Travel – Page 98

Istanbul: The Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and a Fish called Hamsi

May 25, 2011 mmm-yoso Istanbul, Seafood, Travel, Turkey

As happens with all our trips we awoke early in the morning, this time to the 5 am call to prayer. We got up, and headed out for an early morning walk. In contrast to the hustle and bustle of the previous day; Divan Yolu Caddesi, the main street passing through this part of Istanbul was empty. There was a bit of a chill in the air, but nothing beats walking around at this time of the morning…. especially since the Missus was drawn to the Blue Mosque.

During this time of the morning the courtyard of the Blue Mosque is empty; in direct contrast to later visits when we entered the Mosque. On this morning we just walked the courtyard…..

A view of Hagia Sofia from the gates of the Blue Mosque……

Nobody around but the two of us…. and the local dogs, who were very well behaved….

This one took a liking to the Missus and followed Her everywhere.

He even managed to sneak into a couple of photos! Here he is wondering why the Missus is smiling at nothing…..

After walking around for a bit we headed back to our hotel, I showered, and we headed downstairs via the tiny lift for breakfast. The typical Turkish breakfast is jam, honey, cheese, tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, some kind of meat, yogurt, juice, and some Turkish tea…..

And bread….. lots of bread, sometimes several varieties of bread; often including the standard "simit", sesame bread. They don't fool around….. we often got what amounted to almost a whole loaf! Eggs are always offered, but come on; after eating six slices of bread…. there ain't much room left!

Compared to what we had later on in the trip; this was mostly packaged stuff….. but it sure filled me up. Later on, the Missus would often whisper to me, "just because they give you twenty slices of bread doesn't mean you have to eat it!"

Then it was off to Topkapi Palace, one of the must see places in Istanbul.

Constructed by Mehmet the Conquerer who conquered Constantinople after a 57 day siege in 1453, the palace was home to a Ottoman Sultans for almost 400 years.

The complex is designed around four courtyards, and of course there is much to see……

Not the least of which are the views of the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus……

Here's the Asian side of Istanbul, right across the Bosphorus.

Of all the rooms, structures, and displays at Topkapi Palace; there were two that really caught our interest. Unfortunately, both rooms, the Treasury, and the Sacred Trusts don't allow photos. In the Treasury you'll find the Sword of Suleyman, and the even more impressive Topkapi Dagger with the three gigantic emeralds in its hilt. There's even a watch set into it! Even more interesting for us was the Room of the Sacred Relics, which include the Holy Mantle of Prophet Muhammad, along with several other holy relics. There is also the Sword of David, the Staff of Moses, and the Skull of John the Baptist. It is said that when Sultan Selim I conquered the Middle East and North Africa he started bringing the relics back to the city.

One of the areas where you can take photos is within the fourth courtyard which features some beautiful tile panels…..

The wonderful tiles decorate the exterior of the circumcision room…….

The chamber is also beautifully decorated.

All told we spent a good three hours at Topkapi Palace…. and could have possibly spent a few more, but we didn't want to burn ourselves out.

Deciding to grab something to eat, we walked the couple of kilometers to the Galata Bridge which spans the Bosphorus. Starting on the European side we crossed the Golden Horn to Asia in less then 15 minutes! How's that for pretty cool? The current location for the bridge has been used since 1845 and bridge further up the waterway was built in 1836. But plans for a bridge at the current had been in the works for many centuries before the actual construction. Back in 1502, Sultan Bayezid II solicited none other than Leonardo da Vinci who came up with a revolutionary design that was not approved by the Sultan. Another design was requested from some Italian "Dude" who turned down the offer. Today's bridge was built in 1992, and is a lively spot; not only for 2 and 4 wheeled vehicles, but for foot traffic. On a sunny day, the bridge is lined with vendors and tons of men trying their luck fishing….. and socializing.

And of course there's food……. like the folks selling the very popular "Balik – Ekmek" (fish sandwiches – more about that in a future post).

I had read that there was a fish market on the Asian side of the Galata bridge so we went in search of it. Because if there's a fish market, there's bound to be at least one place serving it!

The market itself is fairly small; a couple of stands selling fish, and one or two produce stands.

There happened to be more restaurants then fish vendors on this particular day. One was doing some good business; and his customers seemed to be all older gentleman, who tend to be more picky eaters. So this was the place for us……

But before taking a seat, I inquired about some of the fishes available, and the cook actually let me look at the fishes.

