ten-ele-ven

Seoul: Gamjatang At Onedang In Myeongdong

The first thing we did after checking into our hotel at Myeongdong – the Ibis Myeongdong – was to look for a place to have dinner. For a long time, we have been experiencing massive cravings for good Korean food and drew up a mental list of must-eats during this trip.

There were sooooooo many things that we wanted to eat, but decided on gamjatang at Onedang, an eatery located somewhere in Myeongdong near the KEB Plaza (on the side of Myeongdong that is closer to the Eujiro 1-ga subway station or Chonggyecheon stream). A steaming pot of spicy soup was exactly what we needed after stepping off the plane and to warm us up in the cold weather.

We visted this eatery during our last trip in 2010 and thought it was good enough to merit a repeat visit.

Back to gamjatang, a spicy pork bone and potato stew.

We ordered the smallest-sized portion, which came in a big pot containing four thick pieces of pork bone with meat so flavourful and tender that chunks of it were falling off the bone, and loads of mountain vegetables and Korean vermicelli that I love. The spicy broth was as wonderful as we remember it to be, except that it was a bit too salty and we felt immensely thirsty after the meal.

I had some soju with my dinner too, and that probably added to the feeling of thirst.

A pot of gamjatang, before mixing and cooking the ingredients. I love the perilla leaves that are added to the stew because they lend a lovely flavour to the dish.

After mixing and cooking all the ingredients into the spicy broth.

As the broth boils down, it starts to thicken and you can add rice or noodles to finish off the meal. We were too stuffed and gave this a miss.

Looking at these picture make me want another pot of gamjatang right now.

Shopfront of Onedang. I forgot to mention that this eatery is open 24 hours. I really should get myself a map of Myeongdong and pencil in the locations of all the yummy eateries that we have visited in this shopping and eating belt.

~~Edit: The shop has moved away from this location. I have to find out where it has moved to!~~

Updated on 22 Jul 2014: Oh man, contrary to what I said before, this store has not moved away from its old location in Myeongdong. It just underwent some renovation, and is now back in business. I am soooooo happy! OneDang is directly opposite Hotel Skypark Myeongdong and Cafe Droptop (between Ediya Coffee and 7-11)

Peekture: Hamburger Steak At Ma Maison

I love hamburger steaks. The presentation of my plate of hamburger steak at Ma Maison is pretty.

The first time I ate one was during a trip to Tokyo more than 10 years ago. My friend who loves hamburger steak insisted that I order one, but refused to tell me what it was all about. This crazy friend of mine eats her hamburger steak with a side order of rice.

I cannot remember what I was expecting of a ‘hamburger steak’ but it definitely was not a naked beef patty drenched in a brown sauce. It looked nothing like a steak, and if it was a ‘hamburger’, where were the buns…?!

A Good Weekend In Melaka: Milk Crabs At Restoran Lee

We ate milk crabs at Restoran Lee (also known as Fei Li), an old coffeeshop located along Jln Munshi Abdullah, across the road from Bayview Hotel. They were very, very delicious!

Crabs cooked in milk, resulting in a thick, slightly salty-sweet sauce, were very tasty, especially when you dip piping hot buns in the sauce. This is Restoran Lee’s signature dish.

We stumbled upon this coffeeshop when we stayed at the Bayview Hotel during our last trip to Melaka. We were looking for a place to have dinner, and ventured into this coffeeshop across the road for some zichar. At the recommendation of the coffeeshop’s staff, we ordered the milk crabs and Thai curry crabs. Both dishes were excellent.

It was on this trip when we learnt that Restoran Lee is famous in Melaka, and decided to return to the coffeeshop to ‘whack’ more milk crabs. It was a shame that the eatery were short on crabs that day, and limited each table’s order to only TWO crabs.

TWO MISERABLE CRABS. For eight people. *sniffs*

We didn’t just eat crabs, but many other dishes. They were all quite good, but nothing beats the milk crabs. The street food in Malaysia is so good and cheap! Not that I am complaining, but I have to accept the fact that good hawker food may cease to exist in Singapore one of these days, and those that are still in business will probably charge quite a bit for their food. Afterall, how many people in the younger generation wants to wield the ladle and take over their parents’ hawker stalls and recipes?

Peekture: Pig In A Cup

Dimbulah coffee.

This is the first time I have seen this latte art design. Kawaii!

Peekture: Lantern In A Shophouse

In an old shophouse in Melaka. So many people (including my friends and me) were standing under this lantern, trying to take a shot of it from this angle. My neck hurt afterwards.

Peekture: The Singapore Flyer

I have yet to take a ride on the Singapore Flyer.

A Good Weekend In Melaka: Chendol From QQ Ice

We ate our first bowl of chendol in Melaka at QQ Ice, a shop located somewhere along Jonkers Street. After walking around in the burning afternoon heat, this bowl of chendol heaped with gula melaka was a wonderful respite and thirst-quencher. I finished my bowl in double-quick time.

Not totally satisfied, I ordered a bowl of mango dessert, which turned out to be even better than the chendol!

Peekture: A Great Friday Afternoon

^ Carrot cake. I just realised from looking at this photo that the cream cheese piping on the cake as well as the strawberries on the side are shaped to resemble a carrot.

