Korea Life Blog - What's in my Fridge? (2)
Let's see what I have in the freezer: chicken balls and mandu. In the fridge: a bag of seaweed my co-worker gave me, the usual plastic box full of kimchi, some water, a few condiments, and some dwen jang paste. Wow, exciting.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Seafood Chips
Well, after trying seaweed chips, I decided to give Seafood chips a shot. I want to know once and for all if it's possible to taste the delicious flavors of the sea in my potato chip. Notice the picture of plump and juicy shrimp, tender clams, and octopus. Sure looks tasty. Perhaps I should pick up a bottle of wine and some oyster sauce as well. Now unless there is something wrong with my tastebuds, these chips taste exactly like this company's other ruffled chips. If you try really hard and rub your tongue all around, there is a very slight, barely perceptible resemblance to those toasted sae-u (shrimp) chips they serve you in bars. Hardly the robust flavor you would expect from this picture.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Banana Milk
Here is a carton of delicious banana milk. I love the cute artwork on some of the packaging here. Notice the cartoon girl's red hair and her cool banana shaped boat. I don't know how it's possible, but I find Korean milk tastes better than milk back home. I noticed the difference right off the back a few years ago then forgot about it until I went back to the states. There is definitely a noticeable difference. I'm not sure if all milk here is pasteurized or not. Maybe that's what's different. Also, it's not easy to find lowfat milk, but who cares! I'm not on a diet. It taste great in cereal. But it doesn't taste that great with kimchi. I used to drink milk everyday back in the states, but here I drink a few glasses a week. I'd better buy a calcium supplement.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Playstation 2 Bang
There's yeat another kind of bang emerging on the scene: the Playstation 2 bang. The only place I've ever seen them is in Sinchon, one of the popular nightlife districts, but I'm guessing there are more of them elsewhere. They're another place for young people to calm the stresses and woes of daily life and/ or a great, cheap place to take your date and crush her at a game of baseball. It costs 2,000 won/hour per person. If you are particularly cheap but confident, you can tell her loser pays!
It's a Sunday afternoon, but it's not that crowded. I guess everyone's at the PC bang. I was surprised to see mostly young couples in here and almost all of them were playing soccer. They have just about any game you could want to play. Most of the games are in English but some are in Japanese. Don't worry, the ajushi will help you get started. I wish there was a place like this in Nowehere-dong. I stopped buying console systems and computer games as I get so addicted that I can't stop playing, especially RPG games. But here I could just stop in and play for an hour or two and leave.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - On my Desk
Let's see what we have here. My remote, which I use to flip through my 3 English channels several hundred times a day, an English dictionary for kids which I use to study Korean, an English-Korean dictionary, a Korean phrase book, another book called "Making Out in Korean" that I borrowed from someone and which has the worst of Korean language in it (swearing, fighting, and love-making phrases that would surely get anyone smacked in the face), a bottle opener for beer, aspirin for the next morning, cold medicine, a lovely letter I saved from my boss warning that if I miss work he will deduct it from my pay, an old newspaper which I set food on (my desk is also my dinner table), a container of pepper, my empty wallet, a roll of toilet paper, of course, and a few other items I can't make out.
Some other things that I keep on my desk:
It's November. It's cold. But this is Korea and mosquitos are still out in full force. Here is F-Killer. I must have killed a hundred-and-fifty mosquitos with this can, not to mention a few flies and about 30 cockroaches. Cockroaches come in through holes beneath the hallway screens then walk into my apartment at night through the space under my door. Thanks Korean contruction design team!
Inevetibaly I get bitten at least 2 or 3 times a week, usually in the middle of the night. This roll-on stuff stops the itch pretty quickly. Like F-killer, it's a must have for anyone living in Korea.
A box of "Ode" cake bars. Nothing like processed cake. Yum!
It's hard to find deoderant in Korea and, if you do find it, it's expensive. Koreans don't use it, and except ocassionally at the health club, I never notice anyone's body odor. However, I notice mine, so I had my family send me some. Thanks for the dollar store brand, Mom.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Miyuk Guk
Here's another dish that would have made me cringe a few years ago. It's dark and murky and full of green stuff. It looks like swamp stew, I admit. No, it's miyuk guk, seaweed soup. I often eat it with rice and kimchi for breakfast, or late at night - a non fattening meal before bed. After all, you don't want to eat noodles before sleep as that will make your face get bigger. The best part is the miyuk guk is very easy to cook, especially the instant kind. A box costs only about 1,000 won and it tastes pretty decent. However, as with any food, the homemade kind tastes much better. It's not common to find it in restaurants, although I have. I should learn how to cook it. It can't be that hard. Feel free to tell me how to make it. I can see the recipe now: First, boil water. Second, add seaweed. Finally serve and enjoy. I think there's some kind of meat in it as well. I'm not sure what it is. Anyway, there's a superstition in Korea about this soup. You're not supposed to eat it the day before taking an exam. I really don't understand the reasoning. Something about the soup being slippery. Slippery things make you fall down. I guess that means to fail. If anyone can explain this better, please do so.
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written by shawn matthews
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