Of course being Turkey; everything started with a huge hunk of bread!

And a plate of veggies…..

I'd heard about a specific fish that is very popular, and after reading posts about it on Istanbul Eats and Eating Asia, it was all Hamsi (European Anchovy) for me.

These were nicely fried. If you love the oil-ruch Anchovy you'll like these. A bit stronger than Shishamo (smelt) in flavor, these were too much for the Missus. I considered it a bargain at 5 TRY (about 3 bucks).

The fish I selected for the Missus, was Cinekop, baby bluefish 15TRY, which She loved:

With water the entire meal came out to 22 TRY (about $13.75)…. cheaper then the previous night's lousy dinner, and tons better.

The funny thing was, even though we were satisfied, we weren't done yet…. the Missus spied the Egyptian Spice Market while crossing back….. and there would be a second lunch today!

Stay tuned……..

Nanjing: Jianbing, Linggu Temple, and Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum

May 22, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Nanjing, Travel

I got a good night's sleep after a hectic day, anf the next morning my foot felt better. We had made plans for the day, and I just couldn't see letting my foot get in the way. After waking the first plan was to grab some breakfast we walked a couple of blocks and saw a couple of food stands on a side street. Of course it was the Jianbing (rolled pancake/crepe) that really caught our attention. Actually, this stand tried to pawn off some pre-made Jianbing on us, but the Missus "persuaded" the woman to make me a fresh one.

Meanwhile the Missus went for some porridge being sold at a neighboring stand.

Pretty much what the working person in Nanjing might grab for breakfast. Nothing exotic. I thought the Jianbing was okay, but the Missus said that it wasn't made very well; the texture was too chewy and "dead", and the youtiao was very greasy and soggy.

Still, it was nourishment. After this quick breakfast we set out looking for the bus to take us to the Zijin (Purple-Gold) Mountain area. We tracked down the bus route on a map we had, but couldn't find the bus stops. After walking all the way to the Fuzi Miao area we were stumped. After asking around, we found that due to road work the bus route had been temporarily changed. We were given instructions on the new bus route and finally found the bus stop…… which turned out to be two blocks from our hotel! Oh well…….. it's kind of funny now.

We finally made it to our destination. The bus was fairly empty, and I was able to elevate my foot, which brought some relief.

We first visted the Linggu Temple area.

The most fascinating place here was Wúliáng Diàn, the Beamless Hall, built in 1381.

The building is made entirely of stone and brick without any beams for support.

It is the only building in the Linggu Temple area that survives from the Ming Dynasty.

All that was interesting for me, but I really wanted to visit the Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum. Growing up in Hawaii, one could not help but learn of Dr Sun Yat Sen's time in Hawaii. If you ever go to the Chinese Cultural Plaza in Honolulu's Chinatown, you'll see a statue of Sun Yat-Sen. There's so much about Sun Yet-Sen's time in Hawaii, and you can read about his time in Hawaii here. Man, he went to both Iolani and what is now known as Punahou School (then known as O'ahu College). What really makes Sun Yat-Sen unique in my mind is that he is revered by both China and Taiwan as both a founding father of the PRC and the Republic of China.

The Missus and I had not seen any photos of the mausoleum, and I was a bit worried that it would be some gaudy, over-the-top monument. But I was pleased at the tasteful design.

Passing through the front gateway, you climb 392 steps to the vault……..

It is indeed quite a monument…….

Though having been taught that he was a very humble man, I could not help but wonder what he would have thought about this……

After spending a bit of time here, we caught the bus back to the main shopping area where a couple of T-shirts caught our eye. We don't usually buy much for us, but we saw these t-shirts and just had to get them.

Those who can read this will probably get a kick out of it. We even found one for my MIL which was very appropriate!

On the way back to the hotel, the Missus noticed…….

And after hitting up 85 C in Suzhou the Missus just had to stop here.

For some strong unsweetened tea and milk bread……. which seemed to be just the thing we needed.

More to come, thanks for reading!

