blog.marcwiesner.com

I’ve been in SH for the last few days working on getting a Russian visa and gorging myself on foreign foods. I woke up this afternoon to a fantastic downpour that made an orchestra out of the plexiglass roof of the hostel patio two floors below my room. In the patio now, the heavy rain drowns out nearly every sound around me. The kinda rain I like. With the lines at the Russian embassy here I’ll be waiting in line starting at 5 am tomorrow to file for my tourist visa. I don’t know why they think they’ll have to worry about Americans illegally immigrating but it’s part of the game so I’ve gotta play.

Last night after dinner at a Thai place and dessert at a branch of the world famous Taiwanese Din Tai Fung it was off to a live jazz bar down the street. The cold Jim Beam and hot jazz made a nice cap to a night that actually ended much later. Next stop, pending Russian visa, is Beijing.

That’s next week though….there’s a lot to eat before then =P

I had the idea of approaching Xiaozhou (our younger chef who’s so cool about practicing english with me) about making a sweet and sour tofu the other day. He was surprisingly keen on the idea of trying. More so than the master chef he asked about it the next day. Both chefs are fantastic, but the master chef is a bit territorial with what happens in the kitchen. Once I suggested that putting some salt on top of the french fries after they’re cooked with add a nice (and authentic) taste. His reply was a firm “if they want salt they can ask me for salt.” He was similarly skeptical about my idea of blaspheming tofu with a sweet and sour sauce.

Xiaozhou had it handled though. He found me a minute later outside of the kitchen and said “the chef’s taking the day off tomorrow.” And today it happened. And oh it was so good. As I said, both chefs are fantastic, but it’s nice to get a new flavor mixed into the routine. I’ve already gotten an approving nod for a KungPao Tofu from the fellow ^_^.

Brilliant brilliant young chef

I’m really starting to miss non-Chinese foods. Don’t get me wrong…the Chinese food here is fantastic, but I could really go for some good Thai or Mexican..or Indian..or Viet. I swear I’m going to gorge myself to such a disgusting level when I’m back in Cali.

Work’s been good but tiring. Long hours, and I’ve been sick the last couple days. The Chinese is coming along well enough though it only takes a few minutes of trying to watch TV to know how far I am from fluent. Something I accept since I spend most of my time practicing travel and hotel Chinese.

I took a few days to visit a Lu Mountain (庐山) in Jiangxi (江西) province. The weather was nice, the beer good, and I found a fantastic potato, tofu, and black preserved bean dish. All the same it was so nice to get back into Wuhan. As soon as I set foot at the Art Academy next to Pathfinder I felt back at home.

The boss is gone for a couple days to Chengdu (成都) so I’m at the desk all day today watching the new kids to make sure they don’t break anything. Tomorrow once a real receptionist comes in I can rest. I found a Thai place a little bit away and I’m intent on seeing if it lives up to reputation (and still actually exists). It’ll be good to try something different =P.