New Zealand Jan 12 - Feb 17

I'm in Queenstown (starting drafting this entry there, now I'm in Te Anau) at the moment, and it feels a bit strange to be writing about these places and days past. Time has been flying by, but it also seems like we've been traveling for a long time. Being on the road, on the go all the time, and living out of a soccer mom van (a Toyota Estima) makes one lose sense of time and place. Every holiday park, communal kitchen, public toilet, and dairy (deli/convenience store) starts to blend in and look the same, not to mention most of the tiny villages dotting the lengths of New Zealand's gritty state highways.

Auckland is a really nice city, although parts of it remind me of other cities. A friend said, after some extensive travel, that cities started to blend together for her, and they started to look the same. Auckland, Sydney, San Francisco, Honolulu, Buenos Aires, Lima are beginning to blur into one big urban entity for me these days. But language, faces, particular nooks, and especially, cleanliness are what make places unique in my memory. Auckland, and New Zealand in general, is extremely clean, and trash in public spaces is few and far between.

The below is a public park in Sydney. It's a bit hard to tell in this picture, but all the white dots are white plastic grocery bags. The entire park was covered in these plastic bags blowing in the wind everywhere like in American Beauty except it wasn't beautiful, it was just plain dirty.

In any case, New Zealand is pristine and beautiful so far (starting week 4). It's a very developed country that is quite under-developed at the same time. That thought to be explained in future entries...

First view of New Zealand


First view of Auckland

Sydney Jan 11 - 12

We didn't have more than a full day and night here, unfortunately, but definitely a town on my list to visit properly. After all, I didn't have enough meals in one day to really experience the city.

I'm always surprised to come across Korean diaspora around the world. It's always a bit unexpected when I run into a Korean restaurant in places I'd never think Koreans could adapt to or adopt. But one's nostalgia for home never seems to disappear, and so far, I've been able to locate a Korean food joint wherever I go - Prague, Cuzco in Peru, Queenstown in New Zealand, and Sydney.

I must have gone to the wrong Korean restaurant in Sydney because my dolsot bibimbop (the hot stone bowl bibimbop - not going to bother explaining it here because my blog is for lovers of all foods, but especially Korean food) was seriously lacking the mysterious vegetables my mom had dubbed "mountainvegetablesjusteati,it'sgoodforyou" and no bulgogi meat! Perhaps the restaurant was serving up the recession special bibimbop. At least they didn't skimp on the gochujang sauce and gave me the whole bottle. Disappointed.

Dinner, although much more expensive, wasn't too much better. What I should've had were the massive crayfish that were suspended in large tanks at the Sydney Aquarium. What I had instead was the 7 course tasting menu at Aria. The executive chef of this place is Matthew Moran who didn't let you forget it with his autographed cookbooks prominently and tackily displayed everywhere for sale. And (surprise!) he reminded you that they were available for purchase ($40) on his menu and with your bill. The best courses were an entree of this incredibly savory and silky Peking duck consomme with shaved abalone, mushrooms, and dumplings, all enveloped by a shiny coat of truffle oil, and the dessert of a chilled peach soup with a raspberry ice cream cannelloni and ginger gelee bits. I've noticed that cool fruit soups for dessert is really popular, and I'm all for this trend. It's really refreshing in the summer.

Peking Duck Consomme



Chilled Peach Soup

I'd say the most winning aspect of the restaurant was the view of the majestic Sydney Opera House, and the most lackluster was its spotty service. I felt rushed to get out, understandable since it was late on a Sunday night, but our server had to be reminded several times to bring around cocktail menus and a copy of the tasting menu. All chalked up to an "ok" experience for the price. I'm definitely coming back for Tetsuya, a fabled unforgettable experience for a gourmand (or just a little ol' food lover like me).

Aria Restaurant

View of Sydney Opera House from our table



Sydney Harbour Bridge at Night



Sydney Opera House at Night

JAL Jan 9 - Jan 11

Sweet Jesus, JAL, where have you been all my life? If I had known, if only, if only I had known about the food on this airline. I would have gone out of my way to fly JAL everywhere! I took photos for your viewing pleasure, of course.

The presentation was impeccable, delicate, and precise, in a very Japanese fashion. To the left is a little amuse bouche of beef and salmon sashimi, and some kind of roe I can't remember now. Of course, the food wasn't nearly as good as a meal freshly prepared in a restaurant, but it's as good as you can get some 30,000-odd feet in the air. JAL fed us extremely well with a constant supply of rice crackers, soybean snacks, and a sort of gourmet selection of steaming hot cup o' noodles (your choice of soba, udon, or ramen noodles) whenever we so desired! Not to mention the extensive beverage selection of shochu, sake, beer, liquor, and delightfully fizzy Japanese sodas.

the Japanese Omakase dinner


Mango Dessert and Green Tea

The Menu


A Snack

I took a long hot shower in the Japan Airlines lounge which felt great after a 1o hour flight from Honolulu to Tokyo. The best part(s) about flying JAL besides their food was the attentive service and the little amenities - refreshing eye mask, face mask (so your nose and throat don't dry out while sleeping, and it can also be worn around Tokyo so you blend in with everyone else wearing a face mask).

