The feels! The feels I have for this Japanese restaurant that serves the best fried pork chop in the land! This was a happy accidental discovery by myself and JP while we were walking around GuanYing Xiao. We entered Sunshine Mall and discovered that the fourth floor was the default food floor, since that's where different restaurants, from Japanese, Thai and even an American-style pizza place kept shop. This place is extra memorable, because this is where I used chopsticks on rice FOR THE FIRST TIME! It boggled my mind, in the past, to see people picking up rice with the finger dexterity of acrobats-- I knew that I could never do it. And I didn't for years, until one day when I was so hungry and the pork chop looked so good that I knew I would have to learn how to pick at rice with chopsticks if I didn't want to starve. The servers, who are young, very friendly Chinese kids, always look happy to see us, so it's no surprise why I look forward to weekend lunches in this place.
travel, travel, travel, travel, travel, travel, travel, travel, travel, travel, travel, travel, travel, travel,
Sometimes I look back at moments like this and realize how these milestones came out of random walks and unplanned trips that led us to discoveries that we would revisit over and over again, and there is nothing but gratitude for moments like these. Chongqing is a city of hotpots so finding these gastronomic havens is something that I will always be thankful for.
“Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far East, eating only in Hard Rock Cafes and McDonalds? Or do we want to eat without fear, tearing into the local stew, the humble taqueria's mystery meat, the sincerely offered gift of a lightly grilled fish head? I know what I want. I want it all. I want to try everything once.”
― Anthony Bourdain,
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
So there's this really small noodle shop just around the corner from where we live in Chongqing and it serves the best spicy beef noodle soup! The meat is soft, the noodles firm and it is the right amount of spicy. This place is where I really learned how to eat noodles with chopsticks. For the longest time, I have shied away from learning how to use chopsticks because I thought I can live with dishes that do not require eating with them, but that was all before I tasted their noodles.
The place is fairly small, with just about six or seven tables and there's only one person behind the counter. She takes your order and prepares it in the kitchen. But the service is fast and the noodles are always done right when she serves them. Gaaah, my mouth is watering just thinking about them! This shop is one example of local eats that make this place really interesting to be in. There's a McDonalds, a few Western style bakeshops and even a Seven Eleven nearby, but after some time, you get bored with fastfood (and it makes you sick!) and you want to try out what the locals are having. For those who want a tamer version of Chongqing's hot and spicy fare, a visit to this small noodle shop is a must.
travel, travel, travel, travel, travel, travel, travel, travel, travel,
“I drift like a cloud,
Across these venerable eastern lands,
A journey of unfathomable distances,
An endless scroll of experiences...
Lady Zhejiang here we must part,
For the next province awaits my embrace.
Sad wanderer, once you conquer the East,
Where do you go?”
― Tom Carter,
China: Portrait of a People
Back in May, JP and I went to Foreigner Street, an amusement park of sorts in Chongqing that takes kitsch to a whole new level. The place is filled with replicas of Western landmarks, a Western-style chapel, pubs, fairy-tale streets, street performers, hawkers, costume shops that take photos of you in traditional Chinese clothing, and amusement rides. In short, it is crawling with people. People have a love-hate relationship with the park, from what I have read, but for those who see the interestingness in places and things, this place is worth a visit.
Apart from the rides and the touristy souvenir shops, there's a section of old Chinese courtyards, which were fairly quiet and had very little foot traffic, since most Chinese are probably familiar with these courtyards anyway and avoided these places for the livelier sections of the park. I was mesmerized at how real the place looked. I used to watch Chinese movies dubbed in English or Tagalog when I was younger, and in those movies, you can see old Chinese houses with courtyards that had fountains and wells and lanterns hanging outside. And I got to see the real thing here! It was surreal, actually, especially since it was very quiet and I was able to get lost in the moment, just me and my thoughts and the occasional click of the shutter (the husband was sitting in a corner, tired from all the 'splorin', haha!) When you think about it, all the history that probably occurred in this place, weddings, funerals, swordfights(!!!)---it boggles my mind. CNN has a great piece on Chongqing's Foreigner Street here.
A few snaps of what we saw there.
