Overdue...

I had honest plans of posting more pictures and blog entries while we were in China, but our internet connection was so slow that I decided my time would be better spent exploring the city rather than sitting in our apartment on the computer. I think it was a good decision.

I intended to catch up on blog entries when I got back to the states, but unfortunately, I lost most of my pictures when my hard drive crashed 3 days after returning home. The only pictures I have left are some we took on Johnny's camera and some that I still had saved on my camera.

Well, about 4-5 months later, I've made one post-China blog entry regarding Chinese food. (See below). The rest of the posts on the blog were written while we were in China (that's why there's so few of them), and I uploaded a blog entry from one of Johnny's previous trips to China. Enjoy!

Chinese Food

There are several things to love about China, and food is one of them...

"Beijing Kao Ya" (Peking Duck)

This was one of the first meals Johnny took me to in Kunming. It was absolutely delicious. The duck is roasted until the outside of the skin is crispy, which leaves the inside meat very tender and tasty. The platter we ordered reminded me of fajitas - they bring you sheets of dough (similar to a flat dumpling) to wrap with duck, vegetables, and a brown sauce that tastes like Mexican mole sauce (notice we left the head on the plate):

Street Food

Unlike some places in the States, Street food in China is some of the freshest you can get (sometimes). Farmers come into the city each morning with their little carts and sell their food on the streets... the potatoes were my favorite. They were diced, fried, and then tossed in a little bag with spices (pepper if you want). All for about 5 US cents.

Pineapple season was just ending when we got there (Johnny's favorite), but we still managed to find some. Some of the best I've ever tasted (and yes, I've been to Hawaii):

Ethnic Foods

Suprisingly to me, China has THE best Indian food and Muslim food I've ever tasted. No contest. Unfortunately, I lost all of my pictures from the Indian restaurant, but I do have some pictures from my favorite Muslim restaurant... they also have the best soup I've ever tasted in my life, and it's just broth! I'd kill for the recipe. They also make their own noodles fresh everyday, which were divine. We ate here at least once or twice a week.

Here's a pic of Johnny eating a meat-kabob at the Chinese-Muslim restaurant... the meat was tender and covered in good spices. That little bowl is the broth (comes with every meal) I was raving about. A full meal here for the two of us cost less than $2 (US).

Making fresh noodles at the Muslim restaurant:

Broth with the noodles, meat, and herbs (cilantro):

Freshly squeezed Mango juice. No lie, it's the best juice I've ever had in my life (and I've had a lot).

Chinese Barbecue

(I can't remember the technical name in Chinese, except for the fact that it sounds like "chow cow")

Mike and Natalie graciously introduced us to this restaurant - it was one of my favorites. Below is the cold case fridge where you pick out your items (can you spot the pig's tail?)

After you've picked out your items and put them on a little tray, you take it to the barbeque guy (for lack of a better term) where he adds some spices then grills them (our choices were green beans, beef, squash, and mushrooms):

Again, some of the best food I've ever tasted. The Chinese have a knack for seasoning something just enough to where it emphasizes the food's natural flavor without overpowering it. I miss their food.

"Hot Pot" (Huo Guo)

Hot pot is the chinese version of fondue. You basically have a pot of boiling broth, with the essentials (usually some type of meat and some vegetables).

Adding cilantro:

Some of the restaurants bring you cups of spices (garlic, ginger, fermented tofu, sesame oil, chili paste, cilantro, etc.) so you can create your own dipping sauce:

Besides the restaurant's staple broth (first pictures above), you order extra vegetables and meats to cook in the Hot Pot. One of my favorites was lotus root - it tastes like a potato, only a bit crunchier (it's on the top row, middle basket):

Group shot with Mike, Natalie, and Pamela:

Family Style

This is a typical Chinese restaurant. You go to a cold case (large refrigerator), point out the items you want (meat/vegetables), and the chefs take over from there... the only thing you really specify is how spicy (or not) you want it. Of course, you can always tell them to cook it a certain way, but it's more fun if they prepare it. For instance, at the restaurant in the picture below, we ordered (pointed to) some beef... when it got to our table, it was seared and slightly fried with some mint mixed in, and was absolutely delicious (bowl on the left). All dishes are served family style in big bowls (see below)... One of my favorites was fried goat cheese mixed with sauteed tomatoes and broccoli.

Guilin/Yangshuo via Train

Here are some pictures from a short trip we took to Yangshuo one of the first few weeks we were in China...

