Korean cravings- CU Mart and Myeongdong Topokki

 Been having some Korean crave during MCO. Actually was having it before MCO but didn't have the chance to treat myself to a Korean meal yet and then lockdown happened =.=

So, I decided to take matters into my own hands LMAO CU Mart in Puchong opened during MCO or right before MCO and it was nearer to my home so we didn't have to cross districts. Went there and saw that the queue was quite short and we decided to join em'. Got all my favourite Korean snacks in one convenience mart.

There were so many food to try and we kinda went overboard since we may not be able to come here often. Got all the famous Korean street food.

The odeng was fine. However, I think Family Mart's odeng is better. But this is a must try.

Tteokbokki. Comes in two flavours- Spicy or Jajjang

Of course we went for the spicy ones. This was quite good but not that spicy.

Korean sausage

This was a bit dry though.

There's also Kimchi Jjinbbang (steamed buns)

This is like pau so we didn't try this.

There were a lot of variety of drinks in packets.

I bought the Blue Lemon Ade drink. Very refreshing! Sweet and sour and perfect for a hot day out. Yeap, we ate in our car because if we went back, the food would have been cold. My husband had the mocha drink and it was great too!

Spicy fried chicken.

This was not bad. Perfect for spicy lovers.

Bingsu

Got the yam flavour. Very nice, creamy and flavourful!

Many types of snacks as well.

Bought this double caramel popcorn.

Meh. It's okay only.

But this is for extreme spicy lovers!

This snack was so spicy it was really good!

Then I also found out from Lazada that Myeongdong Topokki is selling DIY kits and I got them. It was delivered the very next day! Delivery fee was like RM3!

It came with instructions on how to cook them.

Rabokki a succes!! Added hard boiled eggs and wa-la!

Very delicious. Just like in restaurant >.<

Yangnyeom chicken

Spicy! Love love it and spicy level did not disappoint.

So where do you get your Korean fix?

Turning the big 3-0

 I had so many plans for my big 3-0 hahaha...I knew what I wanted to do, what I wanted to eat, where I wanted to go etc But...well, as life had it, MCO had to happen the week of my birthday >.< #pasrah

In fact my husband had planned for everything but everything had to be postponed until after FMCO and had to bring certain plans to celebrate in our house haha Nevertheless, I think I had a very wonderful celebration. I also think that people got very creative during quarantine and the amount of deliveries received on that day made my heart really full and appreciative of all my loved ones in my life <3

Firstly, the day before my birthday, my best friend colluded with my husband and surprised me with an awesome fulfilling dinner! I guess I had ONE day of self indulgence and then after that, it's about clean and healthy eating LOL

All these for 2 pax! Does she think I am living with a kampung of people in my house? Jk hahaha All these from Curious Kitchen, Tropicana Avenue. The tacos were good, the pasta had huge prawns and..

..these ribs though had me salivating til today...so flavourful, so soft it comes off the bones and was the highlight of the night.

As if those weren't enough, she also delivered Piccoli Lotti's gelato in two flavours to my house!Mint is my all time favourite. Pistachio tasted like the one in llao llao which is my favourite flavour there. Both were really good. Thanks my love <3

At midnight, my husband brought out a cake for me to blow out candles!

And surprised me with a HUGE bouquet of the prettiest flowers! Yes, he hid it in one of the rooms which he knew I would not open when I went to work that day. And only brought it out during midnight.

And also as if that was not enough, I woke up the next day for a treasure hunt in my house where he hid thirty small bouquets of flowers for me to find. I didn't even know my house had so many hidden compartments lol

I found em' all!! What a crazy day!

Lunch was from my favourite Sri Lankan restaurant, Aliyaa!

I love love love their crabs!

Yup, it came with the claypot.

So huge, so juicy, so flavourful and spicy. My type of flavour. So yums! I finished it all by myself because my husband doesn't eat seafood lol

Surprise delivery from an ex-colleague from the popular Eat Cake Today's popcorn cake.

Shared these with my in-laws. Surprisingly not as sweet as it looks. No wonder it's popular.

