In the 9th season of 'I Am Solo', Ok-soon and the 22nd season's Young-soo and Young-sook began their chilling trip to Prague, captivating viewers with intense immersion.
In the episode aired on the 7th, SBS Plus and ENA's ‘Cooking and Traveling’ (hereafter ‘Cooking and Traveling’) vividly showcased the conflicts faced by 9th season Ok-soon, Male 4, and 22nd season Young-soo and Young-sook from the first night of their trip to Prague.
On that day, 22nd season Young-soo and Young-sook started organizing their luggage at the accommodation. Young-soo brought three large suitcases for a 5-night, 7-day schedule, filled with items that seemed to have emptied a convenience store, including instant rice, cockle sauce, seasoned seaweed, canned ham, ice trays, and a set of utensils. However, Young-sook pointed out, “I don’t really like cockles,” and “If you’re going to bring stuff like this (seasoning), you might as well bring more ham…” After that, the two had a disagreement over how to organize the food. When Young-soo put room-temperature items in the refrigerator, Young-sook opposed, saying “Nope!” and insisted, “We need to buy local ingredients, so let’s take out all the room-temperature items.” Eventually, under Young-sook's leadership, the refrigerator and items were organized, and Young-soo attempted to switch to a Korean carrier for roaming for another 40 minutes but ultimately failed.
The two, with their ‘useless’ eSIM, headed to a nearby mart. After shopping at the mart, they returned to their accommodation and soon discovered Young-soo's bag and clothes sprawled on the kitchen floor. Young-sook suggested, “Let’s take the clothes out of the bag and organize them in the drawer,” but Young-soo showed a different style of organizing, saying, “I just want to keep them in the bag and take out only the clothes I’ll wear tomorrow.” However, he eventually organized the clothes as Young-sook suggested.
A little later, the two went out for a late dinner. At that time, Young-sook asked if there was a frying pan in the accommodation, and Young-soo replied, “I checked for a frying pan and tested if the induction works well.” Young-sook frowned, saying, “You could just say ‘I checked’ and be done with it; you’re being too wordy.” Nevertheless, as Young-soo started discussing the travel schedule for the next day, he activated ‘TMI’, and Young-sook interrupted, saying, “Stop with the unnecessary information! It’s annoying.” Young-soo apologized, saying, “I’ll try harder tomorrow, so please forgive me for the past,” and Young-sook warned him again about his ‘TMT (Too Much Talk)’, saying, “There’s no reason for me to know all the unnecessary details.”
Afterward, the two enjoyed a late-night snack at a nearby restaurant to lighten the mood. After returning to their accommodation, they had a hearty late-night meal with the cockle sauce, sausages, and instant rice that Young-soo brought. Feeling full, Young-sook mumbled, “The bed is too close,” but still lay down on the bed and fell asleep first. Young-soo quietly lay down on the bed next to Young-sook only after cleaning up, including doing the dishes, and safely spent the first night.
Around the same time, 9th season Ok-soon and Male 4 also headed to a shopping mall near their accommodation. Ok-soon bought various cosmetics that are famous in the Czech Republic, and after a satisfying shopping trip, she said, “I want to drink dark beer,” and went to a nearby pub. While moving, Ok-soon excitedly mentioned the historical commonalities between the Czech Republic and Korea, but Male 4 seemed tired from shopping and just looked at the street scenery. Once inside the pub, the two ordered dark beer and snacks and discussed their travel plans for the next day. During this, Male 4 suggested a ‘trekking tour’, but Ok-soon responded indifferently, saying, “I don’t have sneakers.” At that moment, a local man approached Ok-soon, and she engaged in a lively conversation with him, while Male 4 silently ate his food. Shortly after, Ok-soon revealed in a candid interview with the production team, “I didn’t want to talk to this person (Male 4), so I kept chatting with the local,” and Male 4 expressed, “The atmosphere was uncomfortable. I was just anxious by myself.”
After the local left, Ok-soon and Male 4 clashed again over their ‘suburban travel plans’. While Ok-soon wanted to visit Cesky, a suburb of Prague, Male 4 recommended Kutna Hora for ‘efficiency’. Due to Ok-soon’s lukewarm response, Male 4 attempted to break the ice by saying, “Why is all European food so salty?” but Ok-soon didn’t even look at him or react. A little later, in an interview with the production team, Ok-soon explained her ‘talk-no-look-pass’ towards Male 4, saying, “I couldn’t relate to what he was saying,” and added, “If I didn’t want to do even that, wouldn’t that mean we’re worse off than others?” Male 4 also expressed his discomfort to the production team, saying, “I didn’t even know if the food was going into my mouth or my nose.”
In the awkward atmosphere, when the two returned to their accommodation, they clashed again over ‘sleeping in the same room’. Ok-soon pointed out Male 4’s snoring, saying, “I’ll sleep in the living room (not the room),” declaring her intention to sleep on the sofa. However, this behavior contradicted the ‘Cooking and Traveling’ rules, leading to intervention from the production team. Consequently, Ok-soon returned to the room. However, due to Male 4 snoring loudly in bed, Ok-soon had a restless night, tossing and turning under the blanket. Shortly after, conflicts arose between 22nd season Young-soo and Young-sook over Young-soo scraping his dishes, while 9th season Ok-soon and Male 4 showed sharp reactions over ‘trekking’, heightening curiosity about their cooking and traveling adventures on the second day.
The fierce travel story of 22nd season Young-soo and Young-sook, along with 9th season Ok-soon and Male 4, continues on the 14th at 8:40 PM on SBS Plus and ENA in ‘Cooking and Traveling’.
[Ji Seung-hoon, Star Today Reporter]
