An Outlet - Part 9

29 September, 2023.

I finally got one of my bucket list items checked today.

A couple of years ago, I had come across a Korean eatery on YouTube. Unfortunately, it was not present in my native city but another popular city of the country. I had hoped for them to launch one in my city as well but alas...

A few years down the line, I find myself studying in an area that's really close to the city where this Korean cafe is. Last year was a whole big mess so I didn't have a chance to think about all the places I could visit around this side of the country. But now that I am done with that phase and have also received a PPO, I think I deserve to make that list and head out for some good times.

And that's exactly what I did today. Vera and I got ready in our pretty sundresses and left the college by 12PM, late by a good hour and a half. We first went to a nearby post office cause Vera wanted to courier some things back to her hometown.

Thereafter we took a rick and went to the metro station. I already had a card and, thankfully, had enough balance to change three metros to get to our desired station. Ofcourse we followed our tradition and had some masala corn along the way. The journey was a long one yet it didn't feel daunting. I swear every time I travel by the metro here I feel like I'm traveling as part of a vacation.

After struggling for a bit, we got ourselves a rickshaw and headed towards the cafe. We had to get off a lil before we reached it tho cause it's inside a market where vehicles aren't allowed after a point. That's okay tho cause we could checkout the market while navigating to the cafe.

We finally reached the Korean cafe. It's a small place but aesthetic enough for me. There was a sign board that said "넌, 너무 사랑스러워" which roughly translates to "you're very lovely". They had hip Korean music playing in the background which later turned into a full on BTS playlist. The servers wore hanbok and were very polite.

We quickly ordered a veg pajeon as soon as we entered cause it was 2:30 PM by the time we reached the place and we were STARVING! After discussing for a bit Vera chose to for veg Jjampong. I had a hard time choosing my dish tho. I got so excited when I saw the menu - they had more stuff than what the eatery app had shown and I wanted to try everything!

I ultimately settled on chicken Kimchi Jjigae solely because I wanted to eat out of the Korean bowl that it comes in. Absolutely great choice tho, the food was BOMB!

I initially wasn't that impressed with the pajeon cause I realised our Indian cuisine already has such a dish. I've had it at home too. But it acted as a great palate cleanser cause the Jjigae was spiicyyyyy! Even the potatoes and lettuce that were served as sides had a warm kick to it. We also had lemonades by the way.

The quantity is too good for the price and we spent a good 2 and a half hours taking our time to finish everything we ordered. We were real full by the time we left.

We were thinking of randomly heading into one of the nearby spas to get a message but then decide against it. Instead, we roamed around the market window shopping. They had a good collection of clothes (incl. blouses) and footwear to offer but neither of us had come with the intention of buying any of those. I did end up getting myself some essentials that I had been meaning to get for while now (deodrant, toothpaste and razor head).

After roaming around for some more time, we decided to head back. It was office hour by the time we reached the metro station so our journey back was a crowded one. It almost felt like I was in my city's local train. We didn't get a seat for majority of the ride. Luck came to my side once more when I still had sufficient balance in my metro card for the way back.

It was around 7:30 PM by the time we reached back to our hostel. Our stomachs were so full that we skipped dinner. My body feels so tired I feel like I'm going to go have really long sleep tonight.

But I have to say, it was a day well spent.