Another surprise delivery from my friends. The amount of cakes I ate this year is quite unbelievable hehehe

Shared this with my family because I only live with my husband and we would have gotten diabetes on my birthday hahahha

Next day lunch by my mummy. Again, my favourite crabs hahaha...Okay, no more crabs for the next 3 months >.<

More food and cake!!

Tarts from Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart from colleagues.

Wahh I didn't know Hokkaido has so many new flavours. 

Chocolate crepe from Salon Du Chocolate.

Another surprise delivery from SIL! Waa so much desserts! This was luckily not too sweet and we loved it plus there was a chocolate shot that came with it. I was drowning in a sweet heaven.

Okay maybe it wasn't a day of indulgence, it was more of like days of indulgence LMAO. Cheat days cheat days. Well, you only turn 3-0 once right? And since it's MCO, there's really nothing much to do other than eat HAHAH

Felt really grateful with all the thoughtfulness. It brightened up my birthday during MCO. What did I do to deserve such nice people in my life <3

So, turning 3-0 has impacted me in the health department. I realised I'm definitely more health conscious now. For every unhealthy food I eat, there should be an accompaniment of a salad bowl, or a superfood bowl the next day or eating clean after that. I mean prevention is definitely better than cure right? Why not start now I thought. After a month of healthier eating, I realised improvement that I don't feel so bloated, I didn't gain weight like previous MCOs and I felt more energetic. So that's why I thought of continuing the lifestyle and try not to relapse. I'm just afraid that after FMCO when restaurants open, I will relapse and start the unhealthy habits haha.. We'll see.

In terms of achievement, of course everyone can do better. But I must say I did what I wanted to do before 30. Could I have done more? Definitely! But had I achieve what I intended to achieve? Yes! I also think I've probably reached that stage of life where I no longer need the approval from people. I'm comfortable doing my own things, comfortable eating alone in restaurants, comfortable having fewer groups of friends and just taking others' opinions with a tinge of salt and move on with life. I realised I'm not so much affected with negative opinions these days and start to listen more of me and what I want. All those white noises out there don't really get to me anymore. People are going to have their own opinions anyway so I do me and you do you hehe

My wish is that I just want to see more of the world. There's so much of this world I have yet to experience. I want to go out there when all these pandemic is behind us and just want to experience- the good, the bad, the unknown and everything in between. I want to know more of what is beyond the four walls of my home which I'm spending wayy too much time in. Hopefully, that can happen in the nearest future xx

MCO 3.0

 How are we feeling these days? Since the Covid-19 outbreak, I guess our country haven't really caught a break. Felt more of like the year 2020 again. After one whole year and we're back at the same if not worse situation. We're back to working from home, self quarantine since we're not allowed to cross districts, back to no dining out, long queues at the grocery stores, now even double masking from the last year's single masking and so on. Well, this is the new normal huh? At first, I was still in denial thinking 'new normal' was only temporary but I guess it is here to stay =.= Also thought that once vaccinated, everything will go back to normal but then there's news of people who were vaccinated and still contracting Covid- 19 so even after vaccines, we need to be wary. 

I really hope this is our last MCO. I can say that I'm kind of an introvert (except with my friends) so I thought I could do this staying at home thing for a long period of time. In fact, during the first MCO I was kind of enjoying the whole self quarantining and trying out baking and new recipes etc. Now that we're in the third MCO, hmm...I kinda miss travelling the most!! Forget overseas, in fact, I even miss crossing district to KL lol! I miss going shopping at Pavilion, KLCC, dining out, going for spa, staycations and everything else. 

I take comfort in the fact that we did manage to make the best during CMCO last year and this year when restrictions were eased and managed to squeeze in quite a few staycations; Datai Langkawi and EQ KL, Tanjong Jara resort and most recently Shangri-la, KL and went to Penang for a short trip for work and staycation for a friend's birthday. So since I kinda tasted a bit of freedom, I really miss it >.<

But oh well, we need to do this for the safety of our nation. I know, you know and everyone knows it but it just sucks to be limited in your daily lives. I have also been reading so many articles on people getting depression during this difficult period and I think this third wave really hit hard. At least during the first MCO, it was probably more of a shock but coming to the second and now third MCO, people are just fed up, losing or lost jobs, businesses who are closing down and even declaring bankrupt, staying sane at home either with screaming kids who are also studying from home or in an abusive relationships. I guess everyone is battling their own daily demons. Hang in there peeps and stay strong! Hopefully, we come out of this stronger! If you need to reach out for help, please do!

