Following In Guy's Footsteps

A few weeks ago I decided that when I am on the road for work I am going to try to stop in and visit a Diners Drive-Ins and Dives location and sample the same foods Guy ate. My first stop was the Comet Cafe in Milwaukee WI. Here is the description of one of the best meals I have ever had.

Just ate the open-faced meatloaf sandwich at the Comet Cafe in Milwaukee. Toasted rye bread with bacon wrapped meatloaf, mashed potatoes, onions, gravy, tomato, and more bacon on top. One of the best things I have ever eaten. Incredible!

The picture doesn't do it justice but here it is.

Finished off the meal with some apple pie a-la-mode. Very nice lunch and worth the trip to Milwaukee.

Pam's Caribbean Kitchen - Seattle Washington

Last night I went to a Diners Drive-ins and Dives location in Seattle WA called Pam's Kitchen. Actually met Pam and talked with her for a few minutes. There were two memorable dishes I tried. One was a Curried Goat Roti which is pictured below. The curry was just the right amount of spicy without killing your taste buds and the goat was cooked perfectly. It came with a side of potatoes and garbanzo beans. The special part was this flaky, fluffy, semi-sweet flat-bread that you eat it all with called Roti. It was incredible. For dessert I had Cassava Pone-cake with Guava ice-cream. The cake was made of cassava root and coconut and was served hot. It was incredible meal with very simple ingredients and a ton of interesting flavors. Go see Pam if you are in Seattle.

Salt Lake International Part 2 - April 11, 2011

About 4 1/2 years ago I purchased an American Tourister carry-on bag that has now logged about 100,000 miles. It was a "carry-on" bag so I have been arguing with flight attendants for four years that it will fit in the overhead bins.

Sometimes the bin lid closed with a little extra effort. Other times they turned it sideways to get it to work. A few times over the years they have had to gate check it. After my last trip where it was gate checked I did something revolutionary - I measured the bag with a tape measure. To my surprise it was about 24.5 inches not the 22 I supposed it was all this time. I have been telling people for a long time it wasn't my bag's fault and, unfortunately, I was wrong.

After much reasearch with my Uncle Google I decided on the R.E.I. 22 inch roller bag. And to my extreme pleasure it fit today perfectly. I owe a lot of airline people an apology. And I love my new bag.

Salt Lake International Airport - April 11, 2011

So I just saw a guy in security that typifies the current selfish way people in airports and airplanes have become.

He had a very full back pack, a fanny pack around the front (must be a Euro), a large roller bag, and a pair of ski boots. Now how in the world does that qualify for one piece of carry-on luggage and one personal item?

Why don't the airlines stop these people and say "you have too much stuff, go check something?"

Shenzhen March 7, 2010

Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and decided to try to find the LDS branch meeting in a district called Shekou.

Our cab driver got us in the ball park and the security guards for the property guided us to the church. We got out and started walking up to the steps. Suddenly we all got the vibe that we were in the wrong place. It was a really nice church but not and LDS branch. We asked for directions and were told it was close. We started walking to find the branch and after about 15 minutes knew we were lost. We flagged down a cab, gave him the address and promptly ended up just where we were before. However, this time as we entered the property we took a right instead of a left, drove around a bit and found the branch. They are about 130 members and meet in what I think was a largeish (by Chinese standards) residence. The meeting was great. Because everyone can not fit into the main floor room, they have an overflow in an upstairs room that doubles as the Relief Society room and have a camera and speaker system so you can see the speaker.

The branch has a young women’s group, young men’s, scouting, primary – everything we have here at home.

After church we met Henry and he showed us more to the electronics expo area. It turns out that we have only seen about ½ of 1% of what is here in this district. This is getting excititng.

Shenzhen March 6, 2010

We are interested in looking at purchasing some electronics. Through a contact at one of the factories, we met a guy named Henry. Henry agreed to show us around a bit tomorrow but suggested we go to some sort of electronics district a few miles from our hotel and look around. This is another time that the scam radar should go off. What is in it for Henry? That is a question that needs to be going off in your head constantly to keep from getting taken advantage of anywhere but especially here in China. We jumped on the subway and rode over there; once again China astounds us.

