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^^



Midterm weekend@Seoul

Unfortunately, I had a GRE test in Seoul on Saturday during the midterm. It was my second time to take this super difficult English test in Seoul and since the October test is sort of more popular, this time, we even didn't have an individual desk for each exam taker.
The good thing was the test center was near Anguk station (line 3), which is close to Insa-Dong, Samcheong-Dong, Gyeongbukgung and so on. Samcheong-Dong is a very artistic hidden gem in Seoul. To reach there, just get out at exit 5 of Anguk station and walk across the street and keep going until you see a tourist information center on your right. In Samcheong-Dong, there is Bukcheon, a traditional Korean village, where  many museums, private galleries, cafes and restaurants hidden inside. It seems a great place for a weekend hangout or a date, very impressive, somewhere may only be found in Seoul.

People enjoy a walk in Samcheong-Dong

Private shops, galleries, cafes all around Samcheong-Dong

Another great place to spend a day is Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art. Take line 6, get out at exit 1 of Hangangjin and go straight and there would be clear signs "Leeum" to guide you there. It is very near Itawon, you can see many foreigners and fancy restaurants there. Leeum has two permanant museums. Museum 1 has a rich and high-quality collection of ancient Korean art works produced in different periods. The whole museum 1 adopts a white background, a great match to traditional Korean art works, simple, neat and elegant. Museum 2 is for modern and contemperary art works made by both Korean and foreign artists and adopts a black background. Leeum, is very nicely designed based on simplicity even to details such as elevators and toilets. They also offer a digital guide equipment that you can learn much while seeing around. An one-day pass that costs 12.000won is of great value. You can enjoy both permanant and special exhibitions. Or you can select part of exhibitions that you are interested in.

Gate of Leeum

Lobby

After lost myself in Seoul for two days, I was refreshed spiritually but exhausted physically. Now, it is time for me to do some yoga and study intensively.