A roundup of assorted leftover photos.
A USB-A & USB-C to C cable I bought for travel
I bought it for charging, but swapping the adapter on and off is a bit of a hassle… and these things tend to break easily too… Honestly, just carrying separate USB-A and USB-C cables might be the way to go…
Allergy pills
I always carry these around. Spring is the worst season, but I end up needing them now and then in other seasons too. It seems to be especially bad on days I’ve been out in the woods or in nature…
Dukang Laotan
It’s a strong-aroma (nongxiang) baijiu from Luoyang in Henan Province, China. It came in as a gift, and since it’s the nongxiang style Koreans tend to like, it’s quite drinkable. But when I looked it up, it apparently sells for around 10,000 to 20,000 won in China, and the size and decoration of the packaging feel way over the top. It does look flashy as a gift, but the liquor isn’t at that level, so I wonder whether they really had to go this far… I guess in China, saving face is still what matters most.
By the way, Dukang is the legendary sage of liquor in China… the drink is named after him… and I’m sure the higher-end lineup tastes better…
WA Mart, Ilsan branch
Since this one is open on weekends, I end up going there once in a while. A lot of the other military marts don’t open on weekends…
The whisky corner
It’s probably hard to see in the photo, but Ballantine’s 21 is 165,000 won. At that price there’s really no need to go to a duty-free shop. They have Ki One and Dewar’s too… a surprisingly decent lineup… You can’t dismiss it just because it’s a military mart…
Inside
It’s pretty spacious and there’s a lot worth buying, but the lines are long too, so you have to set aside a day to visit…
A liquor bottle and cup set from Jeju Gotbat
They call it a breathing Jeju onggi (earthenware) liquor bottle. I did some work at the request of an acquaintance who lives in Jeju, and as a thank-you they sent me this bottle along with some liquor. It’s really lovely, but I’m still trying to decide what to put in it.
Hamahama Nutty makgeolli from Hamahama Brewery
This makgeolli felt less like an ordinary makgeolli and more like a refined drink from a completely different genre: rich and nutty, but with an acidity that keeps it from feeling heavy, and it went really well with Korean food too… It’s called nutty, but it was more in the pine nut or chestnut family than the peanut family…
Honey water
My stomach was a bit off around this time, so I drank honey water a lot, and it turns out that if the honey is good, the honey water is good too… That said, really high-end honey has too strong an aroma and flavor to be suitable for honey water… Keeping one reasonably priced jar at home helps a lot when you’re feeling under the weather… For example, in Southeast Asia the supermarkets sell honey for around 10,000 won, and if you bring back one of the darker-colored ones, it seems perfect for mixing into honey water like this.
Gomtang at Hapjeongok
I wasn’t feeling well, so I had a bowl of gomtang, and at times like this, gomtang really is the best…
Han Jeong-seon whole tangerine chapssaltteok
Daifuku with fruit inside the mochi has actually long been a popular classic in Japan, so I’ve eaten plenty of it… but Han Jeong-seon, which reinvented it Korean-style, seems to be so popular these days that people line up for it… It’s not easy for an old guy like me to keep up with these trends, but thanks to it I got to eat something delicious. I guess once you get older, you can’t help drifting away from the trends…
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