(View from my room)
We walked from the hotel to a part of town that had a sea side boardwalk with numerous restaurants. Most of the restaurants were of the local Asian variety but a few catered to the western palette; Starbucks, Pizza Hut and, of course, the Asian favorite, KFC. We selected a local restaurant specializing in Schezuan Cuisine. Now one thing I’ve learned about authentic Chinese food is it is sometimes similar to American-Chinese food in the way it is prepared, it just contains a much wider variety of meats and vegetables. When I go out with these guys I have them order and I take my chances. I am usually pleasantly surprised. Its best for me to try first and ask later. When eating in China the dishes are typically served “family style” where the various entrées are presented on the table and everyone helps themselves directly from the main dish. I first sampled one that looked interesting. It contained cucumbers, meat and a fair amount of spicy red peppers (I like spicy!!) I dug right in and it was soooo good!! I then asked my colleague what it was and he replied “Pig Throat.” Had I asked first and then sampled, I might have been taken off. I have to admit it was really good.
(Pig throat..yummy!!)
We had another dish that was made with some sort of small foul, which I found pretty tasty. When I went to grab the last piece of meat with my chopsticks, I noticed it looked a little different from the rest. I said “hmmmm…What is this?” I was told “It is the head” I looked close and it had eyeballs, brain and a little tongue. I’m sure had I tried it would have been mighty tasty, but I just couldn’t.
On my way back to Hong Kong I was at this little tea café at the ferry dock. I was sipping my tea, sorting through my travel receipts and in walked in a nicely dressed man with an equally poised Indian couple. After they ordered, the man began raising his voice stating “Iraq just won the Asian Cup, we fucking rule!!” I recalled seeing something on the news that Iraq just defeated Saudi Arabia (1-0) in the Asia Cup championship in Jakarta, Indonesia. I remember thinking to myself how awesome that, in all the media frenzy covering the war effort, this man chose to verbally announce his pride for his country and deviate everyone’s attention away from current political events and focus on what’s really important…Football (soccer)!! Then, he started becoming a bit more boisterous….and loud. His friends were telling him to be quiet and it just made yell more. ”Fuck the world, they can’t touch me, do you know who I fucking am? I will kill them all, fucking bastards…” I did not know who this man was. I sat there, drinking my tea, and watched this guy make an ass of himself in front of his friends. I then thought, “So much for national pride, every culture has its assholes.” A manager type from the establishment came by and asked him and his friends to leave. His friends escorted him out. When he walked in, he did so under his own power. Ten minutes later, he stumbled out of the café as if he were drunk. Each of his two friends held an arm to keep him upright while he grumbled vulgarities all the way out the door. Hmmmm.
