Grød

Like i've mention before, I will try my best to go out as much as possible during the weekend, even when there is work required to be submitted on monday! Just have to be really hardworking at night and try to get things done =)

So this weekend, i was suggested by a mate to head to a street, which is refer to the the Hells angel street (Jægersborggade) in Nørrebro. Not sure about you guys, as i turn my bike going into the street, i find the road patches very intriguing. Almost would be able to relate to the Hells and angel thing or maybe yin n yang? There is another Coffee collective there, and it's well packed with people at 12pm when i arrived. It's not a long street but definitely feel with this boho vibe to it. Not exactly very, but getting there. It would be a nice street just to escape for a bit from the city.

 It's a great weather to begin with, great companion, great mood, everything is just so great. It's really to describe this kind of feeling. It's just feel like the perfect morning where nothing is gonna turn bad. im a happy kiddo. So as, me and my friend walk along the street, one session of long clapping grabbed our attention. A crowd gathering outside one of the shop, accompany with loud chattering. Being the kepo guy yeah we went and have a look.

It's Grød. it's situated at the far end of the street. a humble small, shop with minimalist design but packed with people that day. Apparently it was there first day of business, see how lucky i was to actually to stumble upon it and hell yeah very glad we stumble upon this place. It was a long queue but judging on the queue they must have been doing something right!

A simple way of using space, rough decoration and clean cut. I am actually adoring the design. If u zoom out a little bit, it sets in this rough looking neighbourhood, anything posh or sleek looking shop would totally look out of space.

It's a good 5-10 minutes queue, so here am i introducing to you to my new second-hand leather shoes! (360kr) that i manage to get it from a Second hand shop, Københaven K (Teglgårdstræde 4). At last a shop that offers a wide range of street wear for both men and women! It was a good grab.

In the shop, everything is in danish, but stress free for me considering imma walking around with a danish buddy hhaha! I did manage to guess whats one of them rødbede risotto (pretty obvious it's a beetroot no?), and Havregrød med solbær (oatmeal with blackcurrant) is what i had. (30kr each) and accompany with 2 latte (20kr) which is surprisingly cheap.

I was quite reluctant to have something sweet in a savoury dish. I had this experience when i had a rosewater risotto in Tasmania, Australia and it was an absolute disaster in every way! I did squinch my eye as i put the first spoon into my mouth and...delighted =) It taste so good probably because of the acidity of the blackcurrant cut through the sweetness of the dish. Absolutely winner!

Manage to find a sit among the heavy crowds around the place, perfect ambient, like i say weather is great and the background chattering and laughing sound of people there. A restaurant can never fake that! Even the 20kr latte taste so good, it's standard but it's a perfect standard latte i had. Trust me i pay for more for sucky one before. I would strongly recommend this place for sure!

Imma definitely going back soon, perhaps next week?

Grød

Jægersborggade 50 tv,

2200 Copenhagen, Denmark

anybody joining in?

My bowl

I am still weird off by the fact that, this house i am staying doesnt have bowls, i mean they have one, but more like a cereal size bowl... it is impossible to fit in this bowl of noodles + broth. i guess the dan's don eat things with noodle and broth together.. I just have to improvise.. A bowl of Tom yum, jam packed with flavour i familiar with and a little closer to home.

i miss using chopsticks.

Yes to

So 1 assignment down, everyone seems very stress and still doing, made me wonder whether i did enough. But i shall be content, it's only the first submission and this is the only the beginning, officially after 1pm i would enter another phase where it is the 72 hr design charette. To Analyse and produce a project within the time frame. I'm not sure i'll managed but i'll worry later.

There would be no weekend for me as well, kinda uncool right ;(,  i guess i just have to get used to it. Weather is really good, sunny with light breezes, i have to escape from my studio, everyone here had their stern face on, tense in the air. Went out for a 10 minutes walk to the nearest supermarket near my uni, Netto. Wanna pick out something for my itchy mouth.

As i walk down the cookie aisle, this instant grabbed my attention. =) i've seen him before but skipped it the first time! not this time. Won't say no to spongebob, wont say no to yellow. A Simple box like this put a smile on my face, it's gonna be a good day today.

Spongebob cookie is so healthy! No hydrogenated fats, No artificial colour, No preservative!

Side note:
I love yellow,
I love spongebob,
and i told u it's not gonna be the same anymore.

The first night i managed to sleep for 9 hours straight, waking up with a bright mood matching the weather outside. Looks inviting except with less cloud more blue it would have been perfect. I guess i shall declare today as a good day.

