The Korea Grand Sale is here again! This is an annual shopping event held in Jan / Feb every year! There are over 118 participating companies and 27,300 venues listed on the Korea Grand Sale 2014 participation list. The participating companies range from shopping, accommodation, fashion, health & beauty, convenience stores, dining, entertainment etc.
Get discount shopping coupons from the link below!
Shopping in Korea is really good. For a purchase amount as little as 30,000 won, you will be eligible to apply for tax refund. But of course, you first have to ensure that the shop / brand offers tax refund for foreigners ^^ The process to get tax refund is easy. Check out further details here and here.
Wednesday, January 08, 2014
Tuesday, January 07, 2014
SG Cafe Series: Korean Cafe Tom N Toms Cafe in Singapore
Missing the relaxing ambience of a Korean cafe? I am sharing my favourite hide-out away from the hustle and bustle of shopping mall cafe - Tom N Toms cafe. Located at a not-so-prominent Icon Village at Tanjong Pagar, the cafe plays the best of non-stop K-pop and most of the service crew are also Koreans. The cafe may be full-house even during off-office hours but it is a quiet place to chill out.
There are 2 sections to the cafe. The main cafe has piped-in music while the side section is quiet. Students and office workers use the cafe for discussions and it is quiet a common sight.
(Main Cafe)
(Side Cafe)
Just like what is commonly seen in cafes in Korea, a pretty wall mural can be found at Tom N Toms.
The drinks selection is much more interesting than what we normally get from CBTL or Starbucks eg. cinnamon mocha, green mint mocha etc. Food-wise, pretzel is a signature bakery at Tom N Toms. But for the Singapore outlet, they do not serve pretzel. Instead , they serve thicktoast bread with flavoured whipped cream as well as tortilla pizza.
(
Good news for those who needs to get online often. The cafe provides free wifi!! This cafe has been around for a few years, and I hoping to see more Tom N Toms in Singapore in the future!
Tom N Toms
12 Gopeng Street #01-12 ICON Village, Singapore 078877
Tel: 62256313
Opening Hours: 7am to 1am
Getting there: The cafe is 2-minutes walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT station. Use Exit A, walk along Choon Guan Street, turn left at Peck Seah Street. Walk ahead and cross the junction at Gopeng Street.
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Related Posts:
- Paris Baguette (click)
- Little Prince Cafe (click)
- Kith Cafe (click)
Labels:
Area - Tanjong Pagar,
Cafe,
Coffee,
Korean Café,
Korean Dessert,
Singapore Café,
Thick Toast,
Tortilla
Saturday, January 04, 2014
[Singapore Restaurant] Bibigo: Hangover Soup, Feast Noodles and Grilled dishes in Korean Sauces
Trying out new Korean dishes is something I always enjoy doing! These 4 new dishes on the Bibigo menu were delicious in their own way.
Janchi Guksu, literally means 'Feast Noodles', which is a Korean noodle dish made of wheat flour noodles with a light anchovy-flavored broth. This dish is served during special events such as during birthday parties and wedding feasts for centuries throughout Korea as this noodles symbolises longevity. The texture of the noodles was really smooth like "mee sua". Other than the slices of egg and vegetables, there was a piece of beancurd. The soy chilli sauce, meant to be the tipping sauce for the beancurd was really tasty.
Bibigo Spicy Chicken, the signature char-grilled chicken marinated in gochujang, red pepper sauce, served with seasonal vegetables. Korean condiment, gochujang, is the most famous and most commonly used sauce in preparing Korean cuisine. The primary ingredients for gochujang include red chilli powder, glutinous rice powder, fermented soy bean and salt. This is a very tasty condiment when used for meat dishes.
The Spicy Chicken dish is really really quite spicy. Despite the spiciness, it was really tasty. The chicken pieces were well marinated and the meat was nice and tender.
