食物中毒

（To have been posted on August 18, 2010.) 

Yeah, so what do the characters in the title of this blog mean? They mean food poisoning.

This is what got me sick：凉皮（or “cold skin” noodles）

I’ve been in China for the past eight weeks and have had little to no problems with illness. I caught a cold for one day, suffering from a sore throat and mild fatigue. However, two days before I get on the plane to head back to the United States, I get food poisoning. The problem is that I really can’t blame anyone but myself because I ate a Chinese cold dish literally called “cold skin.” Generally speaking, Chinese cold dishes don’t have sanitation issues, but this particular dish is made and then left to sit out in the open until ordered. Of course, all this profound information about these thin, almost transparent cold noodles was learned during my bed-ridden Wednesday hoping to get better so I could study for the next day’s oral exam. But because I pulverized a bowl of these raw noodles with my Chinese friend, I don't plan on eating solid foods for about another week.

And on that note, here are some of the best Chinese dishes I've eaten this summer. I'll add more as I upload more pictures.

I didn't have enough time to photograph it before everyone at our table demolished this fish. It's called 红烧鱼.

A delicious vegetarian dish that I can't remember the name of. It's like bean sprouts and green onions mixed over a sweet sauce that kind of tasted like a sweet vinaigrette dressing.

This is a huge meal that one of my Chinese friends spent six hours cooking for me. Aside from the bowls of steamed rice, he fixed salted fish, peanuts and chicken, pickled cucumber, some kind of pumpkin dessert, tofu and carrot soup, and boiled shrimp.

            

I'm eating a Vietnamese rice bowl. So tasty.

            

So, the menu said "Duck leg and rice." That's exactly what it is: rice, a meaty duck leg, and tofu/veggies.

Of course you can't go to China without trying the new McDonald's curly fries. Delish-es-ness.