Muk-Bang

[Piobaire]

I'm not going to lie: I almost put this in DTs. I decided not to as while it's an easily mockable phenomena I think it also can be seen as a very poignant one that is full of human loneliness and misery brought on by modern society.

Muk-Bang is a new trend in S. Korea where people pay to watch other people eat online.

http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/artic...an-makes-fortune-livestreaming-herself-eating

“Loneliness is [a] crucial factor,” Park said. “The show is addictive as you can communicate with thousands of people at home. It feels great when [they] say ‘I recovered from anorexia thanks to you’ or ‘Thank you for a fun and delicious time.’”

 

[romafan]

but it's some kinda kink, right?

 

[redcaimen]

He said eat it like a wolf boy! Not a sedated wolf boy!

 

[Tony Baccala]

I checked out a video of this Muk-Bang thing on youtube. Fascinating.
I like it, cute dinner companions with a mute button ... just set the laptop down on the table at the other end and dinner is served!

This could potentially even be the perfect solution to those messy family holiday meals.
Come to think of it ... I wonder if people would pay to see my family eat at holidays. Separate packages could include options such as: the kids at the card-table ... my drunk great-uncle Frank ... after-dinner walnuts, cigars and a digestivo (your choice: grappa or anisette) ... and watching me nap on the couch before pinochle starts.
This could be huge.

 

[acidboy]

I've always suspected those koreans are way crazier than the japanese

 

[Claghorn]

But it's the quiet, sad sort of crazy.

Seriously, this country is built for only the most superficial kinds of intimacy. I doubt any country has a more developed one night stand infrastructure than South Korea (intended for the general populace, not just for sex tourists, for whom South Korea is probably no better than average developed nation)

 

[Piobaire]



But it's the quiet, sad sort of crazy.

Seriously, this country is built for only the most superficial kinds of intimacy. I doubt any country has a more developed one night stand infrastructure than South Korea (intended for the general populace, not just for sex tourists, for whom South Korea is probably no better than average developed nation)

Yea, as I said in the OP, this is a very, very sad thing.

 

[tonymarvick]

Well, not a bad way to make money.

 

[acidboy]



But it's the quiet, sad sort of crazy.

Seriously, this country is built for only the most superficial kinds of intimacy. I doubt any country has a more developed one night stand infrastructure than South Korea (intended for the general populace, not just for sex tourists, for whom South Korea is probably no better than average developed nation)

please expound on this "developed one night stand infrastructure" and include how a non-Korean can find himself within that infrastructure.

 

[Claghorn]

Alright, so standard fare for a lot of young to middle age Koreans are "Nights," short for "night club." They are also sometimes referred to as "booking." Basically at the places, you go with a group of friends, in the same gender. After paying an entrance fee, you can either get a table or a room (guys). Girls who come (also in groups) pay a smaller fee and are basically taken around table to table or room to room by the staff, meeting as many guys as possible. A girl could of course take one look and decline to even join your party for a drink.

The goal is to get as many numbers as possible and then you spend the next week arranging a rendezvous. Repeat the next weekend (though Thursday is a big night). Though really you are just looking for quick company for the week, people will often also go home with someone from that night as well. Most big nights are affiliated with a decent business hotel for just this purpose. The more common nights are affiliated with some love motel or a group of love motels in that area.

And it's really, really common. Different age ranges go to different types of nights. Younger college kids pretty much go for a one night stand then and there. Or just to have fun with the experience. Those aimed at young adults are a significantly more expensive and geared towards finding a few people to meet later on in the week. Hit the late 30s and it's a less glamorous affair and pretty much strictly as much wham bam thank you ma'am as possible. Cuz ladies has needs too (and the husbands aren't providing it).

The majority of Korean-Americans I know go to these places at least once a month. Including married ones.

But pretty much only works for Koreans and Korean-Americans.

 

[acidboy]

one thing I realize with koreans (specially the immigrants) they do not like making friends with non-koreans.

 

[Claghorn]

one thing I realize with koreans (specially the immigrants) they do not like making friends with non-koreans.

They're a sort of insular group of people for sure, but this is less true within Korea. They do definitely have a tendency to stick to their own outside the country though. When I was working in a logistics company, we did a lot of traveling to Rotterdam. The hotel our company used was near one of the few Korean restaurants in the city. My coworkers...several of whom visited Rotterdam at least four times a year, ate exclusively at this restaurant. Lunch and dinner. Wouldn't eat anywhere else.

Southeast Asians are significantly friendlier. I realize this is a pretty big generalization, but I'm gonna stand by it.

 

[Piobaire]



Alright, so standard fare for a lot of young to middle age Koreans are "Nights," short for "night club." They are also sometimes referred to as "booking." Basically at the places, you go with a group of friends, in the same gender. After paying an entrance fee, you can either get a table or a room (guys). Girls who come (also in groups) pay a smaller fee and are basically taken around table to table or room to room by the staff, meeting as many guys as possible. A girl could of course take one look and decline to even join your party for a drink.

The goal is to get as many numbers as possible and then you spend the next week arranging a rendezvous. Repeat the next weekend (though Thursday is a big night). Though really you are just looking for quick company for the week, people will often also go home with someone from that night as well.  Most big nights are affiliated with a decent business hotel for just this purpose. The more common nights are affiliated with some love motel or a group of love motels in that area.

And it's really, really common. Different age ranges go to different types of nights. Younger college kids pretty much go for a one night stand then and there. Or just to have fun with the experience. Those aimed at young adults are a significantly more expensive and geared towards finding a few people to meet later on in the week. Hit the late 30s and it's a less glamorous affair and pretty much strictly as much wham bam thank you ma'am as possible. Cuz ladies has needs too (and the husbands aren't providing it).

