Day 2
Surprisingly slept from 1am until 6am so no jetlag. Although I had averaged about 4 hours a night for the last two nights. This is the best way to combat jetlag in my opinion — pure tiredness and making it to bed whilst it’s dark.
The intercom goes and there are some announcements, mainly to remind us to take our temperature each day and submit the health declaration in the app. It’s recommended we stick em under our armpits.
Had a knock at door and someone in a full hazmat suit just pointed at me and shoved a swab up my nose and down my throat. Felt a little bit unexpectedly violated. My eye was watering, there was no ‘let me count to ten so you know how long I’ve been’ which is what happened at the Boots test in England. Just brutally efficient.
A voice on the intercom comes out to warn us not to open the windows for too long as to not freeze the pipes. It’s surprisingly cold here (-11 degrees today) given that it’s about the same latitude as Southern Spain. Putting my meteorology hat on, it’s because of a Siberian high pressure system forcing cold air down this way. Also Spain has the warm air of Africa heating it up which doesn’t happen here. So it’s lucky that I’m inside here as I didn’t really pack any winter warmers. By the time I get out in March it should be perfect.
Breakfast
Sandwich: Egg salad, tomato and spinach. Thick cut white bread, quite sweet, almost like a brioche. However a little bit stale at the crusts. High bread to filling ratio but not bad. 6/10.
Salad — bunch of leaves, no dressing. Tastes exactly as you’d expect. Much required greens, boring but needed.
Egg — hardboiled.
Grape Juice — I rarely drink grape juice because it er…never tastes like grapes. A bit like banana flavouring never tasting like real bananas. This is much the same. The taste is fine. It tastes of grape juice but not grapes and I know you know what I mean.
Half a tangerine. Have to admit I always struggle distinguishing between tangerines, satsumas, clementines. I’m going to put this in category of ‘small peelable oranges’. In general I don’t agree with halving a portion of something that is already one portion.
Pineapple is juicy, sweet and soft. Good job.
Instant coffee, Strawberry yoghurt: As expected.
Chocolate covered cake: Airy soft sponge and layers of chocolate. Eaten in 3 bites.
LUNCH
Kimchi! Tangy and spicy. Just how I like it. Look forward to plenty of kimchi out here
Deep fried cheese. Unsure exactly what kind of cheese, maybe some kind of mozzarella that has since set again as its cold. Would have been great if hot but alas no. Eaten with jalapenos which is a classic combination.
Beef Bulgogi — I think? Grilled beef in a sesame, slightly sweet gochujang. If this was warm, then you would be quite happy with that in a Korean restaurant back home. 8/10.
Some sort of beefy broth on the side that I put over the rice.
Orange : Unsure whether to have squeezed it over the beef. In the end I used it as an end of meal palate cleanser.
All in all a very decent sized portion with all the elements of heat, tanginess, sweet, fermented bits, carbs and greens.
Dinner
Chicken — the sauce had congealed. Which means it’s full of gelatin which is no bad thing. With greens and onions. Just needs to be warm! 7/10.
Gherkins were fairly sweet.
Brown, purply rice is fluffy and sticky. Again, coldness makes it a bit harder to eat.
Chicken nuggets. Again, were probably good when they were fresh. Fairly processed.
Mystery bowl: Extremely spicy sauce with small egg and a few. Exciting for the tastebuds.
Enjoyed the Mango drink.
Actually, the whole meal has defeated me, about 1/3 left. As much as I hate leaving food, I’m going to have to.
