I went to the Cantonese Family Restaurant and was given one large menu…a double-sided laminated card with lots of photos and no English, then another one with many pages that did list the food in English, but was mostly in Chinese, and it too had lots of pictures on it. I looked at interesting drink choices like:
> Chrysanthemum Tea
> Kiwi fruit juice
> Watermelon fruit juice
In the end I declined those, wanting only water to drink. (didn’t know how to ask for it though and I wasn’t sure how the drinking water would be here, so I did without.)
I turned to the food menu and stared at the choices. The photos were of the RAW food… I quickly lost my appetite as I scanned over items like:
> Stewed pig trotter with soy beans and bitter melon
> Pigeon with Chinese herbs (the head was skinned and lying on the plate with the beak up and eyes still in)
> Stewed pig stomach with plantain and coix laryna-jolie
> Stewed pig’s heart with red dates and healthy herbs
> Stewed crocodile meat with Bulblus Fritlaraie
> Soya marinated goose wings
> Soy marinated goose’s web (feet)
> Pig trotter jelly
> Stewed rabbit in a pan
> Fried ostrich meal with lettuce
> Braised crocodile meat with pork belly, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots
> Braised deer tendons with garlic
> Steamed fish hear with black bean heads (oh yes, the whole complete heads)
> Sizzled pork intestines in a clay pot
> Frog scallion on hot plate
> Something that looked like a plate full of blanched fingers still attached above the first knuckles (on the menu without any English, so I have no idea what it was)
I settled for the steamed bun stuffed with pork and broth as I’d tasted something like this in Canada through some Chinese friends. And then I thought I’d try the stir fried water spinach with garlic. I tried to match the Chinese hieroglyphics from the menu with the large printed order form and marked my choices.
At first they brought me a small, white, china glass with some hot liquid in it. I took a little sip and it tasted like hot water. I thought it might be tea as everyone seemed to have the same thing on their tables, but I never saw anyone sipping. Then I wondered if it was meant for dipping fingers in. I watched others intently for quite a while, but no one touched theirs. I continued to sip, partially obscuring what I was doing for fear someone would come over and tell me I was not supposed to drink it. I was thirsty though so I took a few more sips before abandoning it entirely.
My cooked greens came and I managed to eat some of it. It was quite tasty, kind of like cooked spinach though with very long stringy stalks. Chopsticks were the only eating utensils, of course. Then my steamed buns arrived in a bamboo steamer. Each of the six sat in individual aluminum tart tins, nestled in some kind of juice. They were very hot with little lumps of pork inside. I tried hard not to think of the several people who had told me that they serve horse meat and dog meat in China (for real I assumed as this came from reliable people - but maybe it's only an urban legend?). I only made it through about four of the steamed buns, before I couldn’t eat anymore.
I fleetingly thought about what I as going to eat for the next three months, and when I left the restaurant I headed down the street to see if there was a grocery store of any kind. 
There was but that was about as hopeless. I finally settled on a pre-packaged ice cream bar that looked somewhat familiar as I was still hungry…I bought a bag of chips too, which may be what I live on for a while…though their flavours are very strange. Luckily, I managed to find the American Classic flavour (plain), having discarded the Ketchup and the BBQ pork stew, Red Wine Chicken, Sauteed Prawn, Italian Red Meat, Texas Grilled BBQ, Ziran Steak, French Chicken, Crsipy Srumstick, Baised Pork Ribs, and Frangrant Red Chili. They also have Mango and Lychee flavours.
This morning, Feb 23, Saturday, I couldn't find a place open for breakfast, so I went to the 24 hour store next door...they had quite a selection of pre-packaged food, but nothing I recognized, except for some filled buns and some juices... I bought a couple of packages of filled buns (they're small) and some pineapple, guava and melon juice mixture.
I'll have to get out and look around more to get my bearings and see what else I can find....the hotel doesn't have an English map, so I'll get them to point out where the hotel is on the Chinese map and head out, counting the number of streets I pass (and looking backwards so I recognize my way back).
By noon I was ready to eat again, having risen at 7:00 am. I discovered that the map I'd been given had nothing to do with the area I was in, so I gave up on it and just wandered up the street. Along the way I passed a multitude of little cafes, restaurants, and sidewalk vendors.
I bypassed those with strange looking 'finger' foods (at least the photo to the left is of cooked food), and settled on a popular place a few blocks away.And guess what? I found a KFC along the way too, but couldn't get anywhere near the counter to order as the place was filled with young people chowing down already. It was located in a busy train station foyer. I
decided to save the knowledge for another time when I was desperate to eat some North American food.The little place I picked had a smaller line-up, but was equally busy. They had a more efficient system whereby one placed the order and then chose a table and the food was brought out to you.
It took me a while to realize why my food wasn't arriving. Apparently I had to hand my receipt to one of the waitresses on my way by. My food came, but it wasn't like the photo I'd pointed to...oh well, it was a tasty chicken dish with carrots and onions in a nice sauce, served with rice and a side salad of cold (cooked) water spinach, pickled cucumber and raw peanuts. There were strips of a white stalky vegetable too, but I'm not sure what it was, though it was good. 
The good thing about this place was that the food looked more like what I was expecting Chinese food to be. Had I stumbled on a speciality place the night before? I don't think so though as it was a family restaurant. Maybe there's a difference in ethnic foods between Cantonese and others?
In this restaurant, you just sat at tables with other people at them. I found an empty one by chance. At first people were timid to join me, but I waved several others over and soon had a table full.
I also figured out I had to be a little more pushy or I wouldn't get to eat. I stood at the ordering counter for quite a while and the cashier ignored me for quite some time, taking orders from people behind and beside me, until I spoke up. I pointed out my choice from the photos behind him.
I also realized that one has to be more aggressive in general here. I had been pushed aside at the hotel counter too. So far I've seen that women are more agressive here and the men more passive. I'd better step up to the plate and be seen and heard if I want to be served.
I’m going to have to learn to be more adventurous in trying menu items too, though my excuse for right now is that I don’t want to introduce too many changes to my diet too quickly. I know I’ll have to come up with a better excuse soon…wasn’t I the one that said I would try anything except if it had eyeballs in it? I’ve changed my mind and added a few more delicacies to my list of what I’m not willing to try.
This might be partly because I'm not willing to order a whole meal of something and not be able to eat it. I think if I were with someone, we could choose a couple of dishes and experiment. I'm sure I'll get more adventurous as time goes on.