Breakfast is the most important meal of our day, as said and, as proven. Being slight lazy, i just took my cereal ( coco-crunch ) , my milk, a bowl, and a spooon down to my room. Walking down the room sort of managing what would i do for the day . That includes, getting a bike, learning how to ride a bike and such.

 I reached my room, place the bowl nice and middle, had a movie play up on my lap top. Poured the coco-crunch into a bowl, then the milk. This is when everything tumble down. The sunnyside turn into the darkside.

The liquid came out of the milkbox appear to be rather lumpy but still clear white. hmph? did i accidentally bought yoghurt instead? i google translated whats on the box, yeah it turns out to be milk and sour. There goes my whole bowl of coco-crunch,  just sent them up to heaven. All faulty and sour.

Talk about having a good morning breakfast.
i just got screwed by one.

Pastel de nata

Always embracing my sweet tooth, touching down in the first city in Portugal. The first thing that came up on my mind is EGG TART then the grapes. It was a 4 hr journey all the way from Santiago de compostela, ride was pleasant... and thank god there is air conditioning in the bus.

Porto, is the city which took up 2 days of my whole trip. Having all the luggage put in places, no problem in the checking in. The next Q i asked the reception was :" Any recommendation for good EGG TARTS??" yes my eyes came alive, almost shimmering like how anime characters' eye enlarged when they got excited.

R : air tuck?
Me : no Egg tart ( still slightly hopping around)
R: er.. huh??
Me : Yellow, EGGGG with black black burn bitssss (slightly annoyed)
R: Pastel de nata? (start googling image )
ME : YEAH! Thats it!
R: Why do u guys call it egg tart?

the pasty

Add caption

Now i've learned, they don't call it egg tart! A Pastel de nata is a Portuguese egg tart pastry. Something really close to my heart. Still remember the first time i tried it, when i was in primary school. Sold in Southern bakery , right beside the Gk supermarket by the roundabout. If you're not a Miri-an... u could just ignore this part.

from left to right, some bacon-cheese-bread layered stuff, strawberry cream tart, egg tart, nuts tart.

there u go, a cut up Pastel del nata

I remember the pastry flakes in my mouth, custards melt on my tongue, both texture mixed up in the mouth is amazing. So as you can see the expectation is really high especially coming from Portugal ! So we were lead to this pastry shop where we order quite a bunch of weird looking stuff to share. The first cut into the "egg tart" was a dismay... i don't recall the base pastry to be that thin.. and i don't see flakes flaking ... My first bite into it was another let down... overpoweringly sweet custard has ruining my palette ... =( had to wash it down with the watermelon tea i've ordered.... Very much disappointed and coming from Porto's pastry

4 side mirror  interior

Then i insisted, we order the wrong egg tart, the egg start aren't suppose to be that huge... tBought a smaller version one. As expected, another big disappointment. It's my first WTF moment in 10 days of travel and hopefully pastel de nata in Lisbon would do it justice.. otherwise it would be like a undone task that will haunt me for the rest of my life T_T and yes i am that big of a fan when it comes to egg tarts. 

#2 attempt ... still no good

Jeonbokjuk 전복죽

Have you heard about women divers? They are only found in Korea and Japan. Women divers are symbols of Jeju Island. Women have dominated this profession because they are physically better suited for it than men; women possess a higher percentage of subcutaneous fat, which insulates them from cold, allowing a longer stay in the water.

The woman who dives for a living and catching marine products holds their breath for about 2 minutes at the depth of approximately over 10m below sea level. Most of the woman divers engaged at this kind of job since the age of 12 to 14 year old. Now, there are about 5600 woman divers in Jeju. It’s a rare job in Korea. I recommend tourists to see woman divers as they set foot in Jeju Island. It will be good opportunity, witnessing one of Korea’s cultural heritages.

This leads to why trying a seafood dish in jeju is a must in. In jeju, seafood are at it's freshest as it could be. One of the speciality is Jeonbokjuk 전복죽 (abalone porridge), a Jeju specialty made from abalone and white rice


We didn't know what and where is the best serve abalone porridge that's favour by the locals, never trust travel guide book. Thats what i always believe. With limited knowledge of korean language, i try to convey what i want as simple as possible.. asking a reception girl for recommendation.

ME: "JEon..bok..juk?" (wait for the reception to nod) .. put my thumbs up.. and shrug with a rich facial expression suggesting where.. remember frowning eyebrow is crucial! Task accomplished.. address obtained and it's decided that it's gonna be our breakfast tomoro .. sound rather porsche innit?


