Chinatown

I went to Chinatown several times after work.  I must say I entered into a new world of food, smells, people, culture, shopping, petalling, and ambiance.  I don't think I've ever experienced anything like it before, but it was great.  After going a couple times, I decided to go back sometime and document the experience for you. 

First thing I noticed is that everything changed as I entered the general area, the streets got narrower, it seemed darker, the place was loud, and multiple people were everywhere there was no concept of personal space here.  Street vendors and food stalls lined the roads on both sides.  It seemed like a scene from a movie, but I was actually in the middle of it all.

As you walked by food stalls, people would shout for you to come try their food, eat at their restaurant, have a beer, sit at their table, look at their menu, boasting of the best food, and cheapest prices. It was great fun just walking up and down the street.  I really enjoyed the dialog and interaction.  Once we decided on a cafe, they were so excited you picked them and they made you feel welcomed.  The menus came and there were literally hundreds of items to choose from, I think the menu probably had a dozen pages front and back.  It ranged from the exotic, chaotic, safe, and non-translatable [at least for me!!].  Fortunately I think I got the best dish of our group.  I had and can now recommend the "Sizzling Chicken", it was sauteed chicken with onions and a thick sweet soy sauce served with fried rice. It came out on a sizzling cast iron skillet similar to fajitas.  Very good and I was happy with my selection.  My co-workers mainly from Germany were a bit more adventurous with their selection and we all sampled each others food.  They had deer, fish, beef, shrimp, with various sauces, noodles, rice, and random vegetables.  Although all seemed fine, there were some strange noodle textures and sauce flavors some were hot others sweet.

After dinner we went through the tight street vendors selling knock off merchandise.  It was so tight there was only room for one person to pass in each direction, and we pushed through the crowds.  The vendors were constantly trying to interact with you "Sir, Sir...", "Come and have a look", "You want a ....", "You should buy here...", "High Quality", and was constant and coming from all directions and the entire street was filled with this dialog.  If you looked too closely or stopped for too long, you were ushered into the stall to have a look, the sales pitch would begin and negotiations were not only the norm but expected.  The longer the conversation, the harder it becomes to get outta there.  Finally if you can not come to terms on the price, you walk away. Sometimes they will follow you if they can give you a better deal, if they let you walk away chances are they are unwilling to go any lower.  The exchange is fun, although for me I've discovered that I'm more willing to like the purchase before I examine it further.  Usually the longer I see the merchandise during the negotiation, the more I find I wouldn't be happy with the purchase.

Here are some photos.  Since the sun was going down, the lighting and sharpness isn't there, but it will at least give you an idea of the area.

View from the subway station.  The next several are the short walk to the heart of Chinatown.

Indian Temple on the way

In case you're wondering this is "ON THE MENU".  Live eels and bullfrogs.  Bon apetite!

My food, chicken fried rice and sizzlin' chicken.  Notice in the background, instead of papertowels or napkins, I got a roll of toliet paper on the table.  Not sure if this is a sign of things to come or not.....

Meet Lim, in green, she didn't want her picture taken but I got a few in.  She has worked at this restaurant for years.  She works every day.  She waited on me and she seemed very nice.

I took this because of the toilet paper on her shoe.  I guess this is a universal problem....

I think this was a monk of some sort.  ??  He was wanting money.  He must have an area that he patrols because each time I went to Chinatown I saw him.

After dinner fruits.  Mango, Jack fruit, and pineapple.

A video walk through the merchandise station.  They shied away when they saw the video camera, so you don't get the full experience of the vendor interaction that I described above.  But you can at least see the items for sale.

The Flickr photo set can be accessed here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carltyson/sets/72157626498258019/