VEGEMITE.

I would like to introduce to you... the one and only...

VEGEMITE.

I haven't had this in ages. In a decade. In over a decade. The last time I had tried this nonchalantly was in 2000, in Kingswood, NSW, Australia, where my family and I used to live. Back then, Vegemite was no big deal... I didn't really like the taste, actually. In Hong Kong, I promptly forgot all about Vegemite and Maggi noodles and Chiko rolls and meat pies...

However, in the blatantly stark life in the U.S., I've gotten used to reminiscing about everything I used to have. In AUS. In HK. I miss eggettes, HK waffles, egg tarts, vegemite, fairy cake, weird wine gums [at least, I think that's what they were? I honestly have no idea], etc. Even though I'm a vegetarian, I miss Australian meat pies, and HK fish balls next to the taxis and double decker buses...

So anyway, last Saturday I went to NYC, and hung out with KC and DS. It was extremely eventful in the aspect of food. Why? Well, we went to Chinatown, and I tried the first taro flavoured bubble tea of my life. It was really creamy, and I think there was this hint of vanilla... It was utterly awesome and the tapioca balls were a bit overcooked but they were still really chewy, so that was fantastic. Then, on the way out of Chinatown, I found this street cart selling eggettes. In my head, I was thinking, Wh-Wh-WH-WHAT?! True, in HK, eggettes are still intact and are rolled up into half a hollow cylinder [basically, it looks like you placed a waffle on a cylinder; here is a picture that doesn't belong to me], but these were better than nothing... after 4 years. Actually, I think that the vendors cheated me out of some because they were supposed to give me 15, and I don't think that there was 15. Yes, silly reason, but I have intuition. But, do YOU see 15 eggettes, in the picture?

The worst part was locating the Tuck Shop, which is this Australian restaurant, at which Vegemite is sold. I. Want. Vegemite. So... we spent two hours walking around, looking for 115, St Mark's Place. We actually ended up literally 2 streets away from it when KC's friend told us we were going in the wrong direction. So... we ended up walking to a place called the Top Shop, which sells clothes, and this would've been hilarious had it not been for the fact that, dude, we had walked for a zillion hours. Luckily, though, the weather was really nice. There was a gentle breeze... the sun didn't want to melt us...

So, after having realised our mistake, we retraced our steps [well, more like they followed me... because I find NYC easier to navigate than they do] and we ended up two streets to the right of where we had started off. And... there was this:

And this:

DO YOU SEE THAT KANGAROO?! Australia it IS! This is the Tuck Shop.... and I got some Vegemite [$7 for 150g. Which truly sucks. But what other food would I want in the world, anyway?] and two pies for my brother. KC tried some Vegemite and he literally spat it out and said, "THAT'S dis-GUST-ing!!" Maybe it's just me, but I found it really rude. Especially as we were right outside the store, and the store-owner heard us. But since I rarely see KC anyway, I decided not to hold a grudge against him.

We then went to Starbucks and got some Frappucinos, and then we went to Outback Steakhouse [which is absolutely NOT Australian.] and I tried the blooming onion, which was... eh. The mustard sauce thing was cool. The onion itself... I feel as though nature was manipulated. Drastically. However, the bread was nice.

And here is the Vegemite and toast, the next day:

Yes I resent the fact that it is made by Kraft.