Istanbul: Our arrival and Cennet Gozleme

May 19, 2011 mmm-yoso Istanbul, Travel, Turkey, Turkish Food

I recently mentioned how we made it to Istanbul to a friend…. early in the morning we walked a couple of blocks and caught the bus, transferred to the trolley in Old Town, caught the Surfliner to Union Station in LA. At Union Station we caught the Flyaway Bus to LAX and caught the new (since March) non-stop flight to Istanbul. Twelve hours and change later we landed in Istanbul and followed the signs to the Metro, where one of the locals taught me how to use the token machine. Travelling on the metro, buses, and tram is really cheap in Istanbul. The fare across the board is 1.75 TRY (Turkish Lira – about 1.15 US). Counting stops we got off at the Zeytinburnu stop somewhat disoriented. Another really nice gentleman ("nice" is basically how we found everyone to be in Turkey), pointed to the right Tram when I asked Sulthanmet. I bought two more tokens and in a couple of minutes we caught the tram headed toward Kabatas. The tram ride took about 45 minutes; we got off at Sultanahmet Park snd stood and stared……

A few meters away stood the Blue Mosque.

A crowd of people milled around us, shoe shine boys trying to get our attention, "Konnichiwa", "Ni Hao", "Annyeonghaseyo", "where you from?" It all felt so alive, so vibrant, the tulips in bloom.

Most folks associate tulips with Holland. From what I was told, tulips were brought to Turkey from the Steppes and were cultivated in Turkey from as far back as 1,000 AD. It was Flemish Botanist Carolus Clusius who introduced the tulip to Europe in the late 16th century.

The Missus and I searched for our hotel. We could find the street on our map; but to paraphrase that little sentence on your rearview mirror: "streets appear much larger than they are." Another really nice gentleman saw us wandering around, and using his cell phone actually called the hotel and got us instructions. The street was actually a tiny alley. We walked down the cobblestone street and checked in. The gentleman manning the desk suggested that we walk up to the terrace and take a look around. I walked up the stairs, stumbling on that last uneven stair and took my first real look at Istanbul….. and the Hagia Sofia……

That's when we first heard it; beautiful and haunting, the call to prayer which occurs five times a day. We could hear a phrase, then what sounded like a prolonged echo; it was the call to prayer from another Mosque close by. It seemed that they took turns, singing a line, then giving the other Muezzin a chance. You can get a taste of it here. During our time in Turkey, I awoke to it in the morning, and set off to sleep to it late in the evening. There are still evenings when I almost expect to hear it…..

After freshening up, we headed off to explore Divan Yolu Caddesi, the main drag in the Old Town. There seemed to be a Baklava and Kebab shop on every corner. Everything seemed very touristy, as were the prices.

Much like my previous statement, things seemed quite close. It was faster to walk down to the Grand Bazaar then to catch the now packed as sardines Tram. After walking and exploring a bit, we were getting a bit hungry, but where to eat.

The Missus saw a woman rolling and making a crepe like item…….

Called Gozleme. We decided that this would be the place. We entered the restaurant and was seated. After we were seated we noticed something that we should have noticed earlier. The woman was making gozleme fresh alright. She was also stacking them in a pile, then reheating them when an order was placed. Hmmmm

We ordered a late of mezes, which was pretty low on flavor.

The lavas that came with it was really tough, almost hard, and not very good. It reminded me of a really bad tortilla.

The Missus ordered a spinach gozleme, the amount of oil on it was a bit alarming, but the filling had a nice spinach flavor.

I ordered the mixed meat gozleme. The filling was sparse, but with a nice gamey flavor.

But it was just really hard and brittle, not very good eats.

For me the nest thing was the Ayran, which was a standards issue grocery store brand. Later on the trip I'd have Ayran, a mixture of strained yogurt, water, and salt, that was pretty darn good.

The prices were pretty high for this type of meal; 25 TRY. In the end, much like our first meal in Beijing, I wrote this off to being in a new place and a bit tired.

One thing was for sure…… Istanbul sure was beautiful……

The Blue Mosque at dusk…..

Nanjing: Dinner

April 13, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Nanjing, Travel

We strolled (well, I limped) back to our room. After a pretty, well, I guess you could say eventful day, we decided to stick close to the hotel. I really needed to rest my foot. Across the street from the hotel was a bunch of smaller hotels and restaurants, and we finally chose this one (photo taken the next morning):

I gotta say we kinda lucked out on this one. In spite of the busy dining area, full of cigarette smoke and demanding customers, the service here was just righ for us. Friendly, without being overbearing. The woman running the dining room seemed to have great control over the employees…… we felt very comfortable here. Our server was quick with a smile, and seemed to enjoy explaining the specials to the Missus.

The Missus translated the menu to me, and I selected a classic Nanjing dish I wanted to try; the Nanjing Salted Duck:

A dish with a long history, this was delicious; fragrant, not too salty, much more tender than I expected, with a mild "wild game" flavor. I really enjoyed this.

