Ah Gu's Pan Mee at Lorong Selamat review.

Today my family and I decided to visit Ah Gu's Pan Mee located at Lorong Selamat. The Pan Mee shop used to be from Kampong Malabar but now the owner has rented or owned a shop lot of his own so he need not share with a coffee shop. It's clean, neat and air-conditioned with fans. 

 

Standard Pan Mee costs RM 6.00 however the Dried pan mee is only RM 5.50. Mom and I ordered the Dried Spicy Pan Mee which is RM 6.30. The other pan mee dishes do not have anchovies but the standard pan mee comes with anchovies, black fungus and noodles can either be thin, flat or broad.

One can ordered extra dishes such as mushroom chicken feet which costs RM 7.00 for 7 piecs of feet. The gravy is pretty nice cooked with bunga lawang, star anis and some herbs. There is also fried enoki mushrooms, fried salmon skin and one can even order extra sides on the noodles - extra anchovies, extra meat, extra vege, hard boiled egg...etc.

We ordered soy bean drink which is RM 2.50.
Overall, we loved it. It was tasty and prices were reasonable. You need to go early to secure
a parking spot in front of the shop.

Price: 3.5/5 stars
Ambiance: 4/5 stars
Food: 4/5 stars

Review on A Violent Prosecutor 검사외전 movie.

At last I have managed to watch the K-movie A Violent Prosecutor 검사외전 which was released in February this year. MH airplane subbed the movie and I've watched it twice on my way back from AU and on my way back from Seoul to Malaysia. Starring A-list actors Hwang Jung Min and Kang Dong Won. Also co-starring in the movie are Lee Sung Min, Park Sung Woong, Kim Byung Ok, Han Chae Young and Shin So Yul. 

Prosecutor Byun Jae Wook (Hwang) is rather impatient and hot tempered when he comes to handling cases. One day when he was handling a case, mysteriously a suspect died from asthma attack under Byun's interrogation room. Everything was blamed on him and he was put behind bars. His boss Jong Gil (Lee) promised to get him out of there provided he admitted he was guilty but nothing was done later on. 

Byun learned that his boss has betrayed him and set him up to prison. While in prison, Byun met with a bunch of criminals whom he helped them in many cases. Many of his inmates became close friends with him. Then one day a young fraudster Han Chi Won (Kang) came into the prison and became Byun's underling. Byun taught him to go straight and even asked him to investigate further on his case when he was released out.

Byun and Chi Won started to plan to get a re-trial session since Byun was innocently framed for the murder he didn't commit. The two realized that Jong Gil is starting to contest for a Presidential candidate and did many illegal things without anyone's notice. Byun teaches Chi Won to grab Prosecutor Min Woo's attention (Park) since he only wanted to be a star rather than doing the legal way. Jong Gil tried every way to stop Byun and Chi Won from applying for the re-trial at the court. He even bribed the police and guards in the prison to make life difficult for Byun. 

With Chi Won's smart ideas, they managed to get Min Woo to side with them and summon Jong Gil as a witness in the re-trial session. There was no way Jong Gil could escape and pretended to smile in front of the media. On the day of the re-trial session, Jong Gil bribed one of close inmate to stab Byun in order to prevent him from going to court. Chi Won and Prosecutor Min Woo panicked however at the last minute Byun turned up looking fine and carried out with the case. Chi Won and Byun have collected many evidence and recording of Jong Gil's conversation that he was the one who killed the suspect 5 years ago in the interrogation room!

The judge couldn't do anything after all everyone heard the recording and messages of

Jong Gil's wrongdoings. Still he didn't admit his mistakes and shouted back angrily at Byun for framing him back. At last the judges sentenced Jong Gil for murder and covering up all the mistakes all these years. Byun stood in front of the court admitting he was indeed a violent prosecutor in those days however those 5 years he had served in prison was sufficient to cover his mistakes. He has already paid his price and he requests to return back to the society.

Byun was released out from prison with Chi Won waiting for him outside the gate with a slab of tofu. It's a tradition that one has to eat the fresh tofu upon coming out from prison or police station so that bad omens are over. Byun smiled and told Chi Won to lead a honest life in future- no swindling innocent women's money. 

It was a great movie, interesting and happy ending too. 

What I love most is during the election at Pohang, Chi Won dressed up as a voluntary worker dancing excitedly to the Bombastic song! It has gathered lots of attention. In fact the song became so famous after fellow actor Park Bo Gum followed a bit of the choreography from Kang Dong Won in the movie for the drama Moonlight drawn by Clouds. 

Review on Ivy's Nyonya Cuisine at Chow Thye Road.

