Thursday, May 31, 2018

Korean Drinksie

After a long hiatus, I met up with The Stumbler at our old haunt in Gangseo-gu cheong, at Saemaul Shikdang (New Village Restaurant), for an overdue dinner of grilled pork and soju, Korean-style.

We usually meet well in advance of dinner time for, let's just call it "cocktails", a few drinksie at a chicken hof or, ideally, at a convenience store with a couple of tables outside--lower overhead on the beer prices.

To wit, the latest addition to the constellation of Korean beers is the Filite "Fresh", in the blue can. The particular establishment at which I awaited his arrival happened to have some, so I gave it a shot while waiting. Here's the can; it doesn't have a lot to recommend it, other than the price, 1,600 W, which is the same as the green one. And frankly, the "clean barley flavor" of the original suits me much better.


While waiting (the weather started to turn, affecting traffic), I had a second one. It didn't really change my opinion, but I didn't mind it as much. At this point, it's coming up on half-seven and I'm getting peckish, so I stroll toward our dinner spot. I barely have time to explain to the wait-staff that my friend is late and order some drinksie when a team (okay, a pair) of promoters come into the restaurant. They are promoting Cham-i-sul ("real dew") soju, whereas I had just ordered, as usual, Cheoeum-cheoreom ("like the first time").

The fact that one member of the team was a pretty girl in no way convinced me to change my order. Nope, I just hadn't had my picture taken in a while, that's all.


As an additional inducement, the young woman is holding a giant cut-out soju bottle, which you can see below is a kind of alcohol advent calendar. Pick a window and win a prize.


Truth is, I've played this game a dozen times, at least, from Guro Digital to Cheolsan to Hongdae and back again, but I keep playing on the off-chance I'll win a small island in the Caribbean, or at least a Hyundai Sonata. I picked IU 아이유, a hot Korean actress, but had to settle for a large packet of mul-tissue (moist towelettes) and some skin cream.

Grrr. Next time, soju advent calendar, next time!

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