Grilled Ssamjang Pork, was also very impressive. Ssamjang is another type of Korean sauce which comprises gochujang, doenjang (crushed, dried and fermented soybeans), sesame oil, onion and garlic. This sauce is typically used when eating BBQ dishes wrapped in lettuce. For this dish, ssamjang was used as a marinating sauce instead and it was delicious! The slightly charred pork brought out another delicious dimension to this dish.
Bibigo Hot Stone
Suntec City Mall Tower 3 #B1-107
Tel: 63385809
Opening Hours: 11am to 10pm
Website: http://english.bibigo.co.kr/global/globalSG.asp
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/bibigo.Singapore
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Wednesday, January 01, 2014
[Korean Food] First Specialty Store in Kimbap and Tteokbokki : Rolling Rice
Are you a fan of Korean Street Food such as mini kimbap (rice rolls), tteokbokki (rice cakes) and summer dessert patbingsu (shaved ice)? Most Korean restaurants in Singapore serve main course dishes such as jjigae (stew), rice or noodles dishes and Rolling Rice is probably first to specialise in serving Korean street food in Singapore. They are perfect for a light meal or something easy to take out, including their patbingsu.
Rolling Rice has more than 10 outlets in Korea and a few store globally including in Japan and Philippines. I am really glad that they had chosen Singapore as part of their global expansion.
The outlet is conveniently located at the basement level of The Central. It is the first stall that you see when you take the escalator from the street level.
Check out the menu! There is a great variety of mini kimbap as well as tteokbokki in addition to popular Korean rice or noodle selection. What I really like is that there is a selection of tteokbokki cooked using the Korean-traditional gochujang or the western-type cream sauce. For those of us who have tried School Food (in Korea), Rolling Rice's concept is very similar to School Food's!
On my first visit to Rolling Rice, I was on vegetarian diet, and the silken tofu salad was perfect for me!
A wide selection of Korean drinks is available to go with your meal... The can on the left is Orange, center can is sujeonggwa, a traditional fruit punch made from dried persimmon, cinnamon and ginger, and the can on the right is shikhye, a traditional Korean sweeten rice punch.
Main course 1: Cream sauce tteokbokki. This is similar to having pasta, just that tteokbokki replaces pasta as the staple ingredient. The cream sauce is pretty light.
Main course 2: Spam (or luncheon meat in our local terms) kimbap. It is basically rice roll with spam and pickled radish. It comes with soy sauce to dip the kimbap, if you prefer a little savoury taste.
Main Course 3: Rice cake and dumpling ramyeon. This is cooked using Korean instant noodles with pork or kimchi dumpling and sliced rice cakes.
Dessert: That's the main reason I was there for dinner - the patbingsu. It is quite difficult to get patbingsu in Singapore. Other than Paris Baguette (PB) and Seoul Yummy (SY), I do not know if any other restaurants that serve patbingsu. Personally, I find the patbingsu to be the most authentic compare to PB or SY, even though it does not taste exactly like what you can get in Korea itself. Good thing about the patbingsu at RR is the choice of regular ones with red bean or milk-flavoured / nut-flavoured patbingsu.
Take-away is also available for patbingsu. The dessert will be packed in a container as well as in chiller bag! The service stall are very friendly and easy going. Do check it out!
Rolling Rice
The Central, Eu Tong Sen Street, #B1-49
Tel: 6222 0801
Opening Hour: Monday to Sunday 10am to 10pm. Last Order is 8.30pm.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RollingRiceSingapore
Website: http://www.rollingrice.co.kr/
Getting there: Take MRT to Clarke Quay Station and take the connected exit to basement 1. It is located near Crystal Jade Bakery.
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Labels:
Area - Clarke Quay,
Kimbap,
Korean Dessert,
Korean Dumpling,
Korean Food,
Korean Snacks,
Korean Street Food,
Mandu,
Salad,
Tteokbokki
Sunday, December 29, 2013
[Seoul, Korea] Downtown Tax Refund
Seoul is a shopping paradise and in my earlier post, I have shared about getting tax refunds at the airport. In the same post, I have also provided addresses of locations where you can also claim tax refunds in downtown Seoul.
