i had my first taste of korean cuisine yesterday :) sonsaengnim 손생님 (korean for teacher) decided to hold our last day of class at jang gun 장군 (a korean restaurant located along libis). as soon as you enter the place, you will be greeted by the korean owner. the main dining area is upstairs. i find the place snug and the food was great...장군에 아주 예쁜, 음식이 맛있어요. i really liked the sam-gyup-sal 삼겹살 (grilled pork strips) which is eaten by wrapping a piece of pork strip in a ssam 쌈 (vegetable leaf) and adding some ko-chu-jang 고추장 (chili pepper paste) and peppered oil. yum! yum! yum! the only challenge was to eat the wrap in one bite. we were told it was the proper way of eating korean wraps. i wonder if anyone has died eating sam-gyup-sal because of choking...scary$%#!
we were also taught of the following dining and drinking etiquette:
- before you eat, one must say the phrase "i will eat well".
- you cannot eat unless the oldest person present has started eating.
- food and drinks are communal. koreans usually just order one serving of a drink and share it amongst themselves.
- when you serve a drink or when you're being served with one, you need to hold out the drink or your cup with your right hand and your left hand should be placed below your right elbow.
after the meal, sonsaengnim ordered for a bottle of soju 소주 (distilled beverage). i have always been snoopy about this drink and was excited to take a sip :). our korean visitors introduced some "soju games" which we enjoyed a lot. we played the bottle cap and the number game. sadly, i failed to play well and ended up drinking most of the shots. i am not a drinker so i don't have any idea of what i got myself into. as soon as i got home, i felt sick and tried to sleep it off. when i woke up after 16 hours of sleep, the feeling was worst. i felt tipsy and threw up several times. thanks to my 여동생(sister) coz she didn't tell 암마 (mother) about the drinking game, otherwise i could have been in deep trouble! i think it will take sometime before i drink soju again. that experience killed my fondness over it kekekeke :)
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