The other dish that caught our fancy was the Dry Cooked Wild Mushroom. Man these Cordycep mushrooms were outstanding.

These mushroom were obviously twice cooked, first "passed through the oil", then stir fried with Chinese celery which added a nice palate cleansing flavor to the salty-sweetness of the soy and dark soy sauce and sugar. We ended up ordering this dish when we saw it again later. I've made this dish several times at home, perhaps I'll post a recipe one of these days. This was a very nice dish.

The Missus also enjoyed the simple stir-fried vegetable.

I didn't care much for the soup, which I thought was really bland, but the Missus loved it.

She thought it was light and rejuvenating.

Overall, this was a very nice meal, it was just what we wanted and needed. We simply crossed the street and headed back to our room for a good night's sleep.

Nanjing: Zhonghua Gate, Snacks, and brush with Healthcare in China

April 10, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Nanjing, Travel

After the snack banquet, we walked (well, I limped) around the Fuzi Miao (Confucian Temple), a major shopping area in Nanjing.

That's when the Missus saw the Tanghulu (冰糖葫芦), candied Haw. This was a childhood favorite of the Missus, so She just had to get it; even though it wasn't the right season for this (it's a winter snack). Unfortunately, this didn't live up to Her memories.

From this stand.

The Missus got this:

Looked delicious, but the Missus said it was terrible.

We slowly walked back to the hotel. My foot looked terrible when I removed my shoe. The Missus and I knew what it was. The joint before my big toe was three times it's normal size, an angry red and purple and hot to the touch. I felt a stabbing pain with every step. Gout runs in my family, and though I've never had an attack, I'd seen it before. The Missus also knew exactly what it was, and knew exactly what would resolve this; the drug Colchicine. I'm thinking all that seafood and meat I ate in QingDao and Jinan pretty much put me on the gout fast track. I did later learn that diet is only the cause of about 10% of gout cases, with genetics causing about 65%…. of course statistics, diagnosis, etc, really don't matter when you're in pain. You just want to get past it…. We did find out that there was a community hospital two blocks over with a small ER/Urgent Care. So headed off…..

So here's my experience with Chinese Healthcare in a nutshell. It's pay as you go. I was registered, I paid, then saw a physician. I paid, then got labs drawn. I paid then saw another physician. I paid, then got my meds. "In Mao we trust, all others pay cash……." Next, you're given your medical record. You are responsible for keeping track of your healthcare.

So after the blood tests, we saw a "foot specialist". He took a look at the foot, and told the Missus that it is possibly gout. The Missus asked for Cochicine, but the physician said that it's very "toxic" and he wouldn't prescribe it without a uric acid test. Now I had just had blood drawn, so the Missus asked why they didn't do a uric acid, we were told that "the technician who does the test is off on weekends." Okay, how about an NSAID like Indomethacin? The answer? "No, no it's very toxic to the liver, we can't do that unless we do a complete liver panel." And guess what, "the tech who does those tests is not working today. Look like I picked the wrong day to have a gout attack! Among the nuggets of wisdom imparted to the patient was, "stay away from bean curd" (yeah, right….. I'm in China), "don't eat spicy food" (we'd be in Chengdu in a couple of days, so mark that one as a no-go"), and "don't walk too much" (the Missus would sooner cut my leg off and replace it with a broomstick than cut down on our activities). As a consolation prize, I was prescribed three meds, a circulatory drug (??), Cefaclor, an antibiotic, I guess there was still a small chance this was cellulitis, and a mild NSAID, which, combined with my ibuprofen helped me to survive the trip. It was pretty painful going at times, but I survived. We walked back to the room, I took my meds, elevated my foot, got a couple of hours of rest and felt better.

Later on that afternoon I felt a bit better, and the swelling had descreased, so we headed off (on foot of course) down Zhonghua Road…..

During the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing was the capital of China. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang had the Ming City Walls built. The grandest gate is the South Gate, the Zhonghua Gate, which was formerly known as the Jùbăomén – "Gathering Treasure Gate".

It really didn't look all that impressive at first. But then I noticed that there wasn't just a single gate, but a total of four arched entrances…. making it quite formidable.

Between each gate is an open courtyard that the enemies would have to pass through.

When looking up at the arch in the gateway, you'll notice slots cut into the arch.

Apparently, these slots were used to lower and raise a "thousand kilogram" gate up and down.

