Exchange Day 84 - Happy birthday!

I woke up feeling a teeny weeny grumpy today because of my project meeting that was scheduled right smack in the middle of the day. It sucks when such things happen as my whole day is basically wasted since I can't do much before or after the meeting, although I don't really have much things to do.

Breakfast was walnut rye bread with strawberry jam from PB! I regret not listening to my heart and buying the fluffy white bread because now I'm forced to endure this boring bread for another two breakfasts. The crust was dry and there were no crunchy bits of walnut inside the bread. At least the bread's thick. I love thick toasts.

The trees in school are all turning red and soon they'll all be bald! I should feel bad for the poor trees but I can't help but feel excited to see botak trees. Trees in Singapore are evergreen since we have sunny weather all year round so we don't get much of a chance to see them turn yellow, red and bald.

I finally had a very satisfying lunch of rice and many side dishes in my favourite cafeteria near school! Although I'm always awkward when I'm eating there (I feel like everyone's judging me for eating alone), I always finish all my food. I've eaten there for almost five times now and I still find it extremely delicious!

The young couple who was sitting beside me barely touched their side dishes and they only finished half of their rice! Why do they even step into the cafeteria if they're not hungry in the first place? I get really upset when I see people wasting their food because I feel that they're not being appreciative of the people who prepare the food. Also if everyone starts wasting food, restaurants and cafeterias will start serving smaller portions at the same price and food indirectly becomes more expensive!

I ordered bean paste stew for 3,500W and it's a little different from the ones I've had elsewhere as it's spicier. In a typical bean paste stew, you can find pieces of leek, cabbage, tofu and zucchini.

Today's project meeting turned out much more productive than expected but we're still meeting tomorrow to practise giving our presentation. I was hoping that we wouldn't have to meet tomorrow but I guess I should help my groupmates with their scripts as we'll be presenting in English, which my groupmates aren't fluent in.

I had 삼겹살 for dinner today, in (secret) celebration of my friend's twenty-first birthday, at Palsaik in Nampo-dong. Palsaik is best known for their eight-coloured fatty pork meat, which is basically fatty pork marinated in eight different sauces. 삼겹살 in Korean directly translates to 'three layered meat' and is usually barbequed and eaten wrapped in leafy vegetables. 

We ordered the Eight Colours set for 30,000W and it was good for four! The fatty pork came in this neatly classified tray that tells you the various flavours in the four most common languages used in Korea.

Other than the pork, each table is also entitled to a steaming pot of spicy seafood soup, when finished could be swapped for a pot of fried rice for a small fee.

Honestly, all the different pork tasted the same to me once barbequed and I couldn't really tell which was which. I gobbled them down hungrily regardless and I was surprised that I didn't pick out the fatty parts of the meat. Usually I do that, but I somehow forgot this time round.

After the meal, we headed to the Twosome Place for dessert, where we sprang a Chocolate Truffle cake on the very surprised birthday girl. We took a lot of mandatory selcas (but none directly featuring the cake) before heartily tucking into the decadent dessert.

The excited us who couldn't wait to tuck in.

Since there were only four of us, we each had to finish a quarter of the cake, which wasn't a difficult task actually. The cake was very rich (flimsy plastic knives would not be able to slice the cake) but not cloyingly sweet. The chocolate chiffon melted in my mouth and the lavish layer of truffle caressed my throat, rendering me speechless as I went back for more.

My sister and I both agree that I need help with food vocabulary as I seem to have exhausted mine.