Badass

Honolulu Jan 6 - Jan 9 Part II

I can't leave Hawaii without touching upon its food. To sum up, Hawaii's cuisine is general fatty goodness. I don't want to know what they put in their meat products, and I really don't care. It is tasty all-American stuff with an Asian twist. Chili, Spam, "all beef" franks come with a side of rice and some processed cheese, and gravy too if you request the heart-attack special.

The "fanciest" meal we had was at Alan Wong's in Honolulu. Located on a major street of 3 lanes and tucked away on the 3rd floor of a nondescript office building, I didn't have very high expectations. I was especially disappointed in the restaurant's choices of chain restaurant decor (like muted pastel green and mauve colors), orangy lighting, creaky metal restroom doors, cheap paper towels and an unsightly plastic soap dispenser. I know, I know I sound snotty, but at the prices this place was charging, this "fine" dining establishment had taken a lot of liberty downgrading the details.

My impressions continued to be negative. I noticed a dirty fork by my chair that had been carelessly overlooked by the staff. The uniforms were mismatched bargain bin ties with equally mismatched white button-down dress shirts. Clearly, the staff were given loose guidelines and had been told to supply their own uniforms. The service was friendly but a bit harried, and I think I remember my silverware was from different sets, but I may just be imagining things.

The cuisine was a sort of Pacific Rim-European fusion. The first dish appeared. I held my breath expecting to food to be equally disappointing. It was... shockingly good! Although everything was a bit too salty (even for a savory, salt-lick loving lady like me), the food was well prepared with each bite savory, layered, flavorful. My main course of seared Ahi steak was perfectly seared and seasoned, and the middle was a cool, raw pink.

The below was my starter of kimchi spring rolls, lettuce and shiso leaves (to be eaten like a Vietnamese spring roll), cucumber kimchi, and fried tofu (or maybe it was a seafood cake). The most delightful course was the dessert. We didn't even get a shot of it because it was gobbled up before we remembered to get out the camera. It was the Haupia Tapioca "Halo Halo" which was like the best fruit cup I've ever had. The tapioca came with a mini fruit salad of Hamakua Springs apples, bananas, pineapples, mango kanten, sweet corn, Azuki beans, and coconut shaved ice. It was so refreshing.

Everything was ono at Alan Wong's!!

Honolulu Jan 6 - Jan 9 Part I

I met Stu's parents for the first time which I thought would have defined my entire stay in Honolulu, but the effect of that experience didn't hit me until much later. Stu and I were so busy catching up with friends, snorkeling, sightseeing, and eating our meals out that we barely ran into his folks. His house was very quiet, very much the empty nest with the absence of 3 grown children. I made sure to tiptoe around and close doors quietly lest I disturb the peace. Part of what made it so quiet was the beautiful garden and yard around Stu's house. There were fruit-laden tangerine, pear, pomelo trees, blooming lavender and white hydrangeas, lush avocado and lychee trees, bamboo for fencing, and these massive, majestic ceramic urns dark with water plants and tiny fish.

Each morning of my stay, I was woken up by the sound of insistent quacking outside the window. As Stu had warned me, ducks appeared up the side of a small hill to get their daily bread that Stu's father threw out the master bedroom window every morning. They waddled around, assembling themselves in some sort of rehearsed order and looked up expectantly. Sure enough, pieces of stale white bread fell from the sky. Though it was 7 AM, I was on my great adventure, and perfectly content to put up with their happy noise.

That evening was my first walk on Hawaii's beaches. We drove to Waikiki and walked on the sand on our way to dinner.

The next day we went snorkeling out in Hanauma Bay. I'm actually pretty terrified of water although completely in love with beaches and the ocean. The thought of drowning in bottomless, dark water conjures up a stomach-dropping feeling in me. Though we were snorkeling in shallow water with no large animals, it was difficult to manage the most menial or automatic tasks like standing or breathing in and out of my mouth. Transitioning from a swimming position to a standing position and going in and out of the water proved to be tricky as I tended to panic like a fish out of water.