From the top of the walls you see the other side of the slots, now covered with glass.

There are also 27 tunnels built into the walls of the gates. These tunnels were used to store supplies and shelter troops.

While walking up the stairs to the upper levels of the wall……..

I noticed that there were inscriptions on many of the bricks.

I mentioned this to the Missus, and wondered what it was. The Missus said it looked like some names and locations. A few minutes later we had our answer. In one of the tunnels was a display of the various bricks and inscriptions.

We learned that the Emperor had the names of the builders and brick makers inscribed on the bricks as a way of ensuring quality and responsibility. I'm guessing that this system worked rather well since the wall is still standing, and you can still read the inscriptions on many of the bricks.

Along with the stairs, large ramps line each end of the gates. I'm guessing so that soldiers on horse back could make their way up the gate quickly.

Making your way to the top you get a better idea of how imposing this wall was.

Taking a look from the top of the wall you see that the river flowing in front of the gate acts like a natural moat, making it even more formidable.

I'm guessing because it was later in the day, all the tour groups were gone and there was hardly any one around. You could really let your imagination go to work. I was really enjoying our time here, but it was starting to get a bit late in the day. It was time to leave.

Walking back toward Fuzi Temple was passed by one of those "food streets". On the taxi ride from the bus station the driver told the Missus that this was pretty much a tourist trap, and the food didn't reflect Nanjing food. Still, it was fun walking around and checking things out.

The Qinhua River looks quite nice during dusk…….

We decided to head back to our hotel and find something to eat near by……..

Stay tuned!

Postscript:

The day after returning home I went to see my physician. Of course he took one look at my foot and prescribed Colchicine and Indomethacin without waiting for my lab results. Two doses of colchicine and I was good as new. Well, almost. Unfortunately, the Xrays revealed some permanent damage to my foot, probably due all the pounding it took. My PCP, who has a dry sense of humor told me, "well, look at it this way, there aren't any triathlons in your future. And you don't plan on climbing Mount Kilimanjaro." (Of course I didn't tell him that Kilimanjaro was on the Missus's "bucket list") As a parting shot, he chuckled when I displayed the boxes for the meds I was prescribed in Nanjing. Especially this one:

He told me, "you know we prescribe this for hemorrhoids". I wonder where they thought I'd stuck my foot?

Nanjing: The Snack Banquet

March 23, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Nanjing, Travel

We arrived in Nanjing after a relatively short two hour bus ride from Suzhou. I'd been told that "100 kilometers or two hours away from anywhere in China, in any province, the food will be different." It had been a two hour bus ride from Hangzhou to Suzhou, and the cuisine was quite different. Now, in Nanjing the capital of China during six dynasties, and along with Beijing, Xi'an (our next destination), and Luoyang, one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, I was curious to see if the cuisine would differ so much. It would be interesting to see since we were still within Jiangsu Province. We caught a cab from the bus station to our hotel, during which time the Missus struck up a conversation with the cab driver. Finding out he was born and raised in Nanjing, the first business at hand would be questions about what to eat. I had a couple things in mind, but still really didn't know too much about Nanjing style food. The cab driver went through a couple of things, made a recommendation of a place to eat, and more importantly, where not to eat and why.

We arrived at the hotel, settled in, rested my foot which was starting to look pretty bad for about a half hour, then set out on foot to the major shopping area around the Confucian Temple and Qinhuai river….. bustling and busy…..

The Missus hit the brakes right alongside one of the snack stands……

Pointed at one of the mounds…….

And told me, "we gotta get this!"

It was my first experience with Gua Wei Can Dou (Strange Flavor Broad Beans – 怪味蚕豆).

One bite, and I was hooked! We stopped by here two more times during the trip. This version was the best I had.

Near the Qinhua River, we found the place the cab driver had recommended.

Walked through the doors and entered the restaurant upstairs…..

And was seated at one of the long tables in the dining area….

So what was this place?

Well, I heard that Nanjing was famous for its snacks; and this was a restaurant specializing in "Snack Banquets". There were several multi-course banquets available ranging in price from relatively inexpensive (by US standards) to very expensive (also by US standards). We just went with the most simple banquet.

And then it started……. plates started arriving at a pretty incredible speed.

And they just kept coming…..

And coming…..

Much of it was rather unremarkable……

For instance, on this plate, the only item I enjoyed was the Nanjing Salted Duck, one of a handful of Nanjing specialities I knew of.

