B12 | Melbourne 2014 Days 4-8

Continuing from our previous post...

Day 4 (Lunar 1878 Winter Night Markets at Queen Victoria Markets):

Wednesday night we rugged up and went to the first Winter Night Markets for the year. There was so many things from food, urban artist works, small boutique shops and so on. Although it was pretty chilly, it was nice to go out for some unique feeds.

Sweet and Pumpkin Soup with Coriander

Wonder Bao's Da Chicken and Choi Bao (Vego) and Braised Pork Belly and Eggplant Guo Bao

Day 5: Brunch at Richmond, tourists at Hosier Lane
Top Paddock's Blueberry and Ricotta Hotcakes definitely caught our attention after seeing numerous posts on Instagram. Of course, we couldn't leave Melbourne without trying what Top Paddock had to offer.

Day 6: Dinner at Vegie Bar

 Vegie Bar's baked gnocchi and Virtuoso seeded spelt flour pizza

Berry cheesecake and Apple & Pear crumble

Day 7: The B12 Tour Guide

What better way to start a tour with our top brunch place by far than at Top Paddock. David and his girlfriend from America came down to Melbourne for two days and asked us to show them some interesting places around the city. From brunch, we travelled to Fitzroy where we shared a a litre tub of gelato from Gelato Messina and made our way to the city to show them iconic landmarks and streets.

One of Melbourne's most well-known fusion restaurant, Chin Chin

So pretty much, we just ate. It was a bulking hibernation trip haha! But the amount of walking we did hopefully cancelled out all the food we ate...

B12 | Melbourne 2014 Days 1-3

And here for our half-yearly edition of the B12 blog!

Day 1 (since Jiwon arrived):

Jiwon arrived to Melbourne at a bright and early time of the day (around 8:45am) and we met up for brunch at our beloved Manchester Press.

Avocado and Fetta Mash | Bacon, Tomato and Mozzarella

The beanie club

Super delicious blueberry waffle from Waffee

 Day 2 (Mt. Dandenong):
Aileen's mum took us on a day trip to Mount Dandenong to get some fresh air. Best opportunity to explore what else Melbourne had to offer besides the city life.




Day 3 (Pana Chocolate):
Ever since the opening of Pana Chocolate's new cafe in Richmond, we wanted to see what all the hype was about. Much to our expectations, absolute bliss. After such satisfaction, we walked down Chapel St (the longest street you'll ever find in Melbourne) for a good 3km, pretty much until the shops started to close.

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your holidays just as much as we are!

B12 x

Waaaaay Overdue Post: Melbourne - Days One Two Three

Hiiiii.... long time no see, no blog? Yet, here we finally are! The one and only B1&2 twins have finally reunited in the beautiful city of Melbourne. For the past five months we were apart from each other as Jiwon moved to Sydney for uni, therefore, we were unfortunately unable to keep the blog up and running like great bloggers would... as we promised. So after a long overdue post, we present you with the adventure of our B12 adventures in Melbourne!

Day One:

Let's start from the 20th of December now shall we. Both of us arrived around the same time and the first thing we did was have brunch at Manchester Press (with our suitcase and all). 

Fruit and Nut Bagel topped with mixed berry mascarpone, strawberries and pistachio dust & Avocado, fetta, chilli and mint smash with cherry tomatoes, roquette and pine nuts

We ended up arriving home late in the afternoon, had a quick nap and trammed our way back to the city for dinner. It's so gooood to have someone who likes walking around every where!

Day Two:

No surprise, we spent our day at the city. Originally, we planned to have brunch at The Hardware Societe but found out it was closed for the next two months due to a fire in one of the neighbouring apartments *sad face*. Instead, we happened to find a nice little cafe called the Larder Section which served amazing muesli and granola! 

Rhubarb and Christmas Spice Bircher Muesli & Almond and Five Seed Granola 

The rest of the day was spent shopping and we went on a little adventure to find a juice bar called 'Pressed Juices' which has been on Jiwon's To-Go-To list for quite a while now since she had heard about them when she was in Sydney. Trust us, this was no ordinary juice place, they had an amazingly diverse selection of cold-pressed juices and smoothies (made daily) we wanted to buy every single one. 

We ended up purchasing the Almond Mylk & Smooth Vitality Smoothie

Day Three:

This morning we unintentionally wore colour coordinated outfits - black and white. 

We visited the Queen Victoria Markets and our best purchase was definitely five blocks of Loving Earth chocolate blocks for $20! 

We walked passed these stunning flowers as we were leaving the QVM and the first person we thought of was Steph! We miss you Steph!!

Our plan was to then head to the graffiti walls at Union Lane to take photos and selfies, as we do. While heading towards there, we walked passed a sticker photo booth and we both realised we had never taken one of them together before so.. we yolo'ed it.

How asian /10

 Then off we went, to take maaany photos and selfies.

aaand to top it all off, we finally saw Aileen's mum who came back from her Sydney trip! (So glad and grateful to finally have met the sweetest mother of my one and only Aileen!) 