I took this afternoon off. Had sushi lunch with two of my colleagues. Did a manicure. Had coffee and carrot cake with two friends at Culina in Dempsey. Did a facial at MASK and trimmed my eyebrows at Browhaus. Ate Teochew porridge dinner with the husband and a friend at Beo Crescent.

Came home and set up the broadband at my new place. Finally, I have proper Internet connection and no longer need to rely on my iPhone hotspot.

It was a good way to end a rather busy week.

Jeju: Jeju Museum of Art

We visited Jeju’s Museum of Art, and spent one morning wandering around the museum grounds.

Honestly, I don’t remember what exhibits we saw in the museum, but I remember very well the architecture of the museum.

I like this sort of architecture: cement, glass and steel in simple, clean lines.

A Good Weekend in Melaka: Masjid Selat Melaka

We drove to this mosque – also known as the Floating Mosque – after our Lin Heng breakfast.

The mosque makes a stunning picture, jutting out of the coastline of a man-made island in Melaka. The scenery must be gorgeous during sunrise. Unfortunately, we were not appropriately dressed to enter the mosque, so we just hung around outside, under the burning hot sun.

I am a little fascinated by the architecture of mosques; the ones in Singapore are very nice too. They have such colourful and interesting exterior designs, and I haven’t seen two mosques that look similar.

Sometime back, I gave myself a small photography project, which is to take photos of all the mosques in Singapore. I have managed only two so far.

A Good Weekend In Melaka: Kaya Toast At Lin Heng

Lin Heng is a Hainanese kopitiam in Melaka which sells kaya toast, kopi and wantan mee. I visited it for the first time in 2009 and was really happy to see that it is still around.

The coffeeshop looks ancient. Hanging out in very old pre-war, high-ceiling coffeshops like Lin Heng is one reason why I like visiting Melaka. It has been decades since the coffeeshop has been renovated and the place looks like it is falling apart.

Everything in Lin Heng seems to belong to a bygone era. The coffee-shop still uses charcoal to heat water for making coffee and grill slices of bread. I think the only new things in the coffeeshop are the green plastic chairs. It is as though modern technology bypassed this place. But who knows, the coffeeshop might just surprise me and be wired to the Internet. So I tested to see if it had wi-fi connection…and there was none.

It is difficult to find such kopitiams in Singapore these days. Many of the old-world coffeeshops have made way for the cookie-cutter, air-conditioned, modern foodcourts that are everywhere in this island.

Chin Mee Chin at Katong and this coffeeshop in Lengkok Bahru that I visit from time to time for its steamed bread are about the only places that I know which have retained that old-world charm, but I don’t know for how long a time will they be around for.

The coffeeshop owner told us that he had to get a craftsman to construct the charcoal-fired boiler that the coffeeshop uses to heat up water, he feels that it might be difficult to replace it when the boiler conks out. He also said that Lin Heng is the only coffeeshop in Melaka that still uses charcoal to boil water. Water that has been heated by charcoal tastes better than water that has been heated up by gas…? Perhaps. I cannot really tell.

^ That’s our inquisitive friend asking all sorts of questions about the charcoal-fired boiler.

While toasted bread with butter and kaya is a favourite with most people, I personally prefer steamed bread with only butter. I am not a fan of kaya, and I usually scrape it off my toasted bread whenever I eat this.

I hope Lin Heng will still be around the next time I visit Melaka. I cannot quite remember the exact address of Lin Heng but I know it is somewhere along Jln Munshi Abdullah, across the road from a lantern shop.

Seoul: Teahouse In Insadong

Ginger tea from my favourite teahouse in Insadong. The quaint teahouse is also called Insadong.

I cannot wait to go back for another cup soon.

Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack

I have read nearly all 17 volumes of Osamu Tezuka’s well-known manga, Black Jack. I don’t yet own all copies of the English-translated manga, but I aim to get there some day. I like Tezuka’s art. His characters are quite Betty Boop-ish in style, and they are drawn in strokes that are bold and clear. It is very easy to follow the story through each frame.

Recently, I started watching the anime on Youtube. The anime has over 80 episodes (almost like a long-running Hong Kong or Taiwanese soap drama), and I have watched approximately 15% of the episodes so far.

^ Photo from Vertical, Inc.

Black Jack is a gifted but unlicensed medical doctor who operates on patients in the back of his house. He is not accepted in the mainstream medical society, yet he is sought after by doctors and patients for his superhuman ability to cure almost any illness. He is a bit like Batman or Robin Hood, someone who goes around helping the poor and needy while teaching the rich and arrogant a lesson. Regardless of one’s background, Black Jack asks for exorbitant medical fees, not because he is greedy, but because he wants to make sure that patients who seek his help understands that the value of life is worth far more than dollars and cents. He is a physician who doesn’t just cure people’s bodies, but mends their souls and hearts as well.

The anime is good fun to watch. While it follows the manga pretty closely, the anime feels alot lighter, and more humourous than the manga, which has a sombre undertone and at times, comes across as dark and depressing. The anime expanded the role of Pinoko-chan, and introduced a new character called Sharaku, as her close friend as well as a pet dog. I don’t recall characters such as Sharaku and the pet dog appearing in the manga.

Each story in the manga/anime is a standalone one, so you don’t have to start right at the beginning to be able to follow the story, but they are all full of warmth, and focuses on the messages of human decency, compassion and the value of life.

Good stuff.