On the other hand, I found that I didn't care for another Nanjing specialty, Duck Blood soup.

Man, this was pretty hardcore; next to the "Everything Soup" from Huguosi Snack Bar in Beijing, this was probably the most difficult item I'd had to date. Strong offal flavor; very metallic, not my cup of tea.

Most of the other soups were pretty routine in flavor.

More dishes…..

It was fairly apparent that everything has to be prepared ahead of time…….

And some of it rather haphazardly, check out the stray rice on the wrapper of the zongzi…..

All the dumplings, bao, and like were served cold……

My favorite item, was this…….

Though I'm not a big fan of pork sung, I loved the texture of this….. that's when the Missus told me, "oh, it says they make this with duck lard"…. duh…..

The rest of the meal.

In the end, this was more about the experience then the food. We'd find the same thing again a bit later on during or trip.

We left the restaurant, with almost a half day ahead of us. But by that time; my foot was really killing, and as I hobbled back to the hotel, I knew it had to be addressed……

Stay tuned!

Suzhou: Hot Pot

March 14, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Suzhou, Travel

After a filling lunch De Yue Lou we slowly headed back back to our room for our regularly scheduled afternoon nap. That's a photo of the North Temple (Beisi 北寺塔) Pagoda, reputed to be the oldest pagoda South of the Yangtze river.

Exhausted I immediately fell into a deep sleep back at the hotel. When I awoke it was already dusk, and the Missus was ready……. for some shopping! We walked along and browsed the various silk shops. While the Missus was looking at some silk, I noticed this in one of the glass cabinets…….

I thought "what a neat stuffed animal"! Until it moved!!!! And holy smoke it was a live cat just chillin' lying inside the glass case…..

Purchases in hand, it was time for dinner…… it had gotten a bit cooler over the last few hours, and a slow drizzle had started. We wanted something nice and warm in our bellies, so passing this hot pot shop made our dinner decision easy.

The place seemed to be doing some pretty good business…….

The Missus ticked off what She wanted…. we were in the mood for more vegetables, so that's the way we went.

We went with the "lamb bone soup"…….

There actually was a pretty good sized leg bone, with a decent amount of meat attached to it in the broth, along with cucumber, carrots, napa cabbage, and bean curd strips. The hot pot had a nice lamb flavor, making frozen bean curd a perfect ingredient. The only meat we had was fatty sliced lamb.

This shop also had a sauce bar, with all the usual suspects; fermented bean curd, etc….. and a couple of spicy options. I believe the sign says that you can have two choices, but we noticed folks just going ahead and helping themselves….. "so when in Rome" and all that.

I loved the mixed wild mushrooms…….

I did a good job of gnawing all that meat off the bone, and we finished two refills of the bone soup….

It was just the right thing for the moment. We left with warm full bellies, the rain had passed, and we took the long way back to the room.

We were up early the next morning, and caught a 5am cab to the bus station…. the very green bus station…..

Suzhou's bus station wasn't quite as nice and clean as Hangzhou's, and the restroom were pretty horrific, even by China standards. You could smell the latrine from the other side of the bus station. I don't know how the toilet paper vendor (yes, you either brought your own, bought some, or…. well, let's not go there) could stand it.

Soon enough, we were on the bus headed for our next stop…. Nanjing.

Suzhou: Lunch at De Yue Lou

March 1, 2011 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Suzhou, Travel

The Missus and I attempted to hit at least one restaurant that featured well known local cuisine in each city. In Suzhou it was easy to find. Right off the inevitable Guan Qian Jie was a location of De Yue Lou, a Suzhou institution. De Yue Lou was originally founded during the Ming Dynasty under Emperor Jiajing.

If you're walking at night, you can't miss this location……

My goodness…… Vegas eat your heart out!

During the day the place looks a bit more subdued. The Missus and I decided to have lunch here since we figured it would be less crowded….plus we'd already done a good bit of walking and were famished.

This was one of those multi-level monstrous restaurants that we came across everywhere in China.

We were seated away from the crowds on the second floor overlooking the street.

Even more monstrous than the restaurant was the appallingly bad service…..bad even by Chinese standards. With nothing to motivate the young Servers who seemed to want to be somewhere else…..they would forget things, and not care if you complained about it….in fact they would complain about you having to ask for rice four times! There's no reward for doing a good job, no tips, demanding customers….so it seems that the attitude is to do the least, and disappear whenever possible. I could use words like apathetic, dismissive, but 'nuff said.

