Pepero Day (agaiiinn???? already?)

Gosh..it's 11-11 again. Pepero Day.

Gee..time flies so fast. It was 엊그제 같은데......... 

This pack of 5 Pepero (all flavors) cost 5,000 Won or about 50,000 Rupiahs. and that's how pricey it cost had it been introduced in Indonesia. But..luckily there is no such thing as Pepero Day in Indonesia...otherwise..that'd be a massive amount of money....(call it what you want: wasted? circulated?) 

Anyhow..This Pepero Day has been one of the conundrums that's been perplexing me since I arrived here 2 years ago. I mean...how could one single trademark occupies the single soaring sale in a day in Korea?

that must've been a huge amount of planned agenda be it from the makers, the distributors who mostly benefit a lot out of it.

... 

But..then again...it's a cultural thing..which I cannot do anything but..to look at, to scrutinize, to feel, to see, and most of all..to enjoy.... 

so..last night I bumped into the a bunch of seemingly high school boys who're so wrapped up in confusion as to what kinds of Pepero to buy. hmmm...girls must be so excited of receiving what these boys buy for them.

and...guess what? I am sure that their pocket money come from their parents...who I am sure...are aware of this. 

so...those boys are just a mini part that play the circle of Pepero consumption in one single day. Not to mention, university students, couple, white, and blue workers..and others....oh well..the list goes on....

*but all in all....* 

What can I say...all market..even the small supermarket chain like GS25, Seven Eleven, and others...are lining up to decorate their stores with what looks like a national event:

Pepero Day.

Should I say " Happy Pepero Day"?

*well, at least...I DID buy a PACK of Pepero myself:_ hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHhahahahahahahahahah

Korean gwaja or snacks

We bought some of these Korean snacks that we did not know before.Ghana coco pie, corn chips, butter coconut chips, PEPERO J, cereal, strawberry cereal chips, and many others not visible there.

We can eat most of them. Most of them? Yes....because the particular coco pie was not something that we can eat since it contains gelatin from pig. So, it was a good thing that we knew it now. Some of our friends did not know it before so before consuming any gwaja, we should check the ingridients contained in the product. I was lucky to be able to read Hangeul otherwise it would hard to imagine what to eat here. The good thing about most gwaja in Korea was that (although...sadly speaking—they are mostly written in Korean alphabet ‘hangeul’)they provide ample information of what the ingredients were. In fact, most of them even show where they come from. Nice, right? So, the next time we buy something (any food) we’d always make sure that no pig or pork or any gelatin-like ingredients were inside or contained in them. I do hope that this information would be of help for others, too. Especially for any Muslims who concern about the halal labeling of the food—which is a rare case, yet. 

(ㅃ... ㅃ...로 데이) Pepero Day

OK. It's only in Korea--that's the good part.
Why? because I don't think the world is ready for another Valentine Day-like kind of day.....
One is enough. ^^

All kinds of Pepero in all imaginable sizes, shapes, and tastes

I mean, come on.....those celebrating Pepero Day without having the slightest idea that it would surely swoon huge amount of bucks into the pocket of Pepero's manufacturer are silly.^^ I am sure that no matter how much people right here in Korea celebrate this 11-11-11 (the so-called Millenium Pepero Day), it is just another kind of day as usual.
I only noticed no other things but a consumption-driven frenzy-ness that lured into the mind of people......sadly .....or interestingly....I was one of them simply because I had no other choices but to be IN the circle...^^
So, November 11 is a special day for Koreans (not all--please mind it) since it is a kind of day where people irrespective of their age throng the shops to buy the chocolate filled sticks or chocolate crusted sticks or any other wafer-like sticks with their additional flavor to boost the visage. All in all, they are just chocolate sticks that from what I learned was originally originated in Japan with its Pocky snack. Well, it turned out that Japanese do not even have Pocky Day.:)
It only happens right here that since its first introduction to the market back in 1983, the so-called stick-day or Pepero Day gained its momentum back in 1994 when --legend has it--that some girls in high school somewhere in Busan started circling the snacks to be given away to their friends as a token of friendship.

a closer look into the 'products'

Well, since then...and still I did not know it all came around---the  hyper-hyped Pepero Day seized its momentum in Korea up to the present. Especially, this year's celebration marks its unique date at its core: 11 -11-11. Even, a company that makes the humongous-ly popular Pepero snack has launched a campaign ad sorting thing like 'Millenium Antenna' where people are encouraged to put two Pepero sticks and place them near their both ears so as to imitate the shapes of antenna. Well, whatever that is....I think this is just another campaign or ad to boost the sales of this already highly hyped Pepero snacks.

Oh, swell....whatever the fuss going on all around it....
All I could see for the past week has been nothing than the lines up of beautifully wrapped and eye-catching shapes of Pepero in all imaginable sizes and colors in many department stores or convenient stores in my neighborhood. I bet...it happens across the country. ^^

Oh, swell...whatever the fuss going on all around it...
I got myself intrigued into having the dip into what it felt like.^^
aha...
well, I could not have just slipped away from the class where all of my friends were all ready to give in exchange of another Pepero. What I mean was that....most of my friends in the class (and later on I also acknowledged that all classes experienced the same thing) brought about Pepero in all kinds of shapes and tastes......^^ and the best and silliest part was that.....I bought one Pepero myself....just in case everyone in the class.......did give me some Pepero.
And....It DID happen.
As soon as I got into my class.....I was greeted by my friend who just deliberately gave me a box of Pepero........while saying....Happy Pepero Day.
Gosh.....I could not do anything but to play along...and grinned:)
Ok...after all...it was yummy. I love the one with almond on it.:) HAHAHAHAHA.
Now, see?
This is what happened.
No matter how hard I tried not to get myself involved in this kind of Pepero-stuff day....I was into it myself. Unconsciously...or was it..consciously....I dragged myself into the DAY and taking a chance to EVEN take some pictures out of it.
Oh well.........These are what happened when you said you tried to avoid something and ended up being one of them..^^This is me in one of Korea's made-up modern-day celebration: PEPERO DAY.