The things i like the most and never fail me is the Arrays of side dishes!!! with free refills and each have it's own distinctive taste and texture.. i could just die in heaven everytime..
As for the restaurant, it's pretty traditionally design and straight forward. It's bright, clean, neat and warm. Perfect to start off a great morning!


and finally the main! To be honest, it doesn't look that appetising in the first place.. i even wander where is the abalone... dun tell me they puree it! i would be furious.. I start digging in, and each bite i took it's like pulses of JEJU WAVE!!! and yes they have slices of abalone in it.. Am i exaggerating much here? but can u feel it! how yummy is it!

the only downside i could point out is , they could have done a better job in plating up, feed the eyes of the hunger. Despite that, it really doesn't take us long to finish off our porridge and had a good chat with the owner, the cook behind it.

Owner and theQings

I was impressed by her english, as we still managed to converse even with the limited english. With body language, we could understand most of it.. She start pointing bae yung joon's poster on the wall, and spotting the big big signature on the framed poster, we knew what she want to say. Claiming that He, bae yung joon, will defintely stop by every time he is in jeju. Gotta give it, cause if i were him, i would defintely come back for the next serving with every opputrunity given. The owner, always have a nice warm smile on her face, made us extremely comfortable dining in.


This is the address ive gotten from the recipient girl.. if u're heading to Jeju, maybe u could take a photo of this, ask the taxi driver to bring you to this place. trust me it's worth it!

costs : 15000w

They have a website!

shabu shabu

21.01.11 Location unknown, Seoul.

Having hearing a lot about me, Kim's mum was pretty eager to meet me , just to get a grasp who, how do i look like. I was cordially invited by her for a dinner session with her and daughter. I am not sure how Kim's mum feel, but i was certainly very nervous about the meeting. haha.

We went for shabu-shabu...

Shabu-Shabu! Sounds more like an informal telephone greeting in the Middle East than a delicious hot pot meal in Korea. First of all, it's not a korean dish just a Korean variation of the Japanese variation of the Chinese hot pot, which is believed by some to be the variation of a dish which originated in Mongolia. It’s too confusing, and, in all honesty, unimportant for this article.



In Korea, shabu shabu is essentially a three course meal rolled into one. The 1st course : In the centre of the table, sits the heavy black pot above the flame, The boiling broth is used to cook the raw beef with raw vege accompanying the meal as well. the process repeats as one batch is cooked and taken out, a new batch is thrown in. Surprisingly i am not a fast eater when it comes to shabu shabu, i vividly rmb oma being really frantic with her hand and ask me to go faster with it. (We communicate with body language and also translation from Kim). haha, it was fun!



When the meat is gone, long, thick noodles are added to the broth which made up the 2nd course.



After all the noodles are gone, people would come and remove the hot dish and coming back with the 3rd course. The broth has been emptied and rice with seaweed and vegetables fills the bottom portion of the bowl. The exquisite taste of rice, seaweed and remains of vegetables, meat and broth with extra seasoning leaves you rehashing over the same point – this is a glorious meal!



PS: If you are looking for Shabu-Shabu at a restaurant, these are the Korean characters: 샤부샤부

Tun-piang

Ever wonder how shit taste like?

First of all, It's brown in colour, It's really warm and soft. When you touch it, it's actually quite lumpy, despite the smooth surface. Some of them may find it really smelly, but me and theQings think it's very refreshing. Something we never try before... Usually people dun eat it but we took it as snack. Not very filling but enough to make both of us smile.



We bought the shit that he produce.. we bought 3 for 5000w ;] It's call Tung-piang





we got another piece... anybody wants?

Bimbimbap

21.01.11 Insadong, Korea

Talk about my favourite meal in South korea, would probably be this meal suggested by theQings. We take turn in deciding what and which meal to take. We went typing "Things to do in insadong, Korea" opened a few blog pages and start reading.. apparently this restaurant we were about to head got really good review and very satisfying.



