2008 - Day 9 - Foot! It's what's for dinner.

Sent: Friday, May 30, 2008 9:01 AM

Subject: Day 9 5/29/08

My digestive system has staged a coup.  Not good.  I don’t think I ate something bad, I just think it is 6 days of eating things I don’t normally eat and the cumulative effect has hit me.

I chose not to go to our Shanghai office today, but rather to work from the hotel and then do some walking around town.  Shanghai is a great city for walking around.  There are wide sidewalks everywhere I have gone and there is lot’s to see.  I had a mild breakfast (see above) of toast and coffee in the hotel.  After working for a couple of hours, I took off walking.  I brought my hotel room card key with me which had the hotel name and address in Mandarin just in case I couldn’t find my way back or didn’t want to walk back, I could present the card to a taxi driver.  I had stayed in this part of town before and I knew a shopping area a few miles away at the base of two symmetrical tall buildings which I could see from the hotel.  This was my destination. 



Shanghai shopping malls



There are no straight roads in Shanghai, so a few turns were required.  Most of the roads are two lanes only, lined with trees, shops and restaurants on the ground level of the buildings which vary from 2-story places to high-rises.  The sidewalks and the roads are crowded – mostly pedestrians on the sidewalks, although occasionally the bicycles and scooters attempt to navigate between walkers if the road backs up.  You have to watch yourself at intersections as the cars, scooters, bikes, and pedestrians all want to exert right of way – somehow it all seems to work out.  I appear to be the only westerner around.  After an hour or so I did arrive at my destination.  I found a coffee shop and had a cup, not too bad.  I walked around some of the shopping malls, not of the usual American variety but multi-level in high-rise buildings – think Water Tower Place in Chicago.  Everything is negotiable and the marked price is usually well above what you can buy an item for.   I have yet to find an exception.  I am starting to enjoy this part of Chinese life.  While walking through the shopping area I see a girl dressed like a bee handing out flyers.  She is advertising a new restaurant in Shanghai – Applebee’s.  American mediocrity has arrived!

After walking about Shanghai for a couple of hours I returned to the hotel, finding a faster route on the way back. I talked to Larry, who asked me out to dinner.  I agreed, but told him I needed western food.  I don’t think he understood fully.  After hanging up, the door bell (common in Asian hotel rooms) rang.  I answered it and there were four people outside the door; a girl in a hotel uniform and three men who were dressed like repairmen.  None of them spoke any English and the girl seemed rather unsure how to proceed, I don’t think she expected me to be there.  I stepped back a couple of steps to allow her in and one of the three men followed her rather apprehensively.   He bent down to the refrigerator which was part of the mini bar, opened the door and confirmed that is was in fact not working.  I guess the maid must have noted this while I was out earlier – I had no idea.  He pulled the unit out, found it was just unplugged, plugged it in, confirmed it was working, replaced it, bowed, and left in a hurry.  The girl gave an apologetic look and left just as quickly.  The two other repairmen never said a word or did anything.  I guess they were just there for moral support.

Before dinner, I felt the need to walk again.  I took off in a different direction this time.  I walked probably 3 miles round trip, to the end of this road and back.  I passed by a place that advertised Jack Daniels outside so I thought I would see what it was.  It turned out to be an actual bar with bar stools and everything.  I sat down and had a Budweiser and talked to one of the kids behind the bar who spoke decent English.  He just came to Shanghai last year from central China.

Larry, Raymond, and Michael all showed up for dinner.  Larry and I exchanged gifts – I had brought an assortment of Jelly Belly’s for his daughter, he gave me some tea and a book on how to learn Chinese characters.  I told them I really needed western food, but they told me there were no such restaurants nearby that were any good.  We finally agreed on Shanghai-style food, which is not spicy, more sweet, closer to the Chinese food we see in America, but not quite the same.  Most of the food was fine. They have a pork dish, slow cooked in a sweet sauce, which I have had before and really like.  We had that, as well as a few other things which were OK; dried tofu, vegetables, fish, typical…  But then…

What the f*&$ was my initial reaction, on the inside anyway!!  They put a plate in front of me and there is a god damn bird foot on it!

A goose foot to be precise.  I ask Raymond about this and he explains it is a local delicacy and that “…the webbing is very tender”.  You are given a plastic glove to wear to pick this up with and you gnaw what little meat, and yes webbing, is there.  I have to admit, once I got past the thought of eating a part of a bird I would normally never even see, let alone cook, It tasked pretty good – it was in a sauce and the overall effect was like turkey and gravy, but after a week of eel and stomach, I was not quite in the mood for this.  We had a bottle of Chinese wine with dinner, red, a cabernet from northern China.  Not too bad actually.

My stomach still not doing well.  Tomorrow morning I need to leave by 7:00 to catch my flight to Hong Kong – the beginning of the trip home.  I have a full afternoon there and leave for the US the following morning. I am ready.