Seoul: 아현동 간장게장 (Ahyeon-dong Gangjanggejang)

Every time I visit Seoul, I am armed with a whole new list of "must-eats". I've seen this dish on variety shows a few times (by that I mean - Running Man), and always wondered how it tastes like.

간장게장 (soy sauce marinated crab)

Seoul: 까페오시정 (Cafe 5 Cijung)

Wishing I was back there, in those carefree moments again.

까페오시정 (Cafe 5 Cijung)

Seoul: 서서갈비 (Seo Seo Galbi)

Oh hey. Hello there again after my (almost) nine months hiatus. It's the longest I've ever left the blog unattended. I guess it was the Mt Everest backlog that's in the background that's been deterring me from even attempting to make a post. (Ha, what's new.)

Anyway, if you've been following me on Instagram, you will know that I'm still eating, traveling and basically living my life as usual. A break from blogging has not changed me, I simply have more time to do more of the above mentioned. I really wonder how I found all that time and energy to blog so frequently in the past. As I grow older, I rather be doing so many other stuff but blogging. That said, I'm back here cos with my traveling, I really really like having a place to log all my travel thoughts and info, so that it's like a sort of reference guide to myself (and whoever still reads this tiny old blog of mine).

If you visit my travel page, I've rearranged the travels to make it now countries-based instead of years-based. With my super slow mode of posting, I reckon it'll be wiser to do so (so I can fudge the dates of my actual visit). Without further ado, I reckon my first post in a long while should be about travel eats, and what best than at one of my fave all-time travel location - Seoul.

 Seo Seo Galbi (서서갈비)

Bangkok 2014: 3 Desserts to Try in Bangkok

Sweet tooths in Bangkok unite. There's a lot of dessert choices in Bangkok. I tried three in my trip last year, and though I'm pretty sure they are already well known in the blogging universe, but hey, there's never too much desserts photos right? ;)

1. Coconut icecream at Chatuchak Market

Coconut ice cream in Chatuchak Market, Bangkok

Korea 2014: 코레아노스키친 Coreanos Kitchen

After spending a lovely afternoon just chilling around Garosugil at Sinsa-dong, the girlfriend and I walked over to Apgujeong area for our dinner. The girlfriend and I, we were both Mexican food lovers, and I had noticed that there were several interesting Mexican dining places in Seoul while doing prior research for dinner places.

코레아노스키친 Coreanos Kitchen, 2014

Korea 2014: 가로수길 (Garosu-gil)

As you read this, I'll probably be in Seoul by now! I've managed to upload more Korea 2014 photos, so enjoy!

 가로수길 (Garosu-gil), 2014

Korea 2014: DMZ

Everytime I travel to Korea, there are bound to be new sights to see. I went on a half day Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) tour on my 2014 trip. My friend booked the tour for us, and as the friend's parents are more comfortable with mandarin, we went ahead with a mandarin speaking guide.

DMZ, Korea 2014

Korea 2014: 노량진 수산시장 (Noryangjin Fish Market)

Oh my my. Procrastination aka Lazy Queen here has been happily neglecting the blog to spend her time catching up on dramas, read, bake and travel. Basically doing anything but uploading photos.

Just came back from a short trip to Hong Kong (which explains why my 2014 Hong Kong photos will sort of merge with my 2015 Hong Kong photos ha!), and I'm flying off again in less than two weeks' time for another vacay. Where else to but my favourite city - Seoul. I had thought that it would not be possible to visit Seoul this year as there was the MERS situation a while ago, but thankfully, the situation has sort of settled and it's kinda safe to travel to Korea again. It's gonna be a loooooooooooooooooooong trip, and that reminds me that I've yet to post any 2014 Seoul photos. Okay, given the special circumstances, I'm jumping queue on my other travelogues, and posting a couple Seoul photos like now now. ;)

I was in Seoul late last September too (oh, so the photos are about a year old ha!), and it was a truly enjoyable trip with my girlfriend. I had another girlfriend who was on the same flight as us, who was traveling with her family, and it was a coincidence that we had booked airbnb apartments in the same building at Seoul Station! We met up a couple times to eat together, and the very first day we arrived, after settling in, we agreed to head to Noryangjin Fish Market together for a hearty breakfast/lunch. The more people the better right? When it comes to feasting.

