Eating in Xi'an

We were not terribly adventurous with food in Xi'an.

For lunch, we stayed with basic dim sum, instead of the dumpling buffet which Xi'an is famous for. Some how, dim sum is, well, dim sum, no matter how one tries to stretch the imagination. Eating 60 baskets of dim sum is, well, eating 54 more baskets of the same thing as the 6 we happily put away.


For dinner, we stuffed ourelves silly on Xi'an Roast Duck.Yes, the entire duck is carved and served up. Yes, you wrap as many servings as you want. Since we were only 2 demolishing an entire duck, I'd say we ate to our heart's content. We love this departure from the Beijing Duck protocol where you get only the skin (with attendant lump of fat) while the rest of the duck gets made into soup, noodle, vegetable flavouring etc. I say when we want roast duck, give us the WHOLE roast duck!

Dinner is complete with familiar side orders of vegetables, fried rice and (why not?) jiaozi.

We really enjoyed the familiarity of comfort food in Xi'an. I know. We are such culinary bores.

On a street in Xi'an

you will find


1. The Bell Tower
2. Dong Dajie (the shopping street in Xi'an)
3. Medicine on the move
4. Just your everyday friendly roadside medical consultation
5. Ling-ger-ree (for Singapore readers), underwear (for everyone else)
6. It's a guy thing
7. Yu pay more?? Y??

Warriors, Horses and an Emperor

The man and I are not good tourists. We do not feel the need to visit cultural and historical landmarks in our travels. Rather, we much prefer to stay in the city and take in the street scene. Having said that, we still feel some small compulsion to at least visit the most important site of any new travel destination.

So, for Xi'an, we made the obligatory pilgrimage to the Museum of Qin terracotta warriors and horses and the nearby Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huangdi.

The day started at zero degree C and rapidly fell to -7C. Needless to say, we did not loiter. At the terracotta warriors site, we stayed long enough to walk through all 3 excavated pits. We climbed about 2 sets of steps at the Qin Emperor's mausoleum. We took enough pictures to show that we were actually there braving the bitter winter wind. My fingers turned blue and threatened to drop off. And I was bundled in a full winter coat complete with head cover and gloves. Two hours total of this cultural immersion was enough to last us a lifetime.

I don't get how some tourists want to hear every minute detail ad nauseam about the sites from taped recordings or worse, hire those irritating professional guides who yammer non-stop in your face.

I know. We are such philistines.

What to eat in Xi'an

Hard work is...

Our fare is...

Happiness is...

Local flavours of Xi'an.

It is as much a visual treat as it is a gastronomical delight.

Springtime in Xi'an

Xi'an, February 15 - February 18

It is spring time in the city. The highest temperature registered 3C for maybe all of two hours in the 3 days we were there. Most of the time it was -3C and we would be grateful it wasn't any lower.

A winter's tale

Xian, Saturday 16 February, 8am

Some incongruent noise jotted me out of my deep sleep. Reluctantly, I peered at the clock on the bedside table. 8am. I was not ready to get out of bed. I knew it was a dreary grey wintry morning outside, with temperature failing to even make zero degree C.

Then I heard it. Beyond my bed headboard. Coming from the room next door. Eck, eck, eck in 2- second tempo. That's her entire range of sexual noises! Then the eck, eck, eck stopped after 4 minutes. That's their entire sexual repertoire!

If I have to be woken from my precious sleep by love-making noises, I really wished that it would be the truly inspired, deeply felt, and earth-moving variety. The kind that would allow me to forgive myself for eavesdropping on somebody's private intercourse. And then be so crass as to tattle about it here.

Instead, I found it hard to forgive those people in the next room for so rudely interrupting my sleep with their insipid 4-minute eck, eck, eck routine.

I know. I am such a grouch in the morning.