Malaysia!

No idea what this is... some sort of dessert.  Shaved ice, with corn, weird green stuff, and sweet and condensed milk. 

Chinese food adventures...

Breakfast food cart

Mmm... Breakfast

Various food adventures in China...

Korean food in China!

Korean food in China!

Chinese food! In China!

Ah, THIS is real food!

After a long flight from the US to China, I arrived late at night on Monday, and eventually managed to fall asleep.  Waking up after three hours of sleep, I was famished, and though I really wanted to explore the city and find an adventurous breakfast (I loathe hotel restaurants), I just was too hungry and disoriented to try it. 

I ventured into the hotel’s buffet breakfast with low expectations.  It was $10 for the breakfast, which I figured couldn’t buy too much.  I was wrong!  They had western and eastern breakfast items available.  I settled on BOTH.  I had a fried egg, but also a salted duck egg.  Chinese pickles – which were just like kimchee, and various salads that I would have guessed were lunch items, but they were good and I ate them.  Celery salad (it looked like a sliced papaya salad which is what I thought it was when I took it, but it was quite good), corn and red bean salad, sliced cucumbers, a mysterious cube of tofu (I think?) in an even more mysterious plum colored sauce (I wasn’t a fan), fresh squeezed orange juice, and coffee with hot milk.  It was such a delicious breakfast, and I ate a lot. 

That turned out to be a good thing, because in an attempt to get the electronics equipment I didn’t have (who would have expected Ethernet only connections in the hotel room – not me, my computer doesn’t have an Ethernet port!), I decided to venture out on the town for the entire day.  I headed to an electronics store on the other side of Beijing, and then to the Forbidden City.  I had intended to grab lunch near the Forbidden City, but didn’t see a place, and once inside, didn’t want to leave and come back, so I explored all day – but missed lunch.

I met up with a former student of mine and her boyfriend for dinner, and they took me to a restaurant featuring Northern Chinese/Korean food.  It was amazing.  Like hot pot in that there was a central spot on the table where the food was cooked – but it was a charcoal grill with a cast iron grate the meat was placed on, not a pot of liquids.  We had beef, and beef tongue, lamb, squid, fish, bi bim bop, seaweed salad, a crispy orange dried fish of some sort, the food just kept coming, and it was delicious!  The day ended well.

Today – my first working day in China – I repeated the buffet breakfast in the interest of time before my morning meetings and was able to have lunch before the afternoon meetings began.  I went to a Korean restaurant, and had the most magnificent bi bim bop (I admit that I have a problem.  I LOVE bi bim bop).  What was amusing to me was that the hot sauce came already in the stone pot.  None of this add-hot-sauce-to-taste-at-the-table-so-Americans-can-just-avoid-it-entirely nonsense.  It was already in there.  And it was good!  And the best part?  Lunch came to a grand total of about $7.

Yeah, I could get used to this.  The biggest question of the day?  What will I have for dinner?

Day in Amish Country

This weekend I took a group of my international students to Amish Country (Holmes County, Ohio) to learn more about this culture in their backyards.  It was wonderful.

The day was all arranged by Amish Heartland Tours and we learned so much, and gained such insight.  I just can't say enough about how great it was.

We drove to Berlin, Ohio and met our guide, La Vonne.  She then joined us in our van and answered all of our questions, while explaining things we'd never even thought to ask about.  It was fantastic.  We learned why Amish homes are all three stories, how the schools work, about courtship, church-families/districts, how the local Amish economy has transformed over the last 20 years, and more.  We then went to have a family-style lunch in an Amish family's home.

Our hosts were generous, gracious, and patient.  I think (and hope) they enjoyed talking to us as much as we loved talking to them.  And the food was amazing.  Salad with homemade dressing, fresh-baked bread with a homemade peanut butter bread (a real hit -- we all bought some to bring home!) then mashed potatoes, noodles, chicken, roast beef, green beans, and just when we thought we couldn't possibly eat any more -- pies of all varieties -- of course, also all homemade!  Wow. 

As close as I can get to showing you the food!

I'm sorry I don't have photos of the amazing meal, but photos are not welcome inside an Amish home, so out of respect, I didn't take any of the food/hosts.  The Amish take the commandment to not make any graven images quite seriously (i.e., no photos, no dolls with faces, etc.).  I do have one photo of our group, that I'll try to get up here soon to share (in the family's living room). 

Amish Doll in traditional dress -- without a face.

After lunch, we were able to visit another Amish home and see homemade quilts being crafted, we went to a candle shop, and got a demonstration of some amazing candles being made too.  And then the drive home.

It was a long, but really fantastic day.  And, obviously, the great food was a central part of that.  If you ever have a chance to do something similar, I really recommend it!

The Mad Greek -- not just Greek food...

So I decided to write tonight's post about one of my favorite local restaurants (of course this isn't at all related to the fact that I had a wonderful meal there tonight).  The Mad Greek is a delicious casual restaurant, that has Greek food -- but owing to its owners (a Lebanese and Egyptian couple), they also have fantastic mediterranean food.  The staff is almost entirely family, and guests are always greeted warmly.

They have Greek favorites like gyro (which I had tonight - yum!), and pastitsio (an amazing lasagna-like dish).  I also love their seafood.  There are really a lot of good choices.

But none can rival the wonderful-ness of the chocolate baklava.  Even when I'm full I cannot resist.

Yeah.  You should really check it out.  It is divine!