Rain rain go away, little children want to play... it has been raining for almost half of the day now. The carving of having piping hot pretzel popping into my mouth with a cup of hot coffee is the only thing I need most from one of my sleepless night with baby Shane. 

So without any hesitation, let's get started on making some mini cheese hotdog pretzel! Unlike those hard pretzel you have tasted at Auntie Anne, my version is softer yet tougher than normal bread. 

The question now is what do you need?

This recipe will yield 16 mini pretzels

Equipment:

Electrical Mixer with swirling hook attachment

Ingredients:

 

For the dough - 

1 cup of warm water ( about 40-50 Degrees Celsius)

1/2 cup of low fat milk; alternatively, you may opt for skim milk =)

2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast

4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of salt

15 g of sugar 

28 g of butter

For the fillings - 

8 pieces of hotdogs of your choice 

Mozzarella cheese

1 egg with splash of water as egg wash

This recipe is supposed to have the pretzel dipped in baking soda solution before egg wash,  but I did not do it since I don't have baking soda at home. 

For the dough

1) Mix the butter, salt and milk together (Mixture A) and microwave it for 1 minute and leave it to cool. 

2) In the mixer bowl, dissolve the sugar and the warm water first then mix in the active dry yeast. Once done, wait for approximately 5 minutes or until you have seen foaming from the mixture. 

3) Add in Mixture A into the mixer bowl and stir with the electric mixer. Add the flour slowly into mixer bowl, add more flour if required to ensure the dough is not very sticky. 

4) Once done, kneed the dough for 5-10 minutes on the surface dusted with all purpose flour.

5) Round the dough and put into the big bowl which was oiled with vegetable oil on its surface.

 

6) Use a clean towel to cover the top for 1 hour in a warm environment. 

   The dough should be expanded twice its original size.

7) Divide the expanded dough into 16 pieces onto a oiled flat surface.

For the filling

8) Cut the hotdogs into half. 

9) Cut the middle of the cut hotdog and stuff the mozzarella cheese into the slit. 

9) Once ready, pick 1 of the divided dough and coil around the hotdog, making sure both ends do not have any exposed ends of the hotdog. 

10) 30 minutes before placing the hotdog pretzels  into the oven, heat the oven at 180 Degrees Celsius.

11) Egg wash the top of the hotdog pretzels . 

12) Place the tray of 16 pieces of mini hotdogs pretzels into the oven for 15 minutes until golden brown. 

Hope you try the recipe out and I have a hearty teabreak with these mini pretzels~~

Ok, I know it is far too long since my last post till now.  I think it is time finally to that to finish this travel post before i restart again.

Pick up where I end huh?  Seriously, I think my memory is still as good as new even after giving birth to my son. Hahaha... .

Day 3

We are getting ready to move out from the little cozy two storey apartment  which we had stayed for the past two days. Boo and I were quite sad as we have kinda of adapted to the place and the owner is super friendly whom we met and we even get to leave our luggage at his home so that we can stay the night at a jimjilbang.

I really encourage you to go use the Air B&B to experience living in a small apartment in Korea. Remember to search for "Jung APT 2" if you would like to live in this apartment. 

P.S Mr Jung is quite good looking with flawless skin.... arghh. envy till max

After leaving our bags with Mr Jung, we went to Insadong in search for some ancient Korea experience. The streets seem to be quite quiet when we reached there in the afternoon.

I am quite surprised to see that there is a mixture of both modern and ancient culture in the area. There are vendors selling those olden days'tea sets, Korean costumes which I expected to see but there were also modern graffiti which can be found on staircases and walls.

Along our way, we noticed a small scale which is similar to trick eye museum place which is not worth to mention nor visit. Please don't visit there unless really have nothing better to do.

However, I really have to recommend you to buy the homemade rice wine which we have bought along the way. It is really sweet and taste was refreshing !!!

While waiting for the night to come, we decided to visit Gangnam to see how luxurious the area is to experience the "Gangnam style". Hmm...nothing much as we were unable to venture more apart from seeing more shopping malls due to the rain again~~~ so this is me drinking coffee at the Nescafe Cafe.
I SUPPORT MY COUNTRY MADE COFFEE to show the Koreans I am very patriotic too!!  

