Around the World

Day 2 in china – part 3

 

This day really deserves 3 parts with the third one being terrific….

I was actually invited to a dinner…and I went (not like I had a choice)…it was fun….the girls and guys in the team started packing…I asked them if it was time to leave….they said they would come by the subway and I could come the lead in a car as he would bring our German colleague also with him…

But I wanted to see the subway and I was not missing this chance….for no reason….so I told them that I am coming with them…we got into the bus from SAP to the subway station….at the station they taught me how to buy a ticket….then I clicked a few pics…after which we were in the train

 

We got down at the destination…and there was the oriental tower…it was glowing with lights at night…and so were so many other sky scrappers…I thought it was good that I could come there at night and look at the beauty…clicked some snaps again.

 

We then walked to the hotel…at the hotel…my lead and the other colleague not yet arrived….they had asked us to order…all of them really took care that they told me which was vegetarian. They also enquired if the vege food was made of vege oil…they ordered a few things for me…

 

Then started my nightmare…

 

Background……

I am a typical south Indian vegetarian….grown up in complete strict rules of not touching others plates while eating etc etc…been a little liberal when outside home by sharing food with friends at school and college…

But common plate was only for stuff like chips or gobi manuchuri which was in piece form…not curd rice or anything….

 

Back to current situation….

There is round rotating glass in the center…all dishes are kept on it. Everyone has a very small plate of their own. All of them plunge into the same plate at the center with their chop sticks….

Ok…here comes something that is supposed to be vege….i take it onto my kutty plate…but my tongue does not allow that stuff to go in…and I cant take it out (just some basic table manners)…swallowed with difficulty…

Then…there is no spoon…so I learn to eat using chop sticks…not bad…I did it…but after sometime…finger pain was bad…so I asked for a spoon…

Next came peanuts..of course with something on it…but supposed to be vege. Tasted ok..so took a lot of that onto the plate…

Then came corn…that was the best item..i took scoop fulls of that onto a kutty cup that was kept and ate only that….

Then came some green thing…they said it was a delicious vege dish and put it onto my corn in the cup…this made the corn totally not edible anymore ….

Then came the fruits…

By this time I had started putting up the act of me too full in the stomach….

 

The chop sticks were attacking so many things on the round table…the number of things were just too many….and they were explaining that it was blood….oh god…I just dint look up…

I don’t know how they eat so much and still don’t put on weight….i was surprised at how much they can eat…

 

Tho I had said that I was full I took 3 slices of water melon, one piee sweet lime and one piece something else…

 

By this time…stomach had started aching…I was almost in tears…I mean it literally. I kept telling myself that I am not in school…this wont go on for long…but still…I wished I had put a sim in my mobile…atleast I would have called hubby for sometime…I cursed myself..

 

Then came the pumpkin fry….this was ok to eat…so I ate one..

 

Then they suddenly said lets pack everything that left over…hey started packing the vege stuff also…I was just hoping they don’t offer it to me…thank god they dint..

 

There was one huge thing in a huge bowl…I finally managed to ask them what it was…they said crab…but it was quit huge and in full size….I just dint want to look like I was not interested in that place…so I said let me take a pic of that…I got up…but I just could not manage to even look at it…so I just took a snap even without looking…donno if it really clicked the bowl or just something else…

 

Finally the bill was there and it was time to go…whew!!!

 

One girl was supposed to come with me…we walked quite a distance as she told me that taxis don’t come at this time of the nite so easily…it was abt 9:45PM…she also said that the last subway train was a 9:30…I started getting tensed now as she also said that it was impossible to walk to my hotel….

 

Finally I managed to locate a taxi…once we reached I dint have change…she paid…I got down and ran to my block like some school kid coming home to meet mummy…

 

At the elevator I met this Indian person…smiled…he asked me where I was from…he was also from Bangalore…SAP consultant…working with bosch…told me to visit the fake market as it was the place for girls like me (no idea absolutely what that meant)…dint get to ask his name…came into the room and just opened the comp to call hubby…

 

Rambled on for 15 mins abt all the stuff to hubby…Only hen did I feel better…ok…time to sleep..so went to bed for a nice sleep hoping I would not have nightmares abt the crab or the blood….