Jiwon is now apart of the family btw. 

Until next time <3

B12 | 50 Interesting Facts

Hello!

Our lovely friend srh tagged us to do a 50 interesting facts challenge. We decided to split it into 25 facts each, so hope you enjoy!

1. I've always wished Pokemon were real.

2. I have 4 siblings all of whom are younger than me and two of my cousins who I see on a weekly basis. 



3. I am 173/4 cm tall.

4. My birthday is on March 12 which is probably my favourite day of the year.

5. If I got a dollar every time someone asked if I was Korean, I would be ballin' by now.

6. I absolutely adore all my family and friends.

7. I think Taecyeon from 2PM is absolute perfection.



8. I'm currently a first year engineering student; I'm not hating it but I'm definitely not loving it either.

9. I wish I could just roll out of my bed and go to university in my pj's without getting judged.

10. I used to live in Melbourne until 2007 when I moved up to Brisbane.

11. I miss high school (just not the work part though); I miss seeing my friends every day and all of my wonderful teachers, oh and the bake stalls.

12. I aim to get 8-10 hours of sleep each night but that never happens.

13. I'm seeing Rihanna live in concert in September with Bella!

14. I played the piano until grade 4 then I took up flute in 2007 and passed my grade 7 AMEB in 2011.

15. There was a time in my life where I was addicted to Runescape, the Sims and my Nintendo DS LOL. 

16. I absolutely hate spiders, insects, bugs and anything that has an abnormal amount of legs because they're just freaky and disgusting and gross and I just hate them so much, ugh. 

17. I went through a "tb" phase back in the good ol' days and am really regretting my hairstyle choices back then. 

18. The last time I dyed my hair was in 2010; I dyed it black but it has gradually faded over time. 

19. I love Italian and Japanese food, oh, and bagels.  



20. I fractured my toe in 2007 by tripping over this girl during rehearsal when I used to Australian Girls Choir. The following weeks in crutches were the worst since my classroom was on top of a flight of stairs and I had to catch the bus to and from school everyday. 

21. Jackson and Jason left me waiting for them by myself for 3 hours while over in Shen Zhen, China. 

22. I got stuck in Hong Kong for a night because I wasn't allowed back into China due to Visa issues and it was around 11pm so everything was either closed or closing, mmmm great times... 

23. I wish I was born with photographic memory. 

24. I used to be ridiculously fascinated with rainbows I used to make my dad drive towards the end of the rainbow so I could collect my pot of gold. 

25. I was the really chubby asian kid in primary school. 

~

26. Both my Korean and English name is Jiwon.

27.  My English name was going to be Joanne, but thankfully my dad thought about that again. (FYI, I have nothing against those who are named ‘Joanne’)

28. I have no middle name and I will always be jealous over those who do. Oh, and English  names too.

29.  Apparently, I would've been born on August 7 but I was too fat and had a big head so I decided to come out into this world on August 13.

30.  My sister and aunty (pretty much my whole family) mistook me as a black ugly boy when they first saw me.

31.  I have one sister named Jihee, who is now happily married.



32.  My sister and I are pretty much best friends. There is no one else that knows me better than her. My dad and I are super duper close too (I would never ever ask for anyone else to be dad), best buds.

33.  Aileen and I are pretty much the same height.

34.  I am still 17. Sometimes people mistake me as 18+ and just look stunned when I tell them they’re wrong.

35.  Whenever I start talking in Korean, other Korean people always seem to be fascinated that I am pretty much fluent (apparently with a slight Australian accent).

36. I partially learnt how to read and write Korean from watching Korean variety shows and dramas. My dad was very kind enough to deal with me every time I’d ask him questions while watching TV; "What does that say? ..what does that mean?"

37. I attended a Korean school back in my primary school days. I quit not long after starting because I had fell face forward on a rock from a bench while playing tag with (kiddo) high heels on.

38. I dreaded that day when I received my first stitches on my forehead. It felt like a bee sting (although I have never actually been bitten by a bee...)

39. If you look closely, you can still clearly see and feel the scar on my forehead.

40. I may have the best vision in my family. Surprisingly everyone (my parents, grandparents, sister, aunts, uncles and cousins); except I, wear glasses.

41. I had the choice of playing the piano or violin, or both. I ended up choosing the violin, in which I played for 4 or so years.

42. One of my biggest regrets would be that I quit violin. However, years back I had to choose between playing the violin and dancing.

43. I never attended grade 11 or 12. Instead I graduated a full-time Advanced Diploma course in Performing Arts, where I still received an OP ranking. Also, I have never had my own school formal.

44. This fact is pretty much repeating Aileen’s fact number 19. "I love Italian and Japanese food, oh, and bagels."

45. I am a bit of a health junky. I will never go a day without more than 3-5 types of fruit a day.

46. I don’t think I could ever go a day without breakfast (yoghurt with frozen raspberries, blueberries, honey and chia seeds; to be exact).

