Korean Dieting Trick [Culture]

Water. Does the body good.  We need it.  We drink lots of it.  But should we ever NOT? 

YES!

According to Koreans, anyways.  I was having dinner with my relatives the other day and found it odd that I was the only one at the table who asked for water to drink with my meal.  So of course, I politely offered to get some for everyone else, but they all declined.  

Hmmm...just not thirsty?

Actually, it's a habit!  A rule of thumb.  A dieting trick.  

No wonder Korean girls are so skinny...?

So we all know that good digestion leads to good everything else.  You'll lose weight, trim inches from your waist, etc.  That's why people take probiotics and fiber when dieting to improve digestion.  

Ever seen the Activia commercials? 

[Hahaha so funny, I love this one! Great ad!]

So what's water have to do with it?  When you diet, you're supposed to drink lots and lots of water right?  RIGHT!  Buuuut there's a specific time that you actually SHOULDN'T drink water!

During meals.

I know that sounds really bazaar because logic would tell you that you need the water to wash down your food.  HOWEVER, unless you're eating something like straight up biscuits or saltine crackers [and apparently even then] you're supposed to chew the food in your mouth until your saliva makes it watery enough to swallow without that sandpaper-y feeling as it goes down the chute.  

If you need the water, it means you are:

A)  not chewing enough

B)  stressed (apparently reduces saliva)

C)  in a hurry

D)  dehydrated (I'll get to this)

E)  all of the above

For E)  I know you're thinking, "well that's why you should drink more water during your meal, DUH!" but actually, it just means you should drink more water during the day around your meals.  

So here's the rule:  No water 30 min. before or 2 hours after your meal.

Why?  Because water interrupts the enzymes in your stomach that break down food and disrupts your digestive process.  So instead, you should eat with another form of liquid food, like a soup.

That's why most Korean meals come with a soup.  Look at Japanese meals also...most come with miso soup!   

Don't believe me?  

 Check my post about [ food delivery ]  

It's so important, they found a way to pack it EVEN for delivery!

And if you ever go to a Korean restaurant, they won't have regular American-sized cups.  They are always the size of a little teacup...think espresso sized.  And you have to get up to go and get water...rarely do you get a pitcher unless you're with a group of people.  I found this really uncomfortable at first, because during my meals used to be the ONLY time during the day I'd drink water, but after learning this, I'm going to try it out for a bit and report back on this topic in about a month.

Oh, and I found out my blood type today, so you can kind of expect that to be my next post's topic ;D ... coming soon!

"Jack in the Box" = "Healthy Meal in the Box" in Korea

You're hungry. But you don't feel like leaving the house.  Maybe you're curled up in a blanket sipping hot cocoa, eating some Ferrero Rochers (one of my absolute favorites) and watching a movie, maybe you have company and it'd be too difficult to gather everyone and go to a restaurant, or maybe you just don't want to be seen as a loner, eating alone in public.  Regardless of the reason,  you want food without stepping a foot out the door.

SOLUTION

Korea is extremely good when it comes to food delivery.  While driving or walking around the streets, you'll see or almost get run over by guys on mopeds zooming by with boxes latched on the back.  What's in the box?  

This:

nom nom :]

So basically, you dial the number, tell them your address, what you want (sometimes there's a minimum amount you have to spend, but most of the time it doesn't really matter...not to mention delivery is FREE!)

And then after about 20 minutes, you get one of these outside your door.

Open it up...

saran wrap sealed...this is soup btw

and this is my meal....불고기 덥밥 aka bulgogi on rice with vegetables. mmmm yummyyy AND convenient!

and a neatly organized assortment of side dishes :] yay!

After you eat, throw everything back in the tub and leave it outside the door!  Voila! Clean, easy, convenient and DELICIOUS! :D

Taking "eating fresh" to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL.

I LOVE ADVENTURE.  I really do.  Getting bored easily leaves the only option of constantly searching for new and exciting experiences to keep a consistant level of exhiliration in my life. 

Over the weekend, my trip to Busan ended up being a great deal more exciting than I had anticipated.  I guess the lack of a plan had something to do with it in part, but never did I think I would be doing anything THIS crazy. 

AND HERE GOES NOTHING!!!

(please excuse the quality of the video...it was taken on my cellphone :] )

Yes. You totally saw right.  I just ATE the MOVING octopus. Why was it moving?  BECAUSE IT WAS STILL ALIVE!!!  but...after all the excitement, it's actually pretty good!

1.  You'll like it if you like sesame oil...because you have to bathe the little piece in it

2.  The texture is really really rubbery...but very tender at the same time.

I made sure to chew all the life out of it before swallowing!

3.  The little suction cup tentacles stick to whatever they can...chopstick, cheek, and tongue

4.  Apparently it's a lot of protein so skip the power bar and eat an octopus! :P

Next to try on my food list...silk worm larvae o.O

Mini Outdoor Petco.

Under the metro and down the street to teach En-g-lish I go (sung with the tune of "to grandmother's house" .... actually I don't even know if that's the name of the song...but you know. over the river...through the woods ladeedadeeda)

K so I was going to work and saw this right before I got to the door of my building.  Twas a mini outdoor Petco!  I haven't really seen anything like this in America before, so I was quite shocked that the bird "box" didn't have a lid...I mean...birds fly. Why aren't they flying away?  Are the shavings they perch on THAT comfortable?  Is the food THAT delicious--and by that I mean seedy?

Here you can see an assortment of little animal pets

So I asked the man, and apparently they can't fly away...he clips their wings so they can only hop around....I found this really sad actually.  When people ask, "If you could be an animal, what would you want to be?"  Many people respond with "a bird so I can fly!" ... I just got sad thinking about it! 