There weren't too many fish, but I think the conservation effort will reverse that in the future. Where locals used to drive straight up to the bay and snorkel, a parking lot was created with a specific entrance and fees as well as the mandatory viewing of an informational 9 minute film about the Bay's delicate coral reef. Basically, you're not supposed to step on it, making most of the Bay's floor a landmine-like environment. Whatever it takes to keep Hawaii beautiful.

The Bay Area

I couldn't believe how cold the Bay Area was! California always makes me think of sun and warmth and people with fake or real tans. But SF/Oakland didn't seem too much warmer than blustery New York. Of course it was actually a lot warmer, but I don't think I was dressed appropriately in a t-shirt and a thin jacket.

I was exhausted on my way to SF. I probably had frog eyes and a swollen face from my last hurrah in New York. Thanks to everyone who came out and humored me through my drunken stupor - especially when I couldn't control the volume of my voice in the diner, post-drinking.

SF was exactly the stop I needed before heading any further away from home. It was a moment to catch up with old friends, eat good food (I mean really good food), and sleep. My amazing hostess Kim let me do just that by stuffing me with fresh, delicious grub (every meal was memorable), and letting me sleep and sleep and sleep.

We started off the weekend with a really entertaining and informative tour through a chocolate factory which wasn't unlike Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. If only the pipes running along the ceiling were clear so the sweet dark brown liquid could be seen traveling above our heads! Oh, and there weren't any Oompaloompas. What a disppointment. The tour seemed pretty rehearsed, but there were moments of genuine enthusiasm from our guide, like when she passed around a sample of chocolate made from cacao beans grown by Japanese farmers in Brazil. This particular variety, called Tome-Acu, is grown in the Brazilian Amazon and is considered to be the closest in flavor to what the Mayans may have cultivated and consumed. Did you know that the first substance to be served to the public was theobromine in the form of chocolate (not caffeine in coffee or tea) in London back in 1657? Good stuff. Check it out: Scharffen Berger

After a little amuse bouche(s) of chocolate samples, we had dinner at the very fresh, very reasonably priced Pizzaiolo in Oakland. The chicken liver pate crostini was my favorite as well its castmates on the Winter Antipasti plate - hearty lentils and verdant kale. Runner up was the papperdalle with a really tasty chicken and pork ragu. Yum!

The next day, we had a homemade brunch and a walk through the colorful neighborhood of Mission. For dinner, we had a meal that always makes me feel at home - a Korean feast at Brothers in SF. But I have to say, the highlight of the meal was not the food. The highlight was watching Toronto Alex suddenly turn into a human vacuum, silently and methodically sucking up every last bit of meat off each rib, reaching across the 6 person table for the untouched banchan, and asking me if I was going to finish my oxtail soup. After having witnessed Alex eat 3 normal portioned meals more out of hunger and necessity, he was a sight to behold. He ate like it was his last meal. I guess you can take a boy out of Korea, but you can't take Korea out of the boy. We left reeking of kalbi, a scent I couldn't get out of my jacket until I did a load of laundry in Honolulu.

The rest of the weekend was filled with more sleep, more great meals, prolific chats, unexpected adventures and an unplanned trip to Berkeley Bowl.

Many thanks to Kim, Kirk, Alex, Meej, and Chinaka & Nate for the right start to my adventure that filled the tummy and the soul. ;) I left SF fully sated.

Great Adventure!

I'm off, I'm off!! The GREAT Adventure begins, has already begun! I've never traveled so extensively in my life, and I wasn't really sure what to expect. Everything sounds doable in theory, but what does "communal toilet/shower facilities" or "campervan" or "self-contained unit" really mean? Although it has only been two weeks, I've discovered living out of a suitcase gets old, fast. And let me tell you, living out of a van is especially tiring. Traveling has made time fly out of my grasp, and I can't seem to find a moment to sit down and catch my breath. BUT what I've seen and done in the last two weeks is more than I've done in a very long time with my life. I feel like I've accomplished a lot, that I've been really living.

My itinerary:

Jan 3 - Jan 6 --> San Francisco/Oakland/Bay Area
Jan 6 - Jan 9 --> Honolulu
Jan 9 - Jan 11 --> in the air, crossing the International Date Line/Narita Airport, Tokyo, Japan
Jan 11 - Jan 12 --> Sydney, Australia
Jan 12 - Jan 19 --> North Island Part I, New Zealand
Jan 19 - Feb 9 --> South Island, New Zealand
Feb 9 - Feb 17 --> North Island Part II, New Zealand
Feb 17 - Feb 18 --> in the air, crossing International Date Line/Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong
Feb 18 - Feb 20 --> London, UK
Feb 20 - Feb 26 --> Italy
Feb 26 - April ?? --> London, UK/To Be Determined
April?? --> Officially move to Hong Kong

More on my adventures in the next post...