Anappetite: Experiences and Food from a Student

Don't want to deal with the hassle of picking up a pizza delivery? Super hungry on campus and want something to eat ASAP? Wanna bring some food to a dorm party? PizzaForno aims to solve these issues of convenience for you with a fully automated "pizza vending machine" on campus that can serve you a hot pizza in just a few minutes.  Last week they put on a sampling event for students to see it in action and try it out, so if you missed that, here is my honest review!

may be an impossible task. Many students have tinges of regret over choices they've made throughout their time in university. Perhaps this is self-consolation, but there's only so much you can do to "make the most of your youth" during a time when you're also under a lot of pressure to do well in your classes and other areas of life. Not only that, but you may not even know what making the most means to you - especially among the influence of friends and social media. It's draining to try to keep up with what's going on, and difficult not to feel guilty  about taking an unproductive break. This is not meant to be a pessimistic blog post by any means, in fact, the conclusion I'm trying to show is that if you've made it so far to read this then you probably are making the most of your student life. Not because reading my blog is the most fun thing you could be doing (which it is), but because it means you are trying. And hopefully, these few tips ca...

Here are three fun things you can make in the UCalgary Dining Centre and my ratings of them (also known as the Landing among other things)! By the way, my numerical ratings are in comparison with average food from the university dining centre, I'm not saying anything is Michelin-worthy, just that I really enjoyed it as a student with a meal plan! Ice Cream Sandwich Inspired by the Marble Slab ice cream sandwiches where the outside is cookies instead of soft chocolate wafers, I grabbed two chocolate chip cookies from the dessert area and added two small scoops of classic vanilla ice cream on one of them. Then, I sandwiched the ice cream with the other cookie and sprinkled some crushed Oreo toppings from the pancake area onto the ice cream.

In case you're wondering, yes, there is a Star Trek themed town in Alberta which Leonard Nimoy (Spock) himself visited in addition to many other Star Trek actors! Vulcan is located about an hour south of Calgary with a population of ~2000 people and is a surprisingly fun place to visit. Make sure to plan a visit soon, because most attractions are closed from October to April. After driving through long stretches of farmland, Vulcan is instantly recognizable by its Starship statue and Trek Station Museum at the entry road.

Summer in Calgary is full of free cultural festivals, one of which is the Fiestaval Latin Festival! Held in Olympic Plaza all day Friday to Sunday (July 21-23 this year), it's a long weekend of music, dance, and food. I attended on Friday evening and was greeted by a lively crowd and tons of booths and food trucks. Initially, the amount of people and volume of music was overwhelming and I was worried that this event wasn't for me, but I found that I soon got used to it and enjoyed the atmosphere.

Disclaimer: This is meant to help UCalgary undergraduate students navigate how to use their insurance plan. The information here may become outdated and readers should always confirm this information online and by contacting the relevant parties. I'm not an insurance specialist, this is just from my experience and yours may vary. Do I need/have student insurance? All full time undergraduate students are automatically enrolled in the plan and you will see the fee in your student portal ( $211.12 a year at the time of this writing). You can only opt out by submitting an online form if you already have comparable health insurance coverage (you can also choose not to opt out in this case, and combine multiple plans). You are covered for the full 12 months, not just the ones during which you are studying. More info here:  https://www.mystudentplan.ca/uofcalgary/en/am-i-covered . Generally (if you start school in Fall), your coverage will start September 1, meaning your annual maximums w...

Despite being a co-creator of the game  Fartknight , I'm neither an avid gamer nor have I ever attended a con. So if you're similar to me and are just looking for a fun weekend family/friends activity this post is for you!

From it's name, you might not guess that  Bikaner Sweets House & Restaurant has a delicious savoury buffet at an amazing price. I visited its new location at  4310 104 Ave NE to try it out! They had about 9 different self-serve items, my favourites being the fried fish (tender inside, with crunchy spicy flavour) and goat curry. There are also two chicken curries and for vegetarian options - dal makhani (lentil dish), paneer curry, potato fritters, and a mixed vegetable dish with potato & cauliflower. All the dishes taste great, and they also serve some fresh cucumber/carrots which serve as a good palate cleanser.

