Today, I feel like becoming a food blogger

Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.  --Mark Twain

You've probably all figured out one of my favorite things about being in Asia is the food.  Perhaps it's because I was raised in a family where dad did most of the cooking and dad also dislikes Western food.  I used to hate it as a kid when I wanted to go have McDonald's or Olive Garden, but now I understand why people tell me the older I get, the more I'll become like my parents.  So after thinking for a while about what to write this week, I decided to dedicate a whole post to food.  Maybe it's because I'm waiting for pizza delivery as I write this.  I've never been much of a foodie since I tend to like most food and don't really know how to critique it, so I really am quite the amateur food blogger.  Not to mention, I'm just using an iPhone camera to take all these food pictures which really doesn't do the flavor much justice.  (I can refer you to foodporndaily if it's viewing pleasure you want.)  Nevertheless, I cannot hide my love for good food.  Hopefully this will tempt some of you to come to China and share in a good meal with me.

On campus, there is a food stand called Taiwan Pancakes which sells these flatbreads stuffed with goodness. 

I like grabbing a friend to go to the dining hall with so we can split this thing of dumplings. Only 3RMB! 

四川担担面 Sichuan Dan Dan Noodles from the dining hall. Oh how they make me long to go to Sichuan for the real thing!  

I am a　广东人 Cantonese.  That's the excuse I give people when they question my penchant for sweets. My one complaint about dining halls here are that their dessert options are lacking.  (I'm such an American.)  On the bright side, they do have these 艾窝窝 and 马拉卷 which are kind of like mochi stuffed with red bean and a Chinese corn bread.  I'm trying to resist getting one for every single meal.

There is this great yogurt drink in the dining halls! Along with a lot of other drink options like walnut milk, milk tea, pear juice....I will have to take a picture of the drinks section sometime.

麻辣香锅 is a type of hot pot with the　麻辣 ma la spice. I looked up 麻辣 in my Chinese English dictionary and it defined 麻辣辣 (ma la spicy) as "(of a pain) searing".  I personally think it gives your tongue a really numbing sensation.  In our dining halls, we can pick the ingredients we want, they cook it for us, and then we share it with friends.  It's great.  

A friend I shared 麻辣香锅 with.  She is not a student, but works at a cafe on campus and sometimes gives me free coffee.. hehe..

Eating with friends=sharing=more options!

The pasta dinner I had for my suite mate's birthday.

I know I said I don't like Western food as much as Asian food, but this breakfast which I had for dinner is a welcome reminder of college life in the US sometimes.

My study snack at the Bridge Cafe: a black forest cake.

My first time having McDonald's here.  Not bad, actually.  But not worth the price.

 

The real kung pao chicken. 

Fish balls with curry and lobster balls with hot sauce. 

双皮乃 shuang pi nai is kind of like Chinese pudding.  I got these from a place famous for these in Beijing where the line went out the door.  Well worth the wait though. 

I saw a bakery that made specialty cakes and just thought this was really funny.

There are some pretty good Japanese options here, too!

Speaking of which, I had my first taiyaki here.

 Now for the miscellaneous non-food section of my blog:

I went to the very poorly maintained Beijing Zoo. It was depressing to see how some of the animals were treated, but so exciting to see pandas!

There are some interesting talks given by professors on campus. This one was given by a psychology professor on the Triangular Theory of Love.  I tried, and failed, to understand most of it.  Thank you, Wikipedia.

It snowed this week!  Ridiculous...

I got a full-body Chinese massage and 刮痧 guasha treatment. Now my back looks like this.