10Jan / 2025

Mixed Plate Friday

Marron & Tiramisu Cream Bread

Were you folks into the Culinary Class Wars craze when the show first premiered? Chan and I was, it was a great show! I am so excited for season 2. I liked Edward Lee but I was actually happy Napoli Matfia won – though I wonder how he would have fared if he had to take part in the tofu challenge. Sorry, are these spoilers? You should have watched it already!

Anyway, one of the dishes Napolia Matfia won was for his chestnut tiramisu recipe where he utilized ingredients from a convenience store. Korea is so smart, they were able to turn it around and create the dishes for sale in their stores real quick. Of course it was always sold out. I never found the tiramisu dessert but found the bread and had to try it!

How was it? Eh, just alright. It’s a very rich and dense chestnut cream in soggy bread. Not great. I wonder if I would have liked the actual tiramisu dessert if I found it. Maybe I should have just tried the cheetos ice cream (lol).

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08Jan / 2025

Jirisan – Hamyang, Korea

We drove up to Jirisan for some scenic pictures. It was beautiful up there, a perfectly crisp Autumn day. I just did some quick research and it’s the second highest mountain in Korea!

The trees were all different autumunal colors and it was gorgeous. Nice and chilly up top too! I don’t know how many mountain pictures you want to see so why not share the cafe we went to there!

Cafe Yodojae

It’s a cute space but not a cafe I would recommend to go to out of your way, just to pop in if you’re already in the area.

Chan’s Drink – I forgot what it is haha

Affogato!

Affogato for me because I love affogato. Did you know that the ice cream has no calories when it’s renamed a coffee drink? Don’t check on that.

Cranberry Nut Bread

I think that’s what this was. I didn’t realize it was a whole freaking loaf of bread haha. I just wanted to try their clotted cream and it sounded like it would go well with this bread. Well the workers were not so friendly and this bread was basically cold. Wish it could have been warmed up a bit because I was trying it with….

English Clotted Cream

I’ve been wanting to try this for ages and it was disappointing. I think it might have been because the bread was cold and doughy. I’m not out there dying to try clotted cream again anytime soon. If anyone likes clotted cream, please tell me how you eat it! I’ve seen it sold at Foodland Farms.

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06Jan / 2025

Hamyang Family Breakfast #2

Yes, you heard it here first folks. Another round of breakfast at the favorite Auntie’s house. I don’t mind SWEATING MY BUTT off for this. Heated floor, home and sofa be damned – we ready for grind! Dare I say…this breakfast might have been better than the first??

Like, even the fried piece of spam as. Although, is fried spam ever bad? I think I like Korean spam more than American spam. I’ll laugh if it’s the same spam lol.

Had to take two pictures to get all the dishes in. Yup, just sliced potatoes fried with spam – freaking good. Simple dishes are always best.

Star dish of the day, stir fry octopus. Man, this trip really awakened my love for octopus. There’s no way to replicate this kind of cooking, I could never find this anywhere else. It tastes as good as it looks folks.

Of course gotta have soup and rice. Gosh, I don’t even know what kind of greens were in this soup. I should ask Chan. There’s my bowl of rice with spam of course. I think the egg omelette had spam too, three spam dishes, no can go wrong! I miss these breakfasts…*sniff*…

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23Dec / 2024

Hamyang Family Dinner #2

Amazing banchan of course. Would you expect anything less?

Could even get all the banchan in one shot! Each banchan was delicious.

Fried Yellow Croaker

Sorry if the eyes freak you out. I’ve always seen this on TV but never had it myself. It’s super good. A bit dangerous since it’s so bony. You really have to be careful when you eat this dish. I guess that’s what makes each morsel taste so good.

Jeju Black Pig

So soft and tender! Delicious.

Miyeokguk (Seaweed Soup with Beef)

Yummy, such a nice warming dish. I know this is traditionally a birthday dish, I don’t think it was anyone’s birthday that night? Anyway, another wonderful dinner. Good times with such a warm and welcoming family, just warms your heart!

I’m going to take a brief break from posting during the holiday week so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you in 2025 and stay safe!

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20Dec / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

A bunch of bananas

Yup. Dole Bananas. After we returned our car in Jinju, I visited the emart before we loaded into the train to busan (ha-ha). I like bananas so why not. And they already yellow and Dole? Can trust right? The bunch of bananas had a bit of a journey. I may have dropped it here and there but they made it safely to Busan. After all that hassle, I tried a banana the next day and it was AWFUL. Oh my god I have never had a worse banana. Anyway, I think I tried a banana (non-Dole) at the airport lounge before coming home and that one was good. This was a big no-no.

Hawaiian Paradise Coffee Cafe

Look! A cute cafe in the Busan Train Station! It was pretty busy all the time. We don’t even have one of these here in Hawaii. I didn’t get to try it because I’m not much of a coffee drinker and there was a Krispy Kreme right across the way so I of course had to eat donuts.

Perilla Oil

Like I mentioned in the previous post, I learned the power of perilla oil during this trip. Just some oil in a dish with salt and you’ve got yourself liquid gold dipping sauce. We bought a pack of perilla oil at the Costco in Korea and it tastes SO good. I wonder if we have this brand here…

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18Dec / 2024

Hamyang Daebong Mountain Valley Monorail

Chan’s Uncle bought us all tickets to visit Hamyang Daebong Mountain Valley Monorail. I knew nothing about this and came into it blind, apparently it’s a fairly new recreation spot with the longest monorail in Korea. If you know me at all, I cannot handle any kind of rides. I get air sick and sea sick…motion sick in general but I popped my bonine and was ready.

Apparently you can zipline here too. Ha I say. Because I can’t.