Before going into the famous Siloam jimjilbang, we did our round to scan through LotteMart which is located pretty near to the jimjilbang. So if you want to pass your time before spending the night there, you are encouraged to go there! Will blog in details as we count down the days I stayed in Korea.

The men and the women will need to separate for any bath spas which is the only time I get to separate from Boo.

Before you can visit the bath spa and all the different kinds of treatment rooms (it is believed by the Koreans that the extreme hot/ cold rooms will help to expel the toxic from the bodies, keeping one healthy) offered in Siloam, you will be assigned with a locker to keep your belongings. This is also the place where you remove your clothes and wear the ugly and baggy orange T-shirt and shorts once you are done in the bath spa at the basement area and move around within the premise wearing them.

There is no privacy among the ladies there so you maybe you may start to compare your figure with the person next to you too??

Bath spa 

Before going into the spa, you are supposed to be super naked . To start with, you will be required to bathe first before dipping into the 3 pools there.

From what I remembered, the first pool is just hot water at around 30 degrees celsius, then the cold pool and finally there is a herbal pool which measures 50 degrees celsius. I only dipped into the hot waters, skipping the cold one.

While happily dipping deep in the herbal pool, I saw the end of the bath spa stood some mid age women wearing only their matching bras and undies busy scrubbing women lying on the stone cold platforms. Please do not imagine the scene looked like the Victoria secret show. There was no walkway and pretty young models.

I have decided to try it out myself including doing full body scrubbing and mask from head to toe which I think was quite cheap. No wonder my Korean colleagues love to go for bath spa almost everyday. Seriously, I felt like I was just a piece of meat flipping from front and back, back to front on the platform by the China woman who did the spa treatment on me.

Despite that, the result gained from it was marvelous!! My whole body skin including my face were clean and smooth like silk.

Once finished, you may walk out of the bath and change into the orange attire at your locker place.

Common area to sleep and treatment rooms

Boo was looking worried and frustrated by the time I met him at the common area. The reason was we promised to meet there at a certain timing but well.. 我爱美，忘了老公。。I had a hard time coaxed him and we decided to visit the treatment rooms.

You can call us "Hum Ji" as those rooms were too extreme factor for both of us. We two went in and out within seconds and I don't even dare to step into the hot stone room.  To have some better understanding of the rooms I am referring to, do click on this link Siloam.

We went to collect blankets in a room and the block like head rest to sleep through the night. Ehh...both of us did not sleeping very well and felt super tired the next day.

The charges and directions to the place has been mentioned via the above link for your information.

Day 4

It was around 5am when we check out of Siloam and we hang around the area till 6 am since there were nothing much we can do at this early hour. Our stomach signaled us that it was time for breakie~ but.. where can we find any decent food at this hour?

Please do not be deceived by the picture that the food tasted rubbish! It was the comfort food for Boo and I to start the day off!!!! I love the bean spout soup and we were told by the shop assistant that this dish is extremely helpful to those who had hangover in the morning after a night at the jimjilbang. The eatery is located a few shops away from Siloam.



Boo and I decided to travel down to Namdaemun Market but upon reaching there, Boo and I were quite disappointed as there was nothing interest us at all. The morning market does not suit us at all. It is a wet market selling kimchi, dried goods on that street.

Even the building for ladies' section looks like the earlier days of Pratunam market in Thailand. Not worth going in my opinion. We loitered around the area and took some pictures along the way.

As it was still early to meet Mr Jung for our baggage, both of us decided to have some coffee at A Twosome place. Lee Min Ho's full size board was the first I saw upon arrival at the entrance!! **Loves**

The armchairs were so comfortable that Boo and I slept there for the longest time, ordering only a cup of coffee for show and occasionally pretend that we were reading the magazines in the cafe.  I was so glad that no one actually chase us away. Phew....

Once hearing that we have not found a place to stay, Mr Jung phoned his friend and got this place in Hongdae for us! Should I call it Jung APT 4? hahaha...It is relatively new place and able to accommodate up to 4 people.. Love the kitchen as the cooking utensils and pots are new!

