➹ craving korean street food!!!

These days I've been seriously craving for some sinfully authentic Korean street fare... and it's killing me!!! Seems like it's fairly easy to find really good Korean barbecue, bibimbap and some spicy stews if you look hard enough. But there is no place to get mouth watering street food ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ. Just take a look at my treasure finds from the streets of Myeongdong a few months back~




The packaging is just perfect for bringing dinner back to a cozy hotel room. This is the very definition of a happy meal~~ yummy Korean street food while watching 별에서 온 그대 ^^


SPICY and ETERNALLY DELICIOUS DDEOKBOKKI!!! I miss you so much~~~


The perfect meat on a stick! This hot bar is addicting...


And finally, warm comforting odeng plus soup. LOVED the soup ... but I just had to dip my odeng on the ddeokbokki sauce as well hahahah...

Where can I get these amazing food options here? My heart is seriously yearning for these...

➹ i left my heart last winter in seoul

I don't know where and how to start writing about the whirlwind of events in my life since the last months of 2013. It's been THOROUGHLY CRAZY to say the least~~~

Today, I just felt like looking back... flipping through the pictures... missing Seoul... the precious winter... and just well, my vacation ㅋㅋㅋ. What I would give to bring myself back to those blissful couple of days...

➹ 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.