Yangshuo Day 4

And on the seventh fourth day they rested. We started day four off right by having two masseuses come to our room. Theresa got a facial and an oil massage and I just went with a traditional Chinese massage. The traditional massage includes a lot of rubbing, smacking, and even a little knocking and pulling. T and I shared our one bed while both ladies climbed up and worked the kinks out of us. It was definitely strange but it still felt pretty nice. I had wished my lady would focus more on my arms and hands because they were hurting pretty badly after kayaking, but she seemed to spend an unreal amount of time on my lower back and butt… I also learned through this experience that my calves are ticklish. Really, who has ticklish calves?

After our massages we walked into town to meet with our tour guide/instructor. Instructor of what you may ask. Well, T and I took a Chinese cooking class yesterday and it was absolutely delightful. It started off with a tour of the local market. Erica, our instructor, told us about how they typically cook the different produce items and she had a little fun quizzing us on ginger, lotus root, and some other fruits. We waited in the middle of the market for Erica and some of the other members of the group to tour the meat section of the market. I was pretty interested in seeing the meat, but we decided against it when we were told about the live shaved dogs and cats that were for sale. We did see a lady with a chicken tied by its feet dangling from the handlebars of her bike. I figured that was enough of the meat market and I would really rather not see cats and dogs being sold for supper.

We caught a bus with our guide and the rest of the group (there were about 10 of us from all over the world there together) and drove out to BFE for our class. I had the pleasure of choosing to stand next to a man with quite the funny attitude. He had already been drinking beer when we arrived and I even caught him sneaking a few sips from the airplane bottles he had stored in his pockets. After he was playing with his gas stove top without being told to I decided I should ask him if I would be safe standing so close to him. We ended up having a few laughs together and even sharing a few ingredients. Sometimes I would have too much black pepper so I would pepper his food and vice versa.

I have pretty much never cooked one successful meal outside of a grilled cheese or tacos, but yesterday I cooked five. Even I am impressed with myself. Our first dish we prepared was pork stuffed veggies and meatballs. We stuffed a mushroom, tofu, and eggplant and then made two pork meatballs and we set those things in a steamer while we cooked some other dishes. Meal two was stir-fried eggplant Yangshuo style and it was quite possibly the most delicious vegetable of all time. I could have eaten five plates of just that. After the eggplant, we stir-fried some bok choy with garlic and started on our beer fish. We used catfish with the beer and cooked it up in a wok with tomatoes, green peppers, and red peppers. I was not (and have never been) a fan of peppers of any kind and today was not any different. However, I have also never ever ever liked tomato and I gobbled mine right up! Our fifth dish was a stir-fried cashew chicken entrée. This was my second favorite from the evening. Overall, the food was quite delectable. I cannot believe I was actually able to cook any of these things. I cannot wait for good internet so I can upload the pictures from the day. You will be shocked by my skills in the kitchen! Theresa and I will be making the Yangshuo eggplants again very soon for sure.

We chatted with our cooking classmates while we enjoyed our delicious meal and then it was back to town for a little shopping on West Street. We bought some cinnamon donuts for dessert and called it a night. The only way “home” was back through the dark path of death but it proved to be a little less scary the second time around. It also did not seem to be quite as dark as our first night had been.

The day of rest was fun while it lasted but alas, after today I am back to being in an immense amount of pain and feeling like my extremities may just fall off with one more movement.

Mandarin lesson:

Chúshī 厨师 (cook) Fùzé rén 负责人 (chef) Shípǐn 食品 (food)