The Train Ride

To get to Yangshuo, we took a 20 hour train to Guilin (40 hours roundtrip) and then a bus ride to Yangshuo...  a true Chinese experience.  I'm sure Johnny will fill you in on the dynamics of our travels and the train at some point, but here are some pictures. 

Our train and Johnny carrying all my snacks (Snickers included)

Our Seats

Snack Cart:

Our seat mates for the first leg of the trip... they started playing cards before the train even left, on into the night, and as soon as they woke up the next morning.  The guy sitting on our bunk would get all loud and discouraged and throw the cards down. I don't think he won a game the entire time. 

The views of the countryside were stunning. Other than passing through small cities, it's all farmland and occasional rice fields. I was able to get a few shots from the window, but they don't do the view much justice.

Guilin

We only spent a couple of hours in Guilin before boarding the bus to Yangshuo... we spent that time walking around the city and seeing the lake and Pagodas. It was a nice city, but very hot and humid (like Houston)... Johnny was a bit annoyed with how much more crowded (and therefore dirty) the streets were since his last visit.

Yangshuo

After a short walk around Guilin we took a bus and headed towards Yangshuo, which is nestled among hundreds of limestone karsts and among the banks of the Li river. It's beautiful one of the top tourist spots in China... we found the views to be stunning, but did not like all the travel hippies and their dreadlocks.

It was very rainy, so the pictures aren't very clear, but here are some views of the limestone karsts and Li River:

Cormorant Fisher (These birds dive into the water and bring the fish back up to their owner... the bird version of hunting dogs)

For dinner we found a little restaurant with two flirty waitresses that flagged us in... Johnny immediately acquiesced to their request so he could practice his Chinese with them (and his flirting skills). They loved it. For my participation, he sweet-talked the owner's wife into giving me a cooking lesson. She was more than happy to oblige, and the dish was called Beer-Fish, essentially a dish of river fish (head, tail, and fins included) with a beer batter and fresh vegetables and spices. Here are a few pictures: 

Final Product... pretty good.

The next day we rented bicycles to explore the area and visit the old scenic Banyan tree, which was supposedly planted about 1400 years ago in the Shui Dynasty (like I know what that is). Anyhow, the tree is huge to say the least, and supposedly one of the 10 'scenic spots' of China.  

While we were looking at the Tree, this Chinese couple just handed us their baby and started taking pictures of us, which we of course found humorous. The baby was actually much cuter than the picture does justice. And is it just me or are we starting to look Chinese in this picture?

Also while we were visiting the Banyan tree, we (or should I say I) deliberately fell into a tourist trap - taking your picture with uniformed monkeys. I couldn't resist.  And they actually smelled good - better than some Chinese. I don't think we ever got a picture where we were both looking at the camera, between our laughing and my discovery that the little one was stealing money out of my purse - not to give to his owner, but to eat. He smelled it immediately and stuck his little hand into my money pocket and shoved the money in his mouth. Here they are, little one in action:

Later that afternoon we returned our bicycles and headed back to Guilin to catch the train... these were our bunkmates for the return leg of the trip. I'll let Jonathan fill you in on that story... they are cute, but definitely not quiet.

Moving on - Part 2

I thought the photo below was also blog-worthy... it is the same traffic jam Johnny talked about in the previous post, yet shows how at one point the buses managed to make their way through the mess, while the cars still remained clueless as to who's turn it was to go or how to clear the intersection, besides just honking at each other. The honking was so loud and constant enough for Johnny and I stop our movie and look outside. 

 

For those that like happy endings, here is a picture of the traffic jam when it's starting to unwind... I honestly think it took about 20 minutes though:

More updates coming... including our trip to Yangshuo, and Chinese Food.

Moving On

Enjoy taking the time to look at the position of the cars and the color of the lights. Sorry the picture is so small.

We discovered this mess at 10 in the evening while watching the movie "Up." I feel like I should write a movie review about the film and discuss the social ramifications of a maniacal adventurer whose lust for self-worth leads him to a home-blimp in South America that houses dinosaur bones and the skeletal remains of numerous other fierce creatures, all the while sheltering an army of fascist talking dogs... An odd film that's just so profound, yet enjoyable. Krackers, you will like it.

I'm not going to get into anymore of the details, but do want to say I came away feeling that it was totally unbelievable. Never mind.

Anyhow, the traffic jam occurred for no good reason. At one point, two buses and a cop car were involved. As it should be, the cop was disregarded and the jam further obstructed by the logic of the Chinese... which is simply very different. What i do love most of all of their logic, for there are many things to be in love with, is it's nothing personal. That word does not exist here, "personal." Even when they elbow you or push and shove you to get on a bus that is clearly not going to leave until everyone has boarded, it is in no way personal. Just the herd mentality at work and the way they do things.

