Advertisement
Published: January 20th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Interesting rubbish bin
This girl was transporting empty drink bottles in the hood of her sweater. January 6th was Michelle’s 23rd birthday. Kim, Ian, and I took her out for dinner at the doubleStar Café, an ‘open air’ restaurant on the 2nd level of King Glory Plaza. They have an interesting mix of western and Chinese food. We had planned on going to a hot pot place, but the wait for it was immeasurable so we changed our plans last minute. Ian got a strange meat medley. There was a thin steak, a pork chop, a piece of chicken, something we weren’t sure about, and a fancy cut hot dog. And, as a side, plain spaghetti noodles. Kim and I both got pizza and Michelle ordered a giant salad and a club sandwich. (I did say it was an interesting mix of western and Chinese food) Afterwards we all got ice cream at Coldstone Creamery (sometimes I heart Shenzhen) and went up a few levels of the shopping center to observe the parenting habits of the natives in an artificial habitat (an indoor playground). Always a good time. 😉
On my way home, which was only a five minute walk away, I spotted an emperor waiting at the crosswalk. I stopped, wishing I had my camera,
and as I remember that I did, in fact, have my camera I spied the emperor’s friends which included the Monkey King, several of the emperor’s court, and some people whose outfits made no sense. My favorite was the man simply dressed in a shiny purple unitard. I dug my camera out of my purse and took a picture. The flash made them all turn and they cheered when they saw me, running towards me brandishing cameras of their own. Before I knew it I was completely surrounded. In a flurry of flashes I took pictures of them, they took pictures of me, and they took pictures with me. Then they all smiled, waved, and went on their way. The man in the purple unitard skipped away calling back to me, “Welcome back to the west!” I’m not sure if he meant that I should return home or that I was welcome here. Either way, it was a cheerful way to end my evening.
And now for something completely different: Food
After reviewing past entries, I’ve become aware that I mainly write about special occasions in my blog and don’t comment much on daily mundane things. Things like
the food I eat. It’s mundane for me, but some of it might be at least nod worthy for those of you reading at home. So here are a couple of the things I regularly enjoy. 1)Rotisserie Chicken from Wal-Mart. It’s cheap (about $1.70 for a whole chicken), it’s juicy, and it’s quite tasty. The only downside is that it looks at me while I eat it. 2) Dragon fruit. The outside is bright fuchsia with light green points. The flesh of the fruit is white with black seeds. It’s mildly sweet with a grassy sort of flavor and the seeds add a pleasant crunch to the soft meat of the fruit. I’ve seen these in Martin’s back home, but never tried one until I moved here. I’m not sure if they’re as good in the States, but I’ve grown quite fond of them. 3) Longan fruit. I don’t buy these very often. I can’t describe the flavor and I sometimes find them a little too sweet for my taste. The skin is tough but thin and easy to tear and the texture of the fruit is sort of like a grape. 4) Egg Tarts. Egg tarts are immensely popular
here in China. You can find them everywhere. They usually range in price from about $0.15/tart to $0.59/tart. The one in the picture is from Wal-Mart and was sub par, but some of them are little circlets of eggie custard heaven. Even during my short visit home last summer I missed them.
And now for something else completely different: Ultra Smooth Skin Quilt?
Sounds like a condom joke, but it is, in fact, the blanket Kim bought for me to use when I sleep at her apartment. It kept my skin warm as well as the rest of me. I include it here for a side chuckle.
Well, that’s all for now. In two days I’ll be leaving China for a two week holiday. I’m going to Laos for about 12 days, and then I’ll spend a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur before returning to Shenzhen. I promise to take oodles of pictures and I’ll do my best not to fall off an elephant.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.199s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 56; dbt: 0.0747s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb