EXCHANGE STUDENT TRAVEL TIPS PART 3: FOOD

*for TIPS Part 1 << click here

TIPS Part 2 << click here

Especially for the Muslim-Malaysian students, you guys might be worried about your meal plan in a non-islamic country. This is one of those experience that made me missed my country so much and made me realize how much I really love BEEF!

For the most part, basically Korean food culture are "almost" similar to us. Koreans also love Rice and Noodles, and you can find these items conveniently at any convenient store.... forgive my unintentional pun :p

Anywho~ Koreans also love vegetables, and I mean they Love their Kimchi. I say this because you can find this in every restaurant, except in the Fast Food restaurant... and coffee shops. You'll notice that the Koreans love it so much because even if you didn't ask for it they will still give it to you as one of the side dishes, for Free! At first bite Malaysians might hate it, because it got that slight vinegar taste, and it's not oily and full of flavour like our dishes. But after a while you guys will come to love it. I hope so.

One time I remember my first experience in a Korean Restaurant, and after my professor finished ordering the meals one of the Korean students brought some plates of Kimchi from the side dishes counter. While we were waiting for the food to come, the students were literally re-filling the Kimchi plates for more than twice. That was how I knew Koreans eat Kimchi like snacks! I had only one plate and I was already full and ready to get out of the restaurant.

Another thing, Koreans have big appetite. Especially during dinner time. If you were ever invited to a Korean restaurant with your professor or colleague for dinner,
make sure you skip breakfast or lunch. They got everything from appetizers, millions of side dishes, plenty of rice, and plenty of vegetable soup. Most common Malaysian dishes are simple. We always order one thing from the menu, and sometimes we might even add one dessert. Although Korean restaurant don't usually have desserts in the menu, it doesn't matter because usually in one standard order is filled with a lot of side dishes and main dishes... a LOT.

I remember seeing my professor telling the waitress in a simple short phrase. I wasn't sure what he said, and I didn't know he already ordered the food. So, I thought it was a simple menu when the rice and some side dishes came to our table. The shocking thing was what came after I finished my first bowl of rice. Another Big bowl of kimchi soup with fish came. And then another tray of side dishes arrived with another pot of fried rice. I thought they were just trying to be nice by treating me with such huge feast. But later on I discovered the portion of meal that I had that night was one of the common and small portion of dinner for Koreans.

Anyway, it was a great experience having to feast on Koreans common meals. Even though I love most of Korean flavours, I still prefer Roti Canai and Nasi Goreng Sambal Belacan over everything else here.

*An Itaewon Meat Shop located next to the Entrance of Itaewon's Masjid

Meat. Malaysians love meat! But for Muslims we have to be extra careful, especially if the country is a huge fan of Pork-chops. In Malaysia we never have to think about these things. We can just casually go to a nearby restaurant, and eat that 20 beef-satay-sticks with no worries at all. Well not in Korea. If after one months you finally start to crave for that fresh meat taste, there's only several places you can go to find them. Restaurants with Halal label that are located nearby the Masjid.

Every time I go to Seoul I will always look forward to dropping by Itaewon and purchase my favorite Lamb Kebab. I know Kebab doesn't sound quite satisfying, but it's the only cheapest form of fresh meat that I could get around Korea. And that is how I started to realize my love of Beef. Everyday I told myself to be patient and just wait a little longer until I reach Malaysia, so that I can finally eat that big plate of steak in That Little Gerai at AU5.

To talk about all the halal choices in Korea, the list would be super long. But this particular site helped me a lot when I first arrived here >> BudgetTravel2Korea guide on Halal Food

Another thing that made me appreciate Malaysia very much is our VAST variety of FRUITS! And how cheap our fruits are compared to Korea's.

One obvious example I can say is the comparison between Malaysia's Watermelon and the Korea's. Now I know we Malaysians have endless supply of this fruit. We all know this! Just name any events in Malaysia that doesn't serve Watermelon as one of the desserts choice. Almost EVERY ONE in Malaysia serves Watermelon in every event possible. Seriously! 

But here Watermelon is like only served for special occasions, and the common price for one Watermelon is like 10 times the price of Malaysia's price. 10TIMES!! Once I saw a standard size Watermelon priced at almost Rm40!!! It's INSANE! And the taste was not even as juicy as ours. So, while you're still in your hometown, eat as much fruits as possible. Most of the fruits here are expensive. Especially bananas, although Korean loves banana milk the most common banana sold in the market is the "Dole" brand, which i think is the bigger version of Pisang Raja. I still have yet to find any Pisang Awak or Pisang Mas in Korea.

There's a lot of things in Korea that made me appreciate Malaysia in a way I never thought I would. Bak kata peribahasa melayu;

"Hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri, lebih baik negeri sendiri"

It's true what they say, you'll never really understood that phrase until you've experienced living in a foreign country yourself.

I guess I already took too many space for this part of the blog, and I'm out of ideas. BUT if you guys have any inquiries about the Food Culture in Korea please leave a comment down below and I will get back to you as soon as I read them~(^_^)

P/s: Thank you for dropping by <3