Monday dawned. The first day after the guys had arrived, and we were all amazingly hung over. Getting home at 5 or 6 in the morning after a 13 hour drinking session can do that to you, funnily enough. We ended up sleeping in until after midday and lazing around the apartment for most of the afternoon. Finally at around 5pm we decided we were in the right frame of mind to go out and see some sights, so I took the guys up to the subway station to travel across the river to Puxi.
We went for a walk along Nanjing Rd taking the obligatory photo here and there. Aside from having a quick look inside the flagship Nike store (complete with design-your-own-shoe area), we were far too lazy to stop in and explore any of the other stores. We were approached by someone trying to sell us a watch or DVDs every minute or so, but it was fun for the guys to experience it for the first time. We decided not to indulge in any of the offers, and instead just meandered down the road taking everything in.
We had a meal at one of the restaurants along the road after being approached by a guy asking if we were looking for a meal - actually, it was a coffee place with a reasonably westernised version of Chinese food, but it was still pretty tasty (aside from the spring rolls which seemed to have a chocolatey-type substance inside them). I remember that it was amazingly hot inside that place, which was probably for two reasons: 1 - we were still very hung over, and 2 - we sat very close to the neon sign that advertised their presence on Nanjing Rd.
After leaving the restaurant we wandered further down Nanjing Rd and onto The Bund where we took a few more photos of the great Pudong skyline. We walked almost all the way down to the Old Town area before organising a taxi to get back to the apartment. We were heading for an early night, and spent a little time with the Lonely Planet Guide to Shanghai so that the boys could plan what they wanted to do the next day.
The guys spent most of Tuesday wandering around the Old Town area while I was at work. We caught up for dinner, and I decided to show them my favourite meal - hot pot. We caught a taxi as the guys were sick of walking, and made a quick stop at the DVD store that I've been to previously. Shotty bought about 20 DVDs to take back (Cookie was a bit pickier as he'd seen pretty much everything they had), and we caught another quick taxi to the Little Sheep hot pot restaurant.
It was the first time I'd ever been to have hot pot without one of my Chinese co-workers with me to order everything. Luckily they had an English menu version (the standard one is all Chinese text with no photos) so I proceeded to order up a storm on behalf of the three of us. The guys left it completely in my hands as they had no idea what they were getting in for, and initially it looked like I'd stuffed things up completely. The amount of food that came out was extremely daunting - lamb, beef, potatoes, noodles, bean shoots - it just kept coming! Unperturbed, we ordered some Chinese beer (somehow managed to convey the fact that I wanted it to be cold even though I don't know the Chinese word for 'cold') and tucked in.
We must have stayed there for more than 2 hours, and drank a couple of litres of beer each during that time, but we got through all the food. We waddled home afterwards and lay around groaning and holding our bellies. The guys were extremely impressed with the amount of food and beer we consumed considering the price we paid ($AUS22 each), and Shotty rated it as one of the best things he's ever eaten. Another convert to the hot pot cause!
Showing posts with label hot pot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hot pot. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Happiness in the tummy
Ah yes. Happiness in the tummy. That is what I currently have. Tonight, I had Chinese hot pot for dinner.
For those that have not had Chinese hot pot, I weep for you. It's kind of like fondue...at least that's what I've been told, as I've never actually eaten fondue. But I digress. The Chinese name for hot pot is huǒ guō, which I believe translates to "this food is so awesome you must eat it until you are unable to do up the top two buttons of your pants". Basically, you get a big pot of spiced stock/broth in the middle of the table. The pot simmers away, and you add thinly-sliced meat, vegetables - whatever you decide to order - and cook it there at the table.
I went along with three other guys from work, and we absolutely went to town. We had beef, lamb, mushrooms, noodles, bean shoots, sausage and a few other things. One item that I was a little hesitant to try was 'blood tofu'. This is a tofu-like substance which is essentially comprised of the blood of different animals, such as pig, duck and cow. Mmm...blood. Believe it or not, it actually tasted pretty good...although that might have been because I had covered it in chilli before I ate it.
