spa) Experience, Smoked Eggs, and Sikhye
One of my favourite things to do in Korea is go to a
Jimjilbang (Korean Spa). Unlike traditional spas in America, the Jimjilbang
culture is very different and unlike anything I have ever experienced. You first
pay a very small entrance fee, then you are free to use their entire facility
for as long as you want (up to 24 hours I think) which includes taking a dip in
the pool, soaking in a sauna, playing in the arcade room, eating and snacking,
relaxing in their rest room or in their multiple hot tubs. Some people even
sleep overnight (as I did) just to wait until the train reopens in the morning.
A few days before I left Korea, I went to a jimjilbang in
Yongsan called Dragon Hill Spa. It is located right next to the Yongsan train
station (not even a 5 minute walk) and this jimjilbang has been recommended by
CNNGo and The New York Times as the best place to get the full Korean
jimjilbang experience.
The entrance was super grand and beautiful to walk through
at night. :D The Dragon Hill Spa has seven levels so there’s a lot of fun to be
had here. :P
The entrance fee is 10,000
won (~$9.00 CAD) normally and 12,000
won (~$11.00 CAD) after 8 pm. This is the entrance where you put your shoes
and enter the main floor.
Be sure to bring your bathing suit so you can go for a
midnight swim! I stupidly forgot and therefore couldn’t go swimming!! Gahh!!
17 August 2012
'Seoul' Food On The Streets (Seoul, Korea)- Blood Sausage and Other Street Meat
One of my favourite things about Korea is their street food.
We don’t really have street food in Vancouver (we only have food trucks... and
they’re not cheap) so I was determined to try as much street food as I could
during my month and a half here.
Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures of all the street food
I ate in Korea but I did manage to capture some. :P All of the street food I
ate was in Dongdaemun as they have a lot of street carts around, especially at
night when you’re craving a midnight snack. This stall sold items like sausage-on-a-stick
and skewers.
I opted for a meat skewer consisting of sausages stuffed
with rice cake. It sounded like a cool concept so I ordered one for 2,500 won
(around $2.00 CAD). It tasted pretty good but the rice cake lacked the chewy,
bouncy texture I was looking for. Nonetheless, it was a delicious and
guilty meaty snack.
This stall was located right next to the meat stall and they specialized
in fish cake (oden-Japanese/or odeng- Korean) on a stick. If you don’t know
what fish cake is, it is basically mashed up fish, mixed with flour,
vegetables, and flavourings. When all of these ingredients are combined, it is
turned into a thick paste and you can either cook it by frying or steaming. They
had many different varieties of odeng and were all made on site.
13 August 2012
Bina (Seoul, Korea)- Enjoying our 'Last KU Supper' at an Indian Restaurant in Seoul
I hate saying goodbye. I always want to cry when I have to separate from people whom I
love and cherish dearly, but I know that’s a part of life. My
Korea University International Summer Exchange Program had just come to an end
and I have a lot of mixed feelings. I feel completely and utterly blessed for
having met the people I did in the program and it was by a crazy coincidence
that we all came together and became friends. I never expected my group of
friends to be as tight as we were and now having spent a fulfilling and
unforgettable six weeks together, I feel incredible sadness over the fact that
we all have to say goodbye. Because we are all from different parts of the
world (we were a very diverse group of people- from Sweden, USA, UK,
Netherlands, Japan, Canada (me), Hong Kong, China, to Singapore..etc), we know
it will be impossible for all of us to ever be in the same place at the same
time again. Thus, it makes it even more sad that this could be the last time I
ever see some of my friends (*crossing fingers that it won’t happen!*.
I just want to say to all my KU friends, I am so incredibly
grateful for having met you during the ISC program and I will never forget the
wonderful memories we shared together. We came together so randomly but somehow
it all clicked and we were instantly bonded like glue. I couldn’t have imagined
a better experience in ISC and I cherish all of our wonderful quirky and weird
moments together. :P (CJ! What’s the clock? What the heck?! Aboout. US has 50
STATES!! Hanging out like hobos in front of GS25) Please don’t forget me and
find me if you are ever in Vancouver or maybe even in Hong Kong! If I ever
travel to any of your countries in the future, you will be sure to get a
facebook message or call from me :D
So now back on to topic: food. :P On one of our last days of
the program, we decided to try out this Indian restaurant near our campus
called Bina. The owners are Indian so it is a very authentic Indian restaurant.
5 August 2012
Hanwoori (Seoul, Korea)- Mediocre Shabu Shabu Experience
At the Express Bus
Terminal Station, you can find an AMAZING underground shopping area for
girls (sorry boys :P), a movie theatre, a few fast food restaurants such as
Krispy Kreme and McDonalds, and Shinsegae, a high end department store. The
restaurant level is located on the 10th floor.
My friends and I were originally going to shop at the
underground shopping area, but we decided to grab dinner first. But then by the
time we finished dinner, the underground shopping area was closed. :( We ended
up choosing this shabu shabu restaurant called Hanwoori.
I knew this restaurant was going to be quite pricey because
of its location but I didn’t expect it to be as expensive as it was (remember,
I’m really cheap ><). Regardless, the place was packed with customers so
I am assuming a lot of people who live around this area are well off. :P
They first give you a small sampling of pumpkin soup. It was
very thick and tasted like traditional Korean pumpkin soup.
1 August 2012
Paris Baguette (Seoul, Korea)- Starbucks of Korea, One At Every Corner
In Seoul, you will not be able to find Starbucks at every
corner. Instead, you will find Paris Baguette which is a French inspired
bakery/cafe that serves bread, dessert, bingsu (shaved ice), pastries,
sandwiches, and salads.
Because my friends and I live within such close proximity to
Paris Baguette, we come here quite often to get our bread fix. Peter, a
friend of mine actually goes there every day because he is not
accustomed to eating rice or soup for breakfast. :P
Their cakes look so darn cute and delicious! I wish I could
try them all but I know I can’t. :(
More awesometastic cakes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)