Darren and Darren Do China

Food

This post is going to be of food related photos. I loved the all the different outdoor street kitchens specializing in one food and doing it well. And the Markets with fresh fruit and veg with fish still swimming and meat hanging waiting to be cut. And ordering from a restaurant from a menu you can’t understand.

Photo to right is Me eating Cuttlefish balls. The batter was nice, fish very chewy.

This is a cuttlefish. I didn’t know what it looked like before I ate it. (note i did not take this photo its just from google)

Darren had some spinach dumplings on a stick (the ones with the 10 by them)

The Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen, HK. Its a pretty fancy boat that you can only get to by boat. We didn’t actually eat here but its a pretty impressive place.

This was a roast duck and pork dish.

Sorting the chopsticks

Pork Rib with fried noodles and Deep fried Pig sausage with chilli

DH eating the chilli

A Banquet

Chicken dish before

Chicken dish after

Sizzling hot plate beef and black bean before

Sizzling hot plate beef and black bean after

Wonton noodle soup

Dumplings

Soup and noodles

Darren and Gareth out for lunch ordering way too much like all the Chinese do

Eggplant and black bean

Potato

Cucumber and chillis

Marshmallow’s over the BBQ

Birthday cake. White sponge with fake cream filling and pineapple. Icing tasted like white and blue.

Farewell dinner menu on the last night on our cruise

Nibbles on the boat

DH and his Spicy Chicken dish

This was suppose to be Rabbit with Japanese peppers but I’m sure it was chicken

with lots or peppers and nice mushrooms

Street Food

a sort of naan bread with some meat and spices inside

Jian bing, a Chinese breakfast crepe with egg, bacon or sausage, chilli sauce and cabbage or potato. YUM

Another one with lettuce

This one made them with a crispy cracker

A egg McMuffin of sorts. We watched the whole process of cooking, a lot of effort for 2 yuan but very nice and worth every jiao

a bun with beef mince in it, a poor attempt of a pie

Croissant with a hot dog in it. great cos it wasn’t sweet like nearly everything else from the bakery

Airplane food from Chongqing to Beijing on Hainan Airlines (not the most appetizing chicken and rice dish)

All other meals were good

How to waste a day in Yichang

We slept in but made it to breakfast with 15 minutes to spare, and we were both glad we did, proper breakfast with everything from bacon and eggs to cereal and milk to toast or croissants with spread like NZ Anchor butter or jam and fresh fruit and juice.

Next we checked out of the hotel but left our bags with the hotel concierge and hit the town. Our mission of the day: to top-up DH’s Chinese sim card or find a cheap new one. It may sound a simple task but they are usually the hardest in China.First we found a market, no luck there and the shopping was very un-inspiring.

Then we found what seemed the electronics street with each shop selling a different brand.

Still no luck here, just directions to go down the road a bit further, we did until the shops ended then turned around and went back down the other side.

Found a live monkey street show, watched for a bit.

A guy that spoke very good English told us that the trainer only does this on national holidays, the rest of the year he lives with the monkeys and trains them. He then proceeded to offer to help us solve our phone problem. We were very thankful, he wrote in Chinese where we needed to go (directions for the Taxi) and what to ask at the phone shop. Our ride in the taxi was very short (we could have walked and were sure its not the place that our helper had said) and they could not help. I know it didn’t help we didn’t know the cell phone number but what ever happened to phoning up a number and either topping up via credit card or top-up voucher. Our taxi driver seemed to want to help too coming into the store and jabbering something off to the lady behind the counter. He then ushered us back to the cab to take us somewhere else. This was a smaller shop which had a computer behind the counter where while we were there people walked in said their cell number and gave some cash and bang… top up done. But in the end she could not work out how to find our our number either so we gave up and said to the taxi driver to take us back to our hotel.

Disheartened, we couldn’t be bothered dealing with any more of this uselessness so we just caught a cab to our cruise pier. Which was quite lucky we did early as it was a lot further than we thought. We ended up going through some very run down streets (must of be back roads because the road was so bad oncoming cars had to come over our side of the road to miss huge pot holes).

When we got to the pier we checked in to the Victoria Lianna, put our bags in our room, noticed there was a fridge so decided to go for a walk back up the hill to get some beers and dinner.

With a box of Tsingtsao back in our room we checked out the bar, saw the prices and decided even though we paid more than we should have for a box that it was still a good deal so we rushed back up the hill (ended up getting a ride up on the back of a motorbike) and brought another.

It was quite an extreme sport tourist area with bungie jumping and jet boating and a cave tour.

We ended up ordering dinner at a restaurant all in Chinese. A Potato dish and fried rice, it was good. And the tables were very short, we felt like giants. 

Once on the boat and the other passengers had arrived we had a welcome. Found out that it wasn’t a very busy boat this time (more staff than actual passengers). We got welcomed on and then had some beers and then cocktail’s at the bar to celebrate our first night.

Home in NZ

Time has flown by. We arrived back in Auckland from Beijing at 6.30am after just over 12 hours on a packed plane. I didn’t sleep, DH did, I had movies to watch (Super 8, Green Lantern, Love and other drugs, Cars 2, some episodes of Parks and Recreation and Alan Partridge Mid Morning Matters)

Once we transferred from the international terminal to the domestic we sat down and relaxed, ate some Dunk’n Donuts and waited for our flight at 7.30am. When it got to 7.20 and we hadn’t heard our boarding call I decided to check the board again and we relised we were on the wrong side of the terminal. We rushed thru security and up to the gate that said it was closed, pleaded with the checking ladies if we could get on the flight, they radioed the plane, which had just found our bags to take them off but hadn’t quite done it yet and we were able to board. Luckily we managed to not miss a flight, train or bus. Quite a feat for me I think.

Farewell to China in Beijing Int’ Airport

Our Air NZ plane

Sunrise from the plane somewhere near Indonesia

Hello from Beijing

It has been awhile without internet access but we have seen so much. Our boat cruise from Yichang to Chongqing was great but I will have to write about that at another time as it is now 8.40am and we need to go get breakfast. We arrived in Beijing last night so haven’t seen the big city in the daylight. Will try and update again before flying back to New Zealand but no promises.

A train from Shangqiu to Yichang

Im writing this onboard the K619 train from Beijing to Chongqing which picked us up in Shangqiu South station (quite good cos it is close to the Uni) going to Yichang East station. The only seats available for us were standing seats and so it was a real daunting morning getting on the train at 7.35am and knowing you may be standing until 9.07pm. Luckily people are actually nice. we starting standing in the passageway by the toilet then sitting on bags and some guys gave me a little fold out stool. Then after the next stop when a few people got out some seats became available and people told us to take them. So we did and we stayed in the same carriage for the rest of the trip.

Once we arrived we felt like streching our legs and walking. Stupidly we didnt really know where we were walking to so then ended up having a few people try to help, but just annoyed us and then we ended up asking a nice couple that had just gotten into their car where it was and then they actually took us to our hotel. I know, dangerous! but they spoke a little english and were actually very nice. This is them.

Our booking of a hotel was very rushed and not very well done. Yes the Ramada is a very nice hotel 5*’s. However their double room was advertised with a twin bed which actually ended up being one king single. Not impressed we trotted off back downstairs and requested 2 beds. this ment and upgrade in room with a fee. but the room is MUCH larger and i cant wait to get into that bed which I need now after that train ride.

A view from the small room

our new view