KOREAN SPRING

If you're living any Korean city, you have probably passed by a Pizza School at some point. They're everywhere; a chain of local pizza stores that's cheap and not bad at all. I call them "local" because you need to be literally close by to a Pizza School if you want to eat it. What makes this place different from other pizzerias is that: They don't deliver. It's take-out only, and you need to come pick it up yourself. They do have tables and chairs, but everything is self-service. Meaning you need to get up and fetch your own cups, plates, forks, sauce, drinks, whatever. Additionally, they charge you extra for every additional thing (pertaining to food only): cheese, hot sauce, pickles, garlic dipping sauce, etc. The result? They don't have to waste their resources, time, or space on anything else. All they need to do is focus on making their pizzas, and that's it. That also means they are able to cut down their prices a lot.

As I had mentioned previously, I'm quite adventurous when it comes to new food items at the convenience store. When I discover something intriguing, I need to taste it and satisfy my own curiosity. Even if it's not funky, if it looks new and interesting I'll probably buy it just for the experience. This morning I came across "Ham & Cheese, Egg French Toast" (2,000 KRW) which I deemed perfect as I was looking for something to eat for breakfast. I had already accepted that anything I bought from 7-Eleven wouldn't be very healthy, and this one seemed hearty and warm, which was just was I needed as now the weather has gotten rather cold. The wrapping has two "tear here" slits, which is actually a clever idea because it means you can tear off the extra wrapping after you've even about half of the sandwich. So smart. The instructions tell you to microwave it for 30 seconds before tearing the wrapper, but I made a small opening before popping i

Mad for Garlic is an Italian restaurant chain in Korea, that (as you might probably have told already) specializes in garlic-related dishes. Their pastas, pizzas, salads, risottos all have some variation of garlic which might seem repelling at first, but is surprisingly super delicious and not at all strong or overbearing in scent. It's not ridiculously expensive, but it's not on the cheap side either. I had a coupon to use, and three special occasions coming up: my aunt's birthday on the 9th, mom's birthday on the 13th, and brother's birthday on the 17th. I told them I'd just take them all out to one big lunch since the dates were so close to each other. We went to the one in Gwanghuamun which is closest to where I live. I had made a reservation for 4 the day before, but it turned out to be unnecessary since there weren't a lot of people on Friday even though it was a holiday. Not sure if you can notice, but there are cloves of garlic lined up across