Exchange Day 76 - Fastfood and cafe hopping

Look at the pretty and red leaves on the way down the mountain! Autumn is indeed here!

Today is a 혼자있어부산 (alone in Busan) day, otherwise known as HIP day. I've coined a new term for such a day so it doesn't sound so pathetic and readers who are interested in traveling in Busan alone can find my blog posts easily. Actually, I'm supposed to be doing my homework but I feel so restless I decided doing trivial things would be more productive.

My professors have finally realised halfway through the semester that we students have not been doing enough so they conspired to bombard us with assignments all at once. Although it's nice that I finally feel like a student instead of a tourist, since I'm only left with one more month till exchange ends, I can't be bound by my academic obligations! They couldn't have picked a better time than now to start.

Enough about them. So like all previous HIP days (which weren't really HIP days as they weren't given a name yet), my blog entry will be about places in Busan that I've tried and tested that are okay to visit alone. I'm currently sitting in the Dong A University branch of Angel-in-us Coffee, a franchise cafe that proclaims they serve the world's best coffee. I wouldn't know since I don't drink coffee, but I've tried their lemonade previously and it was really refreshing!

Angel-in-us Coffee can easily be recognised by its angelic mascot (pun intended) and is one of the few ubiquitous brands of cafes around. There's at least one outlet in every big departmental store and for all you k-drama fangirls (or boys) out there, Angel-in-us is fronted by the face of prettyboy Kim Soo Hyun.

Poor Kim Soo Hyun is waiting for you to join him at the cafe!

I'd say that cafes in general are good places to frequent when you're alone and like in most parts of the world, you can find people hanging out in groups or just chilling alone here. I don't have the habit of chilling in cafes back in Singapore but I think this is one thing that might change when I go back.

I'd suggest to pick a window seat if you're alone! It feels good to have something to look at when you're bored of what you're doing, be it studying or reading a book or typing away at your computer!

My drink of the day is 핫국화차, which I'm guessing is hot osmanthus tea.

Okay a quick check on Google Translate tells me I'm wrong. It's not osmanthus, it's chrysanthemum. I'd hate to think that I actually paid 4,000W for chrysanthemum tea but this has a light fragrance and isn't sweet so I like it. It helps too that it has a cooling effect and helps neutralise the heatiness from lunch.

My room here has a magnetic effect that prevents me from stepping out of the room, even to get food, which is a feat in itself. I woke up around nine today and breakfast was a measly sweet potato fish bread that I bought yesterday night from the convenience store, knowing that I'll probably lounge in my room the whole day.

So I was really really hungry (cue giddy spells) by noon but I couldn't bring myself to go out until I finished the blog entry that was for yesterday. So a few hours past just like that and when I finally stepped out, it was 15:00. I swear I would have fainted in my room had I left any later. I did 30 lunges in the room and my world started to spin.

Lunch was fast food, I wanted to have Mom's Touch again but I was too abashed to step in so I had Lotteria across the street instead. Although I haven't tried the McDonalds here, I wanted to have shaker fries so I decided to go to Lotteria. The McDonalds here doesn't have shaker fries. I ordered a shrimp burger and was so stunned by a question the staff asked I forgot all about shaker fries. I think she was trying to ask me if I wanted to upsize my meal, which I couldn't understand but she did it for me anyway. I ended up throwing half of my fries and almost all my cola away. The burger was pretty tasty though.

The set meal cost me 6,200W, which is a crazy price I'll most probably not pay in Singapore for McDonalds and I regret my decision even before I got back to my seat. I keep making lousy food choices these few days what is wrong with me! I haven't been exercising so I attribute it to that, but I'm too lazy to keep my mind active with exercise. What a vicious cycle.

I realised after that shaker fries only cost 1,000W so I could have just gotten a burger and a packet of shaker fries for less than 5,000W since I didn't drink soda and having a drink wouldn't matter to me. Moping about my folly didn't make the meal less tasty than it already was, but I did scoff everything down faster than usual.

