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Showing posts from December, 2014

Asiana Airlines OZ 203: LAX - ICN Travel Class

Earlier in 2014, I went on a trip to Asia, namely Beijing (some of the posts already written are: McDonald's China: Sweet Taro Pie , Wuyutai Tea- Wangfujing, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China: Jasmine and Matcha Soft-Serve Ice Cream (and a comparison to McDonald's version) ). Asiana proved to be the most cost effective option at the time of booking, with only Eithad as the only other choice that was less than $2000 roundtrip! This was initially shocking to me and travel agents, who were surprised that Chinese carriers had an exorbitantly high cost for the dates I wanted. With Asiana and the costs that I wanted, I ended up with two flights in order to get to Beijing: LAX-ICN, and ICN-PEK, with a seven hour layover at ICN! (shock, but also a good opportunity to do some fun things) This blog post covers the LAX-ICN sector.

Chinese Food Truck- Los Angeles (University Park), CA

Previously, authentic chinese food options were quite limited in the University Park neighborhood. Bamboo Express in the former University Village food court offered some authentic options if you knew how to read the chinese only menu, as well as how to pick options from the steam tray that were not geared for the typical Americanized Chinese palate. However, now Bamboo Express no longer exists, with the demolition of the University Village for the new USC Village. Thankfully, this fall, a new food truck offered some authentic Chinese options: the Chinese Food Truck. The Chinese Food Truck offers quite a lot of authentic Chinese options previously unavailable in the area, from potstickers, dumplings, and wontons to noodle dishes, like the spicy and sour rice noodles and sesame sauce cold chicken noodles. Some options are also only written in Chinese, so it would probably be best to translate them yourself or bring a friend who can read Chinese for some assistance. Most of the

McDonald's China: Sweet Taro Pie

One of the items that I always make sure to get when visiting McDonald's in Asia is the Sweet Taro Pie (in China, 2 for 9 RMB). There are several differentiators to McDonald's China pies: 1. As its outer appearance suggests, it is a fried, not baked product. Thus, the exterior is fragrant and crispy, while the interior of the dough is tender, slightly chewy and elastic. 2. The flavor! Taro, pineapple, and banana were the flavors I saw while I was on my trip, but all of these flavors are not available in the United States. Taste wise for the sweet taro pie, it all comes together: a lightly sweet, tender taro filling with an slightly savory exterior and chewy interior covering. It isn't particular heavy either, for the taro filling consists of pieces of taro in a sweet purple colored syrup; you are not eating mashed taro in each bite, but rather a more fluid filling with the fried pastry dough. No, it might not be the healthiest dessert around, bu