Anyway, we stayed there eating for almost two hours, and along with the beers (you can be arrested if you have hot pot and don't drink beer with it) I ended up consuming far more than I should have. Although the restaurant was only 3km from my apartment, it took me a good hour to waddle home, holding my belly and groaning. Was it worth it? You know it.
In other news, I may be going back to Australia sooner than I expected. Like 7 months sooner. Yesterday I attempted to get a resident permit to allow me to stay here for the rest of the year. I had a girl from the office along to help translate for me (thank god she was there or I would have gotten nowhere fast). We first went to a police station, where I got in trouble because I didn't register with them within 24 hours of arriving in the country. Turns out that if you aren't staying in a hotel, you have to register with the local police station. I'd never had to do it before because before this trip, I was always staying in a hotel. So they yelled at me for that.
From there, we moved onto the consulate/embassy/government building where they do visas etc. We rocked up at 2:30 and got given a ticket with the number 497 on it. We looked up at the screen to see what number was being processed: 324. Damn it! We ended up having to wait more than one and a half hours before we finally got called up...only to be told that I wasn't eligible for a resident permit due to the sucky type of visa that I'd been given in Australia. They said the best they could do is a 3-month single entry visa, which will expire in mid-May. At that time, I have to get the hell out of the country.
As it turns out, this could work out well. Looks like the customer wants to go on a bit of a junket over to Australia sometime in May, and they want me to go over with them and show them around for a week or so. So it looks like I'll be back in Melbourne early/mid May for a week or two. Then it's back over to Shanghai...possibly only for another three months. It looks like rather than trying to get me a long-term permit, the company may be happy to simply fly me back to Australia for a week or so every 3 months. If that is indeed the case, I am not complaining.
For those that have not had Chinese hot pot, I weep for you. It's kind of like fondue...at least that's what I've been told, as I've never actually eaten fondue. But I digress. The Chinese name for hot pot is huǒ guō, which I believe translates to "this food is so awesome you must eat it until you are unable to do up the top two buttons of your pants". Basically, you get a big pot of spiced stock/broth in the middle of the table. The pot simmers away, and you add thinly-sliced meat, vegetables - whatever you decide to order - and cook it there at the table.
I went along with three other guys from work, and we absolutely went to town. We had beef, lamb, mushrooms, noodles, bean shoots, sausage and a few other things. One item that I was a little hesitant to try was 'blood tofu'. This is a tofu-like substance which is essentially comprised of the blood of different animals, such as pig, duck and cow. Mmm...blood. Believe it or not, it actually tasted pretty good...although that might have been because I had covered it in chilli before I ate it.
Anyway, we stayed there eating for almost two hours, and along with the beers (you can be arrested if you have hot pot and don't drink beer with it) I ended up consuming far more than I should have. Although the restaurant was only 3km from my apartment, it took me a good hour to waddle home, holding my belly and groaning. Was it worth it? You know it.
In other news, I may be going back to Australia sooner than I expected. Like 7 months sooner. Yesterday I attempted to get a resident permit to allow me to stay here for the rest of the year. I had a girl from the office along to help translate for me (thank god she was there or I would have gotten nowhere fast). We first went to a police station, where I got in trouble because I didn't register with them within 24 hours of arriving in the country. Turns out that if you aren't staying in a hotel, you have to register with the local police station. I'd never had to do it before because before this trip, I was always staying in a hotel. So they yelled at me for that.
From there, we moved onto the consulate/embassy/government building where they do visas etc. We rocked up at 2:30 and got given a ticket with the number 497 on it. We looked up at the screen to see what number was being processed: 324. Damn it! We ended up having to wait more than one and a half hours before we finally got called up...only to be told that I wasn't eligible for a resident permit due to the sucky type of visa that I'd been given in Australia. They said the best they could do is a 3-month single entry visa, which will expire in mid-May. At that time, I have to get the hell out of the country.
As it turns out, this could work out well. Looks like the customer wants to go on a bit of a junket over to Australia sometime in May, and they want me to go over with them and show them around for a week or so. So it looks like I'll be back in Melbourne early/mid May for a week or two. Then it's back over to Shanghai...possibly only for another three months. It looks like rather than trying to get me a long-term permit, the company may be happy to simply fly me back to Australia for a week or so every 3 months. If that is indeed the case, I am not complaining.
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