My new blog, Rice Again.com
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Now I'm living in Suzhou I've started a new blog and thought it time to begin directing traffic there.
Visit Rice Again for more recipes, stories about China, news commentary, local Suzhou restaurant and bar reviews and easy China living.
posted by riceagain @ 7:13 PM,
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A Lame "Sorry For Not Posting" Post.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Sorry I haven't posted in a while!
You know traffic has gone up considerably and inexplicably over the past month so thanks for all the support and the kind words following the loss of 丹丹.
Stand by for some more crazy China stories over the next few days. Until then here's a brief rundown in pictures.
Until next time..
Labels: apologies photos thanks
posted by riceagain @ 10:57 AM,
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Don't....
Sunday, October 01, 2006
...use "I was drunk" as an excuse. Don't get me wrong, I use it to myself frequently but if it affects, offends or hurts another person you have no reason to drink. Part of your right of passage as a drinker is knowing your limits or in most cases just being able to hold your booze. Is this sounding like a public service announcement? Yes? Good!
Drinking that extra Barcadi Breezer is and excellent excuse to take your shirt off and dance the Macarena, good work but don't use it as an excuse for punching that guy at the bar or dislodging the toilet from the floor. Make your own decisions and stick to you sober code of ethics when you drink so I don't have to hear that ridiculous excuse.
Watch the comments for accusations of hypocrisy!
posted by riceagain @ 11:59 AM,
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丹丹
丹丹 passed away on Thursday. She had a smile on her face until the very end, and that sparkle in her eye that you only see in someone so immensely special. She touched so many people and was loved by all that were lucky enough to meet her.
I could write and write and write on my feelings right now, 丹丹 and what a special girl she was, but I will collect my thoughts, reflect, (sober up) then I will write it all down and maybe, just maybe put it to blog.
posted by riceagain @ 11:36 AM,
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Essentials for the Laowai on the Go
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Joel comments:
Haven't seen a new post for a while so I thought I'd offer some suggestions.
-Man Bags, ladders and stun guns
-Ninjas, vipers and smoke bombs
-G&T, Tudali and sleep deprivation
Now these are all references to things that have happened recently in my life while I have been too busy to post to this blog. Given the time I'd like to write a bit about my run in with a ninja, but that's for another day. Today its man bags.. or purses as they so resemble in china.
The other day I was eating with some friends at the beach. A stunning day, only a little windy, so a light layer of dust was settling on the tables and chairs. Fortunately however a friend who surely wishes to remain anonymous produced a tissue from his Chinese "man bag" that looked suspiciously like a purse to clear a little space for him to sit. In his defence though in a country of compulsive toilet paper stealers, where 90% of the toilets are considered inadequate for the average foreigner, a small pack of tissues can literally save your ass; or at least minimise the possibility you might have to use that growing collection of useless small currency building up in your man purse.
So if tissues are an essential accessory for the Laowai on the go, what else would I carry... i mean, do I carry in my man purse.
Camera: (Not in the photo for obvious reasons!) Perfect for capturing all those priceless china moments. I take my camera everywhere and go by the principal that the more photos I take the more will actually turn out OK. You know it's surprising what small China occurrences, trivial to the jaded China expat, blow the minds of the people back home. (not another f$cking temple!)
Chinese Dictionary: Until I buy a Palm Pilot, my Oxford Chinese Mini dictionary is as indispensable as say.. shoes are in down town Yantai. I can't say it's the best dictionary in the world, but its small and you can look up by Pinyin; that is, by the way words sound, not the way they look. This makes it a perfect companion for philosophical arguments at the bar or telling that taxi driver why you want to stay in China. My dictionary has also babysat me through a couple of relationships of varying degrees of success.
Pen: Great for those 5am bar room lesson planning sessions on the back of a beer stained fa piao (tax receipt).
Mobile Phone Charger: The Laowai on the go can't afford to be caught short. I spend most of my time between 3 places: work, the hospital (visiting Dan Dan) and the bar and it sucks when you have no power to call someone out for a quiet one.
Bank Book: They can send men into space, build the worlds highest railway and a damn big dam, but I still use a bank book.
Book: Good books written in English are a rare and precious commodity in China, they prevent your English ability from slipping into the abyss, provide relief from the drugery of CCTV9 and you can sit on them when you're waiting for the bus. (saves on tissues when you need to dust off the bench)
What other essentials have I missed that could potentially make my life easier? See you next time.
posted by riceagain @ 2:39 PM,
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Health Care
Friday, September 01, 2006
Okay, so I'm I'm going to spill my guts a bit here. In that, I'm not really about blogging my feelings, this isn't a diary or a Dear Abby column, but I thought I'd write a bit about my experience with the Chinese health system. Not in it, just as a helpless bystander. A few months ago my girlfriend was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Not alot they could do, some surgery.. ineffective. Hairless and emaciated she spent a couple of months in this fine cities premier hospital.
In China they love "drips" . If you have a cold an intravenous drip is the medicine of choice. I've heard that infants have it in the skull (?) but she had a series of ineffective but expensive drips, sometimes 5 bags daily. In a Chinese hospital the nurses are not really responsible for much more than changing the intravenous medicine, sheets and the like. You must have a family member with you at all times to ensure you are fed, washed and truly looked after. I must say though, most of the nurses I have met have been wonderful albeit a slightly different approach than their western counterparts.