What's this all about? Not our depressing fridge but Snickers candy bars. My wife is addicted to them here. She buys them by the bucket load. Those of you that know Kristin to blush at food she loves then know how much she loves these little candy bars. It's been like a spiritual rebirth for her. She's buys them buy them at the Chinese version of Costco or Sam's and goes through perhaps 4 or 5 small ones in a day, 2 or 3 full bars if we aren't stocked up on the small ones.

In her liberty I'm allowed to have some when I want. I wanted to post this because I love it. I love the Snickers addiction.

Also she is in love with the milk in the fridge.

Our First Apartment

It's true, I did give him a hair cut... but it's not too bad. Just looks like he stepped out of the 70's/80's with a chili-bowl shag. It's just beautiful.

*Johnny wanted to go back and add some comments. They're in yellow.

Speaking of, I owe you people some photos... sorry for the delay. Our electricity was out for a while because they were doing construction of one of the apartments near us. Oh China.

Oh China is right.

As Jonathan mentioned, we found an apartment and moved in on our one-month anniversary. As we discovered, it's not so easy finding a "clean" (Chinese clean and Western/American clean are two totally different concepts) apartment here in Kunming, especially if you're staying for less than 6 months. But, we were up for the challenge and found a brand new apartment close to downtown and not too far from the University. Between the time we arrived in China and moved in to our apartment, we stayed with one of Jonathan's friends, Pamela, who is American but has been studying in Kunming for about a year (he met her last year in Kunming because they studied at the same private school). She is extremely generous and has helped us with everything... getting bus passes, signing up for classes, showing us good places to eat, and of course, providing us with a place to stay before we found our apartment. More about her later.

So, here is our apartment... 13 floors up with an incredible view.

This is the view when you walk into our apartment. What you see is the living room/dining room out to the balcony. This is where we watch all of our DVD's that cost us 50 cents a copy:

Next comes the kitchen (to the right of the living room)... what you see here is everything, minus the refrigerator. When you look through the blue blinds, you can see our neighbors across the hallway - a cute little old lady married to a cute little old man. She is always in her kitchen cooking and it always smells delicious. I've named them Mr. and Mrs. Rogers because they just seem so friendly.

Here is our bedroom. Notice the lovely rose curtains they put up for us. So romantic.

If you want to talk about romance then know the mattress matches the curtains and to the right, not in the picture, is an invigorating shiny black and white wardrobe that looks like it may have come back from the future.

The following picture might be my favorite thing in the whole apartment. It's the light fixture for the study/nursery... the Chinese LOVE silly things like this. Even the lights in the living room have a red and blue disco light option that blink on and off. Everything is very (cheap) modern these days and based on entertainment, although you can still find the old, sophisticated chinese apartments with wood trimmings and carvings. Those are just stunning but hard to come by, as they are tearing all of the old stuff down...

Sorry, this is sideways, but it's the study/nursery. you can see the monkey tail hanging down.

Last but not least is the bathroom... this is a very westernized Chinese bathroom and is a delicacy over here.

There is no separate stall for the shower, it just goes to a drain, it doubles as and really is urinal. It pays to be rich.... or just a westerner in China. The western toilet (the 'sit-down' toilet that we are used to) is such a beautiful thing considering what the norm is for potties. Typically, everywhere in China has "squat toilets," or so they're called. I included a picture below of a decent one for those who are curious. It's disgusting.

And to end on a good note, here are some views from our balcony. That Suning electronics shop across the street (second picture) loves to blare Backstreet Boys' "Quit Playing Games with My Heart," and Celine Dion over and over. Hours of operation are 8am to 10pm. They are obsessed with American music (including rap), and therefore, it brings flocks of people into the store. I don't get it, but I'm not Chinese.

I think the intersection from the view deserved a little more attention. Like most third world countries, China is immune to traffic lights and any system of reasonable driving rules. That said, it's a real pleasure to go on our balcony and see two buses stopped head-on in the middle of the intersection with cross traffic piling up on either side while bikes and scooters filter through the larger vehicles like water through rocks, and all of that for no apparent reason save utter disregard for thought and regulation.

I've seen two cars face off in the intersection at two in the morning when there wasn't another car on the road. They simply sat in the intersection honking at each other. I felt like it was a big mess and apparently they did as well.

Zai Jan. More coming soon.