Shanghai and Hangzhou Part 1: The Food

Hey all!  As I mentioned in my last blog, I headed to Shanghai and Hangzhou this past week to see my friend, Echo.  Some of you know her or have heard of her --- she is my good friend from when I studied abroad during college.  We had an awesome week.  It is very customary of the Chinese that when they have a visitor to their hometown, they pay for EVERYTHING.  So, out of an entire week I managed to get my money out before her for one meal and one taxi ride.  I was really spoiled!  She took me to a ton of really nice restaurants and we even had some meals at home with her family.  Another customary thing of Chinese culture (or maybe all cultures??) is that they practically hand-feed you while you are in their home.  So, that being said...I ate some interesting foods throughout the week!  Echo's family loves seafood so that is a staple at each meal - I ate eel, shrimp with the head still attached (don't worry...I bit the head off and spit it out!), tons of fish...bones included, which I also spit out :), oysters, clams, squid, crab legs, crab soup, crab dumplings, crab and potatoes - just call me Bubba Gump!  I told Echo that I would try almost anything once and, looking back, I'm glad I inserted the "almost" because I had to draw the line when they brought out the turtle...still looking very much like a turtle, just flipped up on its shell with its little legs sprawled.  :( 

Echo did give me a real treat one night when we went to Papa Johns for dinner...oh, the cheese was soooo good!  

All in all - the food that we had was pretty tasty and I learned that I can eat much more exotic foods than I thought I could - and I think I came out a little bit more open-minded, too.  ;)

Stay tuned for Shanghai and Hangzhou Parts 2 & 3 - The Sights and The People!!