Asia Trip Day 2: New Chengdu (12/20/17)

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The Chengdu metro is much newer (and nicer) than Boston's

The next morning, Xuezhu, her cousin/BF, and I walked to the Chengdu metro. We also stopped for a quick breakfast (dumpling, soy drink, tea egg). We went to the metro and made our way back to her grandparents’ to help in transferring her grandfather to the hospital. I assisted in carrying down her sick grandfather down the 6 flights of stairs in a wheelchair. The building is old, so it didn't have an elevator. The building also didn’t have central heating and insulation, so it was very cold and people would have to wear coats around the house. We helped him into the ambulance to be given more professional care in the hospital. I stayed there a little bit. Her mom and aunts were all dedicated, taking overnight shifts to always have someone there with their father.




Fish (left with peanuts) and rabbit (right)

Her father then took us to her old school where she had her photo on the wall of fame for high-jumping. He then took us to a Sichuan restaurant which served rabbit and fish in heated trays. I never had rabbit before this, but it tasted similar to pork. The pieces had bones in them, meaning it was dark meat and very flavorful (but bony). Both dishes was seasoned with a ton of chilies, peppercorns, and garlic, which made it very savory. For dessert were fried gluttonous rice cakes coated with sugar, which were crispy, soft, and chewy. The rice cake doesn't have too much flavor but very nice texture.
There was also a tea jelly with chopped candies and dried fruit that was light and refreshing.


Weird decorations in the mall
Afterwords, Xuezhu took me to the recently developed areas in Chengdu, which included many modern malls and restaurants. The quality of these buildings met or exceeded US in terms of look and feel, which made it in extreme contrast to the older and rougher neighborhoods.
While I appreciate the aesthetics of the traditional building, I have to say that what I absolutely detest the general uncleanliness and austerity associated with them. Particularly the toilets, which are just porcelain holes to squat over. And they aren't usually clean or have any ventilation, so enough said.



Me with Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Goku (a lot shorter in person)

Bat-mobile at the karaoke place

A whole lot of longan 
We stayed out until it was time to meet up with one of Xuezhu's school friends. I actually met him in before in a NYC trip; he had very good English which made things easy. We did karaoke and then went to some small restaurant. We said goodbyes and then went somewhere else to eat since we didn't eat too much before. 


I got a bowl of beef noodle soup, which is something I recently realized as being one of my favorite dishes, definitely top 5. I like beef, noodle, and soup, so it all works out. While delicious, the broth of the beef soups in China are very oily (especially those with chili), so it is not advised to drink much of it. But the noodles have a nice firmness to them, and soak up a lot of the beef and chili flavors. There is also not too much meat or vegetables (sometimes a little nappa), so it is essentially just delicious oily noodles.




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