This will be even harder to describe than the previous market. Imagine going to the biggest tradeshow you have ever been to. Then imagine it is housed in a 10 story building. Then imagine that at least two entire city blocks have 5-15 story buildings filled with those same booths every 15 – 20 feet. There are not as many hustlers calling to you, and most people here do not speak English but the enormity of each building and what they can offer is daunting. We learned by experience that some buildings have a little bit of everything and other buildings specialize in certain type of item. One building has more computer components; another building has more cell phone components. Another specializes in digital storage like memory cards. Another specializes in cameras. Some are more retail oriented. Others are fronts for the factory and have factory reps. It is really beyond description.

People are everywhere. I told De on the phone that it is like getting shrunk down and transplanted into an ant hill. If you can imagine that – and you don’t speak ant – then you will get a sense of this place.

I can’t help thinking that we are in the electronics district. Are there the same types of places for clothing, jewelry, furniture, household goods, etc? I have to believe there must be. There is certainly more to this city than originally meets the eye. We need a person on the ground here that speaks Chinese and understands the city to show us around.

Shanghai To Shenzhen - March 5, 2010 Part Two

The flight from Shanghai to Shenzhen was uneventful. We arrived at a nice airport that like the old airport in Shanghai is dated. It reminds me of LAX or one of our old airports in the US. Functional but not up to the standards set by Korea or the new China airports.

The first impression of Shenzhen is that it is a very new city. I learned online that Shenzhen has about 10 million residents. That is a big city. However, Shanghai has about 20 million. Shenzhen was a sleepy fishing village about 30 years ago and really didn’t start to grow until about 15 years ago. It was designated the first “Special Economic Zone” in China which allowed it to flourish as the manufacturing center of the world. Everything you can imagine is made her. Most of the products that say Made in China are made in Shenzhen.

It was about a 30 minute cab ride from the airport to our hotel. Riding on the freeway here is a lot like riding on the freeway in California. The traffic is the same, there are a log more western cars here – Andy says that is from the money in manufacturing and the proximity to Hong Kong – and the sides of the freeways are lush and green.

We are staying right near the primary train station for this part of China. Looking out our 15th floor window we can see hundreds of thousands of people moving in and out and around the train station. This county has some impressive infrastructure and everywhere you look they are building a new freeway or expanding a subway line.

We went shopping at a market called Luo Hu. This will be hard to describe but here goes. Imagine a 4 story building, each floor the size of a Smith’s grocery store. Every 10 to 15 feet there is another shop selling everything under the sun; electronics, jewelry, watches, clothing, shoes, toys – you name it and it is probably there. Shop workers are standing in the hall calling to you in broken English with “Hey! Want a watch?, or Hey! How about a DVD?, or Hello! How about a nice jeans for you…” The easiest way to navigate through is to just ignore everyone who is calling out. Then these “helpful” personal shoppers will engage you and ask to help you find what you are looking for. In reality they work for commissions from the stores they take you to. They are a little harder to get rid of. If you ignore them for a while and they still follow you, a polite but very firm “No Thank You” usually does the trick. A couple of times we had to be very forceful with our decline but the personal shoppers are harmless really. They are just trying to make a buck in a tough environment.

The total amount of sensory overload can be unsettling at first. If you go there, walk around a bit in the shops and then go outside and take a breather. I am not kidding – this will help you get your bearings.

Then the fun begins. Whatever you want or find in the markets is negotiable on price. In fact, many times the starting price and the finishing price are a long way apart. For example, one item Andy bought stared at 800 RMB and he got it for 100. That is good negotiating. Learning the art of negotiating, and being willing to walk away is critical in this place. We learned quickly that if a couple of vendors let you walk away at a certain price that you are probably below what the market will bear. We used one shop to help negotiate another.

These are great lessons how business is done in China. Everything is negotiable and nothing is as it appears on the surface. Not speaking the language is a barrier but it is not insurmountable. We watched Andy work the vendors for a few hours and then went to dinner. It was fascinating, and exhilarating, and exhausting.