On to normal daily things and happier note, as usual MCO is the time for me to unleash my creativity skills in the kitchen haha and this time it is no different. In fact, during this MCO, my aim is to really eat clean and be healthy. The first 2 MCOs were try and error in my recipes and sometimes, I do shortcuts with ready to eat food packets which I now realise is very unhealthy. I also reduced my baking because all those sweet stuffs ain't going to do any good to our body haha and also because last MCO we gained weight so this time, I'm all about the healthy lifestyle.

Been doing fruits/vege smoothie on a daily basis.

A mix of banana, dragon fruit, acai, chia seed, collagen powder and blend it all for a good bowel movement during the day hehe

Made Devil's egg with a hint of truffle oil which makes all the difference. Yums!

Have you seen this before?

I recently saw the hype of sea grapes on social media and was wondering what it was. Further research on google let me in on all the good benefits of sea grapes and next thing you know I was on Shopee buying it. It has no taste so had to dip with some given cili hijau. It's not bad at all! Try it.

First time cooking cod fish. Luckily it was relatively easy to steam so I didn't put a good fish to waste.

Now, I have my ever ready lettuce in my fridge ready to just insert into any types of dishes for some added greens hehe

Recently been into trying out new types of greens. I saw this in the supermarket and although I'm late to the game but healthy lifestyle only came when I start 30 hahaha

I'm sure many already know it's ice plant. It's a bit salty on its own so it's good to just eat it raw just like that.

Bought a whole big bunch of kale as well and once in awhile if we need to snack on something, I'll make my kale chips via an airfryer- so easy!

So crunchy and so yummy. If you don't like its bitterness, add a bit of salt/sugar when pouring olive oil before air frying.

Saw these gooseberries or also known as physalis on some people's instagram and was wondering what it tasted like and of course, who do I go to? Shopee hahaha and bought one packet to try.

Though it is very beneficial for health but I cannot eat too much at one time because of its sourness. Not really my thang.

That's how breakfast look like these days >.< You cannot get any healthier than this haha

My husband is not really a fan of salmon but I am so I decided to make salmon with a twist. Flaked the salmon and cooked with chilli. 

He said it was more bearable to eat this way LOL...like I'm feeding him poison haha. Salmon is soo good for health with its omega benefits.

Was into an acai craze for a bit. Bought a whole bunch of acai and acai sorbets.

Acai sorbet with granola for an added crunchiness. You can eat ice cream tanpa was-was now!

Also into superfood lately.

-Rolled oats

-Acai

-Granola

-Pumpkin and sunflower seeds

-Sacha Inchi Oil

Also first time experimented doing inari.

Yay, a success! 

Repeated with tuna inari. Bought inari from Lazada hahaha. I'm an online shopping queen now

Superfood is kind of like a must have in my household now.

I try to mix it up time to time. This time I added bananas and walnuts for some texture.

Fist time made smashed potatoes. 

Failed. Haha...will try better next time.

Also, first time made wantan mee. So tedious- had to put in boiling water then cold water then boiling water then cold water then...I got confused haha

But luckily turned out well.

Made a good wholesome meal.

Bone broth with cabbage, ayam paprik and kuchai egg with brown rice mixed with some white rice.

Indulged a bit in baking as well recently.

Smores brownie. But quite fail la this one lol

Peanut mochi however was quite a success!

Yummy!

Looking back, a year a go I know nothing about all these recipes. A year later, look what MCOs did to me. Maybe this is my blessing in disguise lol

Here's hoping that you're coping well during the pandemic and remember, if you need help, please reach out! Staying inside your depressive mind ain't going to do you any good. Talk to a friend, talk to a doctor or anyone. Stay safe everyone!