Cairns, Australia: Orchid Plaza

I visited Cairns, Australia in August 2012 and to my surprise, one of the most memorable places was an Asian mall. Orchid Plaza is a small, two story mall supposed located "in the heart of Cairns," according to the mall's website. There is also free wifi, but it's a bit hard to access.

Though I was on vacation and usually would have liked to experience the local food, I was constantly drawn toward the Korean stall in the upstairs food court called Corea Corea for several reasons.  The first reason is that there is a TV that is always rerunning kpop music shows and music videos.  In the middle of a tropical, beachy tourist town are signs of Korean culture!  As my family continuously passed by this stand, I couldn't help but stare at the TV for a dose of kpop.  Another reason is that restaurant prices are extremely expensive around Cairns, and this food court is a more affordable option.  There is also complementary tea that is self-served.  My apologies for not writing a better review on the actual food or service; I wasn't planning on blogging about something I had experienced 6 months ago!

I got the best seat in the house: my view was the TV! The clips usually alternated between girl groups and guy groups, but I was more interested in the guy groups. Starting from the top left and going clockwise, I first saw CNBlue's Love music video. Next was Ss501's Love Ya music video (which includes a close up of Kim Hyun Joong), and lastly Gummy's music video starring Hyun Joong. These songs are all from 2010, so what this TV plays is a bit outdated. However, CNBlue and Ss501 were one of the first bands I discovered and Love and Love Ya are two songs I cherish deeply, so I really did feel a connection!  For a better view of the TV, zoom in on the photo!

Upstairs, there is also a small Japanese convenience store.  Despite being a Japanese store, I did notice some Korean sodas with two of Big Bang's members plastered on the front! One soda reveals Taeyang while the other shows G-Dragon. This is the soda Sunny 10, which is a product of Coca-Cola. All five members of Big Bang endorsed this soda during 2012.

If you're ever in the area and want to kill time, stop by Orchid Plaza! But of course this place is not worth a plane ride just to visit!

Sydney Chinatown: Kpop Stores

Sydney, Australia's Chinatown spans several blocks and is adorned with authentic Chinese restaurants and...kpop stores!  I felt like I was in heaven, being surrounded by heavenly cuisine and kpop.  I visited Sydney in August 2012 and will never forget it.  Their Chinatown is mainly a pedestrian street stretching two blocks long.  Walking down the streets of Chinatown, multiple stores blasted Gangnam Style loudly to draw attention.  Those were the stores I was attracted to, since they were just calling to fangirls.

Rong Bao Tang
[UPDATE: Rong Bao Tang located to just around the corner. Here is the new address:
Level 1 389 Sussex Street, Haymarket, Sydney, NSW, Australia. There is also a branch in Melbourne. Look in the comments for more details.]

Old Location: 46 Dixon St nr Goulburn St, Haymarket, NSW

The first store on my list was Rong Bao Tang, also known as Best Media Asia.  It is located on Dixon Street, the pedestrian street.  This store carries the largest collection of popular Asian movies, dramas, CDs and random kpop merchandise.  They even have a selection of signed rookie kpop band CDs.  Often they have great freebies. By purchasing two concert DVDs, I received a free large SHINee 2012 calendar!  The front is adorned with kpop posters and there is a TV facing the street blaring kpop shows.

Morning Glory
33 Goulburn St. btwn George & Sussex St., Haymarket, NSW

There are actually three Morning Glory stores in this vicinity, but only this location has kpop merchandise.  This cute stationary and gifts chain store (they have stores in the US and Canada too!) has a nice selection of $5 posters and unique items, such as kpop tumblers, planners, post-its and even socks.  Peek through the door and you can see a poster from Tony Moly's photoshoot with Kim Hyun Joong!

East Avenue

This small store is in an alleyway that is connected to Dixon's pedestrian street.  It mostly sells Asian clothing, but there are also kpop posters ($10AUD), postcards ($2AUD) and keychains ($10AUD).  The products are mostly of more well-established kpop stars and actors, such as Lee Min Ho, Kim Bum, Kim Hyun Joong, Jang Geun Suk, SNSD and IU, just to name a few, and not newer kpop idols.

I'll have another post about the kpop merchandise I bought here.  If you're ever in Sydney's Chinatown, check out these stores!