How's That for Convenience?

Get this. 

You're busy. You have work. A family. Responsibilities. A tight schedule. 

No worries. 

The good people at Home Plus make it easy to do your grocery shopping on the glass panels separating the subway tracks from the platform. This 2D store is at the Seomyeon transfer station in Busan. 

They've had these up on Seoul for awhile, but it's cool to see one here (side note: we once met a guy from Seoul who called Busan "provincial" in a derogatory tone. Busan is a city of 3.6 million people. What a twat.). 

Using your smartphone, just scan the UPC's of the items you want. They'll be delivered to your home by the end of the day, the charges automatically deducted from your account. Too cool right? You may never have to interact with a fellow human being again!

Convenience Store Raid Series: The Great Popsicle Taste Test

In our ongoing attempt to pretend that summer isn't over, Shane and I descended upon the freezer case of the Samsung Big Mart downstairs. We set out to taste our way through the popsicle freezer case. Yes, there is a freezer case devoted almost entirely to individually sold popsicles (and also a case for ice cream). Here are the fascinating results:                                                                                   

Popsicle One:  Ppongtta (??) Soda Flavor
Flavor: A cross of cotton candy and Dreamsicle
Impression & Comments: It's a bit awkward to eat out of the plastic, which is shaped almost like a baby bottle, but that awkward plastic also made for no side drippage.
The Verdict: Shane would eat another right now if he had one. Awesome and creamy!




Popsicle Two: Saengtaeng Citrus
Flavor: Chunks of Jeju tangerine right in it. The bar tasted like frozen juice, very vibrant flavor and color.
Impression & Comments: The wide base made it hard to finish off at the end without messing myself. But it's only 65 calories!
The Verdict: I feel like I've missed out for the past year since it's taken me this long to taste the happy.


Popsicle Three: Encho 
(Encho is short for enriched chocolate bar)

Flavor: Crunchy outer milk chocolate shell w/ almond pieces, vanilla ice milk under the shell

Impression & Comments: There's a chocolate bar inside my ice cream!

The Verdict: I totaallly crushed it! Even with the ice milk in the middle, it's still a totally legit popsicle!


Popsicle Four: Haessihossi
(I can't translate this, I have no idea)

Flavor: Walnut. Tastes like butter pecan ice cream with some bitable sunflower seeds in it.

Impression & Comments: Holy camoly, this is so good! 
The Verdict: This popsicle brought out the expletives in Shane, in a good way.

Popsicle Five: Watermelon King Bar

Flavor: Watermelon

Impression & Comments: It's not great. The chocolate-covered sunflower seeds taste old, and the popsicle tastes candy-like with a syrupy flavor. The look of it is the best part.

The Verdict: I've have had better watermelon popsicles before, so I should have opted for the other brand. Not worth finishing.



Popsicle Six: Babambar Gold                                 
Flavor: Pieces of chestnut on it, which was nice, but not a lot of flavor to this guy

Impression & Comments: ... a surprise in the middle.... it's like a white sweet bean paste.....ugh disappointment....

The Verdict: Shane just wanted to eat the outside and leave the white bean alone.

Popsicle Seven: Megaton (?? my translating skills stink)

Flavor: Caramel awesomeness

Impression & Comments: It has a good burnt sugar flavor and smell. This bar has a nice and creamy meltiness without making a mess

The Verdict: It's just so good. The caramel bar is one of my go to favorites when I need something sweet. Shane says, "Mmmm, yeah."


Popsicle Eight: Saengtaeng Pine Bar

Flavor: Pineapple 

Impression & Comments: Like the tangerine bar, it's very fresh, with little pieces of real fruit. It is super flavorful, and super awesome.               
The Verdict: Yes and yes. Maybe it's possible to melt it to make a cocktail....

Popsicle Nine: Chanys                                       
Flavor: Fruit punch

Impression & Comments: It looks like a bomb pop, but doesn't have a super strong flavor. It's even a bit watery. The small white ribbon on the bottom and the layer under the pink part tastes like a cream soda Dum Dum.            The Verdict: Solid but unspectacular. Not something crave-able, but it'll do in a pinch. 

Stoked to Get Soaked: Making Infused Soju

Get Soaked...

