Korea - Sparkling

Among all the countries I've visited, probably the most memorable and exciting is Korea. The tour of the place exceeded all my expectations. Aside from the flat-screen TV's, natural wonders and the local culture, the other thing that made the vacation great was the food. Korean locals claim that they do not have much natural resources like farm lands and fishing areas but I find that hard to believe since their food is always abundant. It was the only tour where all restaurants offered free refills on rice, side dishes and meat (except for beef since it is too expensive).

Korean cuisine revolves mainly around vegetables and barbecued meat. Seafood was rarely served. I'm not sure if it is because of the winter season (ponds are frozen over) or if it really isn't part of their regular diet. Seafood is more available in the form of dried, salted snacks like dried squid chips, octopus and shrimp. As for the vegetables and plants, they serve a variety of pickled cabbages, carrots and bean sprouts. But Korean soil is most suitable for producing ginseng and, not surprisingly, rice. They manufacture are a lot of ginseng products from tea to candies. And because of its abundance, Korean scientists even turned the plant into pharmaceutical products. Their rice is soft, moist and fragrant, which easily temps you to eat more and more bowls of it. The thing I like about Korean cuisine is their strong flavors. The sweetness, saltiness and spiciness of the food is always intense. I encountered more exciting dishes during my entire vacation and I'll blog about them in the days to come.

This tour is highly recommended to food critics and connoisseurs because not only will you taste their restaurant food, but also their local snacks, candies and pastries. We went crazy buying candies strawberries, chocolate-coated wafers and cream-filled bread rolls. It's a bit expensive but it is the best way to experience casual Korean snacks.