Daniel at Amherst: Visiting (and eating at) UMass

(Word count: 608)

Outline

Intro
Food!!!
Other pics and things, incl. Amazon 1-day delivery, a hotel, and a pub

Intro

It's an open secret that Amhert's Valentine Dining Hall doesn't have many fans. The fact that for four years, students have to eat at the same dining hall, have the same menu which rotates on a four-week basis, and for some students deal with the possibility of bumping into some people they might not want to see, doesn't work quite in its favor.

Personally, it's not too big a deal to me. The food is edible -- although a little high on the fibre side, meaning that I spend more time in the toilet nowadays... -- and that's good enough for me. But it's an even more open secret that the university up the road (UMass Amherst), to which the PVTA has routes on a 15minute basis, has the best food in the country. It also has a sushi bar. Don't believe me? Check it out.

So pro-tip: make friends who go to UMass (students have 15 guest swipes, while Amherst students only have 2), or take a course at UMass -- something you can do thanks to an agreement between the 5 College Consortium for cross-registration.

Food!!!

Singapore is known as a foodie capital thanks to its position as a crossroads between many cultures which themselves already have delicious cuisines (Chinese -- especially Hokkien and Cantonese style -- Indonesian, Malaysian, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, etc.). So food is important to me. However, coming to Amherst, I told myself that I would disregard it and concentrate on my studies. This has worked and continues to work extremely well for me.

However, knowing that there is great food on a beautiful campus so close by has proven to be quite a distraction, especially with everybody giving me the pro-tips I mentioned above. So I made the trip, and here are the pics.

First, take note:

UMass has 4 residential dining commons (for those on the meal plan): Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, Worcester
I went to Berkshire, which is considered the best (?) -- there was a line

the entrace, how stylish

And if I'm not wrong, there are 11 food stations (including the sushi and ramen bar, not pictured below)

at Amherst there are 5: lighter side, main course, salad, dessert, and pasta

L-R, top-bottom: dessert, grill (burgers/fries), street food (mapo tofu on this occasion), a 10yd long salad bar, international cuisine (stir fry), veggie bar, peanut butter bar, pizza (can be made to order too), and chef's choice

But most importantly UMass gets their international cuisine right!11! (sushi and ramen were great, and both are made to order)

What I ate:

Other pics and things, incl. Amazon 1-day delivery, a hotel, and a pub

First, quick comparison:

umass campus retrieved from umass.edu/visitorsctr/sites/default/files/maps/campus-map.pdf on 10.27.16, google maps retrieved from maps.google.com on 10.27.16