By now, i've finished 2 weeks in Bantian, Longgang (i kid you not about the spelling), Shenzhen. To briefly describe how Bantian is, imagine Cyberjaya, with the entire population speaking in Mandarin/PutongHua. It's equally as isolated and insular, with a rather good public transport system (thankfully). So, taking advantage of the benefit of a good public transport system, i was in Shenzhen last weekend and in Hong Kong this weekend. Both breaks did me much good (in terms of boosting my morale...haha).
In Shenzhen (SZ), thanks to my dear relative, i have been able to escape from the dreary OILY food they serve everyday. The 2 pics on the left side are of a white pepper chicken/pork soup that i had last weekend. It was spicy without overpowering my tastebuds and tongue. Of course, the extra induced perspiration combined with the hot and wet weather did make me feel hot under the collar ;) don't think we have something like it in Malaysia.
The 4 pics above shows other things in SZ i notice. Coconut water..missed it in KL before coming to SZ but had my fix in Luohu (border city between HK and SZ). Mangosteens (yes! grown in China, but don't know how it tastes like) are sold here too. BUT the thing that amazed me was the size of the onions...HUGE, in comparison to our normal 'bawang merah' in Malaysia. Wonder what miracle fertilizer was used to make them grow so big...but then again, being China, i think i rather not know...hahaha. And the melons too...maybe smaller than our melons back home but they're solid. And a cluster of them placed together brings to mind something a little more salacious, but let's not go there, shall we? ;)
Also in SZ, there's chicken rice (ubiquitous food, true) and the usual roast duck, char siew and siew yoke on sale, near the hotel i stay in Bantian. There's a story behind it, but in short, yours truly nearly got ripped off by a cute girl who thinks i was BLIND and incapable of reading chinese characters. The picture of the chicken rice (packed) was my lunch and had some extra for that day, and it cost RMB15 (approx RM7.50). OMG! i could get chicken rice from my aunt for FOC, and it does taste better :) Guess when you have the craving, it just needs to be satisfied and taken care of :P
yikes, sounds like u've been suffering, in terms of both food and living conditions! i'd definitely go crazy, since i can't speak mandarin at all :D
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