➹ bibimbap in auckland city

It's spring time in the middle of Auckland's bustling Central Business District! And while this foreign city has never ending charms to match its delectable chocolates ㅋㅋ, it can still get lonely at times. Luckily, there are quite a (huge) number of Asians in this area. I swear if I close my eyes and just listen to folks wandering the streets, I can easily pretend that I'm in Seoul instead of somewhere down under!

Walking up and about Queen Street up to Britomart Station in the afternoon can feel like a walk through Myeongdong... without that irresistible temptation to splurge on cosmetics that is. There are Korean hair salons, noraebangs, Korean banks, Korean travel and tours, and of course, Korean food!

So today, I got myself some dolsot bibimbap from NOL BU NE restaurant at the corner of Wellesly and Lorne Streets. Saw this one from the Cheap Eats list from the Heart of the City page. To reach the restaurant on the 1F, you can go via the old elevator or the fire exit stairs. I chose the stairs. The walls were all adorned with Korean advertisements ~ alcohol mostly. And then I arrived at this cozy place~





I came in on a Saturday, just after noon but the place wasn't too crowded and I was seated quickly. I already knew what I wanted so I didn't take long to order. I've read review comments about the staff being stern and rude sometimes but that was not the impression I got. They were polite and welcoming and were working hard to attend to all the tables.

How I've missed BIBIMBAP! I suppose my eyes lit up when my food arrived. The banchan were delightful though perhaps I would have preferred the potato jeorim to be a little sweeter ^^. Anyway, the star of the meal, my dolsot bibimbap was easily a pretty sight. Ahhh, the warm rice was perfect for the chilly day.





I was just so happy to have a Korean rice meal! It was also very affordable which is always a good thing. Taste-wise, the bibimbap was probably just ok. But it was still a comforting spread for me.

I finished my meal with my favorite sikhye ^^. Yum!

➹ random: etude's strawberry mini jamjam hand lotion

Since the weather is getting colder these days, this hand lotion has become my new best friend ^^.



I actually just finished off my Baviphat Paprika Hand Cream. And while it was a fun product to use, I had to keep it at my work desk instead of my bag ㅋㅋ.

This time, I love that Etude House's Strawberry Mini JamJam is small enough to fit in my handbag while still packing enough product to use for several days. It's non greasy and leaves just that needed velvety feel. The fragrant and yummy strawberry smell is also absolutely perfect. This always brings out a smile when I use it. Kyaaaaaa ^^.

➹ happy friday at caffe bene

Fridays are for extended lunch hours at a pretty cafe ^^.


Enjoying coffee at this Korean franchise is just a way of rewarding myself for a stressful work week. I got myself the yummy Iced White Mocha while my colleague got herself Hot Caffe Latte. Both were perfect.



The cozy interior of the cafe is absolutely comforting. It stays true to its Korean origin with cute knickknacks here and there. And just how adorable is the cafe's mascot Befy!? The pretty throw pillow is a wonderful accent to the rustic seats.




And even though the weather has been manic lately (switching from heavy downpours to intense sunlight... and back), I just had to get some bingsoo!!! I chose the classic red bean variant and got this sweet glass of delight. The topping is a piece of rice cake (ddeok!) which was perfectly soft and chewy (waa, I want more ddeok ...). The red beans were not extremely sweet which I liked. The ice shavings were nice and smooth which made for a refreshing spoonful. I will definitely get this again.



We didn't want to leave the cafe yet but we already spent our lunch hour over analyzing Master's Sun's latest episode ㅋㅋㅋ. Next time I'll have to try out the honey bread, waffles, gelato and the specialty drinks. I have to come with more friends so we can pick more food to share hahaha ... That will be for future Fridays to come.

➹ teaching myself some hangul: 어떻게 or 어떡해?

Knowing how to read and write Hangul is strangely one of my biggest pride and joy ... and at the same time one of my greatest frustrations ㅋㅋㅋ. I mean I think it's super awesome to have a basic know-how so that I can mutter and scribble phrases which none of my peers can ever google translate (nyaha!)... But my skill can only get me as far as short conversations with kids (I assume!) and a ballad song at the noraebang. Anyway, lacking the tenacity and the financial backing to provide myself a formal education on the subject, I will just have to rely on the treasure cover of online resources to learn Hangul! ^^



One of my very first Korean friends used to coach me in Hangul through an exchange of emails. I can't forget one of her initial criticisms on my rookie writing and usage of words...

'어떻게' is right.
Koreans don't write '어떡헤'.
However, we use '어떡해'.
'어떻게' means 'how', and '어떡해' is kind of the expression of pity and asking.

Because this really doesn't matter so much when you say it out loud~ sadly, I think I still switch this up a lot to this day! I think I caught myself with the wrong usage several times in kakaotalk ㅠㅠ. I kind of needed a mnemonic to remember the difference.For now, I just try to recall 2 very common phrases:

나 어떡해? 어떡해? 어떡해? which ends like "he, he, he" ... kind of like the English onomatopoeia for laughing as in "heheheh". Picture the classic kdrama heroine who is foolish and crazy and in trouble all the time muttering "어떡해? 어떡해? 어떡해?" when in the most humiliating situations. Think of it as a sort of go-to panic phrase. Works well with fangirling like this:



And then the other phrase I would recall is:

어떻게 알아? This one I may have heard a LOT of from variety shows hahah! 어떻게 알았어? 어떻게 알았지? No real trick to this one except that "어떻게" is not so much repeated.