Twosome Place is a dessert cafe that is better known for their luxurious cakes and chocolates, although they do serve the usual coffee and drinks. Although its name is suggestively exclusive, I believe solo diners will not be rejected from patronising the shop. I haven't tried going there alone though, but I will soon. Today's trip has left me asking for more of their yummy desserts.

xoxo, ❀

Exchange Day 83 - Frozen goodness

I was supposed to go bird-watching again at Eulsukdo Nature Reserve today with my friends to make up for our previous failed trip and then visit our Korean buddy at a horse stable she works at but no plans were confirmed so I decided to go out by myself. Thankfully I went ahead with my own plans because if I had waited for their response, today would have been a wasted day. (or maybe they did go out but I wasn't informed)

Breakfast was honey cake that I bought from the dormitory's welfare shop yesterday and Mommy does not believe that it's only 230kcal for a big slice of cake. Well, it says so on the packaging, (I've checked umpteen times) and there's no saying that the cake's more than one serving. So I guess it really is only 230kcal. (smirks)

The honey cake was much tastier than I had expected. I refrain from imposing high expectations on a convenience bread because I'm afraid of disappointment. These few days I'm losing all interest in my food. (frowns) The honey cake was sweet, fluffy and so addictive I ate the baking paper that was stuck at the base too. Two bites worth before I realised it was paper. Oh well, more fibre in my diet.

A honey cake didn't satisfy my voracious appetite so I downed three waffle biscuits and a cheesecake bar. They still didn't do the job but I decided to curb my greedy tummy.

I had planned to eat something satisfying like rice for lunch but I ended up having frozen yoghurt from Yogurberry along the streets of the Dong-A Hadan campus. The shop has a self-service concept where customers choose a cup size and are free to take whatever yoghurt and toppings they like, before paying for their froyo at the counter. Prices for froyo go according to weight at 220W per gram and mine weighed exactly 200g so I paid 4,400W, which was similar to what I would be paying in Singapore.

There were altogether eight flavours - green tea, chocolate, mascarpon cheese, strawberry, blueberry, plain, mango and grapefruit - and more than twenty different toppings to choose from. I like being able to try a variety of flavours, so I took a bit of green tea, chocolate, cheese, blueberry and grapefruit. Green tea was fragrant but not too overpowering, chocolate wasn't too sweet, blueberry tasted a little creamy and grapefruit felt like a tangy sorbet. I liked all the flavours I picked except for cheese, which I felt was too rich.

I took the smallest size cup, which when filled to the brim is enough to be shared amongst two people, although eating it alone is much more satisfying.

Other than frozen yoghurt, the shop also sells 빙수 (shaved ice) but it isn't a fixed thing on the menu so it might change with the seasons. From the pictures, the shaved ice didn't look as appealing as its yoghurt so I would suggest to stick with the froyo unless you're sharing with friends.

Today's destination was Dongdaesin on Line 2, home to the Dongdaesin Market and neighbour of the Seodaesin Market. The word 'market' excites me a lot as it usually has the connotation of being cheap and local, which I love and hence I rushed to the market in hopes of finding cheap and delicious hawker fare to satisfy my grumpy tummy.

Every time I visit a market, I always draw stares from the ahjummas because rarely are there people my age at the markets. I bet they must all be wondering if I got lost while trying to find somewhere else. Unfortunately for me, most of the cafeterias weren't open for business, even when I walked all the way to the Seodaesin Market, so I left and walked out onto the main street.

I found a bakery, very happy that it wasn't part of any global franchise so I decided to give it a chance. There were so many mouthwatering bread and pastries I had a hard time deciding but I eventually succumbed to a 고구마빵 (sweet potato bread). So predictable I know. My sister must be mumbling to my mom how I keep eating the same thing over and over again.

Although the label describes this to be bread, I think that it's just a sweet potato baked in cheese. There's nothing about it that tastes like bread to me but anyhow, it was sweet and delectable. Very pricey at 2,000W but worth every single penny. The potato filled me up finally and I didn't even feel hungry for dinner although I still ate.

I went into Toms and Toms Cafe, for it's the only cafe along the street I haven't been into and I try not to repeat, and ordered a Rose Flower Tea. I was really disappointed because they didn't serve my tea in a fancy porcelain cup and the only thing fancy about the drink were the pretty rose buds in the tea bag. Not worth my 4,200W. The cafe was a little stuffy at the first floor where I sat but it might be better on the second floor, where most of the other customers sat.