I've been visiting Seoul annually for the past few years, but it was my first visit ever to the famed fish market. So glad that the girlfriend who travelled with me was a foodie and quite adventurous in trying new stuff, so I really got to try a lot of new stuff in the trip.

노량진 수산시장 (Noryangjin Fish Market), 2014

Hong Kong 2014: On the Streets of Hong Kong

Hong Kong. It's the land of food and shopping. I'm sure everyone is well aware of the fact. I'm no exception. Just that, even though I've been there several times in the past, I did not pay attention to anything else much in Hong Kong besides well, food and shopping. When I was much younger and still schooling, I was focused on the shopping aspect of Hong Kong whenever I flew over. Then in my past two trips within the last five years, I was obsessed with the dining culture of Hong Kong. Luckily though, in the midst of all the pigging out I did on my last trip in 2014, I somehow managed to pay some attention to my surroundings, and capture non-food related snaps.

So there you go, a behind-my-lens POV of the bustling city.

Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong 2014

Japan 2014: 5 Things to Eat in Tokyo

I'm celebrating a one-week anniversary of a sprained leg. Oh, haven't I mentioned? My middle name happens to be Klutz. In case you were wondering, I sprained my leg on flat ground, while wearing flats. Okay, to be more precise, I was stepping off the pavement to cross the road (no traffic lights), so I turned my head to keep a look out for cars, and somewhere in between that coordination (or lack of) between my brain and my body, I sprained my ankle and managed to park my butt on the road. Talk about mortification. I'm not even going to think about whether I flashed anyone in the midst of my fall. *shudders*And it's no-exercise for the next two weeks or so. *wails*

It's not the first time I'm being clumsy, and sigh, I can't blame anyone except myself. Well, then I guess I should be glad that my overseas trip this coming long weekend was cancelled cos I can't do much walking anyway. As my friend had a last minute work trip, we had to cancel our tickets. :( Okay, I'm officially suffering from withdrawal travel symptoms.

SO. Instead of moaning about lack of travel plans, I decided to have a look at some of my old (way overdue) photos of our Japan trip early last year. These are the last set of photos, and it's all about food, glorious food.

Blacows, Tokyo, Japan 2014

Japan 2014: Tokyo sightseeing

The second last post on my Japan 2014 trip, will be made up of sightseeing photos taken at famous landmarks, and random on-the-street shots.

I always tend to hurry my travel posts along, especially right before I head for a next trip. It's not any different this time. As you're reading this, I'm probably still in the midst of a vacation right now, so I better bid "sayonara~" to my Japan pictures soon.

 Shibuya crossing, Tokyo 2014

Japan 2014: Tokyo Daiwa Sushi & Tsukiji Market

This was when we woke up at 330am to queue for sushi. For breakfast. Yeah, because that's totally what normal people do while on holiday.

Daiwa Sushi, Tsukiji Market 2014 

Japan 2014: Snacks to Buy From Japan

I'm not sure about you guys, but when I go on vacations, I often fret about what to buy back home for my friends/colleagues. Most often, I find myself grabbing food items, cos seriously, who doesn't love food (and I in turn, am spoilt whenever my friends/colleagues head overseas and lug back goodies for me too...).

One thing about my trip to Japan in 2014, I lugged home a duffel bag worth of goodies. It's Japan! Land of everything oh-so-cute-and-dainty-and-elaborately-packed! Land of all-kinds-of-yummy-food! Land of I-must-buy-everything-I-see-in-sight. True story.

I'm just gonna share with you some items that I bought back from my vacation in Japan, just to give you guys a better sense of what kinda goodies you can look out for during your own trips.

Sixteen different-flavoured Kit Kats. Yes, ONE-SIX. Only in Japan.

