My best friend visited me from Seoul last night, which is about 5 hours journey each way for her. It has been nearly 2 years since we last saw each other.
She arrived around 10 pm and we caught up till 1 am ( I served her chamomile tea and some ginger cookies). I was ready to serve more, but she said she wasn’t hungry.
For breakfast I prepared french toast, fried bacon and orange juice for breakfast.
My lunch plan was taking her to one of (rumour has it) the finest restaurants in this town which I haven’t been to before. Yet it turned out that I fed us too much at breakfast, so she said she didn’t need to eat anymore before she left.
Time was too tight. Though, I thought she would get hungry by the time she got on the bus, so I served some light snacks, like cheese and crackers, a cup of chamomile tea, and some fruit. Now she has left and I am thinking. What kind of host was I? 
So all I gave her to eat was:
- 2 cups of chamomile tea
- 2 pieces of french toast
- 2 ginger cookies
- Some bacon
- 1 cup of orange juice
- A couple of apple and pear slices
- Some cheese and crackers
Oh no, am I a good host?
Maybe not.
What would you have served a guest who traveled so far yet was only able to visit for 12 hours?
cheese and crackers, Kitchen Talk, orange juice
I don’t think you were a bad host. I’m not sure what I would serve, probably something similar to you
dun be so hard on yourself!!
I guess what was most importsnt was that you girls spent time together right? If I visit my best friend, I wouldn’t like her to slave over the stove for hours but to spend more time with me, catching up and stuff…
Porbably a cold beer and some instant noodle for supper. Milk and cereal for b’fast. Lunch prolly just dine out
But i think ur a nice host having made a nice breakfast for them~
When I returned to S’pore for a short visit last time, I popped over my good friend’s house and all we did was chat and chat and chat. I was already satisfied
Being a good host does not mean getting complicated. I bet your crackers with cheese and tomatoes are prepared with love, and thoughtfulness. Isn’t that great?
(I love that yorkshire terrier glass…wonder where to get it? ;D)
Having to eat a lot when I visit someone can actually be quite exhausting.Just makes me want to sleep..^^
Besides,a lot of time gets wasted.Just sit down with some drinks and antipasti(fresh bread,olives,sliced meats etc).Perfect.
Sue, if I was you I wouldn’t worry about it! She traveled all that way to see you and get to spend some time with her best friend, the company was the important thing
I’ve done the same thing - I traveled 6hrs to visit a friend who lives in the country here, and all we ate were roasted marshmallows (in his fireplace), instant noodles and potato chips but we didn’t care because all we wanted to do was talk and catch up after not seeing each other in a very long time!
However, having said that - the hosting style of every person is very different. Me, I always get paranoid about having enough food, so if I know that I am having guests then I will usually prepare a variety of foods that I can have out quickly when they arrive…which is probably why I almost have to roll my guests out the door by the time they need to leave
Mini foods and finger foods are good - little quiches or muffins, maybe some bu-chim, crackers and dips, little pies or pizzas, anything that isn’t too much hassle to eat and can be consumed during conversation 
Just make sure there’s a good mix of savoury and sweet so the tastebuds don’t get overloaded 
Thanks Kat, Joyce, Acrix, tigerfish, Anonymous, Ellie for making me feel better.
I get really serious when I am having a guest and feeding guests well is kind of expected in Korean culture I think.
As everyone said, the more important part was spending good time with her, so I guess it was OK then.
When I am a host, I am always afraid that my guests are not fed well. But as a guest I am always afraid of troubling the host too much. It sounds funny but somehow I cannot feel otherwise.
Living in a city, food is not lacking but time to get together is.
To be able to spend time with good friends, I will still be happy with just a glass of plain water