Hopefully dinner will be better later! I'm going to have barley rice later with my friend! The imo cannot reject me now since I brought a friend. (cackles) I'll update the post again after dinner!

edit/
The shop wasn't open for business today... I guess the auntie somehow managed to have the last laugh sigh. Since we couldn't eat barley rice, we decided to try a new restaurant so we went to Vongole Pasta and Pizza on the other side of the street.

Stepping inside the restaurant revealed a homely and well-decorated loft, very different from what I was expecting as we trudged up the dubious flight of stairs that led to the place. I was really impressed by the tree in the middle of the restaurant where messages of previous diners were hung splendidly on its branches. Closer inspection left us a little discouraged as most of the diners were couples but we did see another pair of friends, which was great.

We tried very hard to slowly decide what to eat, but looking at the limited choices they have, it wasn't much of a decision so we took our order in a jiffy. If you have a party of more than one, I'd like to recommend that you order something from the pasta menu and another from the pizza menu such that you can have the best of both worlds. The pasta portion wasn't big so the pizza sort of helped to make up for it too.

It was really sweet of the restaurant to give complimentary croissants and marshmallows as appetisers while we wait for our food, but we wondered what would have happened if we came alone since everything was dished out in pairs.

The garlic croissants were delicious but slightly sweeter than your average garlic toast.

Roasting marshmallows over a candle light probably helps make your date more romantic unless you burn your marshmallows or set them on fire like us.

The food came in less than fifteen minutes, which was great because we were both starving and it helped take attention away from the awkward silence in the restaurant.

(left) Creamy vongole pasta and (right) margherita thin-crust pizza. 

You can choose to have your pastas cooked spicy or not and since I didn't take spicy, we chose not to have it spicy but their menu recommends having it spiced. I love creamy pasta and this one was not too bad although it would have been better was there more sauce.

They had five pizza options and out of the five, three were sweet. The other one was spicy so we chose a tomato-based margherita pizza, which was kind of disappointing as there wasn't much flavour to it. But I liked the thin crust!

After the meal, the restaurant surprised us with a complimentary dessert of vanilla and chocolate ice cream topped with sugary syrup and sweetened cornflakes. Talk about diabetes. I appreciate that they gave two scoops of ice cream instead of one big one (you would think that they'll make you share everything), so that the couple could secretly mark their food territory even in the midst of this lovey-dovey sharing. Well I don't know about the others, but personally I'd be upset if my boyfriend ate my share of the ice cream.

We paid a total of 14,500W for the meal and it wasn't too bad considering the type of food we ate so I'd say that this restaurant is worth a try, but I'd recommend that you come with friends so that you get to try more for the same price.

xoxo, ❀

Exchange Day 55 - Mr Pizza

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, ❀

Exchange Day 46 - I survived 6 crazy hours without food

After yesterday's wild goose chase, I took extra care to ensure that history does not repeat itself when I head down during my long break today to get my charger examined. My heart cannot take such excitement twice in a row.

Breakfast was my favourite blueberry bagel from Dalloyou, which I happily munched on the way to the subway station. The free shuttle bus to the Bumin campus, where all my classes are at, does not operate between 7:00 and 10:00 so for people who have classes in between, they'll have to take public transport. Supposedly if we use our matriculation cards (they act as a t-money card too) to pay for the subway, we could claim the money back through a series of unclear and complicated procedures. I have yet to try it out but for the sake of my sallowing wallet, I will.

Class was boring as usual. The professor always speaks extra slowly because he thinks that doing so makes it easier for the Korean students to comprehend his American accent and that once they understand him, they will answer his questions during class. I don't really think the reason they're keeping mum is because they don't understand him. They understand him fine, even if he were to speak faster, it's just an Asian thing to be modest about speaking up in public.