Japan 2014: Osaka お好み焼き 千房

It's been about a week since I got back from my first vacay in 2015. To France, in fact, for those who are curious. We went to Milan > Nice > Lyon > Paris for about ten days or so, and it was too short for my liking (obviously). My family and I flew over about a week prior to the lunar new year, so we totally skipped all the lunar new year festivities of reunion dinner, house cleaning, CNY baking, loading up on CNY goodies and more. Yeps, to date, I've yet to eat any CNY goodies at all (it's def a boon right, to not put on weight from CNY goodies), received any angpaos cos I've not done any house visiting (well, except for the one my Dad gave me, so that's def a bane, though at my age, I should be quite paiseh to still 伸手要红包 ha!) or pack my room (erm, I'm still on the fence if that's a boon or bane hee).

Anyway, back to my last post on Osaka, here's one of the best meal I had on my Japan 2014 vacation. Okonomikayi (お好み焼き), is a Japanese savoury pancake, and "okonomi" refers to what you want, and "yaki" refers to the method of grilling. It comprise of a batter made of flour, eggs, shredded cabbage and can include varying ingredients such as seafood or meat. After the pancake is cooked, a thick sweet brown sauce is than lathered over it, followed by a generous squirt of mayo, topped with some seaweed flakes, and finally finished off with a heap mountain of bonito flakes.

お好み焼き 千房, Osaka 2014

Japan 2014: Osaka

Oh hey. I'm just about to start posting about my first trip of 2014 (just when I'm about to go off soon for my first trip of 2015...). My procrastination...has no limits. ;)

Anyway, first trip of 2014 was to Japan with the fams, over the CNY period. It was a really last minute decision (I mentioned it here before), and it was a very short trip. We flew to Tokyo, and even managed to squeeze in one night in Osaka in our very tight schedule. I'll post about Osaka first, just because well, there's lesser photos to edit (ha!).

道頓堀 (Dōtonbori), 2014 (taken with iPhone 4S Panoramic cam)

Aussie 2013: Melbourne Graffiti-lined Lanes

Melbourne's graffiti-lined streets are extremely photogenic, and I imagine that it may be most photographers' definition of heaven. There's just so much to capture - the gorgeous vivid colours, the creative artwork, the fine details, the vibrancy of the the spaces, and the occasional sighting of a graffiti artist at work. Like I said, a feast for the camera.

Hosier Lane, Melbourne 2013

Aussie 2013: Melbourne Brother Baba Budan

It's coming to the end of the year already. In another two weeks' time, it'll be yet another new year. It feels like I've not done much in the past year or so, but one thing I'm glad happened was that I got to travel quite a fair bit. Though I'm not heading anywhere again for the remainder of the year, I've already got my next trip booked and I'm very (VERY) excited about it. February, please come faster.

I have just two (one) if you include this post left for my Melbourne travels (I realise that most of my Melbourne posts have been focused on cafe hopping haha). I just upgraded my comp memory space (or RAM or whatever you call that - I'm def no technie and anyway it was my bro-in-law who did the hard work for me heh) and had to re-download the photo editing programs (again, kudos to the bro-in-law) into my comp, thus had been unable to start editing any of my Japan travel photos. What with all the year end activities, cross fingers I'll squeeze in some time for it.
 
Anyway. Just around the corner of Manchester Press is Brother Baba Budan. A quirky lil spot with an unconventional design.

Brother Baba Budan

Aussie 2013: Melbourne Manchester Press

Did a T-25 session during lunch yesterday and my thigh muscles are currently screaming at me in pain. Tried wearing some heels to meet some girlfriends for dinner after work today and oh man, it wasn't a pretty sight. Let's just stick to no heels for a week ya.

Another Melbourne spot. The food and drinks were pretty forgettable, we were cafe-hopping that day, and nothing really jumped out at me, not to say that everything was bad. The cafe was pretty popular, it was one of the few cafes we dined at that had a queue. The staff took names, and scribbled it on a wall at the cafe entrance and call the names when there were avail seats. A wall-written wait list - interesting queuing system.

Manchester Press

Aussie 2013: Melbourne Auction Rooms and Twenty & Six

I love how most of the Aussie cafes have the habit of opening very early in the morning. That means we can start our day early with a good cuppa (Aussie) coffee.

Auction Rooms

Aussie 2013: Melbourne St Ali

My current goal is to finish my Aussie 2013 posts by the end of 2014. I really should increase the frequency of my blogposts just so I can clear most of my backlogs. *cross fingers that I can accomplish my goal*

St Ali, Melbourne 2013