travelling day twelve - food street revisited

Annika and Gabby went to the international school with our friend's daughter today.  We had to have them ready, lunch and all, to walk out the door to catch the bus at 7.30.  It took some doing - but it happened.  And they were gone until 5 in the afternoon (there was art club after school).  So we had a long day without children to fill in.

Hmmm what shall we do?

We decided to revisit food street after Saturday's not so successful visit in the heat and tiredness, and get a massage.

food street - so much food, such limited stomach room

squid on a stick

We ate:
- banana fritters on a stick
- lamb on a stick
- little doughnut things on a stick
- rice tofu square things with chopsticks
- fried meat bread on a stick
- meat in a wrap
- squid on a stick
- rice balls on a stick
which proves my long held theory that food tastes better on a stick (think about it - kebabs, lollipops, iceblocks..).

We passed on the crabs, fried tofu and snails.

This afternoon we also tried a Chinese foot massage.  Awesome.  Ticklish.  Invigorating not relaxing.

Speaking of food, one of the things in China I have enjoyed is the supermarkets.  In a lot of ways they are similar to Woolies or Coles, except for the tanks of live fish, crabs, turtles, eels and sharks that are placed in the middle of the fruit and vege section.  You grab a little net and select your edible sealife of choice, then they gut and fillet it for you in the middle of the supermarket.  It's a little bit of reality right there in the fresh produce section.

Chris’ cultural tip: Don’t drink the water

No-one drinks the water in China.  The tap water at least.  It is mostly untreated and unsafe to drink.  Most places that can afford it have water coolers, and the rest simply boil their water before drinking.  It is apparently so culturally ingrained that the authorities have said that even if they did start to treat the water no-one would drink it because they are so used to boiling it.  It is an interesting thought to trade off the expense and energy required to treat all treat all water, or have all the energy used by individuals boiling or buying bottled water.

Regardless you will see bottled water everywhere, both in water coolers and individual bottles.  And everyone knows everywhere – don’t drink the water.