The Alchemist, Yard & Coop and More | Manchester, England

In the whirlwind 10 hours that we had in Manchester, we stopped at so many places. In part one, I covered the morning and here's the afternoon! One of the places that I knew we had to visit, was The Alchemist. We went in 2012 and it left such a strong impression on me. Before then, I never had a craft cocktail or been to a fancy bar. The mixologists at this bar were really knowledgable and never knew that cocktails could be so complex and delicious. This time around, I didn't care where else we went, just as long as I was able to have one drink at The Alchemist. That's all I wanted to do to be honest. 

There are two locations in Manchester and we decided to go to the same location in Spinningfields. It was great to see nothing had changed and the interior was still really impressive. I remember walking in the first time and loving the industrial and leather look. It's the perfect decor for this kind of bar. For our drinks, we ordered a Virgin Mojito with lime, apple and mint (£4.20); a Mango Shake with white chocolate cream foam, orange, apple, lemon, mango and passionfruit (£4.20);  a Drug Rummer with Mount Gay black barrel rum, winter sugars, citrus and toasted sage (£8.95); and a Smokey Number 2 with Ron Zacapa 23yr rum, winter sugars, apple and smoke (£12.95). All of the drinks were delicious and really creative, even the non-alcoholic drinks had a lot of depth and flavors. Still to this day, The Alchemist is one of my top five bars in the world. One day, I'll write that blog post! 

After The Alchemist, we walked around a bit, but quickly realized we were hungry and jet lag was starting to kick in for Markus and I. The drive back to Stokey Town was going an hour and half with holiday traffic, so we looked for a place to eat. We happened to be in a "hipstery" area of Manchester, so of course there was a fried chicken joint, the Yard & Coop. Our friends, James and Ari, don't eat fried chicken that often and definitely not American style. I know it was our first day in another country, but there's no way I'm going to say no to fried chicken, plus it was for our friends! 

Yard & Coop actually wasn't that bad, but a little light on the portions. I was afraid of over ordering and in the end, I don't think we ordered enough. The vibe of the place is definitely similar to a lot of popular places in Chicago. It's bright with amazing typography and tons of options, mostly fried. They were running a £5 lunch special, so we ordered the Thai Thighter Burger with a buttermilk fried chicken thigh in a brioche bun, slaw, peppers, lettuce, tomato and a homemade Seoul sauce. To share, we got the Monkey Balls which were buttermilk fried chicken breast, served with a cayenne pepper, lime and honey sauce as well as Bourbon BBQ sauce. I also checked into Yelp while I was there and was given a complimentary order of Amaizeballs, sweet corn balls with fresh chili and coriander. All the food was good, but it wasn't amazing. Overall, I think it was a good experience for our friends and that's all that matters.

Ganda-Ganda's Guide to LA's Koreatown Eats

Hands down, my favorite area in Los Angeles is Koreatown, but is anyone really surprised? Our friends, Kara and Mike, took us to Koreatown to explore it's finest offerings, which of course involved food. The main thing I wanted to do was eat Korean bbq. It's very good in Chicago, but it's not like how it is in Korea. It's close, but not quite there. I've heard that in LA it's like eating in Korea, so I wanted to see if this was really true.

Every where I researched, the only place consistently recommended was Kang Ho Dong Baekjong. As usual, the critics were right and the bbq was just like Korea. We decided to order the Pork Combo ($39.99) that consisted of pork neck, seared pork belly, pork short rib, steamed egg, kimchi and kimchi stew. At that price, it was a steal and more than enough to feed four people. We obviously supplemented the meal with soju, beer and cider to really make it authentic! It was a delicious meal and the perfect start to our day in Koreatown. 

After stuffing our faces full of delicious barbecued meats, we decided to walk around Koreatown and see what other delights we could find. We passed by the Wiltern, which is a great vintage concert venue and theater. After picking up a few little kawaii things from Daiso, we came across Caffe Bene, one of my favorite Korean cafes. When Markus and I lived in Korea, we spent many nights at a Caffe Bene in Seomyeon brainstorming for Yehey. We have such fond memories of that place, so it was only natural for us to stop and have an iced Americano for old times sake.

After taking a lengthy coffee break, we realized that we were a bit hungry and headed over to Myung In Dumplings, a place that Anthony Bourdain recommended. We ordered the king steam dumpling pork and kimchi ($8), the spicy steam roll dumpling with pork and shrimp ($10), and fried dumpling with shrimp, pork and vegetables ($9). I could see why Bourdain recommended this place. The king steam dumplings were so fluffy and the kimchi wasn't overwhelming. The spicy steam roll dumpling was meaty, savory and just the right amount of spice. The fried dumplings were crunchy, juicy and everything you want in a fried dumpling.

Our last stop of the day was another popular spot that I kept seeing all over Instagram.  California Donuts is known for being fun and colorful, but most importantly the panda donut! When I saw them in the window, I definitely squealed in delight and each couple had to get one of their own. There was no way I was gonna share that cute panda with anyone but Markus! We sampled the Panda, Reeses, Chocolate Bacon, Fruity Pebbles and Samoa donuts ($18). They were all good, but my favorite was the Panda donut, but let's be real there was never any real competition.  