I was dying to have some Nyonya cuisine in Penang as it's rather difficult to find such cuisine in Melbourne. It's a dying food tradition except the cuisines are still maintained in Penang, Malacca and Singapore. So we happened to read some reviews on Trip Advisor and blogs stating Ivy's Nyonya Cuisine at Chow Thye Road in Penang is good.

We arrived earlier at 11.45 am so we sat outside to wait. On Weds on wards, the restaurant opens at 12 noon till late evening. The restaurant guy provided us with some menu set and recommended some dishes for us. We ordered the menu set for 2 pax- RM 65.00 consists of a small plate of Jiu Hoo Char, some lettuce and sambal to accompany with it, a plate of Stingray Gulai Tumis, 4 pieces of Inche Cabin chicken, 4 pieces of Assam Prawns, a bowl of Fish Maw soup and 2 tiny bowls of dessert- Bee Koh Moey and Red Bean Soup. In addition of that, we ordered another small plate of Fish Otak (RM 15.00). 

Everything else was okay except the winter barley drink costs RM 4.00 each which was extremely exorbitant price! A small plate of nuts costs RM 3.00 and a big bowl of white rice costs RM 8.00.

For 4 people in a menu set including 4 barley drinks, a plate of Otak, not sufficient enough for the price charged to customers. Even the cooking for the food took forever to come. 

Price: 2/5 stars
Ambiance: 3/5 stars
Taste: 3/5 stars
Location: 2/5 stars -- very hard to find parking.
Overall: 2/5 stars

Would I go back again? NO...too pricey unless they bring down the price or increase the portion of the dishes. The drink prices need to be reviewed. 

Park Bo Gum thanked the love he has received.

Budding rising star Park Bo Gum (23) felt he has received so much love and support from the fans and public. He mentioned there was a scripted line in the drama- 사랑받았던 기억이 누군가에게는 평생을 살아가는 데 큰 힘이 될지 누가 아느냐. This means for someone to receive so much love, it's like a lifetime memory enabling one with great strength to live on. Just as he is right now, Park is receiving so much attention and love from the public, he sincerely thanked everyone and will never forget this moment. 

He felt he didn't deserve so much love and attention however his recent KBS drama Moonlight Drawn By Clouds (directed by PD Kim Seung Yoon and writer Kim Min Jung, Im Yeh Jin) has skyrocketed the popularity of the main and second leads. When asked about his innocent and kind image, he said he has always lived an honest straight life. He will continue on with this life towards the future and will not lose faith in it. The historical drama became the second half of the year most successful drama from KBS station with viewers ratings of 22.9%.

Park who played the role of Crown Prince Lee Young in the drama has an innocent personality while experiencing many kinds of difficulties in politics and family affairs including his sacrifice for his love. He is a rookie compared to actor Kim Soo Hyun who fared so well in another historical MBC drama Moon Embraces the Sun. Meanwhile with Song Joong Ki dominating the drama list for his super hit Descendants of the Sun, Park felt it's still a long way to catch up to his seniors. 

The recent fan sign session held at Gyeongbukgong Palace on 19th October- straight after the finale of Moonlight Drawn by Clouds drama has attracted nearly 5000 people. Only the lucky 200 fans managed to grab their autographs and shook hands with the leads. 

Park said he's trying to remember each and every face of the fans who queued up to see them but it's difficult. He laughs saying he wanted at least a minute or more with the fans however time was limited. The queue was long and he has to be careful with the audience as he doesn't want anything bad to happen. Moonlight was Park's very first historical drama as a lead. He frequently accessed himself on his acting skills and felt he's still lacking a lot compared to the veterans. He knows he has to work harder in the future.

He did give the credits to the production team and rest of the casts for the success of the drama. The drama is not about him, it is about everyone who has contributed so much into it. During the first shooting of the drama, he knew he had a lot of mistakes and had to learn from there. He did his best in the rest of the episodes where it turned out to be great.
Now everyone is focusing on what Park will be heading towards his future- next film or next drama? 

Park is known for his magic charms towards everyone who worked or filmed with him. He promised he will go all the way- honest and straight without wavering. 
Well done on Bo Gum! 

CNBLUE Jung Yong Hwa to proceed with legal action.

CNBLUE Band leader and vocalist, Jung Yong Hwa has planned to take serious legal action against those who are spreading malicious rumors about him. 

According to his agent FNC Entertainment, Jung is not kidding and will pursue on action for false defamatory.

Previously there were many issues, malware, online personal slander and attacks on Jung via various websites, communities, chat rooms and online portals. FNC Entertainment has already gathered all the additional data along with information and will start looking seriously into it. 

Visit to Jung Mi and Ki-Sun's apartment in Seoul.

This October trip to Seoul was memorable as I managed to catch up with my three Korean girl friends. We met them at Namseong station and headed to Ki-Sun's newly moved apartment. She has just given birth 4 months ago to a baby girl Joo Ha. Her husband Park has changed to another anti-virus company and came back late.

Since Ki-Sun cannot move around easily with her baby girl, Jin Mi, Jung Mi and our entire family decided to visit her apartment. It was a tiny place where you cannot place big sofa and table in the living room. The girls ordered delivery - Chinese food. We had Jajjangmyeon (black bean noodles), Jjambong (Hot spicy seafood noodles soup), Tangsuyuk (Sweet and spicy fried pork), steamed and pan-fried dumplings (mandoo), chapjae bap (glass noodles with rice) and other dishes for dinner.

As usual, we had to sit cross legged on the floor to eat with papers laid on the floor to avoid the mess and sauce. Once dinner is done, we had coffee/tea with some fruits for dessert. The night was getting late while we cannot afford to waste time for Park and Ki-Sun needs to catch up some sleep with the little one. We quickly took the subway back to Myeongdong.

On Sunday afternoon, Jung Mi invited us to her new apartment whereby she and her husband Shin were busy preparing a feast for us. They cooked green scallion pancakes, chapjae, greek salad, baked pumpkin with smoked duck topped with grilled cheese, kimchi fried rice and some beer. We felt guilty after eating so much so we decided to head to Jayang Market (their local market) to walk around. I was tempted to buy the Korean small table but it was not that nice so the girls advised me to buy later.

Visit to Jimjilbang (Korean bath house) at Yongsan.

After watching so many K-dramas, we have never been to Jimjilbang (Korean bath house). On a nice sunny Sunday morning, the temperature was only 2 degrees in Seoul. We took the subway to Yongsan and headed to Dragon Hill Spa and Resort. The place is just on Exit 1 out from Yongsan station. It opens 24 hours and many tourists along with locals visit the place for relaxation and spa. 

 

 

Dragon Hill Spa and Resort offer many things for playing, relaxation especially couples and kids. There are many levels where once you pay the entrance fee of KRW$12,000 and you are given a key to your shoe and clothes locker. Men and women have different elevators to head to their changing rooms where you see many naked people walking around! *shock!*

But after a while you get used to it with many naked bods in your bathroom area. You are given a pair of towels and clothes to slip into. Each level has a snack bar and even Korean restaurant to serve food. I got a bowl of 3 charcoal eggs and some tea to drink. 

And remember you need to roll your towel into the 'ram head' - or what they called 'yang mori' as what you have seen in the dramas or movies. He he! If you're not sure, you can ask the Ahjumma at the snack bar for help OR...just google it in YouTube to learn it on your own.

There is a level for video games arcade, karaoke rooms (noraebang) where you just need to scan your locker tag- KRW$4500 for 20 minutes to sing. Everything is in Korean so you need to know how to read them to select your songs to sing. Hah! I managed to sing 4-5 songs in the little karaoke room. In the main floor area, you can see many couples or families lying down sleeping and resting area. There is free Wi-Fi in each level as well.

Overall it was a nice experience to see what locals do during the weekend and whatever you see in K-dramas or K-Movies, it's exactly the same in the Korean bath house. There are many rooms with hot sauna and temperatures, salt, sand and even ice room to experience. You don't need to bath naked in Jimjilbang. I wore my lingerie with the clothes in it. Easy!
After enjoying your day trip in the bath house, change back to your clothes and shoes, head downstairs with your locker key to scan out. The food, karaoke were excluded from the entrance fee- you just need to pay the balance. 

Visit to Gwanghwamun Sq and glimpse of Park Bo Gum.

It was 28th October and weather was promising. The sun decided to show itself later in the a.m. We slept in because we decided not to head to Seokcho because Dad couldn't get used to the windy roads and long bus ride. Our itinerary has switched and planned to visit King Sejong's statue at Gwanghwamun Square. 

It was 9.30 am and we came down from our hotel towards the Myeongdong subway station. We saw a small crowd tussling near the VPROVE Daily Dermatology store in front of Nature Republic. It's a new skincare brand endorsed by actor Park Bo Gum. There were many security guarding the area and asking the crowd to make way for the moving traffic. A Japanese lady politely asked me who is coming and two Korean girls told her Park Bo Gum is really coming to officiate the store. 

We need not wait for long when a big black van parked straight in front of the cosmetics store and the actor just strutted his way in. Fans cheered as he quickly made a short tour around the store with press busily snapping photographs. We stood outside eager to catch a glimpse of him and surprisingly he stepped out and waved to all of us. Tall, lean and very young looking, Park Bo Gum smiled and stood at the van's side step for some fan service. It was quick but we managed to snap a photo of him smiling to the fans. As we finished watching the drama Moonlight drawn by Clouds, we saw the real actor too! Hah!

