A Saturday in Seoul

Having bought a (used) iPad, part of my needs for upcoming vacation in Thailand, I also needed a charger or power bank, whatever you call it, so I headed on Saturday to Sindorim TechnoMart--which I previously mentioned here and here. Found what I needed, a Templer "Metal Battery" with 10,000 mAh; also got a new screen cover and a case that also holds the iPen. Then headed down to the Food Court for lunch:


You go around all the stalls until you decide what you're looking for--Soup Village for me, on this chilly Saturday. That's 육개장 (yook gae jang) spicy beef soup. Rice in the covered bowl, black beans, pickled turnip, egg custard, sprouts, stewed veg, tiny bottle of drinking yoghurt, and a mini-chocolate bar. 8,000W (~USD 6.50).
The beans seem to me similar to the little wooden toys you might find at Cracker Barrel or Po Boys: you play the how-many-beans-can-I-get-on-the-chopsticks game until the soup temperature cools from center-of-the-sun to molten lava. But it's delicious.

Saturday evening, I joined a group of friends for "S@R", Seoul at Random, where a subway station is chosen at random and we congregate for dinner and drinks. Yesterday's station was Yeongeungpo on Line 1.
We gave a pass to Jurassic Chicken, as we prefer our meat fresh, and opted for beef Korean BBQ style. Awesome!


As we left, there was a traditional street cart selling a hard Korean candy called 엿 (yeot). "Hard" is an understatement; I have pretty good teeth, but I don't eat it for fear of chipping one! But I am glad to see they are still plying the trade in the middle of a rather upscale eating street in 2022!

Halloween in Seoul 2022

When I came to Korea, Lo! these many years ago, Halloween was a phenomenon seen only in Itaewon, the "foreigner district". Times change, so does Korea. Here are two shots I took in my west-of-the-river neighborhood:


It was difficult to find Halloween decorations, etc, in stores. Not now!


Yes, that's Halloween-themed hot dogs, at my local HomePlus.

My CoT took it on herself to decorate the classroom, using stuff I had collected over the years, plus the amazing spiderweb she made herself!


Happy Halloween!

New Shopping Phenomenon in Seoul

There is a new way to do your grocery shopping in Korea, and it is self-service. No, I don't mean self-service check-out!


The whole shop is unmanned! Pick up your basket, select your items, then do the self-service check-out too!


Obviously, lower manpower keeps prices down, but while there are lots of national and international brands--Tabasco sauce half what it costs in Emart--there are also off-brands, and off tastes. The cheesy linguini microwave dinner was just fine. Yet, the cheapo quesedillas I got were actually cheapo! On the other hand, 7,500 W for a kilo of frozen mango slices, you can't go wrong!

I got a box of pork ribs for 9,900 W and tried them a couple of days ago--and they were awesome! I'm not saying the best thing I've ever eaten, but for real Western-style ribs at about eight bucks, they can't be beat!


Went back today and got more, for my it's almost Chuseok dinner. Cooked 'em up in my toaster oven. Look pretty good, right?

YouTube Quiz

As a long-time trivia fan--including a pub trivia host for a time, back in the day--this trivia YT channel I've been following recently is holding a submission contest (random drawing style)m so I thought I'd send in a submission. Here it is. Let me know how you did.