We spend quite awhile to find the place, only to find that it's located at the basement level of a shopping mall, ssmaziegil! ( a very cool one). Go-gung, 古宮 the restaurant, was empty and the entrance itself looks really grand. We went in and greeted by smilling waiter dressed in hanbok. i guess It's a very fine dining restaurant ? not sure.. dunno where is the crowd. But i guess for the price i was paying is pretty expensive for Bimbimbap (11000w)

Bimbimbap is a popular Korean dish. The word literally means "mixed meal." Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste). A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions. The ingredients are stirred together thoroughly just before eating.[2] It can be served either cold or hot. (extracted from wiki)



What so special about this bimbimbap? It's called jeonju bimbimbap. Muh korean friend told me that bimbimbap was originated from there and all the tasty ones are there... i guess since i dun have time to step foot to there .. It's very far south.. This is the closest to what i can get. Me and theQings is very satisfied with all the side dishes..The triumph of this meal is the plum tea served last to cleanse the palate. It's light, sweet and refreshing. It sent me to heaven straightaway till i could find my way down... i had to ask for a second one and even drank theQings one's of.. guess her taste bud and mind does not ring on the same frequencies.

I guess now, i can give a shoutout saying.. :" This is what a bimbimbap bitch!"

P/s: Msia also have Go-gung 古宮 not sure it's the same though.

Miss Lee

22.01.11 Insadong, Seoul,



Located at the frontage(on the same street to Ssmazilgel shopping mall) of the insadong area is this hectic yet charming coffee shop, Miss Lee. This coffee shop is by far the smartest one i've been and pretty sure earn the most among all the coffee shop i visited. The key behind it is simplicity with the menu. The guy behind this shop is darn smart!





The interior of it is very chaotic,burst of colours, full of notes and papers left by the users. It's hang from one corner to another, on the glass partition, counters, lamps and everywhere possible imagine. With this kind of decoration is easy, It's fairly sketch and do not need to pay attention to details. Not saying it's a shortcut for design ... but it creates another vibe of the place. More homey, u can be more "careless" with ur actions, can pretty much talk in a normal tone. It's like a beautiful hawker center.



Remember how i say this cafe is really straightforward and simple and smart? They offer only 1 choice for lunch which is a bento box with rice, ham?, kimchi, seaweed and soup. it's all standard, nothing else for lunch. I love how they only offer this lunch set... not sure about you but i hate deciding food out of like 20 choices. It very annoying, cause i am fairly indecisive when it comes to food and concurrently gives me chronic headache.. So i really like this point about Miss Lee... Price wise, it's 5500 w which is kinda on the high side, considering u can get a "hawker meal" at ard 3000w. But i guess, i'm paying extra for the environment.



This is the bento box, it's serve in this golden box and u had to open the lid to reveal what's inside. During he wait for the bento box, i saw people shaking it before opening it. The idea behind is to mix all the stuff, like how u eat bimbimbap where u have to mix all the vegies and rice together. Again, i was impressed, so the lid also plays a part here.. not solely for aesthetic purposes. a fusion between contemporary and traditional! Kudos Kudos....



Of course, we got overly excited by the idea and concept of it... we start shaking frantically as if we are playing with maracas, about to play some mexican songs hey?... Then guess what, the lid is not water tight, so part of the kimchi sauce went flying around out of the lid... we stopped... and laughed.. even the korean siting the table beside us laugh at us.




Although!!! as expected the mixing wasnt as "mixed", we still have to manually mix it with our hand. But, i totally didnt mind it. I am still happy that i get to shake it. I guess my sister is right, about me always being childish and unmature =p. You might also think " dude, i totally can whip that up myself as well! " I AGREE... but the lunch tasted extra tasty . ><

Hazenut mocha after lunch, as my palate cleanser... Couldn't stop sipping the coffee while looking the heavy downpour of snow outside... I spaced out for a long while. This coffee shop cum lunch place, certainly gives me a good experience. Will totally come back for the environment.. maybe not the lunch box anymore.. It's not worth it =p ... try it once is good enough.

Man, the guy behind Miss Lee, successfully scammed me and theQings' 5500w for the simple lunch box =p ..

The table next to use :" (smiled) Bon Voyage~ "

farewell Miss Lee, till then!

Korean BBQ

18.11.11 Gangnam, Seoul



Korean is another asian country, heading to this place is as asian as it can be. People stopping u on the street grabbing ur arm and ask u come to their restaurant. Start gossiping and backbiting about other restaurant saying that they dont have that dont have this. Mines better and theirs sucks! very fun. It's like in malaysia everyone is "lengzai" or "lenglui" when u wanna buy stuff from Cheecheongkai



My first Korean BBQ. I guess i am really shallow about what Korean culture didnt know they have this specific BBQ very korean style. It's always happy whenever u eat a korean meal. So many side dishes. The table just lighten up with the colours from the food, dippings and the red kimchi!





and not to forget soju as well. not a big fan of it but since i am here... cheers man!





yet another fun filling and satisfying meal =D and we smell like BBQ