Anyways, I had lunch in the school's cafeteria with my classmate since school food is cheap, so that I wouldn't have to spend any unnecessary money at the mall. The school's cafeteria is slightly different from the cafeteria in the dormitory, as its offers a selection of food instead of dictating your meals. I took 칠리닭갈비 (chilli dalkkalbi) for 2,500W, which was served with potatoes, coleslaw, fishcake soup and kimchi. 닭갈비 means 'chicken ribs' and although I rarely eat spicy food, I like this dish as it tastes a lot like the canned curry chicken my siblings and I always eat. 

So spicy but so homely!

After lunch, I whizzed to TUVA. I have a 6-hour break in between class every Thursday but I still ended up being half an hour late for class. Thankfully the professor wasn't mad and could still joke with the class that I was late because I was at the BIFF. It wasn't that I took a long time to get there, or I waited for eternity for my turn. It was just that the lethal combination of a language barrier and my inability to be assertive about what I want cost me three queue numbers.

In my first consultation, I was sure that my charger had broken down so I wanted to enquire if a repair was possible and how much would it cost. Mac users should know that our chargers comprise of two parts - the battery and the plug. In Singapore, we use the squarish three-pin plug but over here, they use a round two-pin plug. So the guy replaced my three-pin plug with his own to test the charger and to my utter embarrassment (and relief), it worked perfectly well. He stared at me like I was wasting his life and I had to make a quick exit from the awkward situation.

I sat at their lounge for ages thinking about what just happened and I was so sure that something was wrong with my charger. I couldn't be that stupid to go to all that trouble without properly ensuring that something was truly wrong right? (this is when the audience should chorus a loud yes despite the number of times I have been a muddlehead)

Then it dawned on me that the three-pin plug could be the one that was faulty! I quickly took another number and patiently waited for my turn. The guy, on his way out for his break, saw that his pesky customer was still here so out of kind obligation he asked me if something was wrong again. I told him that I would like to purchase a two-pin plug and wanted to know where I could get one. He stared at me with a you-are-such-an-absurd-girl expression and replied that there are no instocks in Busan and I would have to go to Sincheon (which was in Seoul) to get it.

Thankfully, I decided to bank on my foreigner right to be shameless and I asked another guy if I could purchase a two-pin plug. He, who was so much more helpful, told me that it's possible for their resident engineer to make an order but it would take four days and asked if I was alright with that. Of course I was alright, you're such a funny man. Surely the plug would cost much less than buying a brand new charger, why would I not be alright? In fact, I'm not just alright, I'm over-the-moon-whizzing-about-in-space-like-an-atom-high-on-sugar alright.

I forgot to take a photo of my third number in my elation, I enthusiastically threw it into the bin.

Their resident engineer turned out to be Guy A who went out for his break, so I had to wait another hour for him to be back before I could place my order. I think the reason why he was so hostile was because he didn't knew that I was a foreigner. (secretly happy about being mistaken as a local) So in the end I paid 12,000W for the plug, a tenth of what a new charger would cost. Budget Daphy is very happy.

All this hoohaa took a ridiculous four hours and I was running really late for my class. I contemplated to skip class but I can't let my precious three chances of cutting class go to waste just like that so I had the brilliant idea of using Naver's directory to check for the shortest route back to school. What happened next affirms my suspicions that I am a hidden genius and to cut a long story short, with the help of Lady Luck, a kind imo and my broken Korean, I manage to make it back to school before class ended. I think I exhausted my one year's worth of luck.

The originally grumpy and worrisome day ended on a great note when I had pizza for dinner with my friend. Good food always makes things better.

The huge pizza that was more than enough for two hungry girls only cost us 9,900W, inclusive of the soda! We ordered garlic chicken which was great but I think I still prefer the thicker crust of the pizzas back home.

Exam welfare from the dormitory! Coffee, chocolate milk, spicy cup noodles, peanut butter bun and green bean bun.

xoxo, ❀