3 tasty, easy, and photogenic sandwiches

There's nothing better than making tasty food except for tasty BEAUTIFUL food that you can show off on Instagram, am I right or am I right? Just kidding but I'm sure it's one of the top 5 best things in the world (trying to make a reference to the season premiere of Game of Thrones season 5 which just came out last Sunday and oh man I could go on and on about it). Anyways, here are some of my favorite sandwiches of the moment to make that are all so simple and easy to whip up that you'll spend more time taking photos of these than you will spend making and eating them combined. These are perfect for a morning brunch, afternoon tea party, or special lunch party!

1. Cream Cheese with Dill and Smoked Salmon and/or Cucumber
This has got to be one of the best sandwiches out there. You can make these open faced or not (well I suppose any sandwich you can choose to cover or leave uncovered) but they definitely are easy to dress up with a sprig of dill resting on top. I say and/or regarding the smoked salmon and cucumber because both of them go SO well with cream cheese mixed with dill and together they're pretty bomb as well. I know cucumber butter sandwiches are like a thing but those just don't taste good in my opinion. Dill has a nice slightly spicy (but not actually) sharp flavor that really enhances the fresh cream cheese and the saltiness of the smoked salmon or the crisp watery taste of cucumber (make sure to have thin cucumber slices though or else it'll be too overpowering) - all of this comes together to make one of the best sandwiches ever. Honestly everyone gobbles these up when my sister and I make them.

To make this sandwich: I don't actually follow any specific recipe (though there are plenty out there online so feel free to Google if if you're a very exact precise measurement type of person) and just eyeball it. However, if I were to measure it, I'd say it's 1 tablespoon chopped dill to 4 oz (half a pack) of cream cheese. Of course this can be adjusted to your liking but I personally like more dill than less. You can mix these with a fork or a blender (I generally use a fork because less clean-up and since I don't usually work in large batches, a fork does the job just as quickly). Stir it all up, spread it on your bread (this can be a little difficult if the cream cheese is thick/cold/firm but it doesn't have to be an even layer - a nice sort of chunk looks just as nice like in the photo above), and top with smoked salmon or thinly sliced cucumber or both! I generally don't toast my bread for this sandwich but you totally can if you like; I just think a nice soft textured bread works well with the flavors of the sandwich fillings. I like to cut my bread for these type of sandwiches into small squares (usually about 4 squares per one slice of bread) so you get a small tear of smoked salmon and/or a half or quarter slice of cucumber (if your bread squares are large enough or you're making a full sandwich, you can obviously keep your cucumber slices whole and layer them). For open faced sandwiches, it looks nice if you take a small leaf/sprinkle of dill and place it on top as I did in the photo above. The photo right below (from my previous post actually), I didn't have dill so used thyme but I wanted to include this photo so you could get some idea on how to arrange cucumber and smoked salmon on your sandwich. The second photo down shows salmon with dill and cream cheese. I used two different types of smoked salmon in the sandwiches below (if you're wondering why the color difference).

2. Hummus, Pesto, and Tomato 
This is one of my newer sandwich tries and oh my, I'm so sad I didn't try this out earlier. This combination is AMAZING. I initially was thinking just hummus and tomato topped with a basil leaf (saw it on Pinterest) but then I had pesto spread in our refrigerator so thought I'd try it out and golly me, it was heavenly. I would highly recommend toasting your bread for this sandwich because the crunch of the bread helps balance out the soft texture of the hummus and pesto, as well as the moistness of the tomato. Plus, this sandwich looks good with the crust left on so less work for you right?

To make this sandwich: Toast bread (I think wheat or some other non-white bread would go best with the fillings but I used white and it tastes just as good). Allow to cool somewhat before spreading on an even layer of hummus (so it doesn't melt or get weird and soft) and then spread on a less even layer of pesto. Thickness is up to you but I'd say don't be too shy! Top with slice(s) of tomato(es) depending on the size of your tomato and bread. If you're feeling fancy, add a basil leaf on top for some extra photo points (I forgot to but it still looks bomb right?)

