Lost in Translation

Har?
(for Singapore readers)

Huh?
(for everyone else)

Qingshiqiao Marketplace

how much is that doggie in the window
the one with the waggley tail
how much is that doggie in the window
I do hope that doggie's for sale

recorded by Patti Page, 1953

The city-centre Qingshiqiao Market is a bustling slice of Chengdu life. The tightly-packed market is filled with a bewildering array of food, plants and pets, including bonsai trees, fighting crickets, eels and birds.

source: www.whatsonwhen.com

The marketplace may well have been a busy and exciting place to pick up garden supplies, pets and food at one time. But these days, it is a quiet alley with few vendors still plying their trade. But we were glad we visited the place before it is totally gone.

Chengdu - Storehouse of Heaven

who will buy my sweet red roses?
two blooms for a penny

Oliver! soundtrack

Chengdu enjoys favorable agricultural conditions, and it has long been known as the Storehouse of Heaven. It is the important production base of commercial vegetable oil, vegetables, fruits and Chinese medical herbs.

source: Chengdu Agriculture

The Hot, the Spicy and the Oily - Sichuan food

We read up on Sichuan cuisine and looked forward to experiencing the unique "tongue numbing" quality of notoriously spicy hot dishes created from their exquisite blend of chili peppers and peppercorns.

We got to try out the popular signature dishes which included

Kung Pao Chicken 宮保雞丁
Twice cooked pork 回鍋肉
Mapo tofu 麻婆豆腐

The food is not chili-pepper hot like where a mere whiff of the chili is enough to induce sweat droplets to pop out on one's forehead. Instead, it is a taste altering medley of tongue numbing sensation when one bites into the peppercorns. A couple of times of this unexpected burst of citrusy-bitter-numbness taking over my taste buds is enough to make me pick out all the peppercorns and sit them aside where they will do no further harm to my culinary enjoyment.

We found the local (read original) version of sichuan food much too oily and salty. The experience helped decide for us to give their famous spicy hotpot meals a miss. We happily complemented our meals with trusty Chinese standards like dim-sum.

We much prefer the internationalised version of Sichuan food for it's tamer and more straightforward taste.

Panda-land

1. Welcome to Panda-land
2. Panda lunch
3. Panda date
4 Panda nursery
5 Panda gym
6 Panda condo
7 Panda loo

The giant panda really is every bit as cute as you always thought he would be :)