The majority of Korean-Americans I know go to these places at least once a month. Including married ones.

But pretty much only works for Koreans and Korean-Americans.

Liberals are correct. America needs to become more cosmopolitan, look at the rest of the world, and adopt best practices from abroad like this.

 

[Tony Baccala]

Alright, so standard fare for a lot of young to middle age Koreans are "Nights," short for "night club." They are also sometimes referred to as "booking." Basically at the places, you go with a group of friends, in the same gender. After paying an entrance fee, you can either get a table or a room (guys). Girls who come (also in groups) pay a smaller fee and are basically taken around table to table or room to room by the staff, meeting as many guys as possible. A girl could of course take one look and decline to even join your party for a drink.

The goal is to get as many numbers as possible and then you spend the next week arranging a rendezvous. Repeat the next weekend (though Thursday is a big night). Though really you are just looking for quick company for the week, people will often also go home with someone from that night as well.  Most big nights are affiliated with a decent business hotel for just this purpose. The more common nights are affiliated with some love motel or a group of love motels in that area.

And it's really, really common. Different age ranges go to different types of nights. Younger college kids pretty much go for a one night stand then and there. Or just to have fun with the experience. Those aimed at young adults are a significantly more expensive and geared towards finding a few people to meet later on in the week. Hit the late 30s and it's a less glamorous affair and pretty much strictly as much wham bam thank you ma'am as possible. Cuz ladies has needs too (and the husbands aren't providing it).

The majority of Korean-Americans I know go to these places at least once a month. Including married ones.

But pretty much only works for Koreans and Korean-Americans.

Liberals are correct. America needs to become more cosmopolitan, look at the rest of the world, and adopt best practices from abroad like this.

The idea of weekly events filled with Korean girls of different ages looking for a guy to hook up with seems almost too good to be true (to me sitting back here in the States anyway). The thought of it makes me a bit light headed and delirious. Korean girls and Japanese girls are extraordinarily good looking.

Piobaire is absolutely right about American society needing to develop a more progressive attitude ... and about a LOT of things. I will resist the temptation to digress into a giant rant about ignorant, uneducated, slack-jawed, neck-shifting, pointy-headed, inbred, pious, prudish, close-minded Americans in general. Some of those exact bucket-heads are close friends of mine ... it still drives me crazy.
It seems this country has one foot on a banana peel and the other in some sort of wild-eyed quasi religious fundamentalism. The parallels between much of our nation and fundamentalist islam are *profoundly* disturbing to me.
So ... time for a pop quiz ... What country aggrandizes, allows and even endorses the most horrific sorts of abject violence in its culture, but absolutely flips out if a woman shows a breast ... no, it's not Afghanistan; no, it's not Saudi Arabia; no, it's not Yemen ... it’s ... (the envelope please, Brigitte) the United States of America!

Now mind you I am most certainly not a “liberal” ... in fact, in general I have a huge ugly problem with people using labels such as “liberal” or “conservative” et al ... not going there right now.
About half of my beliefs fall to what most people would say is the left of center and about half to the right ... some of them far to the right.
But the issue of the way we deal with sexuality (and even nudity) in this country is indicative of a much deeper, darker pathologic mindset ...

The Koreans, and certainly the Japanese ... and in fact most of Europe are far ahead of us in terms of acting like common sense adults when it comes to issues of sexuality.

I digress.

&#60 stops waving arms around and gets down off soapbox &#62

 

[Piobaire]



Spoiler

The idea of weekly events filled with Korean girls of different ages looking for a guy to hook up with seems almost too good to be true (to me sitting back here in the States anyway). The thought of it makes me a bit light headed and delirious. Korean girls and Japanese girls are extraordinarily good looking.

Piobaire is absolutely right about American society needing to develop a more progressive attitude ... and about a LOT of things. I will resist the temptation to digress into a giant rant about ignorant, uneducated, slack-jawed, neck-shifting, pointy-headed, inbred, pious, prudish, close-minded Americans in general. Some of those exact bucket-heads are close friends of mine ... it still drives me crazy.
It seems this country has one foot on a banana peel and the other in some sort of wild-eyed quasi religious fundamentalism. The parallels between much of our nation and fundamentalist islam are *profoundly* disturbing to me.
So ... time for a pop quiz ... What country aggrandizes, allows and even endorses the most horrific sorts of abject violence in its culture, but absolutely flips out if a woman shows a breast ... no, it's not Afghanistan; no, it's not Saudi Arabia; no, it's not Yemen ... it’s ... (the envelope please, Brigitte) the United States of America!

Now mind you I am most certainly not a “liberal” ... in fact, in general I have a huge ugly problem with people using labels such as “liberal” or “conservative” et al ... not going there right now.
About half of my beliefs fall to what most people would say is the left of center and about half to the right ... some of them far to the right.
But the issue of the way we deal with sexuality (and even nudity) in this country is indicative of a much deeper, darker pathologic mindset ...

The Koreans, and certainly the Japanese ... and in fact most of Europe are far ahead of us in terms of acting like common sense adults when it comes to issues of sexuality.

I digress.

&#60 stops waving arms around and gets down off soapbox &#62

So happy I'm not American. I don't know how you guys live in your society as it's so dysfunctional. Next thing you know some sad social phenomena, like say a craze where lonely single people pay to watch other people eat food, will develop and show the cracks in your society.