There are 2 refund stations in Myeong-dong which are:
1. convenient located within walking distance from either Myeong-dong station and Euljiro 1-ga station;
2. if you need to claim from both Global Blue Tax Free and Global Tax Free, these 2 stations are located within 2-minutes walk.
Global Blue Tax Free located at Woori-Bank (Location A in map below)
This is located at a walkway "cross-junction" and it is diagonally across Myeong-dong Theatre. The "Tax Refund" is prominently shown on its signboard.
In Woori Bank, there are various types of financial services available, look out for the Tax Refund counter. It is a small counter and it is easy to miss this.
The documents that you need to get ready on-hand to process the tax refund include:
1. Tax Refund receipts;
2. Passport; and
3. Credit Card (limited to transactions made using Visa, MasterCard and AMEX)
You can immediately get the tax refund in cash. As a matter of bank policy, they will charge an equivalent amount as temporary deposit in the credit card. The deposit amount will be cancelled once your present the tax refund details at the Custom Counter at the airport just before leaving the counter.
At the airport, show your purchases, receipts and passport at the customs, and ask them to stamp your Tax Free Form. Customs officer will collect your Tax Free form.
Note:
1. If the customs do not receive your form within 21 days from the date of refund, refund amount and a debiting penalty will be imposed on your credit card.
2. Downtown refund service is applicable to purchase price of less than 2,000,000 won per Tax Free Form.
3. Refund limit is 750,000 won per traveller per refund.
4. Global Blue Tax Free downtown counters are located at Woori Bank Myeong-dong Branch, Lotte Department Store Main Branch (near Uljiro 1-ga station), Hyundai Department Store Shinchon Branch (Seodaemun-Gu) and Galleria Luxury Hall (Apgujung-Dong).
Global Tax Refund located at Olive Young Mainstore in Myeongdong (Location B in map below)
If you have tax refunds to be claimed from Global Tax Refund, proceed to the Olive Young mainstore in Myeong-dong. As you exit Woori Bank (facing Myeongdong Theatre), turn right and walk about 2 minutes. Olive Young is on your left side. This is also the same building where Choi Si-won's Twosome Place café is located ^^
Go up to level 2 and look for the CD / DVD section. The tax refund counter is located right there.
For some reasons, MasterCard holders will not be able to get the tax refunds from the downtown stations. It is still possible to obtain the tax refund at the airport but well, it is a little troublesome because the queue is expected to be long....
Global Tax Refund accepts claims from VISA, JCB and AMEX.
At the airport, go to the customs desk and present your completed Tax Refund form, passport, receipts and purchases to get a stamp on your form. After which, submit the Tax Free form in the designated mailbox.
Global Tax Free Refund counters in downtown Seoul are located at Doota and Lotte Fitin (both at Dongdaemun area), Olive Young Myeong-dong (near Myeong-dong Cathedral), Hyundai Department Store (Samseong, Gangnam), Hyundai Department Store (Apgujeong, Gangnam), Shinsegae Department Store (Chunmuro) and Shinsegae Department Store (Banpo);
Busan counters are located at Shinsegae Department Store (Haeundae), Lotte Department Store (Bujeondong), Busan Bank (BEXCO, Sinchang, International Cruise Terminal, Gwang-bok Lotte, Shinsegae Centum City Branches);
Jeju counters are located at Raon Hotel & Resort (Jeju-si) and Goods & Goods Cosmetics (Jeju-si).
Getting to the Woori Bank and Olive Young, take subway and alight at either Euljiro 1-ga station (Exit 5), walk along mainroad, turn right after you pass by 7-11. Walk along Myeongdong 7-gil (pedestrian path) for about 5 minutes. Woori Bank will be on your left side; or
Myeongdong station (Exit 6), walk along Myeongdong 8-gil (pedestrian path) for about 5 minutes. Woori Bank will be on your right side.