If you're a first year prestige award winner at UCalgary, you have the opportunity to join the Scholars' Advantage community: a special floor of residence at UCalgary for prestige award  winners. The community has a very limited number of rooms, each one spacious and comfortable like a hotel room. Plus, you get a monthly cleaning service to keep your room tidy (as do other residents in International House)! Let's start with The Living Area

Fall CPSC 231 (Intro to CS with Python), Required - This course was a nice introduction to the basics of programming with Python. It was fairly easy for me since I had some prior experience with coding, but I think it would be manageable for beginners too. The only downside was that the assignments were graded by a computer program, so even a minor mistake like a typo or a missing comma could lower your mark significantly. I heard that this course is better organized and taught than CPSC 217, which is the online version of it. I would give this course a 7/10 because it was good but not very challenging. PHIL 279 (Logic and Proofs), Required - This course was pretty interesting and different. It teaches you how to use logic and mathematical symbols to construct and evaluate arguments, and it required a certain way of thinking that was not intuitive at first. I took the online assessment version of the course, which gave me more flexibility but also required more self-disci...

We've all been there - it's mid-day, you're starving, and you don't want to break your wallet. Enter Bake Chef, the saving grace of hungry UCalgary students everywhere. No restaurant or food stall on campus is quite as beloved, with countless posts on Reddit and even a student article of an interview with the owner. It's definitely a go-to for hungry students on campus, and I finally got to try it. I won't have to tell you what order I got, since it's clearly indicated on the paper I bubbled in: A good variety of protein options, I tried the roasted chicken :) Ping-pong ball for reference? Probably should've taken this photo from a better perspective The price for one sub was very reasonable at about $8, which is definitely an important factor at a university. The first bite or two is a bit overwhelmingly bread-y but the bread is freshly made and delicious, and of course I greatly appreciate the option of "brown" bread (it seems to be whole wh...

KOR Street Food is a new fast food restaurant in Market Mall's food court. They serve various popular Korean foods, including "kordogs" (an impressive Korean variation of corndogs with cheese/sausage/chewy-rice inside), mandoo/mandu (Korean dumplings), and of course bibimbap - a bowl of rice with assorted meats, vegetables, and sauces. It seems like the K-wave expanded from K-pop and K-dramas into K-food (delicious). As I pondered their menu, my eyes slowly widened after gazing upon the words "choose vegetables [no limit]". Gone were the days of stressfully considering each vegetable combination - finally, I could have them all. This cemented my choice of ordering the "make your own bibimbap". https://www.korstreetfood.com/menu-marketmall Not only was my choice of vegetables limitless, but I felt exhilarated at the fact that if I were a paragon of health, I could select a base of spring mixed greens rather than the all-too-standard carbohydrates that r...

The following are some tips that have proved useful to me (and most likely other students) during my short time in university so far, and they may not be heavily advertised or known so I had to look into them! Without further ado, here they are: You can get free resume reviews from career services through email ( https://www.ucalgary.ca/student-services/careers/students/submit-your-resume-review ) Check out a calendar of club events at  https://suuofc.campuslabs.ca/engage/events  (beware, not all clubs post events there)

Like any anonymous review website, Rate My Professor is filled with fake positive reviews and review bombing. Sometimes, a professor just isn't there! So where can you go for extra information? You can check the official "Universal Student Ratings of Instruction" or USRIs. Many students know about USRIs and their importance to improving quality of instruction at the university. They are optional surveys done anonymously near the end of each semester through the UCalgary portal (you can only review the course if you're actually taking it) and each course has a written survey and a rating survey for various metrics. What few students know or take advantage of is that many USRI results from previous semesters are available for them to read (they are released to students if at least 20% of the section and a minimum of 8 students responded). The following information is made available (for specific lecture sections taught by each professor): Ratings on a scale of 1 (Strong...

University is a time and place to make healthy lifestyle choices that can have a lasting impact, even if you're a computer science student (your back and neck will thank you). Since you pay for the services anyway, why not take advantage of UCalgary's Active Living facilities? Staying active is important for good sleep, health, avoiding burnout, as well as countless other things. Now that it's cold out, it's a great time to take advantage of some of these indoor activities that could be a new and fun activity for you. For any of them, check in for a wristband at the Active Living Services desk. Squash and Racquetball We have the largest public racquet sports facility in Canada! Book a court online at https://active-living.ucalgary.ca/rentalsbookings/court-bookings or at the front desk (walk-in is usually fine). You can purchase a ball (either sport) for $4.75 and rent racquets for $2.50 each. The rules are simple to learn and they're both a lot of fun!

