"to airport" driver was surprised when we called him to drive us to
Sheng Zhou for an overnight trip. The cost was RMB 3,300 (CAD520).
We were spoiled having him driving. Have been using him for all out
of town, airport or day trip. He IS good in terms of safety and
professionalism. Anyway, the trip overnight trip from Shanghai to
Sheng Zhou was about 3 1/2 hours. And on the way back, because we
wanted to take the 35-KM sea-crossing bridge, so it took an extra hour.
This reason for this trip to Sheng Zhou was that we were invited.
Every Oct holidays, iron-wife used to fly to North America before we
got married. And this year, we decided to stay "home". So...
Since I am not a vegetarian, I had the opportunity to take all the non-
veggie dishes for the "team"! After 3 meals, I just couldn't eat
anymore. I sampled all the local specialties I could handle in
"double" portions. First lunch, I was forced fed the local soy sauce
duck. The whole breasts and then some; that was after I had other
dishes at our friend's place. After that, I took the cue that "eat
slowly and always leave a lot in your bowl in such a speed and portion
that didn't offend the host". I was stuffed! We had over 12 dishes!
And a glass of "mom's home-made wine from graphs and surgar" and a
glass of the "local farm brew with wheat". Good thing we did a hike
afterward. But not enough with all those meat and sugar heavy wine!
That evening, we went out to eat. Another 12 dishes. AgH......
Chinese hospitality. Fish head, meat, meat, rich meat dishes and
veggies. But the veggies were pretty lame. Bad when the friend's dad
sat next to you and just kept serving. With his own chopsticks. Same
as other hosts. Ha ha... I guess the alcoholic beverages were to kill
off any foreign gems. After dinner that night, our friend took us
first to light a floating lamp. It flew high in the sky. Wonder how
high could it go as everyone was doing it. Good thing there was no
airport close by. Afterward, he took us to the famous food street to
sample a pita bread. It was made with meat, green onion, dough and a
lot of oil. There goes another 5000 Calories down to my mid-section!
We walked back to the hotel. That burned about 140 Calories.
This morning, we had a steam dumplings for b'fast. Inside each
dumpling, it was tofu and green onions. Interesting. It was a hole
in the wall. The rating from the local heath department certificate
listed the store as "average". Ha "Average" as the sense of
Chinese. Soy milk (hot) was the only drink offered, in a big bowl.
Two flavours: sweet or salty. Sweet, a bowl with sugar at the bottom
of the bowl. Salty, soy-sauce at the bottom of the bowl. Then a lady
came over to the table with a big scope with steaming hot soy milk. I
had the salty kind with green onion and hot sauce. Eaters beware! We
discovered afterward that MSG was detected as our body system detected
it coursing thru our veins. Me, with additional coffee withdrawal
syndrome. Water... Water... Water... Coffee.. Coffee... no such
luck. I had to drink a 600ml (standard size) bottle of coke.
Lunch, yes. A late lunch. Another 12-course meal. Unnecessary.
Some unusual shell fish dishes. Sea snails was one dish. The Tofu
dishes we had were exceptional. One was fried first and had sauce
poured over; the other kind was just plain with thousand year old
eggs. I skipped the eggs, not as Chinese as Iron-wife in that
department.
I just could not eat that much in 24 hours. My body basically
rejected it. Got home and I just had liquid dinner. Light and
refreshing; and now a bowl of heathy cereal.
Tomorrow will be a good hard workout day for the mid-section.
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