Next, searching for a different, maybe more proactive approach to the problem, we were admitted to the aptly named "Tumour Hospital". Beds screwed to the concrete floor, toilets comparable to a rugby club changing shed, but fantastic, compassionate nurses and attentive doctors.. moreover access to the necessary facilities.
One day, like every other day I was at her side, her uncle arrived, lit up, offered me a smoke, and happily produced a bag of beer he had brought from the restaurant outside. What better way to celebrate a visit to this sad and depressing place than a cigarette and a beer. I sat quietly drinking my beer and trying to will the smoke away from the old guy with the oxygen tank.
It reminds me of the time I took her for a stroll in one of the hospitals only wheel chairs. It was a nice reprieve from the drab interior of the hospital, sitting beside the stagnant mud pool, the remains of a grand fountain, once the center point of a new hospital. Around us the shops where alive with gaggles of pubescent girls buying snacks to take back to the surrounding garment factories (read: sweat shops). Despite the cheery atmosphere, I felt bad when a young guy came out carrying his elderly mother because he couldn't find a wheel chair.
Anyway, I don't mean to say bad things about the hospitals I have been in here. There are a tremendous amount of people who greatly need their help and the job they are doing is fantastic despite the odds.
So, this has been my life recently, I challenge you to give me something else to write about and I'll do my best.
posted by riceagain @ 1:39 AM,
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Doing Things in China
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Heres a conversation I had in a Beijing Bank of China and then again in Xian.
Nick: I'd like to draw some money of my credit card please.
Teller: You can't do that here.
Nick: Yes I can.
Manager: No, you can't do that here.
Nick: Yes I can, this is the Bank of China.
Manager: Ok
Teller: How much money would you like?
Why is it that when you are told you can't do something in China it inevitably means "too much paper work", "can't be bothered" or "can't think outside the square'.
You need to dig in your heels, be stubborn and push.
A wise old man (who now resides in Xiamen) once told me this, and it rings true:
In China nothing is possible and anything is possible.
But honestly most of the time I think people are just fucking with me.
posted by riceagain @ 11:46 AM,
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Coca cola Chicken Wings
Friday, July 28, 2006
I like simple home cooked Chinese food. This is a tasty dish popular in China which I like because you just can't screw it up no matter how drunk/stupid you are. (Just remember to turn off the gas when you're finished)
Disclaimer: I'm no chef. I don't know the correct terminology for what I'm going to describe here. But as they say in New Zealand..
She'll be right mate.
Ingredients
Chicken Wings
Garlic
Ginger
Coca cola
Bai Jiu (Chinese White Spirit)
A little MSG or Salt (to taste)
Honey
Whiskey (if desired)
Instructions
Dice some garlic and ginger. I always say you can never have too much garlic, but easy on the ginger though. Don't chop the ginger too finely so you can pick it out later. No one likes crunching down on a big chunk of ginger when they expected sweet chickeny goodness. Pour a little oil in your wok, one with a lid if possible, turn on the heat and add your ginger, garlic and your chicken wings.
Slightly brown the chicken wings. Don't worry about not cooking too thoroughly, nothing will survive the sticky bubbling magma of boiling hot Coca cola that will ensue. Add just enough Coca cola to cover your wings.
Optional: When the Coke begins to bubble, add a dollop of honey, a splash of bai jiu and maybe a little MSG (if you're Chinese) to taste. I don't know what the bai jiu does for the flavour but I like cooking with alcohol. (easy tiger, save some for the gan beis) The honey is a little unnecessary given the high sugar content of the coke, but hey who am I to change a winning formula?
If possible cover the Wok and leave to simmer until the coke has boiled down into a sticky mess which will now have glazed your chicken wings. Meanwhile, mix the remainder of the Coke with your whiskey in a tumbler with lots of ice and return to reading this blog.
posted by riceagain @ 2:50 PM,
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Escape From ā yí -Catraz
阿姨 (ā yí) means Auntie.
Occasionally necessity dictates that I crash at 丹丹's (DanDan's - please use the Chinese pronunciation, your making me cringe) house. Now since she moved back to Yantai, from Qingdao she's been living back with her parents. Well at least that's where she keeps her toothbrush. So occasionally well will spend the night there as opposed to taking the 20 minute taxi ride back to Lai Shan.
Last night was one such occasion. Now this is OK, I've gotten used to hard Chinese beds, flushing the toilet with a bucket and drifting off to sleep to the placating sounds of mahjong tiles slapping wood and men clearing their throats on the pavement outside. However there is one thing I've never gotten used to; being force-fed.
For the life of me, I cannot find a way to stop 丹丹's mother, my 阿姨, from cooking horrendous amounts of dumplings, fried fish, noodles and wait for it Coca Cola Chicken for BREAKFAST. Despite being quite capable of enjoying a Chinese breakfast, after a night drinking dirty and cheap Yantai Beer, more often than not, the only thing my stomach can tolerate is more Yantai Beer. Sometimes I have to be at work in 5 minutes time, other times I have been lying in bed dreaming of the bacon and eggs I am going to fry up in my wok when I get home. She's always guarding the door when I get up ready to grab my arm and lead me to the table.
I have tried everything. Faked diarrhoea, late for work; I've even tried sneaking out but she can smell fear, or malnourishment, I don't know which.
Don't get me wrong, I love this aspect of Chinese culture. My 阿姨's great, she's easy to please, just eat.. EAT! But if your running late for work or have a tremendous hangover and just can't face the fishy smelling noodles she has prepared, she grumbles off as if you just called her food dog shit.
posted by riceagain @ 12:37 PM,
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