Soju session


The Koreans like to work hard and party hard. After work, their form of the ultimate relaxation lies in soju, which I think ranks higher than baseball and K-pop in the "Top 3 Things Koreans Love" list. I got pulled to one of their drinking sessions last Tuesday after work.

Oh and by the way, did I mention that my lab hours are from 10am till 10pm every weekday, and from 10am to 2pm at least on Saturday? Someone please kill me!~~

Soju 烧酒 is a spirit/alcohol made in Korea, and the most common brand is in this little green bottle, where two mid-size Korean boys can easily drink up to five bottles. Made of rice and with 20% alcohol content, its taste is similar or a little bit sweeter than vodka. Well, I've never liked vodka, and if I had to drink that I'd always mix it with orange juice or Coke to cover the taste. Here, they drink soju by the shots, replacing "Cheers" with "kanpei", or, as the boys shout... "One Shaaaat!" (means, One Shot!)

After the first soju drinking session at a nice little Chicken eatery overlooking the university pub street (where yours truly felt so guilty afterward for devouring many pieces of fried and kanja chicken at such a late hour), we moved to a second drinking session at a nearby pub; beer this time, cos I told them I preferred beer to soju. Photo above shows the finger food that comes with the beer. There's squid dipped in yummy mayonnaise and chili sauce, peanuts, and salty popcorn (just like American popcorn). I took the photo above cos having a big piece of squid as finger food is so new to me!

And after the second drinking session, they almost wanted to go for noraebang (karaoke session) to which I frantically said "No!! My clothes are still in the laundry room!!" Well the next day was a Wednesday with 9am class for me and I didn't wanna get too wasted.

So funny, I'd always wanted a life like in those Hong Kong dramas where me and a bunch of colleagues would go down to the local pub for happy-hour. Never thought I would get my first taste of it in Korea.

Cheers.

Comments

libelly said…
oh... just like i saw in korean drama... kanpei!!!
A Bookaholic said…
omg! THAT HUUUUGE PIECE OF SQUID IS FINGER FOOD???!?!! (faint) Did u manage to finish that??
Xweing said…
libelly: yeah! Gosh... i really need to start watching Korean drama!!

bookaholic: huge lehh.. nope, in the end left a few strands. it's too difficult to chew..
leonardlcy said…
I guess the "Soju" should taste like Japanese Sake. You drank it chilled or warm?
Xweing said…
Tastes like vodka. I never drank Sake before...

Chilled... they take it out from fridge. Here no warm drinks at all, even plain water is chilled.

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