Boo and I slept till late afternoon at the apartment before heading out and we decided to go back to Seoul station to do some tibits shopping in Lotte Mart plus some grocery so that we can cook in the apartment.

In the evening, Hongdae is also full of life and I am referring to its nightlife! There are many nice furnished cafes, pubs which are so difficult to choose from. Anyway, we had our super late dinner at Seoga Cook, an Italian restaurant. Mr Jung told us it is one of the famous food chain in Hongdae which many Koreans themselves love to eat there. Not to mention the price is so reasonable! The risotto which we have ordered was more than enough for two people and very delicious than most risotto we have eaten in Singapore.

Address:  395-16, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea.

After dinner, you shouldn't forget about having some desserts right? We went to this famous traditional Bingsu shop in Hongdae called Okumong. If you are up for some traditional red bean Bingsu, must try ! The smooth shaved ice and the homemade red bean paste will never leave you disappointed.

Address:402-18 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Day 5

The pretty kitchen has to be utilized before we leave this apartment in the afternoon. We bought some premium minced pork fillet and fresh tomato from Lottemart so there I have whipped up some simple dishes in the morning for my cute hubby who was still in bed.

In return, he brought me to watch the 4DX movie early in the morning which is very famous practice in Korea for students and jobless Koreans as the tickets are very cheap. At the waiting area for the movie to be screened. Trying to act chio...

Ok, after the morning movie, we went back to the apartment to rest and do some final packing and off  checking in to the next place, The Hanok .

The ajuma owning this Hanok is a super friendly host who showed us the place and talk to us about the history of this traditional house. Seriously, I really love the place and the breakfast she made for us the next day, with heart and warmth. Well, Boo cannot register in his head to why am I paying the same price for Jung APT 2 when there is no bed but only mattress to sleep in and we have to share the Hanok with another family too.

After settling in the place, Boo and I went to Myeungdong for some shopping and I am there to do my hair. The entire cost for perming + treatment was about SGD 400. It was pricey but quite worth it as the curls were very natural and I feel so Korean. The salon was recommended by Mr Jung and both his wife and him go to the salon for their haircuts. How do I look??

It was evening time when we reached  Hongdae again.. Yes, there again. This time,we went there for KTV session like what we have seen in the Korean drama.  It is a famous KTV in HongDae mainly for students known as Luxury Su Noraebang. There are chinese songs (not very updated ones) as well as english songs for you to explore and sing to your heart's content! The room is also very spacious and there are props for you to sing along ! There's me with the pong pongs!

Address: 367-39 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea

+82-2-322-3111

Last but not the least before we ended the day to say goodbye the next day, we went to the best gimbap for our dinner. There are quite a lot of favors to choose from and I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE CHEESE BLOCK WITH VEGETABLES. There is also free flow of soup for you to press from the thermal flask. Everything is self service over there.

It has been a while since I blog about myself . Sorry but I was pretty tied up with my work that I really have no mood to blog anything these two months. But I must blog what Boo and I had done during the previous week in Korea. So come and immerse in our 5 days adventure in Seoul!

DAY 1:
As we planned this trip super duper last minute, Boo could only manage to get the best deal of the whole expensive lots of tickets. There we are, taking China Eastern Airlines from Singapore to Qing Dao, China and transit to Seoul, Korea. Well, the best part of taking transit flight is you get to take two meals within an outgoing trip. The worst part was you have to fly extra time to get to your final destination..

We humored ourselves with fresh Qingdao beer , well that's what people told me, best to drink Qingdao beer at their origin place. After a total of 12 hour's transit flights, we finally reached Seoul, Korea!!

This is the picture of  the 1 room unit which we have for two days all by ourselves, booked through Air B&B. It is a two storey unit, with the upper deck that can only fit a Queen size mattress, the lower floor is enough to add a two seater sofa, comfortable enough to relax and face the Changneungcheon river.

It was around 8 pm Korea time by the time we settled down,  so we decided to walk around the neighborhood! What I can say is... the surroundings is a little food paradise!

Just around the corner of our temporary home, there is a tiny simple cafe with the simplicity that makes us felt homey.Maybe it was because of the smiley faced cafe assistant? both of us shared a cup of Americano and off we start to explore the foods!!