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Thursday, December 26, 2013
Airline Promotions to Korea - Singapore to Seoul / Busan / Jeju (Spring 2014)
Are you planning to catch the Spring Flower Festivals in Korea? In Spring, the flower blossoms will start from the southern part of the peninsular, where the weather supposedly will turn warm earlier than the northern part.
In 2013, the blossoming began some time in mid March (from Jeju) and until 3rd week of April. Major Festivals to watch the pretty flowers included the Jinhae Festival in Changwon-si (near Busan) and Yeouido Spring Flower Festival (in Seoul). The dates for the festivals in 2014 should be about the same time, but the actual dates will be available in early March or so.
Source: Discovering Korea
Singapore Airlines
Singapore to Seoul: from SGD628 (min. 2 to travel) [Promotion Ended]
Booking Period : 9 Jan to 3 Mar 2014
Travel Period: 1 Feb to 16 Apr 2014 (except for outbound from Singapore between 14 and 17 March)
Min / Max Stay: 3 Days / 14 Days
Round trip economy class
Singapore to Seoul: from SGD688 (min. 1 to travel; exclusive fare for MasterCard Holders only)
Booking Period : 4 Feb to 17 Mar 2014
Travel Period: 1 Apr to 31 Jul 2014 (except for outbound from Singapore between 30 May to 21 Jun)
Min / Max Stay: 3 Days / 14 Days
Round trip economy class
Note: Airfare for travel between 30 May to 21 Jun is from $768.
Website: www.singaporeair.com
Korean Air
Singapore to Seoul: from SGD853 [Promotion Ended]
Booking Period: 11 to 28 Feb 2014
Travel Period: 11 Feb to 30 Apr 2014Min / Max Stay: No minimum / Max of 6 months
Singapore to Seoul: from SGD849
Booking Period: 18 to 31 Mar 2014
Travel Period: 18 Mar to 31 Jul 2014Min / Max Stay: No minimum / Max of 6 months
Singapore to Seoul: from SGD953.90
Booking Period: 18 Apr 2013 to 31 Mar 2014
Travel Period: 18 Apr 2013 to 30 Jun 2014Min / Max Stay: No minimum / Max of 6 months
Website: www.airfares.com.sg
Asiana Airlines
Singapore to Seoul: from SGD843.99
Booking Period: 30 May 2013 to 30 Jun 2014Travel Period: 30 May 2013 to 31 Dec 2014
Min / Max Stay: No minimum / Max of 6 months
Website: www.airfares.com.sg
Singapore to Seoul (via HK) : from SGD 268
Booking Period: until 2 Feb 2014 [Promotion Ended]
Travel Period : Ex Singapore between 16 Jan and 30 Apr 2014
Min/Max Stay: 2 Day / 1 Month
Round Trip Economy Class
Singapore to Seoul (via HK) : from SGD 873 (2-to-Travel Year Long Fare]
Travel Period : until 31 Oct 2014
Min/Max Stay: 2 Day / 1 Month
Round Trip Economy Class
Unused ticket may be refunded at an admin charge of SGD150.
Details can be found at website.
That's all for now! Do keep me posted if you know if any great deals! TIA!
Labels:
Korea - Seoul,
Korea - Travel,
Korea Travel Tips
Monday, December 23, 2013
[Korean Food] First BiBimBap Bistro in Singapore : Paik's BiBim
2013 is a great year for Korean food lovers in Singapore. A few renowned Korean restaurant / bistro / café (such as Paris Baguette, Nene Chicken) have decided to get a share of the Korean food market in Singapore. Riding on this wave, Paik's Bibim has started their first outlet at Bedok Mall with fusion-style bibimbap.
Paik's Bibim is located at the side-walk of the mall, directly facing the Bedok Hawker Centre. It is a simple bistro with about 20+ seats and 1 service counter. Kitchen is just next to the service counter.