Even though Markus and I spent a whole day eating our fill in Koreatown, a few days later we returned with my cousin and visited another hot spot, Yu Chun. One of my favorite Korean dishes is naengmyeon, or cold noodles. I can seriously eat it every day in the summer, it's so delicious and refreshing. So, I made it a goal to have some before we left LA. We ordered the BBQ and Bibim Naengmyeon Combo ($17.50) and Mul Naengmyun ($8.50). I'm so glad we decided to eat at Yu Chun, because everything was perfect. Eating that food was like coming home and felt so familiar and comforting. I swear to you, I almost cried it was that close. If I lived in LA, I think I would be in Koreatown every night or at least every weekend. The food there is that good and I worth a visit if you're close by! 

Koffee Pot, Town Hall & More | Manchester, England

Even though Markus and I visited Manchester and other parts of the United Kingdom in 2012, we've always wanted to go back. I think we always will, it's such a wonderful and amazing place. On our previous trip, the three days we spent there were really great and something that we always reference when we talk about the U.K. When we were planning this trip, we had to fly into Manchester to meet our mates before we traveled on to Stokey Town for Christmas. I was ecstatic when our flight arrived early in the morning, that meant we had a full day in Manchester to revisit old haunts and find new ones as well! 

After 12 long hours of travel and an interminable wait at baggage claim, we spotted our friends, James and Ari at arrivals! Thankfully the first thing they had planned was breakfast at Koffee Pot. We ate there back in 2012 but it was worth a second trip. Markus ordered a Full Irish Breakfast and I ordered the Rarebit. The Full Irish came with sausage, bacon, bury black pudding, white pudding, tatty cake, beans, fried egg, hash brown and grilled tomato. The Rarebit was made of smoked haddock, cheese, mustard and Worcesteshire sauce on sourdough bread topped with poached egg and tabasco tomatoes on the side. Both meals were incredibly delicious. The haddock wasn't too fishy and worked extremely well with the cheese and other sauces. Everything on the plate for the Full Irish was so satisfying. It was greasy, tasty and the perfect beginning to seventeen days in the United Kingdom. 

After we ate breakfast, we walked around a bit trying to find a Christmas market, but for some reason we couldn't find a single one. Which was surprising considering it was December 23rd. You would think they would be all over the place. I did want to see something really Christmasy and while we were wandering around, we found the Santa monstrosity that was erected in front Town Hall. I know I wanted Christmasy, but that was kind of cheesy and not at all expected. We ventured inside hoping to see some grand ornaments and decorations, instead it was business as usual, but it was still quite pretty. After looking around a bit, we left and sought out other fun places in Manchester, which will be included in another post! 

Joyeux Noël 2016 | Chicago, Illinois

For the past two years, Markus and I have sent out Christmas cards from some of our travels. The first year was from the woods of Michigan at this quaint bed and breakfast. I loved that photo and was worried that the next year wouldn't be as good. Thankfully, Markus and I went to Iceland last year and took an awesome photo at Jökulsárlón, Iceland's Glacier Lagoon. Since our apartment was featured in Apartment Therapy this year, I thought it would be nice to showcase some of our favorite pieces in our home. All of the pieces are vintage and most of them are from our favorite shop in Chicago, Vintage Quest. I was really pleased with how the photo turned out and I'm already thinking of what next year's photo will be! I hope all of you have a Happy Christmas and a Wonderful New Year! 

Harpa, Icelandic Hot Dogs & Popular Sites | Reykjavík, Iceland

Well we've finally reached the end of our Iceland trip and it only took a year and a half! For our last couple of days in Reykjavík, Markus and I tried to pack in as much as possible. I think it was the best way to end our trip, since we spent so most of our trip rushing from place to place. We spent most of our days walking around the city and taking in the more popular spots in town and all of them were great!

It's strange to say, but I had the best hot dog in my life in Iceland. When I was doing research on Iceland, every person suggested going t Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, a famous hot dog stand that has been in business since the 30s. It's been voted "best hot dog in Europe" many times and I couldn't agree more. The hot dogs are steamed and lamb-based and mixed with beef and pork. We ordered "one with everything" and it came with ketchup, sweet mustard, remoulade, fried onion and raw onion. We liked it so much that we went two days in a row! I never tasted anything like it and seriously still crave those sweet dogs. 

Markus and I wandered the streets and came across the Sun Voyager, this awesome Viking Ship sculpture near the shore. We also found this cool mini-arcade where we ended up visiting twice since we enjoyed playing vintage arcade games. They also had vintage toys and Markus was able to find some rare ones too! 

After we stuffed our faces with hot dogs, Markus and I headed over to Harpa, a famous concert hall known for it's beautiful design. The hall was completed in 2011 and was inspired by the basalt landscape that is found throughout Iceland. I loved the look of this building and that the Icelandic people are so proud of their beautiful country and try to emphasize their uniqueness, even in architecture. Reykjavik is truly a beautiful city and one that I wish we had more time to explore. 

So that's it for Iceland, I know it seemed like I was living in that country for the past year with all the photos and posts! I'm so happy to finally be done and now onto the next trip!