Exchange Day 54 - Pizza Hut

I woke up late today so there was no breakfast left in the cafeteria and I had to munch on my stash of biscuits. Breakfast is only served from 7:30 to 9:00 on weekdays in the dormitory and 8:30 to 9:30 on weekends so only the early bird catches the worm! The cafeteria ladies are really strict about the timing and since meal tickets are sold electronically, the machine does not care if you were only late for one minute or an hour. No means no.

I like having 정식 (chongshik) for breakfast because there's always rice and side dishes, that change depending on what ingredients there are in the kitchen for that day! 정식 means 'mixed food' and is sort of like the Korean version of caifan, the only Singaporean food that I truly miss here. Depending on the price of the meal, the number and grade of side dishes may vary! I miss being able to choose from a spread of different dishes and having fresh vegetables to eat every single meal. Most of the vegetables here are processed and it's really bad for your liver, considering the amount of salt they add to the food.

In spite of midterms next week and everyone around me furiously studying for their papers, I spent the entire day fussing over this blog. And I only managed to complete one post. At this snail speed, god knows when I'll be able to get back on track with the posts! My idea was to write two entries everyday, one for that day and the other to clear the backlog of past entries. But this plan isn't going as according to plan!

Anyway, I went out for lunch with the roommate because we both didn't want to eat at the dormitory. The weather was great so we thought we'd hike down the mountain (which we live on top) to get some fresh air and good food! We had been craving for fried chicken so we were adamant on trying the chicken from this new restaurant opposite the school! Unfortunately, fried chicken in Korean culture is more of a nightlife food, so chicken shops don't normally open for business until the late afternoon. (pouts)

With our hungry stomachs threatening to cease bodily functions if we don't give them food soon, we settled for Pizza Hut. I had always been envious of the customers whenever I walk past the shop in shopping malls, as the salad bar in Korea's Pizza Hut looks so much more appetising than the ones back in Singapore! I love salad bars!

Pizza in Korea is generally cheap, but owing to its brand name, Pizza Hut is slightly more pricey than average pizza shops. It makes up for this by providing comfortable leather sofa seats, a homely atmosphere and fantastic customer service. At least for the outlet I went to, all the staff members had such radiant smiles and they didn't judge us for being a foreigner. I don't know if anyone else ever feels this way, but sometimes I get the vibe that I'm disdained for not speaking good Korean. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive.

We each ordered a personal pan pizza for 6,900W and entry to the salad kitchen cost us 7,900W for two! The menu didn't put a price for one, so I guess you'd have to have a friend if you wanted to eat the salad here or if you really insist, you'd probably have to pay for two. I didn't probe about it, but I figured the next time I will, when I'm alone! In Korean culture, it's considered embarrassing to be eating alone anywhere because the idea of having company is very strong here. Many activities are designed for more than one, and the big serving portions also cater towards sharing of food instead of eating alone.

My first round of the salad kitchen! I really love the pumpkin and sweet potato salad (far right), I could eat a whole bowl of them! The rice cakes had a chewy texture, but they were a little on the tougher side.

I had a Super Supreme pizza topped with sweet potato cream! Basically there were capsicums, sausages, olives and cheese, and the golden yellow paste you see near the crust was the sweet potato cream! The cream was a little burnt at the top so it was crispy on the outside yet soft and smooth inside. Delicious!

I forgot to bring out my iPhone so I couldn't take any pictures of the salad bar but based on my memory, the salad kitchen was divided into hot foods, cold foods and dessert bar. In the hot foods section, there were cheesy rice cake, spicy rice cake, spicy mussel soup, tomato pasta and aglio olio. In the cold foods section, there were sweet potato salad, pumpkin salad, fresh greens, cold vinegar salad, sweet corn, cold noodles and pickles. The dessert selection was well-varied with fruits such as grapefruit, rambutans and frozen passion fruit, and yoghurts with toppings like cornflakes, berries, fruit cocktail and honey. I liked how they froze the passion fruit to make it into a sherbet but it tasted really tart, good for digestion but not many might enjoy it I guess. The plain yoghurt topped with cornflakes was the best in my opinion as it wasn't too sweet and aids digestion of the oily pizza!

Dinner was bread from Paris Baguette and I found out from my roommate that you could ask the staff members for a Happy Points card which allows you to accumulate points with every purchase for future gift exchanges! The cashier said that in order to qualify for the complimentary card, I have to make a purchase of over 5,000W which puzzled my roommate because all along nobody has ever told her that. So in the end, I didn't manage to get my card. :< Oh well, maybe next time!

I swear this is the most delicious cream cheese baguette (1,800W) I have ever eaten in my whole life oh gosh! The cream cheese looked hard but was so soft and smooth, and the baguette is crispy on the outside but fluffy inside omg I can't believe such a simple thing could taste so magical! Totally worth the money :)

This is purple apple danish! I don't know why is the apple purple, probably it has some essence of berries but it didn't taste as special as I thought it would! It would be better if the danish was lighter and crispier!

xoxo, ❀