For those who are not familiar with how to mix your bibimbap, there is an instruction on the walk to guide diners!
This was the teriyaki chicken bibimbap (치킨마요비빔밥) and it was really delicious! The rice was hidden beneath the generous serving of shredded lettuce and cabbage, small pieces of teriyaki chicken topped with crunchy fried crumbs, mayonnaise and laver. The soup was also quite flavourful.
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Paik's Bibim is located at the side-walk of the mall, directly facing the Bedok Hawker Centre. It is a simple bistro with about 20+ seats and 1 service counter. Kitchen is just next to the service counter.
The bistro serves 6 types of bibimbap and 2 types of noodles. What's unique is that they serve Korean steamed egg (gyeran-jjim, 계란찜)!!
For those who are not familiar with how to mix your bibimbap, there is an instruction on the walk to guide diners!
This was the teriyaki chicken bibimbap (치킨마요비빔밥) and it was really delicious! The rice was hidden beneath the generous serving of shredded lettuce and cabbage, small pieces of teriyaki chicken topped with crunchy fried crumbs, mayonnaise and laver. The soup was also quite flavourful.
Gochujang (red pepper sauce) is added to the rice and just mix thoroughly. The serving portion is actually quite huge for me. For small eaters, I would recommend that 2 persons can share 1 bowl of bibimbap.
And this was the beef bulgogi bibimbap which my friend ordered! It was delicious too!
Each bibimbap serving costs about $8.50, steamed egg costs $3 while soft drinks costs $2. They also serve cup-size takeaway portion for teriyaki chicken bibimbap at $4.90. Perhaps the takeaway portion will be more suitable for small-eater like me!
Paik's Bibimbap
Bedok Mall, #01-95
Getting there
Take MRT to Bedok Station and use Exit B. Go towards the direction of Bedok Central. The mall is connected to the MRT exit.
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Labels:
Area - Bedok,
Bibimbap,
Bistro,
Korean,
Korean Food
Friday, December 20, 2013
[Seoul, Korea] Nostalgic Charm in Urban Seoul (Part 2) : Samcheong-dong
Samcheong-dong is a few minutes walk from Insa-dong, and is another charming area in the Gangbuk district (ie. north of Han River). It is a contrast from the Gangnam district (ie. south of Han River). While the northern district has a wealth of historically significant places such as palaces, royal gardens and gates, the southern district is known to be the business district and home to the wealthiest in Seoul.
The entire Samcheong-dong gil (means Samcheong-dong road) is 3.8km long and takes about 3 hours for a relax walk. The route would start from Anguk station, all the way up to Samcheong Park and then down back to Anguk station. The word "Samcheong" literally means 3 (Sam) clean (cheong) things and it is characterised by mountain, water and people. In geomancy, this is known to be an auspicious place.
From Insa-dong, you can take a 10-mins leisure walk to Samcheong-dong. The street is sheltered on both sides by the tall trees. Walking there is a breeze...
Enjoy walk mural paints along the way...
Shops at the Insa-dong and Samcheong-dong are characterised by low buildings. The highest are possibly 3-storey high. If you manage to get to walk up to the Samcheong park area, you will have a nice bird's eye view of the entire beautiful place.
The Samcheong-dong area comprises largely of small museums, galleries, modern and traditional cafes.
Modern cafes are usually coffeeshops that serve not only coffee, tea and also desserts such as cakes and pastries. However, I noticed that some modern cafes also serve traditional desserts such as patbingsu.
Crayon Pop endorses for Caffe Bene, with their eye-catching red and white BarBarBar uniform.
The popular green tea café, Osulloc is there too!
And even a Hello Kitty-themed café with it's so pinkish and girlish deco can be found there.
Other than café, pop-up stalls can be spotted along the street in Samcheong-dong. This stall sells DIY fabric bags, where customers can design their own wordings to be printed on the bag.
Although café, museum and gallery are the main attraction in this area, fashion shops aren't lacking too. Each of these shops are unique in their display, the products are also unique in their own ways. Some of the products could be exclusively designed in-house.
