Food, Glorious Food!

From this to sushi in less than 10 minutes

Note:

 I've been in China for the last two weeks, where Blogspot is blocked. I have a lot more to say about Japan, Taiwan, and China and will try to group it together over the next week.

Stay tuned for more posts.

Frog and Veggies in China!

Before I left a friend of the family told me a story of how they went Thailand and after weeks of staying there, they ran into a Kentucky Fried Chicken and grubbed. Naively, I said, “KFC in Thailand?! I’m never going to eat American fast food while I am away.”

This post is written as both an apology and explanation as to how I ended up in a McDonald’s murdering an order of chicken mcnuggets while in Beijing.

Here’s the thing…

"Hot Pot".. Yum!

Unless someone local is with me, most days I have no idea what I’m eating. I go into a restaurant, point at something on the menu and it’s literally hit or miss. “Is this chicken or pork?” So far I haven’t had a bad meal and I’m grateful. I take that back… I did have this thick, sticky, white ball concoction in Japan, but aside from that I’ve been blessed. Nevertheless, the trepidation of ordering something, tasting it, and then wondering if it’s going to mess you up later is a psychological pain. “Am I going to end up in a public restroom, precariously balancing myself and all of my stuff over a disgusting hole in the ground?”

Squid Body at the Japanese Festival

You'd think the solution would be to go to grocery stores and stick to items/brands you know, but the truth is that even that is hit or miss. For example, I saw a “Minute Maid” branded drink the other day and bought it. The label looked like melons, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong. I opened it and took a long, thirsty, drink. Immediately, I had a mouth full of chunks. Seriously… Chunks… In my drink! Till this day, I have no idea what the chunks are, but they taste  great, so now I look for that drink when I get sick of water. “Where’s that blue, chunky, Minute Maid drink?” On the other hand, I ate a peach yesterday from a street vendor and was sweating and sick within hours. So you never really know.

Movie Food! Duck Head in Guangzhou.

So understanding the dilemma, it should be clear as to how I ended up in McDonalds. I wasn’t craving hamburgers and fries as much as the assurance of actually knowing what I’m ordering and knowing what I’m eating.  It won’t be a constant thing, but I was having a horrible day and as soon as I exited the train station, McDonald’s was right there. So like Ciely running to Nettie in the Color Purple, I ran to McDonald’s.

“Netttttieeeeee! A #3 with a coke, please!”

String beans w/ duck fetus. Seriously...

Green Tea Ice Cream. I almost ate this daily!

Clams and Jalepenos in Donguan

Japansese Spaghetti! Kimchee, pasta, squid etc...

Fruit, Green Tea Ice Cream, Beans and White Rice Balls (ugh).

Crepes, Japanese Style!