 

As for lunch, we headed to the famous Tosokchon Samgyetang shop at Gyeongbokgung area. The restaurant is so packed with tourists from all over the world. It has many types of ginseng chicken soup- the traditional one, black chicken, roast chicken and other dishes. I can bet almost 85% were tourists in the restaurant. It was a torture for my parents to sit cross legged eating samgyetang- uncomfortable, narrow and very packed with visitors. Each samgyetang costs KRW$16,000 and it's only a small bird (a small chook!) so it's manageable to finish the entire bowl without any problem!

After dossing down the ginseng chicken soup, we were sweating as it's hot and packed in the shop. We took the subway to Insadong at Anguk station to look at some traditional handicrafts. For tea, we had traditional snacks such as tteok and persimmon tea punch. The rice cakes were hand made and considered healthy food. They are either citron, red bean, bean powder, mango and sweet potato based. Traditional snacks are not cheap as they are sold individually or in a nicely wrapped box. You can find cheaper rice cakes and songpyeong near the Nakwon alley. 

Day trip to Korean Folk Village in Yongin.

Third day in Seoul, so my parents, bro and myself decided to take a long trip down to Korean Folk Village 한국민속촌 at Yongin. We took the subway to Sinnohyeon at Gangnam and then the bus 5001-1 to Korean Folk Village. 

The village fee entrance costs KRW$15,000 but we had the coupon for discount so the adult entrance fee is KRW$10,000. This doesn't include any other rides. The village boasts many attractions for filming historical dramas such as Moon Embraces the Sun, Jang Ok Jung, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Hwang Jini, Jackpot, Six Flying Dragons, Arang and the Magistrate, movies such as The Face Reader, The King and the Clown and Kundo: Age of the Rampant. 

There are various performances for tourists and locals. We manage to watch the Farmer's Dance and Equestrian Acrobat. However we missed the traditional wedding ceremony at the Nobleman's House. The village area is very spacious and big. It has a river and folk museum. Buses were everywhere catering for children, old folks and mentally disabled people. We enjoyed seeing the various spots for the drama filming. There is an open food court for locals to feast their hunger and quench their thirst. A 1 litre of makgeoli costs only KRW$7000 but it was too huge for us to finish. 

The autumn foliage is beautiful with many colors of trees turning from green to yellow and red. The maple leaves started to turn bright red and yellow which is so cool! 
After all it's a nice experience to see the different types of houses from peasant, farmer and nobleman and magistrate office. You can ride the bus 371 from Folk Village to Suwon train station. From Suwon, you can take the Line 1 back to Seoul station and switch to other lines.

 

Noryangjin Fisheries and Wholesale Market review

It was my first time visiting the new Noryangjin Fisheries and Wholesale Market. The wet market and restaurants are located in front of the subway station. There were hawkers selling many dried pollacks, seaweed, salted fish and dried seafood.

 

We headed into the new building and there were many fresh seafood in the tanks. Giant Russian crabs, snow crabs, big prawns, scallops, abalone, squids, octopus and other weird seafood. One ahjumma managed to grab onto us and brought us a big 2 kg king crab. It costs around KRW$51,000 and 4 abalones for KRW$10,000. Another ahjussi managed to fish out one black fish which is great for grilling. The fish is around KRW$20,000. 
A runner of the market brought us up to the restaurant to cook the seafood. 


The cooking fee is KRW$40,000 for side dishes, washing and cleaning. We were served our grilled butter abalones which turns out to be soft and succulent. Then came our grilled fish flesh was fresh and soft. Finally our long awaited king crab steamed for 1/2 hour. It was big and sweet! I must say I love this dish so much! U might find plenty of snow crabs in Japan but the king crab is a must to try in Noryangjin Fisheries. After lunch, we visited the old part of Noryangjin Market which was so run down and dirty looking. That is the reason the government is pushing all the vendors to move to the new building and demolish the old one.

We took the subway to Ehwa Women University 이화여자대학교 which is a private women university. The buildings are so beautiful and most significant part is the CC (Campus Complex) which is designed by a foreign architect. In 1886, the university was bestowed by King Gojong meant for the women to study. The shopping streets nearby Ehwa area are meant for students. For tea, we decided to have some green tea latte, cappuccino, taro latte and injeolmi patbingsu. 

For finishing off the day, we adjourned to Dongdaemun whereby there are many departmental stores- Doota, hello AmPm, Migliore...etc. Doota Duty Free was new and had Song Joong Ki to endorse it. There was even a level promoting Descendants of the Sun drama.