I’m not really into culinary when traveling because of the budget. The higher the cost of living of a country, the more I will try to tighten the budget by cooking our meals. But occasionally I try some local foods to satisfy my curiosity.
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| Traveler Episode 4 – Jun Yeol and Je Hoon had their first breakfast at the hostel |
In each episode of Traveler, there are some moments of them sitting at dining table having breakfast and conversation. The meal they are eating does not make me craving for food. But the above scene makes me remember the best breakfast I ate during vacation.
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| A dining table with view of Innsbruck city tower, Austria Wow, how come we could have a full breakfast when we had to save money during our 2 months trip in Europe? |
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| Traveler episode 10 – The taste of Cuban cuisine |
It is not always fun when trying local delicacies. In the last episode of Traveler, they recollected their culinary experiences in Cuba. Not all of them are good, there are times they shocked and tormented. The tasteless creamy pasta, the chewiness meat, the extremely salty risotto, and the strange soup taste they ate. In our trip to India, it was a heaven for Bre but I had to bring fruits like banana and apple to hold my hunger. When Bre savored Indian cuisine, I always order bread omelette or boiled egg because I don’t like the smell of strong spices they used. At the seaside of Patong beach, we eat seafood from street vendor that made me shocked for its rawness. We didn’t know if it’s cooked or not because of the dim lights.
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| Traveler episode 10 – Recollecting their Cuban food experiences |
The local dishes were aggressive enough to bruise all of our body, but some of them did shine like pearls in the mud. The delicacy of Portuguese egg tart made me visit each time there are food stands in the corner of Macau. Even though I am not fond of Indian food, every time we stop by a locally owned restaurant I always order Masala chai —a tea beverage made by boiling black tea in milk and water with a mixture of aromatic herbs and spices. Eating chocolate ice cream at local shop in the Brugge little town made me believe that Belgium is a chocolate paradise.
When eating in local shops during trip, don’t expect too much because people have different taste of delicious. Give your chance to connect with locals. When visited a random mosque in Phuket, I was sitting in local shop waiting Bre attended Friday prayer. I don’t really remember the dishes I ate, but I remember the conversation I had with the shop lady. It was really a long conversation that we had enough laugh and story to share. On my trip to Kyoto, I visit a local ramen shop in Gion two times. First I didn’t get a chance to enter the restaurant because of the wrong time. In the next day, I stood on queue and had to wait in front of the restaurant for more than half hour. To kill the time, I was having conversation with other traveler. We talked about many things so the time passed by quickly.
All of the trips I did, the one that I enjoyed culinary is when traveling to South Korea. It is because of Masta Kimchi, a small business focused on South Korean dishes that my best friend and I established since 2017. We started from making homemade kimchi then had a plan to visit this country after having enough saving from selling kimchi in two years. During our trip to South Korea, we really enjoy Korean delicacies. In lunch or dinner, we always focus on choosing what to eat. From Myeongdong street food to local restaurant. From the sweetness of Chieju-tteok-kkochi —a baked cheese rice cake to the spiceness of Jjukkumi barbecue —a spicy grilled baby octopus. After return from South Korea, we got an idea to sell ready to cook Korean bites like Tteokbokki and Odeng.
They are not just inspire you. Some of them left an impression. I remember my trip to Makassar, every local restaurant will serve you a free refill cold mineral water drink. You got this same treatment in South Korea. I can understand the heat waves in Makassar increase your craving for cold water. But in South Korea, you got this cold water all year around even in the fall, winter or spring.
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| Traveler episode 8 – After two weeks full with local foods, they are craving for food full of MSG. They used electric kettle they bought just to cook the ramen. |