3. Melted Smoked Gouda with Turkey Breast, Fruit Jam, and Toppings
The title for this sandwich is kind of all over the place but really there's no specific name for it since I add whatever I have at hand. The basics are cheese (I love smoked gouda but it's not one of the most "melty" cheeses so provolone any other cheese that melts well would work fine), deli meat (I go for turkey breast since it's generally the healthiest and doesn't have too strong of a flavor), and fruit jam (the two photos below, I used strawberry jam but any jam would work fine, you just want that sweet concentrated flavor to contrast the savory cheese and meat). From there, I like to play around with what I have. Usually having something that gives the sandwich a "crunch" is nice like an apple slice, candied nut, dried fruit (try even the freeze dried kinds), or crunchy veggies like romaine lettuce. Having another sweet bite such as a fruit like a blueberry, strawberry, apple, pear, etc also adds to the sandwich.

To make this sandwich: Layer cheese over bread and toast until cheese has melted. Let cool for 1 minute before cutting into desired size/pieces and adding layer of deli meat. Add thin layer of toppings of choice including sliced fruit, fresh vegetables, and crunchy nuts. Drizzle fruit jam over (if thin enough) or spread over cheese and deli meat before placing all toppings if too thick. Make sure it's visible because it adds a nice touch to the overall sandwich.

Breakfast, brunch, and lunch for two - cute sandwich and other food ideas!

I recently made a little mini tea time brunch for my mother and me (my sister was at work) and wanted to share what I made in case some of you are looking for food inspiration for your next tea party, fancy breakfast time (need to impress a man?), or lunch gathering!

Menu items including:

• Lemon ricotta pancakes with slice bananas and drizzled honey (Original recipe here)
• Mixed greens salad with strawberries, walnuts, blueberries, and raspberry vinaigrette
• Romaine lettuce mixed with cucumbers, pecans, tomatoes, and homemade pesto lemon vinaigrette
• Avocado toast with sliced cherry tomatoes 
• Toasted smoked gouda cheese sandwich with sliced turkey, spinach, and candied walnuts (my mom actually tossed and toasted the walnuts herself!). Strawberry jam toe tie it all together
• French brioche bread with cream cheese spread, cucumbers, and smoked salmon. Garnished with thyme (but really dill would have been better but I didn't have any at the time!)
• Fruit bowl of bananas, cantaloupe, and blueberries
• Lastly TEA! - "Yummy" by Lupicia. This is strawberry and vanilla flavored smooth rooibos tea; no milk added. It's not overly sweet smelling like some fruit teas and really has an amazing taste to it.

Cream cheese and dill is the perfect spread for a cucumber or smoked salmon sandwich so combining it with both of them was a no brainer. Unfortunately I didn't have dill at the time so sprinkled some dried thyme on top instead and it was pretty good! The freshing flavor of the cucumber really balances the salty smokey salmon and the smooth texture of the cream cheese all on a nice slice of fresh brioche (but any bread will do really). I find for this type of sandwich you don't need to toast the bread.

The lemon ricotta pancakes were SO, I repeat, sooo good. I linked the original recipe earlier but there are definitely lots of recipes online to use. My pancakes weren't bursting with flavor but if you have ricotta lying around, these are a good way to put your ricotta to use (if you're not a lasagna type person). I love how the pancakes are super fluffy and not overly sweet. I added in the lemon flavor by squeezing in some lemon juice and adding fresh lemon gratings over the pancakes. Added a side of sliced bananas but any fruit will do, some maple syrup or honey, and boom - sweet wholesome goodness.

Strawberry jam and honey to top off the pancakes and with sippings of the tea? Can't get much better than that! Having these cute little jars of jam and honey really add to the overall presentation which is why I'm so glad I nicked them from a hotel I stayed at a little while back haha! (Okay I didn't really, someone I was staying with had ordered sandwiches and they came with these jars of jam and honey but they didn't use them so gave them to me!)