The first stop we went was to eat and stand by the push carts where the auntie ( Not exactly very friendly) served us some soup with fish cake stick and I had my first serving of Topokki from the same push cart. Yummy.. yummy..  Our mouths just couldn't stop!

With too many selection of foods along the streets, we have decided to have something different. BLUE FIN TUNA!  It is a new experience where we have tons of side dishes before the chef served us tuna slices. The chef served us different parts of the tuna at a time until we have to tell him to stop before our stomachs explode!!!

Seriously, you need to take a closely look at these thick slices of tuna... Aww.... I am so missing the restaurant. Guess what, with so many side dishes and endless servings of tuna slices, each of us only need to pay around SGD 30 !

So we ended our first day with almost exploding stomachs, slowly stroll back to the apartment

Day 2 

A beautiful morning with cooling breeze where the only one suitable activity should be carried out! Hope you have guessed that correctly,  my favorite Picnic! Boo and I picked some food at the convenience store on Day 1 for breakfast and it is really so not right to eat indoors... soo.. 

Here we are strolling down to the river side and sit on the rocks, enjoying the weather and people watching.  Little children with their teacher passing by, mothers chatting by the side... since when do we really look at those at home? 

After enjoying the serene surroundings, the plan is to move around Hongdae area to see what is in store for us.

We travelled  down to Hongdae via the subway, see how crowded it was? But as least Boo and I managed to get seat rather that (NO SEAT PLUS SMELLY CABIN) in our homeland. =))

Since we only had a small potion of food by the river early in the morning, we were strike by hunger again the moment we reached Hongdae. So, there we were, being leaded by the smell from this eatery which from what I saw is being patronized mostly by the local students there.
Da~~ la~~~~

DIY fried rice in a big hot plate! The hot plate is super big enough to feed an army!!! There are flavors and ingredients you may choose from for your fried rice which is indicated at the menu signboard + tissue holder mounted on the wall at the dinning table. The eatery is located very near to Hongdae station.

We ordered a simple chicken and kimchi set which was served with huge amount of white rice! Boo and I got a shocked when the waiter served that to us. So, with the side dishes ( chili paste, dried seaweed, scallion and marinated chicken slices) given to us, (There were slices of onions which we did not use), I just threw everything into the hot plate and mixed them well. Do I look like a good cook ?

After filling our stomach, it was time to roam around the area!! We managed to sneak into Hongdae University Arts Faculty where we saw some modern arts done by students and well, i did pose with a statute with distinct male characteristic .  **blush**

From there we proceeded to the all time favorite trick eye museum where I believe 99% of the Singaporean who visit South Korea will go to. Nothing new but I would like to show some the "trick eye"pictures taken which I love to bits. 

Once again, Boo and I have depleted our energy from too much of laughing at each other, we had our numerous tea breaks everywhere. 

After being lost and walking aimlessly for quite a while, Boo and I have reached the place which I love the most, men hate it while most ladies or girls love it...The Hello Kitty Cafe!!!!!!

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed as the cafe itself is not what I have imagined to be. The exterior of the cafe looks old! I think the management should just furnish with fresh coat of paints! The interior of the cafe was the worst I have ever seen. Litters were not cleared on both the floor and tables. I wondered what were the staffs doing? Busy  chasing Korean stars and dramas???

Nevertheless, I  took a few pictures just to show that 我到此一游 without even bother to stay there longer than 15 mins.

The final trip of the day was to shop for cosmetics and I don't think anyone would like to know the details. Haha..  and this end the second day of our love trip.

Seriously, I really hate myself for neglecting my blog! Without wasting our time to read half of this post with all my whining,  I shall present you my 10 minutes meal for today... 

Bread Pizza !!!! These are so easy to prepare that you can have a healthy and selection of  toppings of your choice breakfast before starting your day! Without further ado, let's move on to the ingredient section. 

Ingredient to Use

6 Cherry Tomato, sliced

4 Shitake Mushrooms, sliced ( Please note to remove stem and pad dry the caps before slicing)

Some shredded Mozzarella cheese

2 slices of wheat bread on baking sheet 

Steps to prepare this dish:

1)  Preheat the oven at 130 degree C. 

