Food

There are so many restaurants here. There is one on every corner, around the corner, and on the first, second, and third floors of all the corners. There is Chinese food, Italian food, Thai food, Mexican food, and fast food. So far we've seen McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, and Subway and have eaten at them all. The thing to remember is that nothing is as it seems. When ordering, be very specific otherwise you may not get what you want.

We have been pretty lucky as we knew going into the restaurants to be specific. Most restaurants have special menus with pictures and english wording. Even with all of this, we've had some surprises, most of them because we weren't specific enough.

Subway

We ate at Subway two days in a row. The first day, I ordered a hot meatball sandwich. Gabby and John got turkey sandwiches with veggies, dressing, salt and pepper. My meatballs were actually some kind of dry sausage and were the side of very large marbles. They weren't very visually appealing or tasty. John's sandwich ended up being good, but when they were preparing Gabby's sandwich, they didn't have a small pepper shaker, so they used the jumbo sized one that you would usually use for refilling a pepper shaker. It dumped out on her sandwich in a big black lump. We didn't know the extent of how much pepper was on it until she tried to eat the sandwich. Whoa!

We went back the next day with confidence that we knew what to say. The Subway staff recognized us at once and waived and smiled. We were just there for Gabby this time. This time we saw the same large pepper shaker. So, we said and motioned for a very small amount of pepper, but didn't comment on how much salt. The staff carefully added the pepper, but shook the salt shaker repeatedly and quickly over Gabby's sandwich. It didn't look like much salt, but salt isn't that visible. When Gabby bit into the sandwich it seemed okay until she got to the salty part. She only ate half of the sandwich, but couldn't go any further. She said it was the first time she had ever tasted salty lettuce. We'll probably go back again, but ask for a little salt and a little pepper next time.

Pizza Hut

I have made out the best at Pizza Hut. The pizza is pretty much like at home except for the raisins. All of the advertisements for Pizza Hut show raisins on the pizza and one of the other families that we traveled with ordered some kind of Supreme pizza that came with raisins. We didn't do that. We pointed at pictures and explained what we wanted two or three times until we thought that the waitress understood. So far, so good, we have gotten what we've ordered.

Kentucky Fried Chicken

We just ate at KFC tonight. We ordered the special which was a large bucket of chicken (five pieces) five extra crispy, spicy chicken wings and a liter of Pepsi. What was odd about the order was that the side dishes that came with the special were very small. They gave you two bread sticks and a little ear of corn. We didn't eat the bread sticks, but Gabby and I shared the little ear of corn. We also ordered a side of mashed potatoes thinking it would be similar to the US. The potatoes tasted the same, but the serving was a little smaller. It was about two tablespoons worth. The dish was so tiny that until I took off the lid I thought it was a sauce of some kind. Overall the meal was very good. The chicken is just like home.

McDonalds

The only thing we've purchased at McDonalds is the fries and a chocolate milkshake. Those were both good. We may try to stop by there tomorrow morning to see what they have for breakfast. Gabby is dying for pancakes. The ones at the hotel taste like eggs mixed with a little bit of flour. On top of that, the syrup says it's maple syrup, but tastes like a cross between honey and syrup. Who knows, maybe McDonalds will have the real thing.

Our Hotel

We have been eating at the hotel restaurant on the 30th floor each morning. They have a wonderful breakfast buffet. The fruit is so ripe and sweet. I cannot believe how good the bananas are. Even Gabby, who isn't a fan, liked them.

One evening we went to the downstairs restaurant for dessert. All I can say is, it was not quite what we expected. Gabby ordered a black forest cake. It wasn't too bad, but neither she nor I will get it again. The cake part isn't like cake. It is kind of like a compressed powder with a lot less sugar than we're used to. Many cake products are like that here. I ordered and apple tart with ice cream. The apple tart tasted like the apples were marinated in some kind of alcohol. I ate about half of the tart and all of the ice cream. I asked John to take a bite so that I didn't leave so much behind. Even he didn't like it. Oh well, I know where to get Snickers bars if I need a sugar fix.