Raw prawns

Although didn't get to sleep till after 5am I decided to wake up before 10am. I got Leilei dressed then took him out to Nong Kaicheng's house to play, as Xixi was already out and I wanted some time at home too. It was very nice to not have to work, and I nearly did nothing for a while before realising that this is criminal in this country when I have such a short amount of time left. So I popped out on the bike and rather predictably met up with A Wu and a couple of bosses for a meal, before getting in A Wu's pickup and driving to the west of the town to pick up a couple of containers of oxygen and one of something else for his work. As A Wu was paying I went for a wander and found a couple of the locals playing chess outside as you do. I marvel at how much time people seem to have here. It transpired that one of the blokes owned the shop next to where they were playing, which looked like it had barely seen a customer for weeks. I found a packet of what looked like cucumber flavoured crisps and bought a couple before I could hear A Wu calling me. Despite the monosodium glutomate, they were ok, having the texture of those prawn shell crisps and actually tasting rather cucumbery.

We then drove to A Wu's work to drop off the gas canisters and pick up some money. Then there was the normal boss work of talking to some of the employees, while a couple of them were manually removing a drill bit from the caterpillar digger in order to put on a scoop bit. The whole operation must have taken 20 minutes and I wondered if it couldn't have been a lot quicker.

Loading the oxygen canisters onto the pickup

Back in town I was anxious to see how the house was getting on as I heard the floor was mostly done. Indeed, it was a bit of an epoch in the whole decoration process as it has made the biggest difference since the walls were painted white!

The wooden floor in the living room

Somehow I didn't have time for tea, but it was ok as we had been invited to take Leilei and Xixi to Boss Yang's son's ninth birthday party in the KTV place by the guang chang. I didn't get there till 9pm as I had to pick up some stuff from the supermarket, and I was starving. Unfortunately though, there were only nibbles as the ladies had already finished the noodles. Some more were ordered but by this time Xixi was getting fractious as she'd not slept today. So, back on the bike to take her home, where Waipo took care of here while I went back. I was slightly disappointed to see that the noodles were of the instant type, but I was more hungry and managed a bowl before being dragged off to play cai ma with other dads. I do really like this game, but it is difficult in a blooming karaoke bar with all the kids singing. At the time of the birthday cake they put on the "Happy Birthday" song with a video of a hideous overly smiling girl singing Happy Birthday first in Mandarin and then in English ("Happy Birssday to you...").

Party People

I got a call from Lu Hai around 10pm asking me to come to eat "Xia sheng", or raw prawns, so I said I should be able to make it, but it would be later. Leilei got flakey around half ten so that was a good excuse for Tan to take him home, and I made my way an hour later, explaining that I'd had little sleep, and pointing out that the birthday boy had fallen asleep on the couch and wasn't it time for him to go home too?

I wasn't really prepared for what I would eat a few minutes later at the seafood place. Lu Hai was still there, with the boss, and when they said raw prawns they meant raw prawns. The boss fished out a few into a bowl and set it on our table. I looked incredulously as he plucked one out with one hand, then twisted off its head, ripped off its still running legs and its shell, dipped it for a second or two in the ginger vinegar and ate it. No more than five seconds from water to stomach. He liked the effect it had on my shocked face, and then, as if to show off, did it again only quicker and without even dipping the grey glistening flesh in the vinegar.

Well, from my first time in Pingguo in November 2003 I have seen some strange things eaten here. I may have been a little shocked but I've had pig's penis, duck tongue, pig's eyeballs and raw fish, but this was a first. I didn't think I would do it but buoyed on by the beers from the KTV, and knowing that such an opportunity would likely not arise again for some time, I gritted my teeth, pulled out a prawn from the bowl and managed to hold on to it for all of a second before it skipped into the air, bounced on the table and flailed to the floor. It got a laugh at least. On my second attempt I kept hold of it but it took a couple of seconds to yank the head off. Not only the body, but the head was still moving. Lu Hai's son Chen Chen took the head to play with I think, while I wrestled with the body. I just know it's easier to remove the legs when they're boiled. Finally, when still, I was able to remove the shell and tail before leaving it a good ten seconds in the vinegar to "seal" it. It was, though, particularly delicious, and I ended up having a few more before the night was out.

My attempts to eat a raw prawn

A rather angry looking prawn