Free Food Madness

One of the things my husband and I enjoy every time we shop for groceries in Korea is the free food. If you go to Homeplus or Emart on the weekend, you will find free food in almost every food section, such as mandu (dumpling), ham, sausage, chicken nuggets, noodles, cheese, bread, cereal, fruit, and would you believe, even samgyupsal and galbi? Drinks like coffee, juice, milk, yogurt drink and other new beverages are also offered to shoppers.

Every time we go to the Philippines and shop for pasalubong (gift), my husband would ask why there aren’t any free food and drinks in the grocery store. This year’s vacation, however, he didn’t need to ask me the same thing, because he FINALLY found a booth in SM Hypermarket that gives free noodles. He was so excited to get a freebie from a Filipino grocery store for the first time that he actually looked like a four-year old waiting for the ice cream man to come. He was the only one in there who seemed interested in getting free noodles, while other shoppers were busy with their shopping. I thought that scenario was amusing, so I got my camera and took my husband’s photo as he was waiting for his noodles. Just then, one of the staff members approached me and said that taking pictures in the grocery store is not allowed. I asked him why. He told me it’s their policy in SM. I wasn’t satisfied with that answer, so I kept probing until the man didn’t know what to say anymore. Hubby got his free noodles and told me to stop torturing the poor staff member.

I got thirsty from complaining about SM’s policy of “keeping their grocery store TOP SECRET”, so I was looking for something to drink. Good thing, my husband spotted free coffee. I suddenly remembered Korea where there’s free coffee anywhere you go. We were each given a paper cup filled to the brim. That’s the Filipino way of drinking coffee… the cup is always full. In Korea, it’s usually half a cup.

Hubby liked the coffee, so he bought a 30-piece pack of the new Kopiko Astig. If you like strong coffee, like my husband, you may like this flavor, but as for me, Kopiko Brown is still the best instant coffee in the Philippines. ^^

 

My husband and I should have a shopping motto: It’s not the freebie that counts, but the excitement of getting a freebie. ^^


Filed under: Filipino Culture, Filipino Food, Pinas, What I Love about Korea Tagged: Business, Coffee, Drink, Food, free coffee, freebie, Grocery store, Kopiko, Korea, Noodle, Philippines, SM Hypermarket
From Korea with Love
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