2011 Year-End Retail Round Up

2011 Year-End Retail Round Up

The Art of Doenjang - the Korean Bean Sauce Paste

Sometimes, it just needs a bit inspiration and innovation to make a difference.

The same thing applies to Doenjang - the Korean Bean Sauce Paste. Couple of weeks ago, my fireind Su and I went to a restaurant in Jongro where we found this nice restaurant - 된장예술과술.

The main menu is a set of  rice, vegetables, various side dishes and doenjang cooked with tofu,. What you have to do is to mix things up according to your own taste.

Lattice,green onion and pepper

The whole set and Deonjang in the middle

 Now, it is time to mix & match. Personally, I love Korean vegetables and adding a little Deonjang to the general Bibimbab(Korean style rice mixed with vegetables) makes it more classic.

This was my work:)

A closer look

Warm rice soup is served instead of water

One thing I respect Korean people is that they are devoting time and efforts to keep food taste original and traditional. This deonjang bibimbab is - nothing special about ingredients but simply an art of Korean food.

Hoegi - the spot of green onion pancakes in Seoul

If you walk out of Hoegi station exit 1 and take the first left, there is an alley full of restaurants whose main menus are same - Pajeon, the green onion pancakes. If you happen to be there on a rainy day, get ready there might not be any vacant seats since in Korea, people say we should eat pajeon on a rainy day.
There are approximately 10 restaurants inside the alley, the settings are also a special - usually crowded and smoking is allowed. Some restaurants are bit dark and dirty (well some seem purposely make the place old and dirty), and the one of them I went to has a squeezed second floor where we cannot stand up fully since the ceiling is very low; we have to walk with bending knees.

The incredible sencond floor

The ice water is also a special - pull water into a bowl with a big ice in it

There is a reason for this place famous for pajeon - very cheap price and very delicious pajeon and Korean rice wine. Within the Korean rice wines, I loved the Dongdongju more than Makgolri.

Rice wine served in its bowl

Pajeon is not just made of green onion, it always come with squid inside.  Every restaurant has different style of their own ajungmas' cooking - try and compare which is your style.

Pajeon with rice wine, perfect! Wanna be better? You can order some other dishes which can company the pajeon to improve the experience. Additional recommendations.

Spicy chicken soup with potatos in it - eat the crispy pajeon, drink the hot soup

Korean style salad - turbo and vegetables with sour and little spicy sauce

If the squid in pajeon cannot satisfy you, get another fried squid!

Looking forward to the next rainy day, squeezing in the pajeon restaurant with a bowl of Dongdongju~ha

Taste of Korea(1)-오리27年

Last weekend, I went to 27年(franchised) in Daejeon with my roomate. I read about this restaurant in a magazine when I was staying in Seoul Backpacker Inside. It was recommended by Mr.Tsai (蔡澜）， my favorite writer. Mr.Tsai told that it is called Ori27  because the founder spent 27 years researching the recipes before opening the restaurant. I definately should try the food whose recipes are even older than me.


It's opposite to the back gate of Homeplus in Yosung



Clean and traditional Korean restaurant interior

Side dishes for 연훈제오리 (smoked duck): peabuts, turnip, onions, garlic, salad, green vegetables and so on

something we have in China too: song-hwa-egg, made from duck's egg
I like the way they made it as an appetizer: (egg slice+ cucumber slice+ pear slice)* sauce(pear juice+wasabi?+xxx) haha

Korean vegetables are really nice to me, I can eat them with main food and very fresh.
Nice a-jung-ma added more vegetables for us as I really consume them quick^^

Smoked duck served on a heating pan with mushrooms
The duck meat was very tender and was just slightly smoked and the excessive oil could be filtered by this pan
It costs 25,000won per half and the whole one is 40,000won
Half is abundant for two girls

I like to play with vegetables
A great joy when having Korean food

sesame's leaf is one of favortie

Can some Korean friends tell me what this leaf is? It was very refreshing, I guess I ate it somewhere before, but not a fresh one, rather, the one after kimchied (peakled, sauced)

I know that duck was enough but this Yakbab(Oriental Medicine rice) is a must-try. (14,000won)
There are sticky rice, peanut, sweet potato, blackbean, sesame, date, gingko nut, sun flower nut, fig fruit, cinnamon, 표고버섯(a black-skin tender-texture mushroom) and something else for sure.
It tastes like oriental medicine but in a delicious way.

The Yakbab came with its own matched side dishes too.
I took most of it home since our stomachs ran out of space

The unexpected dessert was impressive, high-quality tomato with light-sweet sauce
I realized it was a full course Korean meal, then

A perfect ending with Hazenut coffee

 In Korea, Korean traditional food is always the best in my mind. Ori-27 again proved it!

Ling at Ori-27

Ms. RedByBeing got the big slice!

Bali, love at first sight - Lovina Villa Agung Beach Inn

I got off the beloved Perama Bus, kept walking another five minutes, went through a small rice peddy and here I was - Lovina Villa Agung Beach Inn-a beach-front inn with a small garden.
The first time I met the owners of the hotel was at my first dinner there.  An elegant couple were having dinner, facing to a romantic sunset view; country music was in the air. The lady did make-up as well. "It is our place", I could judge from their eyes.
We talked for a while.The gentleman is from America and the lady is from Britain. There must be some beautiful stories between them that they finally decided to settle down in Lovina - a land of peace.
Looking carefully to details in their small hotel, from room ornaments to food, you could notice they are people of great taste.

