Category: Korea

, originally uploaded by Mister Ian.

The men are having an after work meal and drinking the typical beverage, Soju the popular drink here. From Wikipedia:

Soju is a distilled beverage native to Korea. Most brands of modern soju are made in South Korea. Though traditionally made from rice, most major brands supplement or even replace the rice with other starches such as potato, wheat, barley, sweet potato, or tapioca (called dangmil in Korean). Soju is clear in color and typically varies in alcohol content from about 20% to about 45% alcohol by volume (ABV), with 20% ABV being most common. Its taste is comparable to vodka, though often slightly sweeter due to the added sugar in the manufacturing process.

And it is cheap, I’m told about $1 per small bottle.

There is so much to see here and it is so different than Kuwati!

20080724_DSC_5058, originally uploaded by Mister Ian.

Nice view! I had to stick the camera out the window and then attach the lens holding it outside as the window wouldn’t open far enough to pass the camera with lens attached! Needless to say not dropping the camera body or the lens was foremost on my mind!

I walked around in the rain for a while taking photos and did this video of this sweet shop. The sweets are delicious! Photos to come. The sweets are stuffed with almonds — they also had peanut or almond filling — and the box says they are a “traditional court cake. Kkul Tarae (honey skein). A court cake made of ripened honey and malt, which was once presented to the king and valuable guests. It is brewed with the artisan spirit to make 16,000 strands suggesting the prayer for longevity, health, good fortune and wish fulfillment, It is not much sweet, not sticky to teeth, but enjoyable with various tastes according to garnishings. It can taste better with teas as it is cold and frosen.” There is a web link on the box: http://www.choeunnara.co.kr

A box of ten sweets cost 5000 South Korean Won or about $5. I ate four of them and probably could have done with two, but they are good. I’ll try to save them for later. Though like fresh Turkish Delight, it isn’t easy to stop eating them!

I’m not the first to write about this. See this YouTube video and this blog post.