Category Archives: Book Notes

This is from July 17th.  Internet speed prevented me from uploading this in Kunming’s hostel.

The five educators in this program were put into two groups this morning and went around parts of Kunming to gather information and sample local cultures.  I went with Kabe and Feances.  Some of our tasks involved eating: dou hua mi xian for breakfast and local tea hunt;

others involve asking locals for information such as Kunming dialect and a baby’s name.  The best part for me was to actually stroll around the campus is Yunnan University, a place that my father once was and something only existed in my memory from reading Lu Qiao’s novel.  (The title escaped me for now but I will find it soon.)

Lunch was Muslim special food.  I got beef with thinly sliced squash pieces.  Spicy, of course.

We did a lot of course work today: both on risk management for our own travels and for when we bring a group of students on such journeys and on the design and execution of scavenger hunts as a way to familiarize oneself and the group to the place we stay at.

Dinner was an amazing unlimited refillable vegetarian meal.  At $5.00 USD per person we had more than ten dishes to eat and to refill whenever one dish is finished by the group.  I got to eat to my heart’s content millet congee with white sugar and pumpkin.  The white cabbage was especially yummy and the mimic bacon made with hard dou fu and cumin was equally delicious.

The five educators in this program were put into two groups this morning and went around parts of Kunming to gather information and sample local cultures.  I went with Kabe and Feances.  Some of our tasks involved eating: dou hua mi xian for breakfast and local tea hunt;

others involve asking locals for information such as Kunming dialect and a baby’s name.  The best part for me was to actually stroll around the campus is Yunnan University, a place that my father once was and something only existed in my memory from reading Lu Qiao’s novel.  (The title escaped me for now but I will find it soon.)

Lunch was Muslim special food.  I got beef with thinly sliced squash pieces.  Spicy, of course.

We did a lot of course work today: both on risk management for our own travels and for when we bring a group of students on such journeys and on the design and execution of scavenger hunts as a way to familiarize oneself and the group to the place we stay at.

Dinner was an amazing unlimited refillable vegetarian meal.  At $5.00 USD per person we had more than ten dishes to eat and to refill whenever one dish is finished by the group.  I got to eat to my heart’s content millet congee with white sugar and pumpkin.  The white cabbage was especially yummy and the mimic bacon made with hard dou fu and cumin was equally delicious.

When I have a chance, this will be updated.
Second day in Kunming, noon-ish

Nothing really extraordinary to report. Had Er Kuai, a local favorite thin rice crepe, with choices of fillings. I got peanut sauce.

Hoping for the kind of traditional home made soy milk, I went to a small shop advertising freshly pressed soy milk. It turned out to be made with a blender:

It tastes OK though.

Didn’t eat much while exploring the city on foot for another two hours until encountering deep fried various edibles with chili powder. I got lotus roots stuffed with sticky rice and oyster mushrooms. Each skewer is 2 renminbi = 30 cents. Here I am holding them… Truly delicious:

Back to Lost Garden around noon, and since I wanted to take advantage of sitting in the rooftop restaurant and writing and reading, I ordered the following for “lunch” given the lack of gluten free choices here: French fries, an egg and yogurt.

First Day in Kunming

Breakfast/lunch at the hostel.  Eggs bacon and small salad.

As I roamed the streets, couldn’t help but buy and eat:

A small bag of sunflower seeds, salted on the street in a huge sieve

Three bunches of beautiful green grapes, tasting exactly like what I remember from childhood, measured with old fashioned scale.

A hot sweet soup with shaved walnuts, dragon eye fruit, ginger, and red dates

A skewer of street lamb bone joints.

Dinner is at a modern Japanese restaurant: cold sake with lemon, four sushi pieces with octopus and salmon, a pot of savory tofu soup…. This dinner cost me a whopping $12.50 USD.

This really feels like home.  Mostly it reminds me of Taipei and a Taipei as I left it in late 80s: there is a energetic blend of the older and the newer.  Nothing is so ancient as to lose its connection to current life and nothing is too at the front of the world stage to feel absurd.  It feels just right.

I have talked to a sixth grade girl at the airport: her favorite pastime is to stay in her room, playing classical music both western and Chinese as background for reading good books.

The cab driver and I and a guy selling local specialty foodstuff are all from the same generation…within the same decade… Everything and everyone just feels familiar and easy going.

The Green Lake Part 翠湖 proves to be highly enjoyable, clean and beautiful and family friendly.

This really feels like home.  Mostly it reminds me of Taipei and a Taipei as I left it in late 80s: there is a energetic blend of the older and the newer.  Nothing is so ancient as to lose its connection to current life and nothing is too at the front of the world stage to feel absurd.  It feels just right.

I have talked to a sixth grade girl at the airport: her favorite pastime is to stay in her room, playing classical music both western and Chinese as background for reading good books.

The cab driver and I and a guy selling local specialty foodstuff are all from the same generation…within the same decade… Everything and everyone just feels familiar and easy going.

The Green Lake Part 翠湖 proves to be highly enjoyable, clean and beautiful and family friendly.