Here's a close up of my (basically) cheese turkey sandwich. What makes this better than your typical sandwich is the fact that it's toasted so the cheese is all nice and soft, you have the extra sweetness from the strawberry jam and candied pecans (which also gives a nice crunch!), and you get your daily dose of veggie with that one leaf of spinach ;) Perfect right? This was actually my mom's favorite sandwich. Also can I add how CUTE the little wooden board is? I got it from Ikea for only $2.99!

Cheers to a successful tea time bonding with my momma <3 I hope this gave you some ideas for your next home-baking food excursion! The dining and silverware you use really make a difference in the overall presentation of your food so take your time and pick up random bits and bobs that will really tie together your whole table and the food you make. They don't even have to be expensive (cough my wooden cutting board!) and most of our tea cups and tea plates are thrifted or bought from garage sales. A few are from Daiso, our local Japanese $1.50 shop (most things there are only 1.50 including their glassware!) and some others from Hong Kong or TaoBao (the China ebay). Good luck and leave a comment below if you know any tea party bloggers that could give ME inspiration!

A peek at my Frosty VoxBox from Influenster

 

 This winter season I was lucky enough to be chosen to be sent the Frosty VoxBox from Influenster! If you don't know what Influenster is, it's a review site/company that sends out boxes to members to try out different product brands. Each box contains different items and they all have special themes that you, as a member, can earn badges for which will allow you to be considered to be sent those items related to your interest. For example, for a makeup obsessed person like me, I have the Beauty Badge which qualifies me for consideration for makeup Influenster boxes. There's also fitness themed boxes, food themed, travel themed, and more! I would definitely check out Influenster if you're interested or post in the comments below and I can invite you (I think you need an invitation to join).

With that being said, let me share with you the products I received in my Frosty VoxBox!

One of the first things I noticed was the McCornick Gourmet bottle of thyme. I'm no professional chef but I do know that thyme is a super useful dried herb when it comes to cooking. I've used it to season lamb, mashed potatoes, and various other dishes so I was actually pretty excited to see this in my VoxBox. I recently used it for our family Christmas dinner to season our roasted vegetables and it was so good! McCormick is a brand I've grown up with and I think it's one of those "family brands" that have just been around for a while. The glass bottle packaging definitely makes this bottle look more classy and professional than their usual plastic ones. I definitely think I might pick up a few more herbs or dried seasonings from this "gourmet" line by McCormick.

There were two makeup products that came in my Frosty VoxBox. The Rimmel Scandal Eyes waterproof khol kajal liner and the NYC lipstick. Both I've actually been fortunate to have tried as I bought the pencil liner in the nude shade a while back. Everyone on Youtube was raving about how good it was and how it was a dupe for the Stila nude pencil that everyone always used on their waterliner so I thought I'd give it a try and I'm so glad I did. The liner is just the perfect amount of softness without being too soft like the Stila ones which sort of "mush" when you apply too much pressure and tend to smudge. The Rimmel liner is much better and it lasts all day with little to no smudging on my semi-oily eyelids. I don't own the liner in the black shade though so I'm really glad I got it! I'm a bit of an eyeliner junkie and I own more than enough black eyeliners but I always love to try new ones. If you want, I might post a review and comparison of all my favorite (and not so favorite) black pencil liners.

The NYC lipstick came in the shade Sugar Plum and is a beautiful mauve-y color. I previously received the same Expert Last Lip Color by NYC from another Influenster box but it was in a hot pink shade which was definitely a bit intimidating. This color, however, is much more wearable and perfect for the winter season. It's almost like a Kylie Jenner lip color which is that nude-mauve sort of lip color that everyone's been going crazy about. I wore this lip color the other day and found it a little drying but definitely lasting.

Another makeup/beauty related product I received was the Rimmel London makeup remover. I'm definitely happy that I got this in my box because I'm running low on my supply of the "free gift with purchase" makeup removers that I get from Clinque (my mom is a sucker for those deals and they almost always come with a travel size of their makeup remover which is SUPER good by the way and I would highly recommend). I have yet to try the makeup remover from Rimmel though but it's a good large sized bottle that I'm sure will last me for a good long while. I'll update you on my thoughts about the remover and how well it removes fake eyelashes and waterproof makeup!