View Larger Map
Related Posts
- Asian-on-Air: Nostalgic Charm in Urban Seoul Part 1: Insadong (Click here)
- Asian-On-Air: Knowing More about Korea at KTO (click here)
- Asian-On-Air: K-Style Hair and Spa (click here)
- Asian-On-Air: Experiencing Korean Medical Services (click here)
- Asian-On-Air: Excellence in Flight - Korean Air (click here)
- Asian-On-Air: A Twosome Place by 51K (click here)
- Asian-On-Air: Chrysanthemum Flower Festival at Jogyesa (click here)
- Asian-On-Air: The Historical Drama Playground (click here)
Like my post? Follow me at Instagram (@joslovesfood), Facebook (Joslovesfood) and Twitter (@Joslovesfood)! ^^
The entire Samcheong-dong gil (means Samcheong-dong road) is 3.8km long and takes about 3 hours for a relax walk. The route would start from Anguk station, all the way up to Samcheong Park and then down back to Anguk station. The word "Samcheong" literally means 3 (Sam) clean (cheong) things and it is characterised by mountain, water and people. In geomancy, this is known to be an auspicious place.
From Insa-dong, you can take a 10-mins leisure walk to Samcheong-dong. The street is sheltered on both sides by the tall trees. Walking there is a breeze...
Enjoy walk mural paints along the way...
Shops at the Insa-dong and Samcheong-dong are characterised by low buildings. The highest are possibly 3-storey high. If you manage to get to walk up to the Samcheong park area, you will have a nice bird's eye view of the entire beautiful place.
The Samcheong-dong area comprises largely of small museums, galleries, modern and traditional cafes.
Modern cafes are usually coffeeshops that serve not only coffee, tea and also desserts such as cakes and pastries. However, I noticed that some modern cafes also serve traditional desserts such as patbingsu.
Crayon Pop endorses for Caffe Bene, with their eye-catching red and white BarBarBar uniform.
The popular green tea café, Osulloc is there too!
And even a Hello Kitty-themed café with it's so pinkish and girlish deco can be found there.
Cafes with traditional architecture and feel. Some cafes may even be converted from hanok, Korean traditional houses, giving the café a homely ambience.
Other than café, pop-up stalls can be spotted along the street in Samcheong-dong. This stall sells DIY fabric bags, where customers can design their own wordings to be printed on the bag.
Although café, museum and gallery are the main attraction in this area, fashion shops aren't lacking too. Each of these shops are unique in their display, the products are also unique in their own ways. Some of the products could be exclusively designed in-house.
To truly experience Samcheong-dong, you may spend perhaps half-a-day there, to slowly appreciate the ancient yet modern quaint neighbourhood.
[This trip is made possible by the Asian On Air programme, organised by the Korean Air and Korea Tourism Organisation].
Getting to Samcheong-dong
Take subway to Anguk Station (Line 3), use Exit 1. Go straight 100m and turn right onto the alleyway next to Pungmun Girl's High
School. Continue straight along the road.
View Larger Map
Related Posts
- Asian-on-Air: Nostalgic Charm in Urban Seoul Part 1: Insadong (Click here)
- Asian-On-Air: Knowing More about Korea at KTO (click here)
- Asian-On-Air: K-Style Hair and Spa (click here)
- Asian-On-Air: Experiencing Korean Medical Services (click here)
- Asian-On-Air: Excellence in Flight - Korean Air (click here)
- Asian-On-Air: A Twosome Place by 51K (click here)
- Asian-On-Air: Chrysanthemum Flower Festival at Jogyesa (click here)
- Asian-On-Air: The Historical Drama Playground (click here)
Like my post? Follow me at Instagram (@joslovesfood), Facebook (Joslovesfood) and Twitter (@Joslovesfood)! ^^
Labels:
korea,
Korea - Seoul,
Korea - Travel,
Korean Culture
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