Dinner at The Mansion

We woke up from our six hour nap and went down to Starbucks. Nobody spoke English, so they weren’t understanding my requests to know if the ice was filtered. I ordered my favorite tea but then when I got it, I thought it just looked funny…call me paranoid, but it just wasn’t like home. So I threw it away.

For dinner we stumbled upon a classic and very authentic Chinese restaurant called The Mansion where happy well dressed women greeted us when we got off the elevator. It was quite surreal as we thought we were just going up to another level of an indoor mall, but we instantly knew we had found the right place for dinner, as it was filled with locals.

They gave us a menu with pictures of foods, and they had English writing too! Here is a small sample of some of the more popular delicacies:

Ox’s penis and donkey’s penis stewed in a pot:

Braised goose feet with abalone sauce:

France goose liver and Fish Lip in Thick Soup:

We ordered rice, plain noodles, kung pao chicken, and some other chicken that was similar to orange chicken, but the sauce was a little ‘goopier’. We also got dumplings, and steamed broccoli. We wanted to ease into our Chinese food experience and take it slow. 😉

It was a pretty fancy place, and they have live entertainment; A guy with a big tin pot that had a long stem/spout. They turned on the music loud, and he did a dance with it, then he did some fancy pouring maneuvers into people’s cups. Then there was the singing red monster guy, and then a woman playing a beautiful sounding harp-like instrument. For me (Todd) the most enjoyable thing about this place was being able to observe the locals who were eating there. They were all having such a good time and enjoying one another’s company!

Kim and the kids went to the bathrooms, which they said were an experience in themselves, and in the mens room there were no toilets, nothing except a fancy waterfall. Jonathan told us that he figured that is what he was supposed to use, so he peed in/on it! I forgot to go check it out before we left.

After that we walked around the nearby mall and grocery store. Everything here is very western friendly. Things are really clean and lots of things we are used to are available. It was so random in the mall to see this possessed looking dog walking around, all tired and slow. Everyone acted like it was completely normal, and just walked around him. A strange sight indeed. Everywhere we go, people stare and point at Hannah, especially when she’s in her stroller. They laugh and point, like she is some big sight to see. We were wondering why so we asked a lady at the hotel why everyone is pointing and staring at her, and doing double takes. She said people do that because she is so lovely.

We caused quite a spectacle in the grocery store when the kids and I (Kim) had to use the restroom. We had about six workers gathering around us and pointing at us and asking us all these questions and smiling and nodding at us. From what I could make out from their English, I think they were amazed that we have three kids!? Still not sure, but now we are just waiting until later today when we have Hope and there are five white people walking around with a Chinese little girl. I have a feeling its going to cause a lot of pointing and staring. 😉

Off to breakfast! 🙂