The first floor of the cafe. I sat in one of the red leather chairs close to the windows.

My expensive rose flower tea.

Studying again! It's sweet for my books to always accompany me on weekends but I wished they'd find other friends.

Dinner was 튀김 (tempura) and 오댕 (oden) again from a popular street vendor in Hadan, although this time I ate significantly less and had a mini 김밥 (kimbab) too. You can find the shop outside Exit 3 of Hadan Station and the food is really affordable at 500W per piece. The tempura is always freshly fried and I'd recommend requesting the imo for the sweet and spicy deokbokki sauce to go along with your tempura for a gastronomical experience.

I succumbed to temptations. ): The ice cream was rock hard, which I loved but I got cheated by the calorie label.

xoxo, ❀

Exchange Day 70 - Shopping at Centum City

I nearly missed breakfast this morning as I woke up just ten minutes before the dormitory cafeteria stopped its service. Thankfully, I'm not the sort to primp myself before meeting the world so I rushed straight down after I brushed my teeth and I made it with five minutes to spare!

Breakfast was mung bean sprouts and ketchup hotdogs with a mountain of rice and potatoes-flour dumpling soup. It's so annoying when breakfast is carbo-loaded because I feel like finishing all the dishes yet if I do, I wouldn't be able to have lunch and I'll get constipation again. The mung bean sprouts were very salty today but the ketchup hotdogs were good as usual. I think the thing I'll miss most after I leave Korea would be the fluffy white rice. I'm so tempted to buy one bag of rice back to Singapore, but that would be crazy.

My cash book ran out of space and I refuse to use any other books except for this particular one so I had to go down to Kyobo Bookstore in Centum City to get it today! Not that I'm very fond of travelling so far out but I checked other bookstores and Kyobo's other outlets and none of them carry this book, which leaves me with no choice.

I left the room at around 1pm and I decided that I would have lunch at Shinsegae since Daddy said to eat better food and not always scrimp and save. I was kind of hungry as I had breakfast really early and it would take at least an hour before I could reach the place, so I bought a sweet potato puff from PB to snack on the bus. I ended up finishing the pastry even before I reached the bus stop.

The sweet potato paste was fragrant and delectable, but the puff was a little hard. Still, not bad for 1,500W!

I wanted to be less of a scrooge and try one of the restaurants in Shinsegae but I walked the entire floor at least twice and I just can't bring myself to walk into any of them. The meals were really expensive and I'm not sure if they are loners-friendly because the restaurants were really crowded. Somehow everyone decided to have their lunch much later today. So I gave up and decided that I would go to the food court.

But before I could go, a huge dinosaur caught my eye. I knew that Shinsegae had a rooftop dinosaur park but I never know it's free of charge and open to the public. I always thought that visitors had to get a ticket to view the exhibition. The park is located on 9F right in between the Japanese restaurant and the grill bar. Most of the visitors there, like with the other sky parks, were families with young children, who were really adorable as they all started growling as soon as they saw the dinosaur sculptures.

This is a Stegosaurus. I still remember some dinosaur terms from young when my brother and I used to memorise names of dinosaurs for fun.

Map of the park.

This is a Triceratops.

Velociraptors are small but fiesty and they normally come in packs so they can take down dinosaurs larger than them.

The diplodocus used to be my favourite dinosaur because it's a vegetarian and seemed nice. 

Of course everyone knows this big guy with the tiny hands - Tyrannosarus Rex.

This tree reminds me of Singapore's Gardens by the Bay although I have never been there.

Pesky kids trying to steal Pterodactyl's eggs.

There are lots of huts like this in the park for tired parents to rest. Other than dinosaurs, this park features various metallic robot animals as well.

And there are also rides for little kids to enjoy! I'm not sure if they are charged though. 

Naughty Elephant Sprays Water.

I regret not updating my iOS to the latest one, which allows my iPhone to take panoramic photographs.

Little kids fold paper in paper boats and try to float their boat down a river into this pond.

At the end of the park is a pirate ship. I have no idea what's a pirate ship doing in a dino park.