The menu is quite large…….. and even includes this blurb in English.

Wanting to develop a baseline, we started with a Suzhou standard, the "Smoked Fish" which we always seem to get in places that serve "Su Cai" (Jiangsu cuisine), Huiyang cuisine, and even a good number of Shanghainese restaurants in the DGV.

Strangely, the flavor of this was very close to what we get at Chin's on Miramar Road, perhaps a bit sweeter, and much more tender….but very close!

There was one dish I wanted to try in Suzhou:

It was the Song Shu Gui Yu (松鼠桂鱼), the Squirrel Shaped Mandarin Fish. Versions we've had of this had always been really sweet, and not very good. But this was Suzhou…….

They should use this as signage during the evening as it looked glowing neon red…… as it arrived, it gave us both a start, bringing on memories of the gloppy-teeth aching sweet, artificial tasting sweet sour stuff served all over the place in the states. But it was not…..there was a light, complex and fruity sweetness, the fish was lightly fried, airy and crisp, almost melting in your mouth.

This was delicious, and we finished every thing we could……

The vegetables were also perfectly prepared.

Bai He (Lily Bulb), mildly starchy and sweet, the bittermelon added a good bitter contrast, but was also nice and crisp. The red peppers were sweet, and the cloud ears added an earthy flavor, grounding the dish.

In spite of the atrocious service, the food was very good…… we're still talking about that fish. Not sure if i'd go back if we return to Suzhou, though.

Suzhou: The Lingering Garden and a fairly familiar stop……

February 26, 2011 mmm-yoso Bakery, China, Markets & Grocers, Suzhou, Travel

Our first day in Suzhou was a busy one, and after walking back to our hotel room after dinner….. I was totally spent and crashed pretty quickly. I also knew that if the Missus had Her way, we'd have another full day coming up. And I was right, The Missus decided that we should walk from our hotel to the Lingering Garden (留園).

It ended up being a pretty long walk, but also gave us a pretty good look at some of the neighborhoods along the way.

In one of the shops along the way, we noticed that these "candidates" for dinner had made it out of the tanks, and were trying to avoid becoming the main course…..

We also came across a large "market area", and decided to take a detour….. I love these places…..

Scenes we've seen played out on a daily basis all over the world….

Meandering through the narrow alleyways…….

And over the canals….the ancient highway system for Suzhou.

Ending back up on the main street……

Out past the Changmen Gate….

You'll come across a simple long wall and gate……. the simple entrance belies the beauty of the Lingering Garden, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and along with The Humble Administrators Garden, The Summer Palace in Beijing, and the Imperial Mountain Summer Resort in Chengde, is considered one of the Four Famous Garden of China.

We'd arrived right at opening, but there were already a couple of tour groups in line. While waiting, a young lady walked up, and started chatting with the Missus. Apparently, University Students majoring in History and Tourism give free guided tours. We ended up having a free private tour, albeit in Mandarin (with the Missus translating). The young woman was very knowledgeable and pleasant, and we really enjoyed the experience.

The Lingering Garden was built in 1593, and had gone through several owners, each of whom added his own touch to the garden but still keeping within its grand design. The garden covers about two hectares and is divided into four parts, the central, North, East, and West. Which are connected by a corridor.

There's so much to write….and even more I forgot as the young woman was full of immense detail and stories of the garden. I'll stick to those that have really stayed with me. The first thing that I think of when it comes to the Lingering Garden was the wonderfully angelic song coming from this boat in the middle of the pond.

I've never been a big fan of this type of Chinese music, but here, in this environment, it was beautiful……. just plain beautiful.

The young woman told us we were lucky that it wasn't very crowded. When the garden is too busy, and the chattering gets too loud, the woman stops singing, since no one can really hear her.

The natural stones also grabbed my attention. Many of the large stones replicate mountains, landscapes, and in this case a scene. This one is called Eagle Fighting Wolf…. and looking closer it did indeed look like a eagle swooping down on a wolf.

This stone is probably the most well known…. we were told that it was headed to the Forbidden City… but the transfer was halted when the Communist regime took over.

For me, the most imp[ressive hall in the Lingering Garden is the "Yuan Yang Ting", the Mandarin Duck Hall.

The hall is divided into two saloons which are decorated differently. Even the beams and the roofs are different on each side of the hall.

There's so much more….but so little time. Here are a few other photos.

This is one place I'd like to return to.