No7 is a UK brand I believe but I've never actually tried anything from their line so I was a little excited to see a sample of their product in my box. It's a anti-aging serum so I might actually give it to my mom to try but at the same time, I feel like it's a bit hard to review a skincare product based on a small sample since I'm almost positive there is no topical treatment that will instantly cure your aging skin problems in a tiny sample packet. Nevertheless, still excited to see a brand I haven't had much exposure to in my box :)

If I haven't mentioned before, my sister is an absolute tea fanatic. She loves all things tea and tea parties and tea cakes and well anything tea related. She's even started collecting fancy vintage tea cups and been to some nice tea shops. Celestial Seasonings tea is a brand that we've both tried and actually their main company is located in Colorado where one of my cousins works. My cousin actually brought us back limited edition tea flavors that you can only get at the company in Colorado and the one she gave me for Christmas is called "Fast Lane" that apparently has a ton of caffeine for those sleepless college studying nights (not that I actually do that though.. haha). Anyways, just the name "Candy Cane Lane" got me excited and the fact that it's green tea is even better since I loveee green tea. I steeped the tea bag for about 2-3 minutes in a cup of hot water and let me tell you, it was SO good. The candy cane flavor isn't too strong or weird and it adds a nice burst of mint-iness.

Another exciting item I received was the Ecotools hairbrush. I haven't bought a new hair brush in a while so all of mine are getting pretty..well let's just say worn out so this was a long overdue and needed hair brush. The cool thing is that it's sort of rounded which is great for blow-drying hair and it has the nice rounded bristles at the top so it doesn't stab your scalp. I've been using it since I got it and it's great! I don't know if it's any less damaging then a normal hair brush but it doesn't seem to yank out my hairs as much as some of my other ones so maybe that counts haha. It does also seem to make my hair smoother after I shower and brush my hair.

Last but not least... CANDY! This was probably the thing that first caught my eye when I opened my VoxBox because I love anything sweet. I've never actually tried fruit vines though it's by the same brand that makes Red Vines. I opened these up the other day to share with my boyfriend and he loves anything strawberry flavored so he fell in love with them right away. They're gummy type of candies and are the perfect bite size. Plus they aren't too overly sweet and are low in fat if you're on a diet (though I suppose you shouldn't be eating too much candy anyways because of the sugar..). I think I like these better than the regular red vines and would recommend you try these out if you're into the firmer type of fruity gummy candies.

Anyways that's it for my Frosty VoxBox. I hope you guys enjoyed the mini review of everything and have a wonderful new year's eve/new year if I don't post anything before 2015~!





Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. However, all opinions are my honest and true thoughts!

Good Eats - Hong Kong Edition - Teakha (Ep. 3)

Address: Shop B, 18 Tai Ping Shan Street,
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Located in the quiet street of Tai Ping Shan, Teakha is a low-key must-stop-by cafe in Hong Kong. Aimed at being a "lifestyle concept tea cafe" and "zakka store", the shop is decorated with many little tiny decorations that each add their own touch and life to the cafe. It took me a good half an hour to find Teakha from the Sheung Wan MTR station, but for a typical person with a well-developed sense of direction and Google maps, I would reasonably say it would only take you about 10-15 minutes to arrive at Teakha. Tai Ping Shan street is located just a little ways from Holllywood Street which there are many signs leading to (yes in English!) so as long as you follow them, you'll be headed in the right direction!

The outside front of Teakha. Just around the corner is another entrance to a seating area that you can go to after ordering and obtaining your food if the front seats are already taken (which they likely will be as there is only one table and a small bar area in the front of the cafe).

Looking down the alley nook (away from the front of the store). The horizontal street is Tai Ping Shan.

