Chi fan

I'm not sure what it is about food here, but it seems less filling than in Austin. Maybe that's a comment on the typical American diet and/or what we like to put in food. Maybe I'm still in like "vacation" mode or something, so psychologically my brain is still relaxing. (Maybe this is why I can't seem to find time for the gym.) But seriously, I eat a whole meal and like 3 hours later I'm hungry again. Even when it's not Chinese food - even when it's cookies or chocolate or something like that. Something over here must be different. If I could read the ingredients, I might investigate :-)

Tonight Charles, Herbert and I ate some hot pot. That's this deal where you all sit at a table with a big, well, pot plonked down in the middle of it, above a burner. The pot is full of broth and some veggies. The staff turns on the burner, and you order raw meat and throw it in the pot. When it's nice and cooked (that's the important part), you take the food out of the boiling cauldron and eat it.

Yum.

Being in a foreign country, and being also perhaps preternaturally disposed towards worrying about unsanitary food, and being aware that my co-worker James got sick from hot pot when we visisted in November, I was a little wary about trying it myself. And, unfortunately, my co-workers insisted we order the spicy version. Now, I was not raised on spicy food, but I was pretty proud of the effort I made in Austin to eat spicy Mexican food. I even indulged in some spicy Indian and Thai food on occasion. However, spicy Chinese food (usually from Sichuan or Hunan province) is a totally different level. I can only take so much of it in one dish, let alone an entire meal. So when I saw the red peppers floating in the broth, I knew I was in for it.

And yes, it was insanely spicy. The kind of spicy where my lips, tongue, and throat were buzzing after each bite. It was not very pleasant, but I managed to hang in there and finish the meal. I couldn't really tell if it was good, though -- the spiciness just got in the way of the food. It was too much. So if I do hot pot again, I'll make sure to get the non-spicy version - but the way I hear it, that's kind of like the wussy way out. Oh well, so sue me - I like to taste my food :-)

As for the wigglies, well, I gave everything a thorough once-over before I actually ate it, and once or twice I even checked with Herbert or Charles, who have hot pot experience. So I think I'm fine. But, I will wait 24 hours or so before declaring myself 100%, haha.

Post-Op: I can Drink Tap Water Again!

Well, I just walked in my front door after 6 hours at the office, half an hour in a cab, 2 hours at Pudong, 14 hours on a plane, 6.5 hours at O'Hare (my flight got delayed twice), another 3-hour flight, and a ten-minute cab ride home. I maybe slept a total of 4 of those hours.

I picked up a sore throat on Wednesday night (it was probably that game of badminton), which morphed into a cold sometime Friday morning. This is odd for me because I have not been sick, not even a cold, since like April of 2005. Of course I was expecting something to happen in Shanghai, so if I can come away from a weeklong visit with just a cold, I think that's a good thing. At least I didn't get any wigglies :-)

I guess because the pressure in my sinuses/head is different than normal, my head and ears really hurt when landing both in Chicago and in Austin. It was pretty terrible. And my left ear was all stopped up for hours after I landed in Chicago. I've had small episodes of this phenomenon on planes but a good yawn always clears it right up. It's never been this bad.

I kept forcing a yawn because that usually helps relieve the pressure. But thank goodness I have a cold, because when I went to blow my nose, that pretty much fixed the problem :-) Unfortunately it offset my equilibrium for a couple seconds, so I was swaying in the airport bathroom. But when the air escapes it makes this neat little gurgling sound. I can hear it loud and clear because it's in my own head. But I wonder if anyone else can hear it? I doubt it, but that'd be kind of hilarious :-)

Anyway, I left out some stuff. In addition to what I posted before, I ate spicy duck tongue, chicken knuckles (chicken cartilage), sashimi, scallops, and okonomiyaki, which was delicious. These latter four dishes were at a Japanese place - I can't remember the name but I think it was on Huai Hai Lu. Anyway it was really good. I also had some nigiri-sushi, which has a dab of wasabi in it ... now I've had wasabi before in the States, but I guess it gets more authentic the closer you get to Japan. Because the wasabi in Shanghai incapacitated me for like 10 seconds :-)

I also had Papa John's and Pizza Hut; the former with pickles on top and the latter with some fish and squid on top. Mmmm, can't get that in the States. The pizza was good but definitely not the quality I'm used to here in America.

In what seems like an ongoing theme, the Pizza Huts in Shanghai are way nicer than in America. The one we went to, in the Thumb Plaza, seems like a good date restaurant. The decor is all modern and fancy-looking. It's not quite the atmosphere of an Olive Garden, but definitely closer to that than in the States.

Speaking of which, I made fun of the Shanghai HoJo Zhangjiang before I ever went there. Well, it's moreso that I made fun of the concept of this hotel as opposed to the hotel itself :-) I feel I owe it (the concept) an apology. It was a supremely nice hotel. Very slick and with great service. Awesome breakfast in the mornings (including sushi!). Probably one of the three nicest hotels I've ever stayed in. And everybody was so nice!

Pictures are coming soon!

T Minus ...

Five days and counting. I leave for Chicago at 6 AM on Thursday Nov 1st, then transfer from Chicago directly to Shanghai.

I got my passport and visa ready. I need to buy some more long-sleeve shirts because it's colder over there right now, and because I live in Austin, I have gotten rid of much of my non-short-sleeve attire.

I picked up a flu shot, some prescriptions, and some medical advice from the doctor's office on Wednesday. I also need to pick up some over-the-counter stuff like Immodium AD. Talked to some of the more experienced travelers at my company for some tips. I emailed my immediate co-workers and let them know I was going. I joked with one of them about getting "wigglies," our fun-sounding word for parasites and/or other creepy-crawlies just looking for a chance to set up semipermanent residence in my body. (Note to self: keep eyes and mouth closed while taking a shower.)

I got a nice Chinese history book that I'm reading (and even highlighting passages in!), as well as a travel guide to Shanghai itself. I'll have co-workers there who know the city, so I've made plans to hang out with them the first (actually, the only) weekend that I'm there. Because I'm a huge nerd, I also picked up a baseball rules book to read on the plane. If I end up doing an extended stay in Shanghai, I'm gonna try and travel to Tokyo and take in a Yomiuri Giants game. I've also got the latest issue of Wired.

I arrive in Shanghai around 2:30 PM on Friday Nov 2nd. To my body, this is equivalent to 1:30 AM Thursday. I'm supposed to try and stay awake for seven hours until it's actually time to sleep. I wonder how well that's going to work out :-) I think it'll only happen if I can sleep on the plane. When I went from Maryland to Alaska in 1999, I slept for like an entire day after I arrived.