Food and politics

10 days until we leave!

I am finally getting well after being really sick for two weeks with some sort of awful flu/cold thing. I was pretty nervous for awhile there... I thought I was never going to feel better in time for the trip. I had no appetite and could barely eat which was awful since a big part of international travel is trying new food.

In preparation for our trip, we've been trying new food. This past weekend our friends took us out for a dim sum lunch and walked us through how to order it and common dishes. It was a very interesting experience and I can't remember the names of what I ate. I especially liked the little dumplings full of hot soup that exploded in your mouth. I was not a fan of the pile of boney pork (not a big surprise there.) One of the qualities Cantonese food seems to have is lot of texture. The food I'm used to isn't as textural, so taking a bite of pork and crunching into bones wasn't an experience I was ready for. A few weeks ago we went to a Korean place and tried one of the more famous national dishes called bibimbap. It was delicious and I can't wait to eat it again. The only other time I had Korean food was a couple of years ago when some school friends of mine took me to a Korean restaurant. I tried all kinds of food, I had NO idea what I was eating, it was all quite spicy, and I really liked all of it.

I think the food situation in Hong Kong will be alright. To be honest, neither of us are huge Chinese food fans. Lucky for us Hong Kong is a very international city, so I have faith that there will be many options for us to choose from.

Korea will be a different story since it's not as international. But that's okay, since the Korean food I've had so far has been quite good. While reading about Korea, I have learned that food is a very important part of their culture. Since we know little to nothing about Korean food, I booked a night food tour through O'ngo. The reviews on Tripadvisor were great and the videos of the tour  made it look really fun and informative.

Speaking of tours, I've also booked us a tour of the DMZ . However, with all the tension in North Korea lately I won't be surprised if the tour is canceled. I'll be extremely disappointed, but I'd rather be safe than end up in a scary hostage situation. I have been checking the US Government travel advisory page on South Korea regularly to make sure we don't have to cancel our trip. Seoul is only an hour south of North Korea, yikes!