March 2, 2012

Cheongju with a side of Soju

After a week in HK, it was time for Jennifer & I to hop on a plane to South Korea. Our plan was to spend the weekend with our friend Kevin, who is currently teaching in the city of Cheongju. We arrived at the Icheon Airport in the afternoon & took a 2 hour bus to Cheongju. We wasted little time and had our first Korean meal - some good old fashion Korean BBQ. Let me just put this out there... it was OUT.OF.THIS.WORLD. I would go back to Korea JUST FOR THE FOOD. I don't think I had one bad meal, so so delicious. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Anyways, we ate, drank, played drinking games with Soju (ohhhhh Soju) & went out. The following day we had a lazy Saturday, having a scrumptious breaky/brunch at one of the bars we frequented the night before hehe. We then headed for some shopping and perousing about in dt Cheongju. We settled in for another incredible dinner (I srsly don't understand how good the food was) & went out once again. Anyways, long story short - Cheongju is an absolutely unreal city. I am SO lucky to have been able to spend some time there with two amazing friends & have a unique, non-big-city experience. Kevin was an undeniably GREAT host & I just hope I can repay him in HK or wherever!
Just a quick note about Soju. It is essentially a watered down vodka-like drink, based from rice (I think/assume) that is pretty much the national drink. We most definitely consumed it at every meal & played a peculiar game. First game was after removing the cap (w tie on) each person at the table tried to flick off the tie & for the person who succeeded, well nothing happened. BUUUT for his/her neighbours (left & right, in case you forgot) would have to take a shot of Soju. The second game was the winner from game1 would look under the cap, where there's a number from 1-50 & each person would try to guess the number. Once someone got it right, the 2 people to his/her left&right would have to take a shot. It sounds so simple here, maybe even a wee bit boring, but trust it was fun. I promise. Believe me pls?
first meal - what we are given before every meal

let the grilling begin

oh hey Kevin


group shot, typical

just killing it as per usual haha

perfect breakfast

dt cheongju

shoppityshopshop

happiness

Kevin is an OUTSTANDING singer/guitar player
serenading us


pretty little spot we went b4 dinner - all candle lit

gorgeous

more nomming

boys deciding on our dindin

insanely marinated...to perfection


our master chef for the night

drool your hearts out

an explosion of flavor 

we came, we ordered, we ate&drank

infamous Soju

silly games

kimchi

cheers

thank you Cheongju !!

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