2)  Fill the bread with mushroom slices, cherry tomato slices and top with lots of mozzarella cheese. 

You may add onion rings on top or chicken cubes to each on your own. 

4) Put the tray of bread into the preheated oven for 6 minutes and you are done!!! 

Hope you will try and do this easy prepared breakfast for yourself!!! Enjoy the wonderful Sunday evening!

It has been a while again I have blogged about something.... busy with work and stuffs or rather too lazy? hahaha... if ..if  you were as lazy to make breakfast in the morning, maybe you would like to try this "Do it in 10 minutes' meal" to kick start the day.

Can you guess what is the main ingredient that is used to fry the rice? ....... Tomato ketchup? Noooo..

Ingredients to use:

2 Big Eggs
1 Can of Baked Beans ( I used only 1/2 of it)
Leftover white rice from yesterday's dinner
Sprinkle of cheese
Slices of seaweed to garnish

Steps to cook the dish:

1. Add some cooking oil into the sauce pan and throw in the rice and 1/2 of the baked beans. Please try not to pour too much of the baked beans' gravy to prevent rice from getting soggy.

2. Cook the mixture for 5 minutes till every grains of rice is well mixed. Scoop the baked bean rice and put aside.

3. Clean the surface of the sauce pan and oil generously. This is to prevent the egg mixture from sticking on the surface later.

4. Beat the 2 eggs in a bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper.

5. Pour the egg mixture into sauce pan, spread around the surface, start sprinkle cheese generously to have the cheesy taste.

6.  Wait till 2 mintues,when the fried egg can be flip by a spatula, add the baked bean rice to half of the egg and fold to 2/4 of the other end.

7. Add some slices of seaweed to garnish. =))

Here you are!!! My breakfast was served on bed. Hehe.... 

Seriously, I am one of the luckiest girl who doesn't have much skin problems throughout my entire life. Well, maybe a pimple or two when I got too "heaty" due to too much fried foods or when I have constipation ( which still happens every now and then).

However, like the old sayings " Your diet is what you get for your body".  I thought this article was extracted from Woman's health should be a reference for you and me to maintain/ improve our complexion through natural foods. 

1. Oily fish like salmon or tuna

Eating fish provides your body with biotin, a B vitamin that, among its many functions, produces fatty acids and metabolizes amino acids (the building blocks of protein) . A deficiency of biotin can cause, among other things, scaly skin.... very scary!  

2. Chia seeds

Omega-3 fatty acids help maintain cell membranes by protecting the skin and providing it with moisture. Chia seeds and walnuts are rich in these fatty acids which is the prefect choice for vegetarians or people who are lazy like me to find steaming a fish--> omega-3 fatty acids is a chore. Haha.. 

3. Sweet potatoes

Eating a produce-rich diet provides your body with lots of water, keeping your skin and other cells adequately hydrated. And loading up on colorful, deeply-colored fruits and vegetables — especially those rich in vitamin A, like sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach — has been shown to enhance skin color and appearance by increasing its yellowness and redness.

4. Almonds- The Nut that I hate Most

Packed with vitamin E, almonds can help you maintain healthy skin. It is worth knowing that vitamin E may also protect the skin from damage by the sun.

5. Sunflower seeds

These little seeds provide an excellent source of vitamin E and help protect the skin from damage caused by free radicals in the environment and in the body (free radicals in excess can harm body cells, including skin cells).  

PS: I always think that sunflower seeds are for birds and hamsters.

6. Refined carbohydrates

Processed foods and white flour can increase inflammation and cause acne flair-ups.  Replaced refined carbs with unrefined carbs like barley, quinoa, beans, and brown rice — foods that are all lower on the glycemic index.

BEFORE (unrefined)	AFTER (refined)
Brown rice	White rice
Wholemeal flour	White Flour

7. Orange/ Citrus Fruit juice 

It provides fluids to keep you hydrated and Vitamin C, which works as an antioxidant to protect skin and other cells from damage caused by free radicals in the environment and in the body. Vitamin C also helps create collagen, the body’s main structural protein.