Actually, that's a lie; I'm about to go nibble on some chocolate. I've been updating the food pages -- as you'll see, I did a lot of eating out during the middle half of the month! Hopefully there's enough there to keep you guys busy for a couple days while I try to think of something new and interesting to write about...
You may have heard that China likes to copy things made elsewhere, perhaps with a little twist. Well, now they've done it -- they've gone and taken Gumby. Honestly, it's a sad, sad state of piracy when you have to knock off a 50-year-old cartoon (I'm sorry, stop-action) character. I met up with some friends of a friend a while ago for dinner. We went to an Indian restaurant that seems to be a popular place for birthday/other celebrations -- I would guess because of a buffet + all-you-can-drink-beer special that draws college students, but the Dancing Man can't hurt. ![]() Frankly, I was less entertained by the food than the entertainment -- about once every (half-hour? hour?) Indian pop music starts blaring from speakers, shutting down conversation, and this guy (in yellow & green, right) gets on his mini-stage and starts dancing and generally having a blast (this was a more sedate moment; usually there's a lot more jumping and shimmying). Customers are encouraged to join in (or in some cases, efforts are made to drag guests of honor, etc., onstage). After about five minutes, it's back to regular dining. One of my language lessons a couple weeks ago covered some basketball vocabulary. I learned the Chinese versions of Jordan, Shaq ("O'Neill" here, or rather Ao-ni-er, which is about as close as you can get in Chinese), the Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards, and James Naismith (the guy who invented basketball, in case you didn't know). This turned out to be a fairly useful lesson today when I went to the post office to mail a parcel. (By the way, unlike in the US, where you're supposed to bring everything nice and ready, here they want to see what you're sending, so you can either bring an unsealed box or they'll pack it for you. Not having found a box the size I wanted, I went for the latter option. Anyway, between the packaging and the paperwork, it takes a few minutes, which should explain how there was time for the following.) Well, it had to happen. It's been pretty smooth sailing since I've been here, so I was due for a minor calamity. And so it was that in the space of three hours this evening, I managed to (a) lose my cellphone and (b) break the latch on my washer/dryer. Sigh. It's been a while since the last Q & A...I'd apologize, but I blame you lot. After all, whose questions am I supposed to be answering? It wouldn't be as much fun if I just made up my own. But I've been holding out on yakuza for a long time, so here goes. ![]() Some things are more convenient than at home. Food, for example, is available everywhere -- on the street, in local wet markets and 24-hr stores, in supermarkets, at indoor fruit stands, in the subway (yes, really... apart from the little stalls in the subway stations themselves, I've seen people selling cherries from baskets in the walkway). What's the biggest difference, or what have you found surprisingly difficult to accept? What's odd? I have a winner. You don't think I'm going to tell you right away, though, do you? ![]() Hot Welsh Onion -- This bag smelled like Tabasco sauce, and the chips had the orange-red color to match (at right, some Hot Welsh Onions gang up on a Shrimp Salad, which is just slightly lighter than a Ritz). As if I couldn't have guessed from the picture on the front of the bag, this was more of a chili-pepper spicy than the Ma La Tang. While I felt the Ma La Tang in my tongue, I felt this more in my throat -- personally, I think this would be harder to down an entire bag of, but the Ma La Tang is probably a bit spicier chip for chip. If you like spice, I'd recommend you try both, but if your idea of spice is salt, you should probably stick to the tomato flavors. I was wondering where the onion flavor was amid the Tabasco, but then noted it in the aftertaste... more like onion powder than the spring onion advertised on the bag, but hey, it's a bag of chips. At least there's no lime. Two quick notes: (1) some dishes from past meals now up on the Food page, and (2) chips verdict coming soon -- should be posted by Monday morning! I now return you to your irregularly scheduled blog post. The ground floor of one of the buildings I walk by (sometimes through) on my way to school every day appears to consist entirely of different snack vendors. This building takes up half a city block -- imagine a large shopping mall food court with no 'real' food or drink, just snacks -- cookies, cakes, chocolates, jellies, stuff in little packages with drawings of fruit or confections. And no tables, natch. I estimate you can see about 1/3 of the hall, not including the perimeter shops that are between the walls of the main floor and the street, in the photo above. My guess on number of individual vendors would be, conservatively, about two dozen. And that place is just the tip of the iceberg. Let this air at least once before I leave. I miss Ugly Betty, I really do. Also, this may only be of interest to the TV-addicted among you, but 400 episodes in 5 seasons?? Good lord, I know they don't do long hiatuses here like in the States, but wow. |
Huh?No, I haven't seen the movie, and yes, I chose the name anyway. I'm told an Asian woman with green eyes is a plot point. Archives
July 2011
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