After much deliberation in front of the electronic menu, I decided to get 부대찌개 (army stew) for 6,500W. The stone pot was really heavy and I almost didn't manage to make it back safely to my seat. I was so hungry I finished all my food except half a bowl of rice and the kimchi. The side dishes were delicious and so was the stew even though it was a little too spicy for me. Inside the stew there were luncheon meat, hotdogs, rice cake, sweet potato noodles, cabbage and even baked beans, which merged wonderfully to give a rich flavourful taste. I wished there was cheese in the stew!

Dinner was fried chicken and pumpkin from the basement food hall, which I snuck up into my room. (smirks) The chicken had no bones so there's no evidence to destroy. I wished I could have warmed it up though so that it'd taste better. The pumpkin was too cold.

xoxo, ❀

Exchange Day 69

I did nothing today but watch an entire idol drama starring Victoria from f(x) and Zhou Mi from Super Junior M. This is why I don't follow dramas because once I start, I have to end it. There's no waiting, and I tend to skip away lots of parts as I'm only interested in finding out if the bad guy gets his just deserts and if the leads get together in the end. Like every idol drama, of course the leads got together in the end after a series of unimportant problems, which they could have solved long ago had they been more resolute, and the bad girl (in this case) became good again.

I got the poster off the Internet! It stars Calvin Chen and Shao Xiang as well! Victoria's really cute so it makes watching the very predictable Cinderella plot okay. 

Breakfast was three quarters of the blueberry and cream cheese baguette I bought from Familia Bakery yesterday. Familia is just outside Exit 6 of Hadan Station and sells delicious but pricey bread. It is however very generous in its sample portions so you sort of get your money's worth from sampling all their bread.

I didn't expect the bread to have cream cheese inside it because it wasn't mentioned on the bread's description label. Plus when I tasted it at the shop, there were only bits of blueberry and blueberry jam so the cream cheese came as a pleasant surprise. The baguette was quite tasty but I have to say everything tasted better as samples in the bakery.

Lunch was the remaining quarter of the baguette and two persimmons from yesterday! I bought a whole bag of persimmons for 5,000W and there were fifteen rock hard fruits inside that I could use to attack any robber that decides to mob me. They looked a little green and bruised (a marvel for something so hard) at first glance so I felt cheated by the friendly imo who told me that I won't regret it as they are delicious. Come to think of it, nobody would say otherwise about their own goods.

But since I already bought it, I thought I had to at least cut them open and try them before I decide if they are truly inedible. Surprisingly, they turned out to be crunchy and pretty tasty, although they were not as sweet as the softer ones I had in Singapore. But I like it! This shows that appearances may be deceiving and we can't judge a persimmon by its skin.

Sitting in front of the computer staring at it all day long is really bad and I could feel it in my bones so I decided to go down to the dormitory cafeteria for dinner, regardless of what was on the menu today, partly because I had no more food left in my room except for a bunch of fruits and I was too unmotivated to head down the mountain for food.

It turned out to be the worst decision I had ever made but at least I learnt (although through the hard way) that the 비빔밥 (bibimbab) here is truly inedible and not an exaggeration by my friends. The beef, rice and soup were okay, although they weren't particularly tasty but the vegetables really, let's just say I tried my best. I left out the hot sauce because I can't take spicy food and now I understand why it had to be there in the first place. Being a bit too raw (vegetables) is okay for me, I like vegetables so I'm not that adverse to its natural taste but tasting of soap really makes me wonder what goes on in that kitchen of yours.

Beef bibimbab for 2,300W.

Dinner was so bad I bought a chocolate bar to cheer myself up. It's similar to Top, where rice crispies are embedded inside the chocolate to give more texture to the creaminess, but this rice crisp tastes a little different from the usual. It tastes more like wheat, so I guess it could be healthier but it wasn't as satisfying as I thought it would be.

I shouldn't have stayed in sigh. Let's hope tomorrow will be better!

xoxo, ❀