47. I had a rare bone (approximately 1 cm long) in my right ankle which irritated my dancing for a whole year. At the start of December last year, I had a surgery to take it out.

48. My family used to play tennis every weekend when I was little. One night we went, a family friend’s dog had bit my lip which wouldn't stop bleeding. Yet, I adore dogs (unlike my dear Alice).

49. I don’t really like playing video games, because I don’t like to lose. Especially when it comes to scary ones, I freak that I may die.

50. So far, I have had a bob haircut two times in my life. Once in preschool and the other in grade 8 or 9. 

JㅣBrunch

Bagel Nook , located in the alley - corner of Creek & Adelaide Streets

You may have realised by now that both Aileen and I love food, we love our breakfast/lunch; rather known as brunch. 

Pretty much whenever we get the chance, we like to arrange a little get together with our lovely girls. So in these past two weeks, we have consecutively been going to PourBoy Espresso on Adelaide St. Although we haven't explored that many espressos/cafes quite yet, you could say PourBoy is one of the best we have been to. Explains why we've been there twice already. 

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"Setting a new benchmark in specialty coffee and cafe dining, Pourboy Espresso is the brainchild of Chef Mark Bell and Barista Sebastian Butler-White.

With the coffee leaving people asking for more, the food will surely do the same. This is part of the whole Pourboy ethos, delivering both coffee and food without compromise.

Located at 26 Wharf Street, Pourboy Espresso is ideally positioned as a sanctuary for office workers and local residents alike. Expect fast paced, attentive service with bustling takeaway trade."

Round 1 with Alice, Sandra &B2;

Alice's Home made Lemon Ice TeaㅣSandra's 'Strawberries & Cream'

Macerated Strawberries, Milk Gelato, Cream and Milk blended with Ice and garnished with Fresh Strawberries

Round 2 with Alice, Sandra, Michelle &B12;

Smoked Salmon OmeletteㅣCroque MadameㅣFree Range Chicken Breast

("Our menu changes seasonally and with availability.")

s

Round 1; Free Range Chicken Breast & Tasmanian Smoked SalmonㅣAileen's Turkey & Brie Bagel

k

For our second round, Aileen unfortunately couldn't get there on time so the other girls and I headed to PourBoy first, and ordered three dishes to share amongst ourselves. We devoured majority of the dishes so once we were done, we took Aileen down to Bagel Nook so she could have a proper brunch.

I apologise if these photos caused anyone to become hungry...

a

♥ jiwon

JㅣCruisin'

upstairs of the boat +Henry's asian pose.

Something a little different. On Friday night, Teresa, Sam, Tony, Henry and I had a few panic attacks before getting on a boat, thinking we'd miss Darren's 18th. There was so much traffic, we were frantically calling and asking everyone to stall the boat for us; it was a bit of a drama.. in one packed car.

k

Thankfully, we got there on time! It was great to see and catch up with a lot of familiar faces that I hadn't seen for quite a long time. To top things off; the weather was (for once) actually perfect!

 Angge and Darren the Birthday boy.

s

with the beautiful girls; Teresa, Jackie and Jocelyn.

 

Henry, Darren, Tony, Francis, Alan, myself and Teresa.

aAll in all, it was a relaxing yet enjoyable night. Although, I'd have to say, out of everything from that night, the karaoke car rides might have been the best part. Oh, and Sam & Henry's pole dancing competition... (for the sake of them both, I won't upload those photos hahah.)

jiwon xo.

JㅣSydney

Some of you may know (if you read my own blog), I mentioned that I would post about my days down in Sydney, on here. About time, right?

I'd like to think that I can just go back to Sydney any day I please. Repeating what Aileen said in her recent post, I can not get my head around it being May already, and almost half way through the year. It has (already) been about a month ago I went for a short trip, around 4 days to visit the newly-wedded couple; my sister and brother-in-law.

(I apologise in advance for the quality of the many photos, at the moment I only have an iPhone 5 to take photos with.)

Do you feel like Korean cuisine? Go to Eastwood.ㅣMyeong Ga Restaurant (명가)

 Pishon Patisserie & Cake Cafe, Eastwood.

 New Shanghai, Chatswood Chase.

Te Masek, Parramatta.

The cafe that is open 24/7, so overly priced; City Extra, Parramatta.

'The best risotto & mixed field mushrooms, roasted garlic and parsley, finished with our amazing parmesan & dreamy truffle oil'.

Jamie's Italian, Pitt St.

Ladurée, Westfield Sydney. 

Yum Cha, Rhodes Shopping Centre.

These are most of the places I went to eat with my family, which I definitely recommend you try out if you're ever in Sydney.

..and we didn't bother visiting the Sydney Opera House because we didn't have much time. Yeaah, we are probably the only ones who have done so while in Sydney.

Can I just go back there now?

jiwon xo.