Shelly's apartment building
Sean trying an expensive kind of tea
Inside Shelly's apartment
Walk along the river near Shelly's apartmentWe sat down to tea and looked through some of her pictures in her photo album. Then she gave us some gifts which created an awkward situation as we had not brought anything for her, but Eunice assured me that it was fine. After tea we walked along the river and visited a market nearby. Shelly and Eunice pointed out some of the more interesting Chinese vegetables and we asked about some of the produce that was unrecognizable to us.
Vegetables, seafood, meat and lotus root at the marketAfter the market we headed to lunch at a place called Kung Fu Beef. This type of lunch is called "hot pot" and it is a special kind of experience similar to fondue. My students always talk about how much fun it is to eat hot pot together with a group of friends. A hot pot meal consists of a large pot in the middle of the table heated by a gas flame underneath the table. The pot is filled with broth and then you can order many different kinds of meat, tofu and vegetables to be cooked in the pot. Then everyone digs in with chopsticks and dips their food in mixtures of sauces available on the side. The whole affair is quite warm because of the proximity to the constantly boiling pot of broth and fortunately we were seated next to an air conditioner.
We had a great time and started with a hot pot of beef intestine and mushrooms. Slowly we added in giant croutons, lettuce, potatoes, carrots, turnips, tofu, beef strips, sprouts, tree ears (a type of fungus that grows on trees) and wax gourd. Eunice and Shelly let us know when each type of food was ready to be eaten as they all required different cooking times in the pot. The meal was finished with a small dessert that tasted like an elephant ear in the shape of a long donut. It was delicious. We walked home way too full but satisfied with our first hot pot experience.
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