Let's Go Out and Have Some Snake for Dinner!

And so we did go out last night to a restaurant nearby. It was our friend Trevor's birthday, so we all went out to celebrate at a place that was about a 20-minute walk from the hospital. It was rainy and humid so I felt like I was back home already, until we got to this place.

This was no ordinary restaurant and most of them are like that. This is a place that not only the food is completely unfamiliar, but the location as well. See, it is like real estate rules for a food venue don't apply. Remember those? Location, location, location! and most of the good places here are not like you and I are used to, where the place just sits there, facing out to the street. Most places here, and real fine good eateries, are located inside a building and always at a higher floor. This one in particular was at the 5Th floor of a big building, so we had to take the elevators to get there of course.

Another particular thing you find here is that you wont see a huge dining room crowded and full of people. You don't see waiter and bus boys running around, it's not like that. Actually, you rarely get to see other clients because you sit down inside private dining rooms with dedicated attendants. You seat in a big round table with a spinning surface so that all dishes are put there to go around the table. The tradition in China, and this is something you might already know because it is like that almost at all restaurants, is to share food. You don't get to have your own order to sit in front of you, no way, it spins around the table for others to share.

There are no menus here either! You go to a separate room and all the dishes are displayed there so you can hand-pick whatever it is you want to eat (and share of course.) Not only you find regular or traditional dishes here, but fish and crabs and prawns and others that could not be identified, inside huge water tanks. Can this be more fresh! Here, take a look at this video in which I walk around the whole ordering room looking for a fish to choose, a big crab or anything that might look like something we could eat (about 91% of what I saw here was completely strange to my well trained palate, although you could see some live snake waiting to be fixed.)

Snakes in China!

After I spent an enormous time trying to figure out what to order for us, I did. I chose some fried fish skin, some fried meat and onions, steamed and fried rice and oh well, a snake! Yes, I came all the way down here to try something new; the whole experience must be complete, and it would not be if I didn't pick a live snake for our delight. The snakes are kept in their own glass tank (two kinds of snake, which if you ask me, well, no idea) and I just pointed at the one with the meaner look and thought of revenge. Now it is my turn, and we will eat you! So we did, and it was brought to our table and as far as I can tell, it was chopped up and deep fried. It was presented with a sauce on top, some mix of soy sauce and some sweetener I could not know what it was (remember, here in China sugar is not an ingredient for cooking) but it tasted good. If you have eaten at a sushi restaurant and ordered eel rolls, well that is how it tasted but with more skin and fish-like spines which was the not-so-good part. If you think you feel grossed out already, let me tell you what they drink: they would take the snake liver, uncooked on a shot glass, pour in some sort of white liquor and up you go, a snake liver shot! ugh! That I did not come close to trying; I came here in search for answers and experience, not to meet death halfway. So take a look at this short video where I take a shot of the snakes, alive, sitting o their tanks waiting to be chewed upon.

And this is how the snake, now dead and deep fried looks like, enjoy!

How could I go to this place and not order duck, such a traditional Chinese plate with such a good taste (and did you know that duck has less cholesterol than chicken? Now you know.) So we ordered duck, and it was again, really good. There was something that bothered me a little though and I am not sure how you are going to feel about it, but it was out of my league. The freaking duck leg, no! Take a look at this next picture, it looks like if it was fake, like a plastic duck made but it is the ugly real thing.

But where did the leg come from? Where is the rest of the duck? Where is the duck? Well, I captured the image right before the poor little fellow was going to be cooked. Move away, dead duck walking!

Just check out to unlucky guys in the back, looking at the food and wondering "what is this, should we eat, where's the rice?"

But everybody was happy, we all shared stories and enjoyed such a particular experience. We ate the steamed rice, the fried rice, some huge crab, asparagus, the meat, the snake. It was all good, and for the first time in my life, I ate food for the soul. That's right, it all has a huge and deep meaning, so it was not about filling our bellies up, it was about the experience that comes along such a vast and complicated journey. We truly enjoyed while the captain turned 36!

Marujita will have here second lumbar tomorrow and given that her reaction is as good as the first one, I am requesting another one, so she can have 7 in total and 6 being spinal. It sounds so strange, I am requesting another one! Who's the doctor here, is this an a'lacarte hospital, bring me some vicodin please! But it is how it works. The biotech institute does not want to push you into getting as much as they can give, because there are no limits. They don't want to be seen as a money machine (because dude, is this expensive! I'm buying another 911, help!) but rather explain you how it works, and that only progress justifies more and more of this shots. Basically, each injection provides a count of about three million cells, so if you do the math, she will receive twenty one million. These cells have to do their tough and specific job, so the more help they get the better. It is like everything in life, it is about team work.

OK my friends, I will stop here and carry on with our daily routine. It has been a little over a week and it looks like such. We are on schedule to fly back Friday June 12Th and play the waiting game. This will take some time until we see results, but there will be results. How can't it be? With such a strong and dedicated support from all of you, there is simply no other choice!

I will see you here later, hope you enjoy the snake, we did!