Once inside the cafe, I was greeted with a nice cool breeze of air conditioned air (well what else?) and then an awkward stare from the three staff members all situated at the front of the store behind the counter. I'll admit that I must have looked a little funny covered in sweat in an awkward post-interview outfit with two giant bags but I did feel a bit uncomfortable with me being the only customer in the shop at the time and three workers just standing in front of me with nothing to do really. I'm not sure why they need so many staff since the cafe is so small, but perhaps it gets busier later on in the day. I arrived at the cafe around 12 PM and there were two other customers before me but when I entered the store front, they had already gotten their food items and had headed to the additional seating room making me the only one in the store front. The first impression I got from walking in to the cafe was "Wow..this place is so.. hipster." Hipster is really the only way to describe it. With all the bits and bobs cluttered in the small area, it's hard to think of anything else. The decorations are very nice though and the light pale blue color really catches the light nicely in the cafe. On the counter with the cashier, they have their freshly baked pastries lined out in glass covered displays and upon walking up to the cash register, I was handed a paper bound menu with a list of items.

In my awkward Cantonese, I managed to ask one of the staff what was the most popularly ordered item from their menu. The lady told me it was their Green Tea Cheesecake along with a hot cup of Masala Chai tea. Looking at the price of the cheesecake ($40 HKD so about $5 USD) and seeing as I was TRYING to eat healthy, I decided to opt out of the heavy cheesecake (though it looked absolutely delicious) and try for the "Scone of the Day" which was recommended by a few on OpenRice (a site like Yelp for Hong Kong diners). There were two scones of the day and I decided to go for the Roselle scone. I wasn't exactly sure what kind of fruit (or if it even was a fruit) Roselle was and the staff wasn't sure how to explain it either but they showed me a pot of dried Roselle and it smelled decent enough that I decided to go for it.

As mentioned on OpenRice, the staff warmed up my scone for me right on the spot in a small conventional oven before serving it to me. This allowed me to take the time to look around the cafe some more and enjoy its nice arrangements. I noticed they also had a blackboard with specials of the days and lunch sets like sandwiches with tea that I could have ordered had I been a bit more observant (as these weren't on the menu) or more hungry. I'm glad I just got the scone because along with the Masala tea, it filled me up quite a lot (mostly the tea filled me up really since it was so large!). The Roselle scone turned out to be extremely delicious though different from the kinds I might get in America at Panera or some other bakery. It was soft and warm due to the heating but had just enough of a crumble without being SO crumbly that it fell apart. I was able to easily cut into the scone using the side of the fork (meant to be used as a butter knife) and the Roselle tasted somewhat like dried cranberries. It had the perfect amount of sweetness and moisture without being too over the top and maintained scone like qualities. I just wish they had waited a little bit to serve me the scone because it didn't take long to warm it up and my tea wasn't quite ready so they served me the scone about 5 minutes before they served me my Masala tea so the scone did cool a little bit before I got to enjoy it with the tea. I'm not generally a big tea drinker but as I was at a placed called Teakha, a tea cafe, I decided it was only appropriate to order tea and the lady did say Masala was a popular tea drink. Though it was a hot day, the air conditioned cafe made drinking the hot Masala tea bearable and it was quite good. It came in an extremely large mug (so large that I actually couldn't finish the last 2 sips D; ) and was freshly brewed and steaming hot (yeah I was the fool who burned her tongue). The tea had a unique taste.. I'm not really sure how to describe it, maybe like English Breakfast tea but with a more sweet taste? Maybe I shouldn't even bother trying to describe it because I'll make you think it's something it's not and either disappoint you or make you NOT try the tea when you really would like it haha! Regardless, it was quite good and I'm glad I did try it out.

All in all, I had a pleasant experience at Teakha. I did feel a bit awkward with the 3:1 staff to me ratio, but the food and decor were so nice that I could get over it. I would definitely suggest you stop by Teakha as it is a unique and urban "hip" cafe with yummy food. If you go check out their website (teakha.com), you can see part of their menu (not the whole thing!) and decided if you want to check it out :) Hope you enjoyed this review and have a lovely day~!

Adventures in Seoul, Korea: Day 6

Our last full day of Korea was Day 6.. :( But I tried not to concentrate on that fact and focus on the wonderful planned out day we had before us! We started our day around 8 AM and after breakfast in our room, we headed to Insadong to do some window shopping and visit Beautiful Tea Garden (Address: 193-1 Insa-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul) which my sister wanted to see for some reason.

