Eating Diaries, Part II

Korean Food

Whenever I get talked into eating Korean food, I always order Bibimbap.  Basically it is a sizzling hot stone pot with rice, veggies, and a raw egg (and meat, for the carnivores out there) that you mix with a chili paste so that it sizzles and cooks in front of you.  The result is a steaming pile of mixed fried rice, that when mixed correctly has a really amazing texture and can be really crunchy.  I found this in the Korean alley in Nanjing and it was one of the better ones I'd had since being here.

This dish was also accompanied with a very entertaining Korean singing-dancing show that I couldn't stop watching.  The girls were just covered in all sorts of cutesey things (one group was wearing bear paws and ears) and doing some sort of 'sexy' dance.

And this is where I declare my war on Korean flat metal chopsticks.  Dear Korean people, a spoon does not justify your stupid chopsticks.  Use the Japanese or Chinese style.  Get over it.

Cheese! And Bread!

When I checked out of the hostel on Sunday, I had a couple hours to burn before I went to the airport so I went to a nearby cafe with wifi for lunch.  I had also heard from Ryan that there was an amazing bakery down the street so figured this was it.

That is a tuna sandwich with cheese on a ciabatta roll.  I was pumped to eat this and it was worth all 25RMB (~$4).  The cafe was actually supposed to be a German bakery complete with New Zealand butter, German cheese, and freshly baked bread.  And yes, I paid the extra 15RMB for a cappuchino too and it made my day infinitely better.

If the Chinese are lining up, it must be good

Let me set this straight -- the Chinese NEVER line up for anything.  A bus "queue" is actually a frenzied mob pushing towards the door of the bus like the apocalypse is coming, complete with squealing girls and a yelling bus driver.   So if they're lining up for anything, I take notice.

 

They were lining up for some sort of cake that I ended up not purchasing because you had to buy it by the jin (about a kilo) or at least a half jin.  They smelled really good and I watched the workers make the fried cakes covered in sesame seeds.

These people were actually waiting 10+ minutes for a fresh batch of these little cakes!  They must have been that amazing for the Chinese to actually wait patiently without freaking out at the workers. 

Airplane Snackies

Remember what it was like to get real service and actual food on flights in America?  I remember flying American Airlines and getting offered a choice between a cheese pizza or a southwest chicken salad on every single flight.  I was so sick of the two choices because it was like every time I was on a flight, they were trying to force feed me.

And now we get charged to check our bags and for food.  Thanks, Land of the Free.

Well at least in China they still give food and snacks on planes.  I've taken the 1-hour long flights to Qingdao from Nanjing and back from Beijing -- I always got some sort of snack.  On the way to Nanjing, I got a package of peanuts and a juice box (a throwback, woah!).  Returning to Qingdao, the flight attendants not only served us water like crazy when our take off was delayed, I also got crackers.  And not just a small package of crackers, I got this:

That is a full package of crackers.  Take that, America!

So there it is, my food post about my Nanjing trip.  Today I booked a ticket to Shanghai for New Years Eve and I am very excited about that little excursion, especially since I've never been to Shanghai before!

Next post: What the Chinese think about Christmas

Nanjing Weekend

This past weekend I went to Nanjing with my friends Charlie and Max.  It was a blast and such a well-needed break from teaching and Qingdao.  I miss having the university-age expat populations that Nanjing and Beijing have to offer.  The guys are applying to the Johns Hopkins- Nanjing program and had to sit for their Chinese proficiency exam on Friday so I tagged along for weekendfuntimes.

Charlie and I got in on Thursday after much "air traffic" delays for both of us.  When I waited for him I also saw a real dog in the airport -- a golden retriever from Australia with his German daddy!  I miss real dogs and get very excited when I see a dog that is not a pekinese or some sort of small drop-kick dog.  Then we checked into our hostel and had a really yummy italian dinner, complete with salad, bread, and of course, Qingdao beer.  Max got in later that night and after a reunion drink, we turned in for an eventful Friday.

We went to eat some yummy Korean food and then grabbed a cup of coffee before I left them to study for the test.  Then I headed out with my new buddy, Ryan, who was staying in our dorm room in the hostel and had my bottom bunk.  He had done a semester studying Chinese at Nanjing University so was a great buddy to run around the city with for the weekend.

First we went to Jiming Temple in the northeast portion of the city.

It was really neat and the view from the top of the pagoda was really outstanding.  The thing that always amazes me about China is how you will see an ancient temple right next to a huge skyscraper and surrounded by cars, bikes, and people that forget how amazing it all is. 

Then we went to the Ming City Wall which was also amazing!  The wall has survived 600 years and many wars and invasions.  I love seeing city walls because they are just so massive and contain so much history and culture.  The wall is the longest city wall in China and is still intact, although does not join in all the places it used to.

The bricks that make up the wall are actually fired clay and are surprisingly light and can be picked up.  They also have characters etched into both sides -- one indicating the company that made the brick, the other side the name of the person who made the brick.  If the wall crumbled or fell, whoever/the company who made the brick would be held accountable and executed.  Now that's quality control!

The wall also has lots of roots and even grows grass at the top, something I hadn't seen at the Xian wall.  They apparently have to mow it every so often and the last time Ryan climbed the wall, he said it was past his knees.

After wandering around on the top of the wall and walking near Xuanwu lake, I headed back to the hostel to meet up with Charlie and Max to have some celebratory drinks.   Then we met up with our friend Nate's girlfriend's friend and little sister for dinner at a traditional Nanjing-style restaurant in the heart of town.  It was really delicious and we had some great food, including an excellent fried fish, shrimp and my first real 臭豆腐, or stinky tofu.  We also consumed copious amounts of Qingdao beer and had a very, very funny night. 

After dinner we headed out to Castle bar to meet up with Ryan and his friends from Nanjing University who had just ended their final exams.  There were a ton of students, both from the Johns Hopkins program and from the main Nanjing programs.  It was fun to be with college and post-college kids that were doing the whole abroad thing again.

The next day we emerged from the hostel and went to the Nanjing Massacre Museum.  It is a huge complex and an interesting museum, albeit kind of boring just because of how the Chinese design their museums.  The Nanjing Massacre was when the Japanese invaded the city and killed approximately 300,000 Chinese men, women and children in six weeks in 1937.

 I just find it a shame that in America our World War II history is so Europe-centric that many are unaware of the atrocities that occurred in Asia.  There are even still problems as a result of the Japanese invasions as there are problems in Europe because of the Nazis.

So after this uplifting afternoon, we came back to eat dinner and hang out with some new friends we had met at the hostel for dinner and night out.  Overall, it was a great weekend with some good new friends and great old friends that definitely contribute to my happiness in China.

(post to be continued...)