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China, September 2005 Day 7 When we figured that my parents were up, I persuaded them that the buns I bought the day before were the way to go for breakfast and ran across the street to get some. Uncle Paul told us that they were probably not edible or made with the finest of ingredients, but when you can see the dude making them, what more is there to say? He argued that the place around the corner had better buns, they were bigger and tasted better. My mom contended that the buns I bought were every bit as good as Ding Tai Fong, the great bun place in Taipei (and up until now, my favorite). We all consumed several buns (Mrs. He thought it was so hilarious that I went back the next day, she gave me a couple extra), Uncle Paul set off to prove his point and dragged us all around the way to taste the other buns. LOOOOOOSER! Not only were they not better, the place had no air-conditioning and eating hot porridge in a hotter room was torture. After breakfast, Uncle Paul drove us to the train station where we took a three-hour ride to Shanghai (RMB 72 per person). On the train, although we weren't hungry, we bought some lunch boxes, just to see how they compared to the ones in Taiwan. Although the veggies were pretty good, the ham was disgusting and couldn't hold a candle to the pork chops or chicken leg of the Taiwanese Rail Line. The day was the hottest Shanghai had seen in a while, 38°C. The newspaper the following day said that it was a 130 year record-breaking 35°C, but we think they were lying because the law says that if it gets to be over 37°C, everyone gets to go home from work. Once we arrived, we made a quick decision and went to the west exit. This is where we lucked out for the first time that day. As we exited, we saw the familiar face of John Sun, my parents' friend from childhood. He was delighted to see us as we could have gone to any one of the other three exits, each separated by about two city blocks. We took two taxis to get to our hotel in the suburbs, close to John's in-laws. The hotel was small, but sleek and modern. As we checked in, we were given the choice of one large bed or two twin beds. John found it funny that without hesitation or consultation, I immediately blurted out, "One big bed." We found it funnier that the one big bed could sleep three people. There was so much room, we all felt a little lost when we went to bed. We went to the cafe for a little snack and then got two taxis and went into town to have dinner with John's in-laws. This was when we got lucky for the second time. The metro station we drove to had seven exits. On the way, our driver lost the other driver. We thought for sure we were doomed. Five minutes later, the other driver pulled up. We hopped onto the subway and took a 10-minute ride down the line. Here's where our run of luck ended. The restaurant was not close to the metro stop and try as we might, we couldn't get a taxi. We waited half an hour for a taxi, but they were all either occupied or off for the night. Eventually, John's brother-in-law came to get us in his minivan. Dinner was a fancy affair, tons of courses, like most Chinese banquets. Poobie ate stinky tofu for the first time (3 pieces) and deemed it not too bad. (I contend that the stinky tofu wasn't that great because it wasn't stinky enough.) And because it was John's sister-in-law's birthday, her husband had gotten a cake from Paris Bakery in Shanghai. The cake was coffee flavored but with a cheesecake-type filling. Poobie ate 3 pieces of that too, to offset the tofu. After dinner, we took the minivan back to the in-law's 7000-square foot house (No, that is not a typo. The house was that large and the community it was set in was exactly like you would find in Southern California with wide, palm tree lined roads leading the gated communities) and after a nightcap there, they dropped us off at the hotel. Thanks Uncle John, Johnny and Jessica!
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