Monorail

Here’s the monorail. It’s very small and VERY VERY SLOW. I have never wanted a ride to go faster in my life. It felt like you’re slowly clicking-clacking up the rails. It felt so long lol. I didn’t get sick. The ride down was worse because you’re basically squished into the seats in front of you.

Also! They weigh you before loading you into the monorail. Don’t worry, they basically weigh your group of passengers, not just one person at a time. Well, we got placed in a monorail with our own group which was completely fine with me. On the return trip, the guy doesn’t use a scale and said he uses his eyes and added two people to our rail. It’s okay, I came back alive.

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16Dec / 2024

Hamyang Family Breakfast #1

Breakfast #1 Spread

It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that my favorite meals during the trip was cooked by Chan’s Aunt, particularly this Aunt. She invited us to breakfast twice and both times were immaculate. You can tell the dishes were all made with such love, so much variety and so much fresh options. I wish I could eat like this all the time.

I wish I had the names of all the dishes but I don’t, sorry! This was like stirfried sliced meat dish. There was acorn jelly on the table which I wouldn’t surprised if she made that herself from scratch. My favorite on the table was absolutely the sliced octopus. She serves it up with perilla oil and salt basically. This trip is what made me fall in love with perilla oil. Good perilla oil that is.

Yes, I know, it’s just a bowl of rice. Well not just. It of course has some good beans in it, so good. Everything was so good. Insert crying emoji here because I miss this food so much!

Then she served up sliced pears on the little forks. I really felt like I was in a Korean drama. My only complaint? The heat in the apartment! I guess older folks like it warm so not only is their heater on, the floor is heated and the couch was a heated stone. OMG, us “youngins” were dying of heat. I couldn’t stand it and just wanted to walk around outside to enjoy the actual cold weather!

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13Dec / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Korean Corn

When we first arrived in Hamyang, it was in the early afternoon so it wasn’t time for lunch or dinner yet. As any Asian does, they start bringing all kine foods to the guest to eat. This was one of them! Simple steamed corn. I have never seen corn like this before but I have to eat it once offered! It was interesting. Waxy and chewy, I was a little confused at first but started to enjoy it afterwards.

Paris Baguette

Hamyang was a small town but they have a lot of the big franchises still. There was a Paris Baguette right by the hotel so we grabbed a quick lunch one day from there. Look at these cute mini hamburgers! The veggies look nice and fresh too. Chan and I enjoyed it! How come our Paris Baguette here doesn’t have this kine!

Before you ask, no I didn’t try it. Sorry, I know I try all kine stuff for you folks on this blog but I had to draw the line. Haha nah, it’s only cause I had access to so much good homecooked food in Hamyang that I didn’t want to waste my stomach space eating this. Curious about the combo, but not enough to eat it. Sorry.

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11Dec / 2024

Hamyang Family Dinner #1

We visited Chan’s mother’s side of the family in Hamyang. We stayed in a local hotel but everyone was basically a 3-5 minute drive for us. It’s a really small town but I loved it. His family are so loving and warm and they all were AMAZING chefs. One of the Aunts owns a restaurant so we got to grind so much good food every night. First night? Hanwoo beef, Korean beef! It’s like eating the wagyu A5 of Korea, they bought the plus plus version of it (aka $$$).

Mushroom Medley – peek that fluff ball! Does anyone know what that mushroom is called??

Here is the fluff ball unfluffed. They just dipped it raw in sesame oil with salt. It was delicious. A bit of a nutty flavor, I really enjoyed it!

HELLO. Look at that marbling. So good. Everyone super enjoyed the dinner. That meat was crazy.

No real dipping sauce needed or seasoning. They chopped up green onions seasoned it with sesame oil and salt and I’m sure other seasoning that we ate with the meat. It was the perfect accompaniment.

End the meal with a simple Doenjang jigae. Nice warm soup to warm up in the increasingly cold weather!

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09Dec / 2024

Train to Busan | Korean Rest Stop!

Everytime we said we had to take a train to busan, Chan would laugh. I think he is imagining me getting eaten by zombies but we’ll talk about that at another time. We took a train out to busan which then became the train to Jinju which is the closest stop to Chan’s family’s hometown of Hamyang.

I got a cute little kimbap/cone sushi pack from the train station for the ride. Was good! Nothing to write home about. I was surprised by the lack of bentos at the huge train station. They have eateries and convenience stores but even the convenience stores don’t have much of a bento selection (if any at all).

Jinju!!

From Jinju, we had to drive out to Hamyang. I forgot the exact distance. Maybe an hour and a half? So yes, Chan had to get his international license and drove in Korea! Rented this big van for all of us to fit in. Very comfortable and nice van. Chan did a great job driving through the countryside. There were a LOT of tight roads in the country side but he navigated through them with ease!

Before we reached Hamyang, we stopped at a Korean rest stop. I was so excited lol.

I love me some Engrish signs. I can assure you, if you bite me I will not love you. Hahaha! I didn’t try their buns so I can’t testify this statement.

The main eatery in the rest stop operates through a ticket ordering system. Order your meal from the machine and wait for your number to be called. Easy peasy!

Bibimbap

Chan and his family got noodles and I went for the rice. No regerts, I love the different vegetables they use! It was delicious.

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Category Archives: Travel

Mixed Plate Friday

Jirisan – Hamyang, Korea

Hamyang Family Breakfast #2

Hamyang Family Dinner #2

Mixed Plate Friday

Hamyang Daebong Mountain Valley Monorail

Hamyang Family Breakfast #1

Mixed Plate Friday

Hamyang Family Dinner #1

Train to Busan | Korean Rest Stop!