Keeping these 2 phrases in mind, I hope to ultimately correct my confusion between these 2 words. Let's see me not misuse them in kakaotalk from here on! 화이팅! ^^

➹ yummy finds at the korean grocery part 5!

Yeah, it's been a while ^^. It has been so busy these past weeks that I've missed my previously regular trips to the nearby Korean grocery. When I finally managed to drop by, I found some fairly "new" options on the beverage cooler!

I am a HUGE FAN of sikhye so I was really excited to try out this new bottle:


And YUMMMMMMMMM~~~ it was just perfect! I liked this better than the canned one. The sikhye was refreshing and lightly sweet and just amazing. I will definitely get this again next time.

And then I found some Pororo banana milk cartons and I just instantly had to buy them! I was thinking of my young nephew and niece and how they really love Pororo. I haven't had the chance to give them yet but I'm excited nevertheless.


If you know other canned/bottled sikhye drinks, do let me know! I really enjoy these Korean drinks ^^. I can't wait for new discoveries on my next grocery trips.

➹ gifts from seoul ^^

Another good friend came back from her Seoul vacation and brought back some AMAZING goodies for me!!!


The Shinhwa album is my special request ❤ ❤ ❤. The rest just shows you how immensely thoughtful and wonderful my friend is!


I am particularly in love with this divine N Seoul notebook! I am telling you guys, the souvenirs from N Seoul tower are must-haves. I mentioned this in my previous Seoul Souvenir Shopping post. I just can't get enough of how nostalgic and adorable the N Seoul mementos are~



And then I'm adding one more to my Seoul postcard collection. This latest one is from the National Palace Museum of Korea.



Now I'm really missing SEOUL because of all these goodies ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ.

➹ noraebang chronicles 노래방

Noraebang essentials:
☊ tamborines
☊ cute microphone covers
☊ korean+english+japanese song book
☊ elaborate menu controls!




I'm addicted and grateful to noraebangs for 2 reasons:
1. Pure BLISS while singing along AMAZING Kpop songs with friends ^^
2. And the MOST CHALLENGING Korean speech exercise ever!

When I was just starting to learn Korean, I felt pretty happy that I was able to read and make out the Hangul letters from textbooks and online lessons. I thought it was a very fulfilling skill at that time ㅋㅋㅋ.

However, my joy was short lived as I soon learned that I couldn't read well enough to sing along in a noraebang ㅠㅠ. It was frustrating to have to depend on romanized song lyrics which I had to prepare in advance (arrgh). It's also quite annoying that I wasn't able to select my favorite songs efficiently since I struggle to read/search through all the Hangul materials. So I persevered on learning not only the letters but also the words so that I can fully enjoy my noraebang experience. I'm not sure if that was the correct motivation but it sure worked for me!

Sadly, there aren't a lot of great options to go for noraebang at my hometown. There was just this one place I used to frequent with friends and cousins. I used to maintain a list of songs that I would sing on all my visits. I know their corresponding number codes since I look them up online hahaha... Ah, but I haven't really been back at this place for a while now. I also stopped maintaining my list hehe.


Once in Koreatown, San Francisco, I just had to go into this small noraebang place because they had Yoriwang (Cooking Cooking) available! That was just a few weeks after Super Junior Happy debuted so I was just beyond excited *o*. I offered to pay for the entire session since I was with non-kpop friends and also just because I was just TOO elated ㅋㅋㅋ.






And then of course I had to try out Everysing in Seoul! We went to the first location in Gangnam and spent a breathless 2 hours belting out (mostly) SM songs. I love the themed rooms in Everysing and personally, I could have spent 2 more hours by myself hehehe. But the thing with these Seoul trips is that not all my friends are THAT into Kpop so there has got to be some compromises.





I should really visit more noraebang places in Seoul ... That's something that may forever be in my to-do list!

Nowadays, I get my noraebang fix from my smartphone ㅋㅋㅋ. I particularly enjoy using the Ziller Survival app:



I can practice my Kpop songs anytime and listen to my recorded performance afterwards. It's almost as good as the real thing except of course it has none of the noraebang essentials I listed above. I also miss singing with great friends ㅠㅠ But I guess this app will have to do for now that most of my friends are away or busy~~~ At least I can practice my favorite Korean rap lines without being too embarrassed! I will have no more excuses when we go out to an actual noraebang later on aigooo...

➹ everybody's favorite jjappaguri! 짜빠구리 짱!

I have recently succumbed to a Dad, Where are you Going/아빠어디가 addiction!!! These 5 kids are just irresistibly cute and endearing that my heart just can't NOT fall in love with them ^^. So now I have one more Sunday variety show to look forward to~~~

I'm particularly impressed with how amazing Hoo is!!! And I am just 100% SOLD on jjapaguri just from watching this adorable 8-year old savor it with so much GUSTO!!!




And so, like many others, I just had to make my own jjappaguri! I've been a huge fan of Jjapagetti since some years back so I was really very curious on how much different it will be with Neoguri ...



Alas! A spicy and savory jjajangmyeon ^^. I LOVE IT!