Yuppers and Nopers: Part 2

Tomato candy is a surprising yupper! Andy and I agree. At first it taste like tomato sauce but if you can get past the initial first few seconds the flavors turn into a yummy grapey taste sensation. Cousin Ryan says this is a definate noper, but he spit it out before it got tastey.


I call these squid chips. At first I thought they were going to be a noper because they smell pretty bad. Then I ate one and surprisingly they tasted good...kind of sweet-like so I thought it might be a yupper, but after it is swallowed it has a completely different fishy aftertaste which definately makes it a noper. I ate three and they gave me a stomache ache. I think Andy likes them but he only ate a couple so I am going to stand by NOPER.


Mushroom Juice? Another surprising yupper. It tastes sweet and not unpleasant....definately an indefineable flavor.


YUPPERS! Chocolate...come on?? Of course it's a yupper on all accounts.


Andy's pick. We didn't know what these were and that is kind of the point of yuppers and nopers. He found out that they are cough drops and I think he was dissapointed and put them in the nopers category. I tried one today and since I was expecting a cough drop I thought they were pretty deed'n good.....for a cough drop. So I says "Yupper".


Oh yes! Carbonated milk my friends and guess what? It's a huge YUPPER! This is called ambosa and it tastes like a dreamsicle. Very tasty...if you can get past the thought of carbonated milk.

Propaganda Man

The first time I heard "Propaganda Man" was my first day in Korea and I've heard them several times a day since then. We call them "Propaganda Man" because to our ears it sounds like someone preaching communism over a loud speaker while driving through the streets. At first we were like, "How in the world did this North Korean get all the way down here." And now we are like...."Please shut that noise up!"
They are simply produce trucks that drive up and down our street several times a day peddling their melons and vegetables. Here's a clip for you:

"Black Jacks" and MIRACLES do happen!!!

Guess what???? You'll NEVER guess in a million years because surprises are the nature of miracles. Here is one for you!



What?!? Just me and some dude???? Don't be disappointed there is an excellent story here.

This is my dear cousin. We were very close as children but we made life choices that took us away from one another for 15 years. I have traveled half way around the globe to be reunited with him. But neither of us knew nor planned for this to happen. He is a teacher at a German school in Seoul and has been for 6 years. Since he is a teacher he gets the Summers off and since I am my own boss we have been able to catch up. He is approximately a 2 hour subway ride away from our house. It is so indescribably nice to have family here. We are having so much fun rediscovering all the quirky little things we have in common; coming from the same gene pool. He is like the brother I always wanted. So Yay!
And Andy loves him too! So double Yay!!!

My cousin lives close to Itaewon which is sort of the American section of Seoul. And in Itaewon he showed me a black market where American products can be found and bought for outrageous sums of money. I call all the little "black market" shops "Black Jacks". There are several around our town too.

This shop is like a very large closet. Notice that it is completely non-descript with not even a name for the shop.

All these products are quite recognizable. Let's see if I can recall some of the prices correctly: A bag of Doritos's = $5.00, Deodorant $8.00, Mouthwash $12.00, can of re-fried beans $6.00. The robbery goes on.
Apparently, the Koreans who are hired to work on the US military bases get shopping privileges at the commissaries and this is what often happens as a result. The profit that can be made must be too tempting.
There are a lot of Americans who live in Korea who do not have access to American products like we do (being military) so this is a place where they can go and get what is familiar to them.

Wow huh??

Thanks to cuz for risking life and limb for these photos!

Yuppers and Nopers: Part 1 and Happy 4th America!

Since this will be a recurring blog topic we've decided to entitle it "Yuppers and Nopers"...a game borrowed from Sherry's Great Gran. Yuppers = Good. Nopers = Bad.

Being 16 hours ahead of our people in the Pacific Time zone; We just finished watching the fireworks display put on by Osan AFB. It was a fantastic show and we watched from our own home.

We had plans to drive to the Southern tip of Korea for the weekend until our car broke down. So instead we are staying home and working on the car...... Isn't that so awesome??



Definite YUPPER!
This is what I call "Corny Puddins". They are little piping hot pastry treats with a yummy custard filling inside. You get these in Guemjong which is the subway transfer from Osan to Seoul. It's about the only thing worth riding the subway for.

YUPPER!
These are like sweet and sour gummy candies....but WAAAAY tastier than anything I've eaten in this category in the USA. They remind me of a lovely and similar candy that I used to eat in New Zealand.

Hmmmmm....NOPER? no.....Nupper!
This is an instant green tea mix. Like instant coffee...but green and looks and tastes like Barley Green. Not the worst thing I've ever put in my mouth.....

Ho ho! Double YUPPER!
Popsicles to cool you down on these sweltering days! Yes...I eat about 4 per day!

Yupper!
These are kinda like starbursts but chewier. I think starbursts are better but these will do.

We have lot's more coming up soon.