for the past two days, xiaoyun and i have been frantically trying to log on to the internet. we tried everything - from removing our firewalls (not recommended) to trying to manually dial our broadband connection. we finally threw in the towel and rang the 富润家园 tech support. we were reluctant to do so because his coming would have meant having to pay him 100 yuan in consultation fees, and i'd even told xiaoyun that maybe he even arranged for our internet to fail so he could come again.
(although she did find him more trustworthy than the guy who cheated us and sold us our router for five times its worth, as he was the one who told us that we had been cheated.)
and the first thing he told me when i told him, in a rather dismayed tone, that our internet wasn't working was 你们应该是还没还这个月的用费吧。已经是三月了。which means, it's likely that you girls haven't paid this month's internet bill。 it's already march.
well we've paid it, and now you can be the proud possessor of the knowledge that on saturday night i ate a scorpion and a grasshopper, and just now jinni and i stopped by a street food stall near our place and ate 14 or so sticks of miscellaneous things between us, which had been cooked in ma la soup. and we also shared a bottle of tsingtao beer between us.
it was very safe, everything was piping hot and cooked on the spot in a huge metal tray. kinda like steamboat on sticks. and we had pretty healthy stuff, vegetables and tofu and things.
you have no idea how good ma la and tsingtao is together, particularly on a cold, windy beijing night. it really warms you up - so your hands freeze from the wind and the cold beer bottle, but you're all toasty warm inside.
the ma la and tsingtao was in honour of jon, really. if only he'd been there, those are two of his favourite things and i know he'd have enjoyed it.
anyhow, on saturday after the three of us - paul, me and shangren - had eaten one grasshopper each - they were sold in threes, on a stick, fried and coated in chili powder - we were walking along looking for jinni and xiaoyun when paul suddenly said shangren! there's a grasshopper leg at the side of your mouth!.
oh and in case you were wondering, the scorpions tasted like fried prawn shells.
(although she did find him more trustworthy than the guy who cheated us and sold us our router for five times its worth, as he was the one who told us that we had been cheated.)
and the first thing he told me when i told him, in a rather dismayed tone, that our internet wasn't working was 你们应该是还没还这个月的用费吧。已经是三月了。which means, it's likely that you girls haven't paid this month's internet bill。 it's already march.
well we've paid it, and now you can be the proud possessor of the knowledge that on saturday night i ate a scorpion and a grasshopper, and just now jinni and i stopped by a street food stall near our place and ate 14 or so sticks of miscellaneous things between us, which had been cooked in ma la soup. and we also shared a bottle of tsingtao beer between us.
it was very safe, everything was piping hot and cooked on the spot in a huge metal tray. kinda like steamboat on sticks. and we had pretty healthy stuff, vegetables and tofu and things.
you have no idea how good ma la and tsingtao is together, particularly on a cold, windy beijing night. it really warms you up - so your hands freeze from the wind and the cold beer bottle, but you're all toasty warm inside.
the ma la and tsingtao was in honour of jon, really. if only he'd been there, those are two of his favourite things and i know he'd have enjoyed it.
anyhow, on saturday after the three of us - paul, me and shangren - had eaten one grasshopper each - they were sold in threes, on a stick, fried and coated in chili powder - we were walking along looking for jinni and xiaoyun when paul suddenly said shangren! there's a grasshopper leg at the side of your mouth!.
oh and in case you were wondering, the scorpions tasted like fried prawn shells.
Yucks! Grasshoppers and scorpions?! I'm glad the food here in Germany is somewhat less... exotic. Hahaha! How's it going there!
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