Serving bubble tea, pho, vermicelli, BBQ duck, gelato, and more all in one place, Lucky Supermarket Calgary's "StreetFood Kitchen" is a rare fast food experience that can appeal to a different audience than usual :).

Did you know that a small, unassuming pizza place named Gaga Pizzeria is the #1 ranked Calgary restaurant on TripAdvisor? With a 5.0 rating as well as being an affordable place to eat, I knew I had to try it some day. And I did! Entering the restaurant, I was surprised by its small size. It has limited indoor and outdoor seating, so consider taking your pizza as takeout. The eatery is whimsically decorated with dollar bills from all over the world across the ceiling and interesting paintings on the walls. Dollar bills from all over the world

September has ended (cue Green Day) and by now most students have developed... some feelings  (likely mixed) about their university experience, as well as some important insights. Taylor Institute I'm putting mine to virtual paper to record them for myself as well as anyone else who may benefit from them :), please leave a comment if you have any of your own! Put your class times and rooms in a calendar The "Download Calendar" button in the UCalgary portal is a lifesaver for this. I was pretty confused and lost in my first days until I figured this out and imported all my class times to Outlook. It's always useful for scheduling any other activities so you don't have to think of conflicts in your head. Bonus: Your calendar can probably send you a notification 15 minutes before your class in case you forgot about it. Leave time for lunch When I registered for my classes, I tried to leave a 1-2 hour gap around 1pm for lunchtime. I'm extremely happy I did...

Is Korean Fried Chicken as good as it sounds? Chicko Chicken is a popular Korean Fried Chicken chain in BC that recently opened its first Calgary location in Harvest Hills (next to T&T Supermarket). This location definitely has more of a take-out vibe with enough seating for only about 2-3 groups of people. I ordered the half & half (about $25) which is half sizes of two different flavours, and chose the soy garlic and cheese snow flavours (not spicy). You can also choose boneless or bone-in, but not both. I opted for boneless. Soy garlic on the left and cheese snow on the right The chicken was perfectly cooked and had a nice crunch to it. Both flavours were slightly sweet (I personally prefer wings less sweet, but it's certainly a style many enjoy and I still liked it). The soy garlic wings were yummy as expected, and the delicious cheese snow flavour was quite interesting. It had a sort of cheese powder on top that gave an interesting artificial cheese taste...

While looking for tapas in Calgary on a whim, I happened upon Barcelona Tavern; a Spanish-inspired restaurant that serves Paella and other Mediterranean meals. Located on Stephen Avenue, its prominent sign and bull logo draws you in. Inside is a large space with many televisions showing sports events and modern bar/restaurant decor. I didn't end up having any tapas, but I had some of the Seafood Paella ($29) which has mussels, clams, prawns, calamari, and of course "bomba" rice (a type of short-grain Spanish rice generally used for Paella).  The paella was quite delicious, and both the seafood and rice were nicely cooked. I can't speak to the authenticity as it's been years since I had paella in Spain, but it certainly didn't feel inauthentic to me. The rice was crispy on the bottom (my favourite!), and I only wish it had more seafood. Next was the steelhead trout with cauliflower puré e, blistered tomatoes, rapini, and a great and interesting swee...

Welcome to my blog! I've officially spent my first week at UCalgary (move-in week, which is the week before classes start) and it's been my first taste of residence and residence food. Move-in day (Sunday) was the most nerve-wracking this week. There were many cars lining up for keys/Unicard pick-up (many cars getting lost as well…), and of course there is stress involved with packing everything you might need (much more so for non-Calgary students) and correctly following the precise yet confusing instructions. I would highly recommend uploading your Unicard photo in advance to skip the long line for taking a photo and checking the move-in brochure for more detailed information than the email. Lunch at the Landing (the university buffet) was free for students and their parents for the day. It was by far the busiest day, but the line-ups moved quickly. In the evening, residences had a floor meeting to go over general rules and meet the other students staying on the same f...