I have such a neat idea for a mother's day cake I just hope I can pull it off 😵‍💫

places i wanna revisit, this time with you

Genting Highlands. Not a place someone would bring their lover to, but we should go there at least once! We can practically go nowhere, but the ambiance is to die for! :) It's a resort hotel with an indoor amusement park. We can go up and down the highland by cable car!

Bangkok. The street food, omigosh! It's way more versatile and out of the box. You can find almost everything you want to try on the streets of Bangkok. I've even tried fried insects - they taste awfully like baby powder. Don't ask me how I know how baby powder tastes. We should take tons and tons of pictures of the temples there. It's practically an eyegasm site for an aesthetic sucker like yours truly.

Singapore. This one is short - the food is to die for! Carrot cake, wonton mee, Singaporean chili crab, kaya toast, oyster omelet, Hainan rice, and most importantly, the legendary $1 ice cream sandwich! Let's try everything there and we can burn all the calories once we return home.

Los Angeles and New York. Ever wonder why Paul named his band after these two cities? It's simply full of magic. LA's sunset adorned with palm trees along the road is breathtaking. The sky is wide open - no messy and busy tall buildings covering the skyline, unlike Jakarta. Riding the bus, or car, or just simply strolling around the neighborhood while blasting Pink Skies would be amazing with you. New York, on the other hand? Putting aside the horrible subway ride and the people there, the city is just to die for, especially during the holiday season. Let's take tons of pictures at Times Square, or at Radio City. Christmas is wonderful, but New York takes it to a whole new level. Giant ornaments fill the whole city! Although, the cold winter wind is just nasty - nothing that layers of Uniqlo heat-tech winterwear couldn't handle, though.

Seoul, Busan, and anywhere in between. Seoul, Seoul, Seoul. I left a tiny piece of my soul there and I could never seem to be able to bring them back with me. I have soooo many places in mind to take you within Seoul. Let's go to Hongdae and try all the street food! It's where I spent most of my days after classes. Your sweet tooth would love it there, they have churros, bungeoppang with frozen yogurt and fruits, hotteok, ice creams of all sorts, and many many more. And we should stroll around Han River, I mean, we could ride the tandem bike, but you would have to do all the pedaling hehe. What else? Ooh, the soups are to die for. We should definitely eat Seollongtang at Seouldae station, near where I lived. Busan, oh my God. We should definitely go there during winter time. They have this amazing light festival on the beach. The whole Haeundae beach is covered with thousands and thousands of fairy lights. Too pretty to miss!

I'll prepare my camera!

Hello Hilo

I’m finally trying a real vacation in a post-COVID world, and the first stop is Hilo, Hawaii. I’ve been to Hawaii several times in my life, but never have I been to the Big Island until now. Doing my research ahead of time, it seems people tend to go to Kona or Hilo, the former more touristy and the latter more laid back. We wanted to be cautious and chose Hilo for the smaller crowd size. We also knew we would eat well, but I had no idea how right we’d be! Here are my must-visit picks for foodies.

Hilo Bay Cafe

This restaurant has the reputation of being one of the best in Hilo, and it's easy to see why. First, there is a killer view as the location is right on Hilo Bay (true to its name). Call to make reservations - you can do so online, too, but it's not necessarily accurate. OpenTable showed no availability for 3 days, so I called and scored the last table available for that evening. If you're really lucky, try to get a table outside so you can enjoy the sunset. You pretty much can't go wrong with anything you order there, and this is especially true when it comes to the seafood, which is caught fresh daily. I couldn't resist the special of the day, which was the shrimp with grits. Absolutely delicious - you can taste how fresh it is. The polenta grits and boar sausage pieces that shared the plate were great, too, but the shrimps were clearly the stars. We also had room for dessert - had to get a lava cake on the island! It paired perfectly with the macadamia nut ice cream.

Hawaiian Style Cafe

The most classic Hawaiian dish is the loco moco, so we went to Hawaiian Style Cafe for dinner to get that crossed off our checklist. Loco moco is basically an egg and hamburger patties served on top of rice with brown gravy. It's definitely comfort food, along with the luau stew that we ordered. The stew is tender chunks of pork cooked in a broth with taro leaves. We realized once we got to Hawaiian Style Cafe that most people come here for breakfast, as they are famous for their pancakes. We had to get one, and one was really more than enough for us. One pancake is larger than the size of my face! It is topped with haupia (coconut pudding), toasted coconut shreds, and whipped cream. If all that isn't sweet enough, there's also maple syrup on the side. Even without the haupia, this pancake is delicious - thick but fluffy. The only slightly negative part of this experience was we needed leftover containers. When the bill came, I was surprised to see we were charged $0.25 for them. I mean, a quarter is really insignificant, but I was surprised that they 1) charged for it; 2) didn't tell us they were charging for it until I saw it on the bill. When I questioned the cashier about this, she said "oh this is new for us, too," as if that made it all okay. I still recommend a visit though because the food is just too good.

Two Ladies Kitchen

This is a must-have on Hilo. I've had mochi before - and good ones at that, too - but Two Ladies Kitchen puts all the ones I've ever had before to shame. They are most famous for their fruit ones, especially the strawberry daifuku - soft, chewy mochi on the outside, a thin layer of red bean paste, and a whole strawberry at the center. Two Ladies Kitchen uses only fresh fruit, so the menu is updated with what's in season. A very close runner up for me was the momo (peach) mochi. The peach was just so juicy and sweet, and pairing it with the mochi was perfection. I also tried pear and apple, and while I liked the contrast in their crunchy texture, the momo and strawberry were the best. I also bought a couple without fruit - the plum flower (which is just mochi colored and shaped into a plum flower and filled with red bean paste) and the lilikoi (passionfruit), and they were good, too.

A helpful tip if you do visit Two Ladies Kitchen - call ahead to pre-order. We arrived about 10 minutes before opening and there was already a line. By the time they opened, the line was down the block. This is mainly because they are adhering to COVID-19 guidelines and permitting no more than two people in the shop at one time. Those who pre-order can jump to the front of the line. They don't have a website, but I've linked to their Instagram above, which has their contact information.

Hilo Farmers Market

The Hilo Farmers Market is open all 7 days a week from 7am to 3pm. It is the place to go for the freshest produce for a reasonable price. We picked up a couple of strawberry papayas for $1.50. I was very tempted to buy the enormous dragonfruit for $4. I recall seeing much smaller ones for sale for $7 at Whole Foods in comparison! What I love about shopping at Farmers Market in general is you get the opportunity to actually talk to the people who grow your food. In Hilo, it's even more meaningful to me because I know the money is going directly to the community.

While you're at the Farmers Market, stop by Kula for some organic shave ice. They make their own syrup with natural ingredients. I got the Lilikoi Dreamsicle, and it was heavenly!

While I knew practically nothing about Hilo prior to going, I absolutely fell in love here. Not only was all the food I had wonderful, this was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been. Whether it's going up to the summit of Mauna Kea and having some Cup of Noodles while stargazing or strolling through Liliuokalani Park and Gardens, the natural beauty that can be found in Hilo is astounding.