But apparently they like him, because they're more than willing to perch on his hand without pecking at his fingers

and there were HEDGEHOGS!!!!!  If you are my friend, you may know that I've been considering the purchase of a hedgehog...how cool would it be to walk down the street with one of these?!?  I know...and I'd name it Sonic...and then buy a squirrel and name it Tails. PAHA NOT!! But it would be a cool pet to have since it's so unusual. However, after seeing it this close and touching it, they aren't exactly friends to fingers.  those little quills don't hurt...if you stroke the right way.  It's kinda like a guy who keeps a stubble and can scratch your face when you kiss because you're moving against the grain. 

 Annnyways, ooh! look at the pretty red bird!

lol...he kinda looks like one of those creepy hagglers asking if i wanna buy a watch O.O

I pass these every day and I pray that someone buys one and saves them from their itty bitty cages.  I would've...if the guy didn't try to scam me and charge me $130 for a hedgehog when he told all the kids I teach that they're $50 each -__-

Korea's small animal pet market is HUGE!! Especially little kittens and teacup puppies!  I'll soon be heading to Chungmuro...the street lined with all these kinds of adorable little fluff balls :D

Run run as fast as you can!

Can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man!

Perhaps Usain Bolt, the fastest man on Earth was singing this jollily last year, but not at 2011's IAAF race. Surprisingly, and to much of the audience's dismay, Bolt had a false start and actually got disqualified from the race.  Imagine.  The fastest man in the world.  Olympic champion and world record holder.  Kicked out.  I guess this goes to show that even the best can sometimes make mistakes.  *shoulder shrug*

Anyways,  if you want to read more about that, go here:  Furious Bolt.


The REAL reason for me writing about the above was to show you these really cool advertisements.  In my last post, super convenient store, you got to see how fancy Korean grocery shopping is.  Well now, please have a look at how fancy their advertisements are!

They've cleverly incorporated billboards shaped like people into the regular street structures like lamp posts and street gates to get people excited for the games.  NEAT-O!  lol the end.

SUPER convenient store

Convenient stores are called so because they are in the area, carry the basics of what you need, etc. What if the store was brought to you! And what if you could maximize on multitasking and shop for groceries while otherwise waiting around doing absolutely nothing?? That must be exactly what the creators of this revolutionary shopping system thought too.

Now, when I first saw this before arriving in Korea, I thought...who on EARTH would do this?! How absurd.  People like to see what they're buying and see how fresh it is...ESPECIALLY groceries.  Besides, most older people wouldn't have smart phones and most people wouldn't use this because people like to see the real thing. After arriving, I came to realize that in the daily life of a Korean person, working and keeping up with all of their relationships, which is EXTREMELY important, something like this is PERFECT. Older people do have smart phones and the goods are as good as you see them.  Plus, nothing is ever out of stock or out of place.  Everything is perfectly, neatly organized.  Why make an extra stop to the grocery store after working a full day, have to either walk 10 miles or play frogger in slow mo with your car, and then lug a 24 pack of bottled water home when you don't have to! You're already in the subway, you're waiting for your train anyways, might as well use that time to select something to make for dinner tonight.

I saw it in person for the first time and it really took me by surprise.  That first picture up there...looks JUST like the stuff in the store looks.  It's eerily similar to see something like this plastered on a column or glass window.

[They even put lights on the column to make it look more real]

I mean, you'd think by looking at this picture, that this lady is in a grocery store...when really, right next to her is the rotating entrance to the subway train.  It's a neat idea, and definitely something interesting and out of the ordinary to look at, but, to be completely honest with you, I don't think I'd ever use it.  

A)  Because I am one of those people that likes to pick my own fruits and veggies based on looks.  For example, I always choose smaller strawberries because they're less mushy, and I push down on apples to see if it dents easily because I like them really crunchy.

and B)  Because I may end up buying more than I need.  If I'm at the store carrying everything, a full basket will tell me it's time to stop shopping and deny all impulse buys.  If I have no basket, I'm free to buy as much as I want, which would most likely result in overspending on unnecessary wants.  No bueno for the pocket book.

Who knows, though.  People thought cell phones were ridiculous when they first came out, and were convinced that an electronic leash would never catch on, but here I am posting pictures I took on my cell phone and sent to my email.  :P

WORLD CUP!!

대한민국!!

South Korea vs. Greece: 2-0

Here's the story:

I went to the streets in front of the Coex mall in Seoul to watch the game...along with 3000 other people standing with ponchos and umbrellas in the pouring rain. It was a SWARM of red (that's South Korea's color), and the feeling of pride was incredible!  

Everywhere I looked, I saw red jerseys, thunder sticks, scarves, clappers, and light up devil horn headbands. People were clapping, cheering, and chanting the ENTIRE time!! I lost my voice, joining in the screaming. Quite exhilarating really!

Even after the game was over, people littered the streets chanting daeee-han-min-gook! bam bam .. bam bam bam! (haha the bams are claps btw) Car horns tooting, random high-fiving, crazy people dancing. It was all so friendly and happy!

Turn on your speakers!

The great thing about Korea is the unity of the people. If you read my previous posts, you'll find the one about how Korea is group-oriented...well this made it VERY obvious!! And this unity is constantly seen everywhere I go. Whenever I talk to someone about cultural differences, I always say "in America," but no matter who I talk to, they're response is ALWAYS "우리나라에," which means "in our country." I find it very inviting because if you are in "their country" you become part of it.

It was like a big fat high school pep rally!

~Melissadaptable