Perks of Korea

Here is a list of perks of Korea:

Early release movies: Ok, so not all movies, but most of the worldwide anticipated movies have come out earlier in Korea than in the states. Movies like The Avengers and Skyfall were released almost two weeks earlier and movie series such as Harry Potter and Twilight have all come out a day earlier! What's even better than early release? Cheap tickets!! Regular tickets will cost you around 8,000WON before 10PM, but after that they dip down to as low as 5,000WON. That's so much cheaper than the $12 I will have to pay back at home.

Medical procedures: If you have been following my blogs, I have gotten a few medical procedures done out here: septoplasty, laser hair/mole removal, and Lasik. Both of the surgeries would have cost me over a fortune in America (probably over few thousand dollars each). However, even without health insurance, it is affordable and more in Korea.

Food: Since tipping is not a custom in Korea, it already knocks off a lot on the price of food at a restaurant. But even without the tip, going out for dinner here is much cheaper than cooking for yourself. You can get "fast" Korean food (much healthier than the American burger and fries) for an average of 5,000WON per entree. Lets not forget how cheap alcohol is. I'm not talking about cocktails, I'm talking about the beer and the ever nasty soju. Selling at less than one US dollar per bottle, soju is all you need to get your night started (or ended).

Rent/Living: A year ago, I lived in a villa and paid around 420,000WON per month. That's not bad at all, considering it was fully furnished and water is included in the rent. This year, I live in a high rise two bedroom apartment with a roommate and we pay 600,000WON each a month. I have a full living room, kitchen, and bathroom (with a shower door) and if it wasn't for work, I would never have to leave my building. My building has three different types of gyms, few beauty salons, a pharmacy, a number of restaurants, and so much more. A place like mine back in the states would cost over a thousand dollars a month plus utilities...let's not even go there.

Shipping: I'm sure shipping something overnight is costly, but anything standard is charged by the size of the box and not the weight. The postal service workers will try to get you to ship your boxes first class, but the standard is just as good. I have sent a few gifts to my friends at home and it only took five bucks per box and a week to arrive at the destination. All my friends who ship their belongings back home when they're done with Korea end up paying around 25,000WON per box for it to arrive around a month later. Like I said, they don't charge you by the weight, but by the size of the box. Please don't mistake this as shipping from US to Korea. Only the other way around.

What's not cheap? Anything American (Hollister, Ralph Lauren, TGI Fridays). Living in Korea is cheap, but you do have to live a Korean lifestyle. But don't forget, the money that you make out here will let you enjoy your guilty pleasures here and there.

Fun way to host dinner in your tiny apartment

If I had a big house with a big kitchen, I would be hosting breakfasts, lunches, brunches, dinners, snacks, and midnight snacks for my friends. Unfortunately, that is not the case in Korea. Some apartments have kitchens that are smaller than a bathroom, while having no built-in oven is also common in most Korean homes.

With that said, I still make an effort to cook up something easy to feed my friends. As long as you have a big enough table to fit all your friends, this easy dish is sure to please everyone!

While being one of the healthiest, cheapest, and easiest dish to prepare, there's barely any cooking involved! ...I KNOW!

Spring rolls (this recipe feeds 4 people)

What you'll need:

-Rice paper

-Rice noodles (1/2 box)

-1 cucumber

-3 bell peppers (any color)

-1 carrot

-bean sprouts (1/2 bag)

-green onions

-lettuce

-cilantro**

-pork (going to a butcher is cheaper. ask for the donkatsu meat, cut japchae style, 5,000Won)

-shrimp (optional)

for the sauce:

-hoisin sauce

-peanut butter

-Sriracha sauce**

(Most of these items can be bought at any grocery store in Korea)
**(these items may be a bit difficult to find in Korea)**

How to prepare:
-Cut all the vegetables (except lettuce and cilantro) thinly to the length of your index finger and lay it out on a plate so it's easy for the guests to grab.
-Boil the pork until just light pink and drain. The meat will keep cooking and since it's cut so thin, it should really only take one minute. The longer you cook it, the tougher and drier the meat will be.
-Boil the noodles, drain, and rinse under cold water. Follow the instructions on the box. Some may tell you to soak the noodles beforehand.
-If you want to add shrimp, I suggest buying the already cut/peeled/cooked kind. Just dunk it in some boiling water for 30 seconds and drain.
Sauce:
-Mix one part peanut butter and one part hoisin sauce. That's it.

How to make:
-Have some empty plates filled with warm water big enough for the rice papers to fit. It really doesn't take long for the rice papers to get soft.
-The easiest way to make this is by laying out a piece of lettuce on top of the rice paper, spread some peanut sauce on it, lay all the veggies, noodles, and meat in the middle. I like to also put some Sriracha sauce on top. Grab one end of the rice paper and carefully and slowly roll the ingredients in as if making sushi.

A friend actually taught me how to make this and I have been making it literally WEEKLY for the past few months. And because it's so healthy, I really think it played a big part in my weight loss lately!