Typhoon Who?

If you haven't heard yet, it looks like my Asian experience will include an up close look at a typhoon. Typhoon Megi just got done raping the phillipines and now it may feel like a Hong Kong cigarette. But don't worry.

Right now, no one here is overly worried for a couple reasons. One, Megi weakened siginficantly after hitting the Phillipines. It is strengthening some now but also has started to wobble on its track, and that usually weakens one. Estimations are sying it might be equivalent to a strong cat3 or weak cat4 hurricane when it makes landfall. Second, there's a high pressure front dropping in out of Mongolia that looks to weaken it some and perhaps push it north of Hong Kong for landfall. Being south of the eye will guarantee a lesser impact. Third, building codes locally require typhoon resistance and much engineering has gone into drainage for the heavy rains that are common in the wet season. I know that this is China, and code enforcement might not be the best, but at least some forethought went into it.

Also, we have friends here now, and I believe that they will help us to make sure we are safe and well cared for in any emergency. Hospitality here is a major commitment of honor. There's a possibility that my flight may be delayed Sunday, but other than that I think we'll be fine. Of course, that doesn't mean we will stay on the 17th floor that night either. If things get really bad, remeber that I am a good southern boy raised outdoors, and my partner Dave knows the lay of the land here. We're capable.


Now, having cleared that up, let me tell you about the fun we've been having. Our contacts with our major supplier were very happy to learn that we like real chinese food and want to try everything instead of only wanting KFC like most westerners. The VP of Marketing is an avid cook and considers himself an expert on chinese cooking, so he has been helping us sample a different type of regional cooking at each meal. Monday at lunch we started with Sezchuan since we both like spicy food. We ate at a well-known local place called Flowertown and I had my first experience with Chinese dining. Many different main dishes, soups, and side dishes are put in the middle of the table on a big glass lazy susan and everyone takes little bits of each dish as they wish. Serving chopsticks are provided, as well as spoons for the soups and heavily sauced dishes, but taking a bit of something with your personal chopsticks and eating it directly is perfectly fine. Messes are made, sauces are dripped and noodles are slurped, but no one cares because the follow Confuscious' direction to truly enjoy food. I have not met anyone yet that didn't really love to eat.

Anyway, the first lunch included spicy chicken heart and stomach with hot peppers ( my favorite,) a beef and pepper dish with cumin that tasted like good Mexican food, a whole split local fish topped with spices and accompanied with special rice noodles (good noodles, not big on the fish,) Cairman Mao Pork - thick cubes of por with lots of fat cooked in a red sauce slightly sweet and touched with cinnamon and nutmeg, a beef soup that tasted like good american beef broth, sliced cold spicy chicken, and gold-and-silver bread - a mixed plate of steamed and deep-fried rolls, fresh steamed bok choy and some other stuff. Grand total for 4 people for a 2 hour lunch? about $40. Oh yeah!

At dinner we were honored to be given a fabulous meal by the Director Vice President of our supplier company. We ate at the Chinese style restaurant here in our 5 star hotel - in aprivate room. Picture a super-lux private room with plush seating area and 4 or 5 staff for the 6 of us dining. An absolutely unreal experience. The meal was Cantonese style, highlighting very fresh ingredients with lighter sauces that let the ingredients shine. We started with good Jasmine tea and conversation, then leisurely moved to dinner. Dishes included Marinated sliced flightless duck (gamey but good), a whole crab with glass noodles (try eating crab with chopsticks), fantastic tofu blocks in sauce, beef spare ribs, candied nuts with sesame, steamed lightly sauced baby bok choy, Kung Pao chicken (the same one, but so different,) a dish of dark kidney beans cooked with papaya (completely unexpected but fantastic,) large steamed dumplings with meat filling that looked like little balloons, shrimp fried rice (yes, they eat it here), grilled snowfish with ceese and some kind of starchy vegetable, and finally the most magical seared Abalone I've ever tasted. All served on damask silk table cloths with gold utencils and mahogeny chopsticks as we discussed the differnece in American and Chienese approaches to knowledge and life while sharing the best white wine I've ever tasted. Folks, this country boy is a loooong way from boiled peanuts and Budweiser. And enjoying the hell out of it.