There's a saying I heard several times while in China – "Shang you tian tang, xia you su hang" (上有天堂下有苏杭), "In Heaven There is Paradise, On Earth, Suzhou and Hangzhou".

My foot had started bothering me a little, so we decided to catch the bus back. Unfortunately, traffic was so bad we decided to get off the bus after a couple of stops and walk back to our hotel. Along the way, I noticed this shop…..

Look Familiar?

I'd been trying to get the Missus to 85C Bakery in Irvine, but She just didn't seem interested. But it was getting kind of hot, and we decided to take a short break….. and it ended up being just the perfect stop for us.

It turned out to be the perfect thing.

After this, every time the Missus was tired and needed a little pick-up, we'd look for a 85C Cafe…..

We were really enjoying Suzhou!

Chicago: Scooby’s Red Hots (Arlington Heights), Mr Beef and Pizza (Mt Prospect), and Buona Beef (Itasca)

February 24, 2011 mmm-yoso Chains, Chicago, Hot Dogs, Sandwiches, Travel

I'm thinking I'd better finish off my Chicago area posts…….

In some strange way, I felt somewhat restored after my Italian Beef from Johnnie's so I went for a drive around the Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect area. Right up the street from Johnnie's, also on Arlington Heights Road was this rather bright looking shop called……

Scooby's Red Hots:

Hey, it's Chicago…. in San Diego, you got taco shops,,,, in Chicagoland, it's Hot Dogs and Italian Beef! The interior was a colorful melange of retro looking posters, signs, and the like……

Well, this place says "red hots"….. and the Vienna Beef sign hangs proudly in the window, so what else am I going to get?

This dog had a good "snap" to it, and the bun was better than what I had at Peep's…… I lamented the lack of celery salt on this one. Still, it was a pretty good dog, and for under two bucks….. not a bad deal.

Scooby's Red Hots
1039 South Arlington Heights Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60005

I called it a night after that dog, awoke the next morning, checked ot of my hotel, jumped into the rental car, and drove around a bit more. I actually had "breakfast" at Five Guys in Mount Prospect. As I drove down Elmhurst Road, I noticed a somewhat familiar name.

Mr Beef and Pizza:

Before my Beef from Johnnie's, the best Italian Beef I'd had was from Mr Beef on North Orleans. Well…. this place said Mr Beef… so could it be?

Looking at the dining room…..kinda beat, this looked more like a kid arcade than a serious Italian Beef shop.

In fact, it seemed that more folks were getting pizza than anything else….. I should have taken that as a warning and left, but I went ahead and ordered the Beef Sandwich with Hot Peppers.

This tasted like mass produced deli roast beef that had been soaking in canned jus…… it just wasn't very good.

It just wasn't a very good sandwich…… and I'm sure it has nothing to do with the other "Mr Beef" I ate at before….

Mr Beef & Pizza
1796 S Elmhurst Rd
Mount Prospect, IL 60056

After this, I jumped back in my car and headed off to the airport……. except I decided to take the "long way". I had one more stop in mind. Further down Arlington Heights Road lay an outpost of a Italian Beef chain I was told that I needed to try….

Buona Beef:

This location is in the "village" of Itasca, and looked spanking new.

Started in 1981, there are now over a dozen Buno Beef restaurants in the greater Chicago area.

The look of the place was in total contrast to the Mom and Pop Italian Beef shops….. I remember emailing Cathy and telling her this place looked more like Panera Bread, Chipotle, or some other "fast casual" restaurant.

Of course that didn't stop me from getting a Italian Beef with Hot Peppers……

The overall sandwich was too dry for my tastes….. perhaps there's a step or request I missed? The Beef had a nice flavor, though some of it was fairly rare….which seems to take this closer to roast beef. The hot peppers had a little zip, but due to the amount of olives was more briny than spicy. There was a bit too much bread (thought it was pretty good) for this type of sandwich. In the end; it just wasn't "wet" enough for my taste. This was more like a roast beef sandwich in disguise.

And yet, if there was a Buona Beef in San Diego, I'd be eating there once in a while.

Buona Beef Restaurant
1170 N Arlington Heights Road
Itasca, IL 60143

As I waited in the boarding area at O'Hare, I mentally took stock of what I had eaten in the last day: A Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage and Duck Fat Fries, two Chicago Dogs, One burger from Five Guys, and three Italian Beef Sandwiches…… that's a pretty good 36 hours in my book!