Australia Dairy Company (Hong Kong)- Only Restaurant in HK Where Food is Delivered To Your Table Within 5 Seconds of Ordering

On the first day in Hong Kong, my HK native friend Polly decided to bring me and my Netherlands friend, Peter to a traditional ‘Hong Kong Style’ breakfast.

It’s called Australia Dairy Company (no clue why) and it is located near the Jordan MTR station. Take exit C2 and it is pretty much 20 steps away. This restaurant is apparently super famous in HK for its amazingly fast but rude service.

When we got there, we realized the line was already down the block. Expect to wait around 15-30 minutes every time you go because you will always have to wait in line.

We got seated in this super tiny, cramped, little space facing the wall. The seating arrangement is so awkward!

Their menu is simple and all of their items are really cheap.

The environment inside the restaurant is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in Vancouver. People are gulping down their food in a matter of seconds, the waiters shout at you when you take too long to order (good thing our friend was Caucasian so they gave us a bit more time), and the food is at your table within 5 seconds of putting your order.

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Sale&Pepe (Seoul, Korea)- Nothing Beats Listening to Live Music On An Outdoor Patio

Near the 'Hyehwa' subway station, there is a university and theatre district that is always bustling with people from morning to night. The hostel that I stayed in for a few days was in this district so I got to know this area really well.

There is a live music bar called ‘Sale&Pepe’ which is located on the 2nd floor just aboveGS25. 

The stage is located outside and the patio also opens up when it’s not raining. I came here with a few friends and we thoroughly enjoyed the live music and long chats.

After much deliberation, my friend, Philo, ordered the hamburg steak with Mexican rice.

I have no idea what cuisine this comes from as it’s not really Mexican, nor is it Japanese. 

Nevertheless, it didn’t taste bad and she quite liked it. We were also served some pickled cucumbers and radishes.

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McDonald's in Hong Kong- Epic Wasabi Filet-O-Fish and Black Sesame Sundae!

Sorry for the long hiatus on my blog posts! I have been extremely busy in Hong Kong meeting friends, relatives, travelling, and discovering possibilities of my future. I haven’t finished writing all about Korea yet but I will skip around and write about Hong Kong because I just can’t wait! I also just came back from Tokyo yesterday so you also might see some posts on Japanese food here and there :P

So one of my favourite places to eat in other countries is their McDonalds. I find the localized menu very interesting and it really allows me to experience their culture just a little bit deeper through their local flavours and food.

The first thing I had at McDonalds in Hong Kong was their new “Wasabi Filet- O-Fish”. It was a no brainer for me to get this when I first saw it advertised because it sounded so cool!

It looks like a typical McDonalds filet-o-fish burger except instead of just regular tartar sauce, it is mixed with wasabi mayo. The end product was an epic fish burger than gave me a punch in the nose every few bites from the wasabi. I was in L-O-V-E.  :)

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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.

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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.

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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!!

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'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.

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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.

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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 10^th 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.

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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.

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