[First published August 24, 2014] Yeah, yeah, I said that I was all about being authentic and we love shopping from street carts, but sometimes it's just more convenient to go to the mall. Where they have air conditioning and cold drinks and bathrooms and places to sit down. You do pay a premium for these modern luxuries, though.
This fruit drink with ice cost us 12 yuan, or 24 for a drink apiece. For that we got a place to sit down and rest after walking around sightseeing. But earlier that day we bought a breakfast sandwich from a street vendor. Each sandwich was so filling we skipped lunch. it included egg, spam, bacon, shredded potato and hot sauce. Breakfast cost us 4.5 yuan per sandwich, or 9 yuan total. Street food is also why buying groceries and cooking meals at home in the toy kitchen provided by the evil landlord does not yield a big economic dividend. Some food court meals are pretty reasonable too, running from 12 to 30 yuan per dish. Our local mall has a KFC but also a plethora of Chinese fast food places.
This fruit drink with ice cost us 12 yuan, or 24 for a drink apiece. For that we got a place to sit down and rest after walking around sightseeing. But earlier that day we bought a breakfast sandwich from a street vendor. Each sandwich was so filling we skipped lunch. it included egg, spam, bacon, shredded potato and hot sauce. Breakfast cost us 4.5 yuan per sandwich, or 9 yuan total. Street food is also why buying groceries and cooking meals at home in the toy kitchen provided by the evil landlord does not yield a big economic dividend. Some food court meals are pretty reasonable too, running from 12 to 30 yuan per dish. Our local mall has a KFC but also a plethora of Chinese fast food places.
Don't judge me! One difference between food courts in Canada, (or at least the food courts I've been to,) and some food courts in China is that the Chinese food courts have a central cashier who sells you a card (you decide how much money to place on the card) which you then take to the individual merchant who swipes it. It's interesting how different societies approach an issue. Someone decided that having one cash register was safer or simpler or something. Likewise, for some reason the Chinese think transferring money between banks is a highly risky proposition. I have seen the Chinese version of the Brinks truck and the guards are in flat-out SWAT mode with rifles and helmets with chin straps.
Food court steamed buns The food court at our local mall is convenient because we can point to stuff and so far we have mostly limited ourselves to restaurants that have pictures of the food so we can point to stuff. There is some progress on the vocabulary front but not enough to order dinner. We've had steamed buns and fried rice and sushi and other things that we can recognize from pictures. Steamed buns are called baozi in China but when I try to pronounce baozi, people just giggle at me. Still have to work on that.
Anyway, we were at the food court a few days ago, enjoying some delicious chicken with noodles and broth that we had successfully pointed at, and we were sitting under a television screen which was broadcasting an old Jet Li movie to the patrons. We could tell it was set in the past, because Jet Li was pulling a rickshaw. He was taking a pregnant and very vocal lady to the hospital.
Anyway, we were at the food court a few days ago, enjoying some delicious chicken with noodles and broth that we had successfully pointed at, and we were sitting under a television screen which was broadcasting an old Jet Li movie to the patrons. We could tell it was set in the past, because Jet Li was pulling a rickshaw. He was taking a pregnant and very vocal lady to the hospital.
Suddenly, a jeep pulled up -- in the movie that is, not in the food court -- with four drunken U.S. sailors who proceeded to bully and harass our hero and prevent him from delivering the pregnant lady to the hospital. The foreigners looked so large and hairy and ugly compared to the Asians. So there we were, the only foreigners in the mall, sitting right under a big screen while actors played US servicemen being completely evil right above our heads. Aaawwkward! Not that anybody said anything or reacted in any way.
That reminds me, I do want to put together an assemblage of clips of how Hollywood has portrayed Asians over the years (Chinese house boy, femme fatale) because of course it goes both ways.
Coincidentally, I saw this poignant Life magazine story later the same day about Korean war orphans and the soldiers who helped them. That felt better.
That reminds me, I do want to put together an assemblage of clips of how Hollywood has portrayed Asians over the years (Chinese house boy, femme fatale) because of course it goes both ways.
Coincidentally, I saw this poignant Life magazine story later the same day about Korean war orphans and the soldiers who helped them. That felt better.
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