Scenes From a Chinese Restaurant

I haven't slept much since I arrived in China. Between work, early morning and late night calls, and jet lag, I'm exhausted. Today was a throwaway day as I did next to nothing. I slept in to catch up on sleep, worked out, and sat next to the hotel pool for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I didn't actually hang out in the pool and that is for two reasons. One, it's a lap pool and I didn't want to disturb the two Chinese men swimming laps, and two, like at most Asian hotels, they require guests to wear a swim cap, and I don't really want to wear one. I know that's ridiculous, but I can't help it, I'm ridiculous.

For dinner, I needed to get out and get some fresh air. I asked the concierge to direct me toward some restaurants and nightlife. He told me where the best nightclubs were. I explained by nightlife, I just meant where some people would be, but whatever, I went with it.

The taxi dropped me off and I strolled on the pedestrian path along the water. There were a couple of Chinese restaurants, but mostly, the restaurants were more geared towards Westerners. My personal favorite was the Texas restaurant, which had a mechanical bull in the middle of it. I chose one of the two huge Chinese seafood restaurants and went inside. I figured since it said "Seafood Restaurant" under the Chinese lettering, they would at least have English menus and a staff that spoke some English. I was looking for something Chinese, but not too Chinese that I'd have trouble communicating and knowing what I was ordering.

The Honor Seafood Restaurant looked like so many others in China, resembling an enormous banquet room, all the way down to the chair covers, clinking glasses, and the chandeliers and light fixtures trying desperately to appear more luxurious and expensive than they really are. The clamour of Chinese discussion between friends and family was overwhelming and filled the air that smelled overwhelmingly of seafood and Chinese flavors.

Primarily through hand gestures, I was able to get a table for one. I normally refuse to eat at restaurants with pictures on the menu, but In China, I try not to eat anywhere that doesn't. I fear getting food poisoning in China. This one also had English translations for the menu items.

Eating alone is a strange experience, but one I know all too well from the jobs I've had which require me to travel. At least in the US, the wait staff tries to talk to you (even though I don't really want them to), but here, it's literally 45 minutes of pure silence. It can be therapeautic. Sometimes it is nice to simply have some time to think. Sometimes, it isn't. I like having time to think, but currently, all I think about is work, so I really don't like having dead time.

I ask the waitress for a Tsigntao beer. She asks with her fingers if I want one or two. I thought it was an odd question, but I figured, why not, maybe she's onto something, as I raised the index and middle finger on my right hand.

The waitress hovered over me as I opened and skimmed through what seemed like a 40 page menu. I finally decided on baked shrimp, a crabmeat dish, and beef stir fry. It seemed like 30 minutes or so went by as I waited for my food, but it was probably exagerrated due to the fact that I was alone. The crabmeat dish was pretty good, but when I started getting shell in my bites, I decided I was done with it. The shrimp came and wasn't what I expected when I ordered it. It was more like breaded and pan fried shrimp. This normally would be fine, but they were breaded and pan fried in the shell with the head and tail still on. I had no clue how I was supposed to eat this. It's one of the most uncomfortable things about eating in China, figuring out how and what you are supposed to eat. It's one place I really prefer to eat with locals. I tried peeling one completely and that didn't seem right. I then ate a few in the shell, but took off the tails and heads. I gave up after that and spent my time on the stir fried beef.

As a side note here, most restaurants don't have napkins, so people don't eat with their hands. I later asked Jason, who is from Shanghai and is traveling with me (but had flown home for the weekend), how Chinese people eat shrimp in a shell. He explained (and later showed me) that they put the entire thing in their mouth, de-shell it with their teeth and spit it out on the plate. I'm still not clear if this how everyone does it or only how Jason does it. I'm also not sure if that is more civilized or the way we do it in America with our hands. 

It felt like the entire restaurant was staring at me as the meal went on, when in reality, it was just the few tables around me and most of the wait staff. I wanted dessert, but nothing on the menu looked that great and I dreaded trying to communicate with the waitress again. In the end, one of the waitresses walked me over to the register to pay. After paying, besides the receipt, I was handed what looked like Chinese scratchoff lottery tickets. I may be very wealthy right now, but I have no idea what they say.

I like to travel and I like to try new things when I do travel, but being risk averse, I need a little guidance and prefer to have recommendations whether from someone I know or from a guide book. I like to know what I'm getting myself into and in this case, what I am putting in my mouth. I'll most likely stick to eating at the hotel tomorrow and wait to explore again when Jason returns from Shanghai.