Foreign Tourist Pays with Cigarettes Instead of Cash for Korean Street Food
Creatrip Team
a year ago
A foreign tourist visiting South Korea shared his unique experience of paying for 떡볶이 (tteokbokki, a popular Korean street food made with rice cakes) with cigarettes instead of cash. Dylan Patel, founder of SemiAnalysis, recounted how he visited a tteokbokki stall run by two elderly women who refused card payment. As a solution, one of the women led him to a nearby convenience store and pointed at cigarettes. Understanding this as a barter, Patel bought the cigarettes, and in return, enjoyed a warm bowl of tteokbokki back at the stall. The story amused online users, many calling the shopkeepers 'business geniuses' and praising the entertaining travel anecdote.