Entering the Insadong area, we saw a long street with shops lined up on each side that continued almost endlessly and it just looked so nice and peaceful. There were lots of cultural shops including tea shops and shops filled with glass figurines and statues and of course, food shops~! They had these cute twisty crunchy and hollow tubes that they would fill with frozen yogurt and everyone was walking around with them so when we found the shop selling them, we had to get one to try! While it is basically just a normal vanilla frozen yogurt inside a cone (except that the cone is a long tube so you get more than usual), it's definitely a fun snack to eat and something to try out when in Insadong! There were also lots of other random food carts around the area that we passed by and tempted our tummies :(

One of the food stands we passed by. I'm not sure exactly what these were but they looked yummy!

After walking around for a bit (and picking up a modest amount of items ^__^), we came to Beautiful Tea Garden which turned out to be a quaint and peaceful tea cafe garden. Apparently my sister thought it was a tea museum, which I suppose it kind of was because they had an area with many different teas and flowers used to make the tea leaves, but they also had a dining area that had an open roof so the natural light spilled in, and it was just amazing! It was super pretty and relaxing and we enjoyed sitting down with a nice cup of freshly brewed tea. I forget the name of the tea (sigh) but it was super delicious and it was supposed to be good for your throat (which is why we ordered it because my mom's throat had been feeling a bit sickly) and it actually did help my mother's throat! Right after drinking the tea and the next day she said she felt much better! We took tons of pictures (I made mine my Facebook profile picture~! ;3) and felt super fancy sipping our tea ^__^

Yummy tea in cute fancy teapots plus complementary green tea rice cakes (the rice cakes didn't really taste like much but still a cute addition to our tea time ^__^)

After relaxing at Beautiful Tea Garden, we walked around Insadong casually taking in all the interesting sights and foods around. We walked around picking up small food goodies to bring back for our friends and family back home before it was lunch time. We also made sure to try out their little poop red bean snacks which were absolutely delicious despite their somewhat not so yummy appearance (see some pictures below!). I wish I could remember what the restaurant we ate at was called, but I forgot to take a picture or write it down /: It was located on the outer edge of the shopping streets with two other restaurants next to it. We had no idea if the food at the restaurant would be good or not, but there were so many people inside it, we decided it had to be at least decent... and it was that and more! We ordered  a hot plate dish that had freshly cooked beef bulgolgi and rice cakes which, as all restaurants in Korea do, came with side dishes and I must say, their potato fruit salad was deliciooouuus <3 The waiters were super nice and understanding of our lack of Korean speaking skills and if I could, I would totally recommend you guys all check the restaurant out. Unfortunately I can't, but I will say, stop by Insadong if you have time because it is a nice peaceful place in Seoul to visit (especially the Beautiful Tea Garden!).

Definitely a must try. They have these little shops all around Seoul so it's not like this is unique to Insadong, but you definitely need to pick some up if you come by a shop. The workers take a ball of honey or some sticky sweet mixture and mix it with some flour mixture and stretch it out so that it becomes a tiny ropes and they do this repeatedly until the one string of honey&flour becomes more than a 100 fine strings like web! Then they wrap some sort of filling - either peanut, chocolate, almonds, etc - and make a sort of chex-square shaped snack and package them. They're super yummy!

This lady mixed nuts or rice cracker puffs with some honey and other sweet spices together and bagged them right on the spot. We even got to sample a few before we got suckered in and bought a back of honey rice puffs. Absolutely yummy and even my mom liked it (who's not a big fan of sweet stuff so that's saying something!)

The poops~! They're only about $1 so I highly recommend picking one up if you can. I guess it is just a normal red bean pancake but it's yummy and warm and perfect for any occasion~!

Here's another food item I would highly recommend. It's not really about the taste for this, but more the presentation. If you can't tell, this is a little ice cream cart! They have them around Seoul too and they'll ask you if you want ice cream and if you say yes, you buy one and they'll give one to you ... after doing a few magic tricks with it and making it disappear! It's quite funny to watch and who can say no to ice cream right?