Lovely room - simple and clean

Going to the beach-front cottage-2nd floor is a relaxing area with a small library and 1st floor is a restaurant.

Where I read books and listen to the sea



 Located in a quiet place, a hotel needs a great restaurant to keep their guests stay longer.Here, we did not have a single meal outside Villa Agung Beach Inn. It certainly succedded. The restaurant was so cheap and nice; it was just like tasting delicious food in a local family.Homemade bread was baked every morning and  the setting of dishes was very beautiful.

Indonesia-favorite Bintang was always served with a side dish: chips with homemade sauce

Bubur Injin: Balinese black rice pudding

Balinese chicken curry and tuna satay

Best bread in the world!

Except for super clean room and a lovely restaurant, they offer many other services such as a lift to town Lovina or town Singaraja, or a fish market, SPA treatment, yoga classes reservation, Indonesia cooking classes and so on. One pity was that my stay there did not meet a Sunday, the only day that a morning yoga class is available.
Not sure when could be the next time to visit there, but someday, I must return. See you, Lovina! See you, Villa Agung Beach Inn!
Finish with Lovina beach boys(?) !*_^


Happiness is just simple~!

 ps: Having heard that 2 posts shall be in augument style before end of this semester, I decided to create another blog and keep this blog recording something I would like to share about my life.  After writing for a while, I love blogging now and will keep doing it; the Bali stories are not the end yet^^. Here, I would like to thank Prof.Clarissa for encouraging students to share their ideas and stories through blogs.

Bali, love at first sight -a blue romance- Lovina, Bali

In Bali, the great feel of riding the wind through the country roads and mountains made me a bus lover. From Ubud, it took a Perama Bus 5 hours to drive all the way from central Bali to the North. No airconditioner, open window.

Lovina is located in the northest part of the Bali Island. Near town Singaraja, which used to be the Capital during the Dutch colonial period, now, Lovina is a very quiet and peaceful destination for an escape from one's busy life.
Once upon arrival, I knew I had reached a right place.

Thank to the holy vocalnos in Indonesia, the land is full of magic
The peaceful Lovina black beach



I lived in a beach-front 6-room hotel called Lovina Villa Agung Beach Inn.
Love that tree!!!
(I shall make another post for lovely Villa Agung Beach Inn:D)


Have waked up from a short nap before starting my journey in Lovina, I was indeed shocked when I went to hotel's restaurant for dinner. What an incredible dinner with such a luxurious view!

Sunset, feels like in the movie scene

sunset sky - mua!

There are actually not many activities you can do in Lovina. My days in Lovina were like sunrise-breakfast-reading-lunch-nap-reading-sunset-dinner. One impressive lovely event might be to ride a spider boat to watch dolphins in the sea. Though I did not like the scene that tens of boats driving after dolphins, taking a boat to watch sunrise in the Lovina sea is highly recommended. Our boat took 4 people, mama, I and a German young couple. We had a morning tea about 5:30am and set off at 6, when Lovina was still in dark. As our boat getting farther away from the beach, the sun started to sprinkle light on the deep blue ocean. And, dolphins probably got up around 7 and began excercising their jumping skills in groups.



Sun just woke up^^

Sorry, dolphins! I should not have disturbed your life.



Our captain!



Back from sunrise boat tour, we were welcomed with fresh home-made bread and jam, fruits and coffee.  I guess mum was so impressed by such a special morning; she stood on the black beach and watched the sea for a pretty long while with something in her mind. Maybe this is how life slows down here.
Luckily, in Lovina, the sky is still blue and the water is still clear, and what more I could say - let us preserve the environment that one day, one day that we may still have a chance to hug and kiss the lovely nature.

Bali, love at first sight - fruits in Bali

Having been to Seoul for a short while, I will direct my blog back in Bali again. As a food lover, I learned about Balinese local fruits and crop plants. Bali does not export these cultivation products, rather consumes them inside the island only. Indonesian cooking is keen on using fresh ingredients and this is probably the biggest secret of delicacy.Typical fruits are mangosteens, mangos, bananas, avocados, pineapples, papayas, guavas, jackfruits, starfruits, oranges and so on.
Avocade had been my favorite during my stay in Bali. Avocado itself looks like a fancy word to me without knowing why. In Chinese, avocado is intepreted as "butter-fruit" , "oil-pear" or "crocodile-pear" that reveals 3 features of it : rich nutrition, pear-like shape and crocodile skin.  Balinese avocados are different from American ones. They are bigger in size and more crispy in texture. I will introduce three joyful ways to enjoy avocados in Bali.
1. Avocado juice
Avocado is a refreshing and light-sweet fruit.Young-avocado juice is watery and ripe-avocado juice is creamy. So, if you feel like a cool-off in the hot day, try the young-avocado juice and if you feel like a sweet dessert, try the latter one with chocolate sauce in it. See pictures!

Avocado juice

Avocado juice with chocolate sauce inside

2. Avocado in sandwiches
Avocado is not a sweet fruit and it can replace vegetables in the sandwich. A great match!

Avocado shrimp sandwich with chips

3. Avocado hair treatment
This is not for eating. Avocados are made into hair treatment products in Bali and you can find them easily in SPA houses. I am not sure whether it is the reason why Indonesians have good hair texture.
Finally, let's end this post with a glance at a fruit stall in the way to Mt.Kintamani and a mango tart bitten by mom@_@.

A fruit stall in the way to Mt.Kintamani



A mango tart with many mango slices only costs about 1.8USD^^