Yes we are both still alive despite America’s best attempts at bankrupting the World... We have been so busy gallivanting around Korea as well as entertaining Katie’s family, who are now in Japan, that we have not had time to write a blog detailing all our adventures. However I have managed to find time to write down my musings whilst having lunch on my own so here goes.
Well I am writing this sitting in a restaurant using an old fashioned pen, writing on some old fashioned paper so screw you trees. About 20 minutes ago, I was hungrier than a hippo so I went into a restaurant and was handed a nice picture menu – always handy when you are dizzy from hunger. Even with pictures, you can never be too sure so I got out the old mobile and started translating away. The first thing that looked tasty translated as, “starving, exhausted from malnutrition.” I stared at the screen in disbelief as it is quite rare for a menu item to mock me in my times of need. My glucose deprived mind floats back to a time when Katie translated a dish as “chicken shit house”. We thought “chicken shit house” must mean chicken arse so we opted out. Call us old fashioned but if arses were supposed to be eaten, they wouldn’t taste like shit.
Anyway I ended up playing food bingo and risked it on a picture without translating for fear of further bullying from the menu. Thirty seconds after I started eating, the manager came over and offered me a free side order because she liked the cut of my jib. I mean you should get some deep fried king prawns when you spend £5 on what turns out to be delicious chicken, onions and rice - I'd be angry if I didn't!
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| I wish I'd thought to take a photo before I finished my meal |
There are some activities you should do on your own, such as showering, going to the toilet, murder, but eating on your own is about as unusual as a pube-free urinal. However, similar to going to the toilet on your own, eating on your own has a major benefit – people watching. Seeing the culinary delights and frights that people order in Korea is always fascinating. Something quite odd, which is considered perfectly normal here, is a customer handing over their mobile phone and universal charger “adapter thingy” to have their phone charged while they eat. I don’t know why they bother; you are given 2 batteries when you buy a phone here. Reminds me of an article I just read on people getting treated for internet addiction in Korea. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14361420) I mean, it’s a little crazy but I can’t talk because it’s like the pot calling the kettle a kitchen utensil. Also according to a study, Korea could have 48 million smart phone users by 2015 and its current population is only 50 million. That can’t be true, can it?
Anyway back to the restaurant and if eating on my own wasn’t social suicide already, I tightened the noose further and ordered a nice cold beer. I was in no rush and enjoyed a chilled air conditioned lunch before venturing outside into the steam room that is Korea in August.
Katie’s family are back in Busan next week and then we go to China for 15 nights pretty soon so there may not be time for another blog this month.
Oh and thanks a lot to the Moss family for providing me with enough sweets to rot all my teeth :Ð