Our lunch meal~! Doesn't that look good? I loved how they had the rice cake rolls but they also had rice cake eggs (see those round rice balls?). Super yummy and more than enough for my sister, mom, and me!

After our lunch in Insadong, we moved onto the nearby traditional village of Bukchon Hanok Village which is a small community made of traditional Korean style houses and nearby Gyeonbokgung Palace and Samcheong-dong (if you're planning on visiting either of those two places). Because there are normal citizens who live in these houses, they ask you to be respectful and not too loud or rambunctious while walking around the village, but this wasn't too much of a problem because the whole area has just a nice quiet peaceful feel to it that you can't disturb without feeling guilty. The view from some areas of the village is also quite stunning as it looks down onto the rest of the neighboring area.

Once we finished walking around the village, we decided to move onto our next location - Apuejong~!!!! Now of course my sister and I had been looking quite forward to this day to go here and can you guess why? Well if you don't know already, SM Entertainment, JYP, and Cube have their main headquarters all located here! (Why YG doesn't also have a building in this area I have no idea why but it pains me because we didn't have time to go visit it Q.Q) We found directions online and I'll link it somewhere later (I actually can't find it for some reason but er.. if you google SM, JYP, CUBE directions you should be able to find something helpful! >__<;)  because they were actually really accurate and helpful in directing us to the buildings. The only one thing I'd say is that if you're walking down the street that JYP is supposed to be on, don't bother looking down every cross street because it's literally going to be right on the side of the street and you CAN'T miss it LOL. Plus, Cube is like right next to it so you really can't miss either of them. Unfortunately we didn't see any Kpop stars but it was nice just being able to ooggle (yes I made up that word) at their giant beautiful faces plastered on the walls *__* Now I'm not sure if it's done yet but I know when we went to visit SM's building, it was actually under construction but hopefully the next time I visit Korea, it'll look amazing and beautiful and I'll get to see Kyuhyun~! ^__^;

Once we found all 3 entertainment buildings, we decided to stop by the Grill 5 Taco owned by Super Junior's Donghae. He had actually very recently opened it up and yea okay, maybe we were hoping to see one of his friends stopping by to support his business (unfortunately that didn't happen =3= ) but the food was still yummilicious. We weren't too hungry since lunch had kept us quite full, but we ordered some Seoul Fries and they were very good! I was a bit disappointed that the building wasn't decorated with Super Junior signatures or posters and what not, but it still felt good to go and support him as a fellow ELF :)

How it looks on the outside - hopefully this will help you if you're having trouble finding it :P

Our celebratory photo of victory - we found it~!

Our yummy fries! It does look like quite a mess, and it kind of is.. but it's worth it!

After our "taco pit stop", we had a bit of extra time to kill (it was about 3:30 PM), so we decided to go to the Coex Aquarium. We arrived at the aquarium just a bit after 4 so the admission price was a bit discounted and because we had our passports, we also got an extra discount! (So make sure you bring your passport if you want a tourist discounttt ^__^) I'm glad we decided to make this spur of the moment trip because the aquarium was definitely amazing and tons of fun. It's totally different from any other aquarium I've ever visited and much cooler! They keep the fish in cute and unique tanks and there was even an alligator!! (See an awesome close picture of it below :3). The aquarium is also incredibly kid friendly and there's an area where you can touch the starfish and coral :)

So this ends day 6! I don't think I'll be writing a post for day 7 because it was our last day so we didn't do much and had to leave for the airport quite early /: I hope you enjoyed my Adventures in Seoul series and I hope my random ramblings will help you in some way if you ever visit Seoul or wish to! I'm so lucky to have been able to travel there last summer with my family and hope to return back someday! Until then, I will be revisiting my photos often as a way to keep the memories fresh in my mind! I hope you all have a lovely day and thank you so much for reading :) Feel free to leave a comment below and tell me what you thought was most interesting!