Happiness of Eating
I've been lax in the snack department. Here are the latest offerings:
From the left there's a tube of potato sticks which were more like mini breadsticks than anything else. Next is banana milk which was different than what I was expecting. It was regular milk with a banana flaror added. I guess I was expecting some sickly sweet banana shake sort of deal. The carton read, in part "You can taste delicious banana in a fresh milk. It uses only excellent ingredients for a new generation who seeks for the best taste enjoyment. Good quality and great satisfaction guaranteed. A new type of modified milk-based product! Don't hesitate to buy. It will bring you happiness of drinking." How could I resist? I really love the way Koreans translate phrases into English. Don't get me wrong, I know English is tough. I have problems with it, but Korean translations often have a poetic aura about them. A bit off-kilter poetry, but poetry nonetheless.
In front of the banana milk is a "Nambu rice porridge with pine nut." Technically there were 8 pine nuts. Actually, it was pretty bad.
To the milk and porridge's left (your right) is my next excursion into the ice cream chest. This was not as exciting. It was ice cream in the middle of a shell made of a sort of rice cake. Not the sort of thing I would usually go for, but on the up side it kept your hands completely clean while eating the ice cream.
Moving from an area where it is illegal to eat on the mass-transit system, I find the selling of food in Seoul's subway refreshing. As I was making my way from one line to the next I was overcome by the smell of sugar, egg and flour being fried in hot oil. It turned out to be a small stand selling fresh mini donuts in the shape of ears of corn. I walked up, smiled and indicated I wanted a bag. The woman took my 2000 Won ($2) and selected a pre-packaged bag, opened it and put four or five fresh donuts on top. She then looked at me and said something in Korean. I envisioned that she said "You look like a nice American, so I will give you something special…some extra donuts that are fresh from the line. Enjoy them and go in peace." Only when I bit into one several seconds later and the cream filling that was approaching the temperature of molten rock gushed onto my tongue, searing every taste bud I had, did I realize that she probably said "Watch out, kid. These are hot." They were delicious, though. The sacrifice was worth it.
That afternoon I stopped by a market and a "Green Latte" caught my eye. Yup, it's a green tea latte. It grows on you. Very rich with a distinct green tea flavor.
From the left there's a tube of potato sticks which were more like mini breadsticks than anything else. Next is banana milk which was different than what I was expecting. It was regular milk with a banana flaror added. I guess I was expecting some sickly sweet banana shake sort of deal. The carton read, in part "You can taste delicious banana in a fresh milk. It uses only excellent ingredients for a new generation who seeks for the best taste enjoyment. Good quality and great satisfaction guaranteed. A new type of modified milk-based product! Don't hesitate to buy. It will bring you happiness of drinking." How could I resist? I really love the way Koreans translate phrases into English. Don't get me wrong, I know English is tough. I have problems with it, but Korean translations often have a poetic aura about them. A bit off-kilter poetry, but poetry nonetheless.
In front of the banana milk is a "Nambu rice porridge with pine nut." Technically there were 8 pine nuts. Actually, it was pretty bad.
To the milk and porridge's left (your right) is my next excursion into the ice cream chest. This was not as exciting. It was ice cream in the middle of a shell made of a sort of rice cake. Not the sort of thing I would usually go for, but on the up side it kept your hands completely clean while eating the ice cream.
Moving from an area where it is illegal to eat on the mass-transit system, I find the selling of food in Seoul's subway refreshing. As I was making my way from one line to the next I was overcome by the smell of sugar, egg and flour being fried in hot oil. It turned out to be a small stand selling fresh mini donuts in the shape of ears of corn. I walked up, smiled and indicated I wanted a bag. The woman took my 2000 Won ($2) and selected a pre-packaged bag, opened it and put four or five fresh donuts on top. She then looked at me and said something in Korean. I envisioned that she said "You look like a nice American, so I will give you something special…some extra donuts that are fresh from the line. Enjoy them and go in peace." Only when I bit into one several seconds later and the cream filling that was approaching the temperature of molten rock gushed onto my tongue, searing every taste bud I had, did I realize that she probably said "Watch out, kid. These are hot." They were delicious, though. The sacrifice was worth it.
That afternoon I stopped by a market and a "Green Latte" caught my eye. Yup, it's a green tea latte. It grows on you. Very rich with a distinct green tea flavor.
posted by tcw1138 at 3:03 PM
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