So, the name of our blog is Soju Cocktail, and we haven’t gone into depth about drinking the cheap stuff, so here goes nothing.

Soju is tons cheap and easily mixable. A sixteen ounce bottle of 20% ABV liquor comes to you for about $1. It doesn’t have a strong taste, but it doesn’t go down the greatest of ease. We have come up with a solution that is a little bit sac-religious to the older Korean

generation. Soaked soju!

This can be done for any liquor, and we have done it to many. Gin, rum, vodka, even whisky. Being in Korea, we’re steeping soju, and you can to.

Step one, get yourself some oranges (or lemons, or grapefruit, or limes) and take the skins off.

Step two, remove any bit of white pith from the very outermost layer of the orange peel. The skin of any citrus has an amazing amount of flavor without the sourness, and without the bitterness of pith. If you leave pith on the skin you will have bitter, gross soaked soju, and no one wants that. What you're left with should only be the bright colored part of the skin.

(further note) I like to leave the skins in as large of pieces as I can, so its easier to strain out later.

Step three, jam those skins down inside a big old bottle of booze. 

Go ahead and eat the orange slices, they don't do much good in the booze, the money comes from the skins. The essential oils make the difference. 

Step four, screw the cap back on the bottle, and give it a shake.       

Step five, leave it alone.                                          Keep it wherever, someplace without a lot of temperature changes is best. Some liquor makers say no sunlight, some say sunlight can only help you. I say, put it wherever you got the room to put it. Once a week give it another shake. You'll see the color start to change after a week, but it gets better the longer you wait. You can wait as little as one week, but my suggestion is to wait at least a month.

Lastly, chill and serve. This makes a very good shot on its own, or mix it with your favorite mixer. For us, it’s Apple Demi Soda, or some sort of white soda. Try it at home with whatever you’d like, and enjoy the cheap stuff even more than before.

Convenience Store Raid Series: Deli Manjoo

A couple of these not-too-sweet little guys on a chilly day and life is great. They're called Deli Manjoo (델리 만쥬) -- Deli, short for delicious, and Manjoo for the Korean word for Chinese dim sum. Cute, right? They can be found at small stands next to many convenience stores, pumping out of the automatic machines especially built to create them. The same stands usually sell another snack called hodo kwaja (호도 과자), cakes molded into walnut shapes, filled with red bean and walnut. The cream cakes' outer shells resemble pound-cake, and the inside is a creamy, custardy deliciousness. A bag of them, enough to share, usually costs about 3,000 for 20 or 2,000 for 12. Make sure you get them hot; they lose a lot of their awesomeness if they've cooled. They pair really well with a big glass of cold milk. 

                    

Convenience Store Raid Series: Soda

Back in December, I started the Soju Cocktail Convenience Store Raid Series by reviewing the oh-so-delectable Crunky Bar. Now, we’re back at it for installment two. Why care about what junk food lurks in Busan’s GS-25s, Family Marts, 7-11s, and Buy the Ways? 

Because it’s fun. And convenience stores are everywhere. There’s one directly below our apartment where all the employees recognize us from our every other day visits. I also think that the cheapie processed foods that our students always seem to be munching on can tell us a lot about Korea as a modern country.

Today, we're examining the drinkables, specifically soda. Neither Shane nor I really drink too much soda, but every once in awhile a can of fizzy just hits the spot. 

One of the best things about soda here is can size. The standard 12 ounce is usually too much for me, but the 8 oz. cans here are just enough without going overboard.

The fully loaded cooler downstairs.

We picked out some of our favorites to share with you. The Pocari Sweat is not actually a can of sweat, but instead like a sweeter, saltier white flavored gatorade. Milkis is our absolute favorite, and we have no idea why it's not sold in America. Straight up plain is the best, but you can get orange or banana as well. It's like drinking just the cream part from an orange cream soda. But not like your A&W cream soda. Milky, but in a good way. Fanta of course. Then DemiSoda, available in apple, grape, and orange, and if you're really lucky, you'll find the lemon flavor. More of a sparkling juice, and really tasty. We didn't buy any Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Coca Cola, Cherry Coke, or Coke Zero, but that's readily available here. Just some of the daily frivolities of life from the land of the morning calm.