I had another good China moment this morning while at Metro (one of the big western-style supermarkets in Dalian). I was perusing my regular food aisles, looking for bargains on real OJ (most of the crappy "juice" here is of the "punch" variety) since you have to pay big bucks for the real deal. I also picked up my temporary supply of muesli and other hippy foods that are integral part of my daily diet (Chinese breakfasts are generally rice based, noodle soups or steamed buns called Baozi which are stuffed with an assortment of meats and salty veggies which can be delicious sometimes but not on a daily basis). As my grocery meandering took me to the produce and frozen foods section, I passed by the fresh seafood section which, by most accounts, is pretty enormous and highly varied. Usually you can find any type of eel-like or trout-style fish you could want, along with a plethora of shellfish any other oceanic delicacies. We live in a seaside town with a pretty big fishing industry so I guess it's only natural.
As I looked over to my left, though, I did a complete double take. On the top of a heaping pile of bloodied, shaved ice sat... a shark. Yes. A SHARK. Like, a whole one. From snout to tail to all the fins in between. And yes, it was just as angry looking as anything on Shark Week. At about four feet long, it wasn't the biggest shark around I'm sure. But to be perusing the supermarket for grainy breakfast delights and looking up to see a big, bloody and available shark corpse was a bit of a shock to the system. The most interesting thing, though???? Someone was ASKING about prices for it! At, like, 9am! I thought that it couldn't possibly be happening but yes, yes it was. So random. It was like a morbid scene from a Tim Burton-esque petshop.
Anyways...
It's been a solid weekend so far. I was in metro Dalian for one of the first times ever last night with CG getting some food and exploring Peace Square and Xinghai Square on the ocean. It's a crazy and neon-filled part of town with cool condo buildings on the outside of a park and a huge, open area that has a sort of Olympic theme throughout it. Pretty cool to check out after dark. I spent this morning lounging after my little shopping excursion and then had lunch with some friends from work. Now I'm off to enjoy a bit of the sunset on my patio as the sun sinks over the Bohai Sea. It's been so clear and sunny this week and although the crisp bite of fall is in the air, it's been amazing during the day. I'm also off in a couple hours to play some volleyball with some of the teachers from school and a group of Japanese guys/gals from a local university, so it should be a lot of fun. And after a quick post-volleyball shower, it's our first jam/music night of the year with the teachers at the school. Last year, a group of the musically inclined Mapleleafers started getting together to have a fun pub/music night. So, it's been rekindled this year and it's the Beatles-themed kickoff tonight in Hongmei (the Korean district). Should be a blast! Until again, amigos and amigas, much China love...
T
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