whatever the f*ck

I just got home from dinner with some students. We had hotpot, which is basically these boiling big pots of spicy as hell, oily water/chicken stock concoction with all types of spices, which are placed at the center of the table. Then you order all of these various things from thin slices of beef, pork, lamb, turtle, various vegetables, tofu, seafood, or whatever, and you drop it in at will and let it cook as long as you'd like. Then it's free for all community eating. We had like 9 people and you just grab what u want w/ ur chopsticks and/or your personal slotted spoon. Let's get something straight--it was okay. The experience was worth more than the taste of the food as a whole. Various bites were good--but I wouldn't go as far as calling any of it necessarily great. Situations like this might cause one (a newcomer like myself) to rant and rave about how good it is. I am maintaining my high standards here and not calling something merely pretty decent: "incred." It wasn't bad at all, but as a whole, the food here has not impressed me like we had all anticipated. Some things have been off the charts, but the daily "I'm gonna grab some lunch" type food just simply lacks the quality that I am accustomed to.

Some of my co-workers commonly go to this one trashy restaurant because it's close and they call it value for money. Today, this chinese girl, Maggie (she's nuts by the way) and I ate there. My food was crap and hers was basically mediocre pepper steak, which we know as "#5" on most Chinese takeout menus in America. She was quite satisfied, which sort of discourages me. Perhaps it's just Shanghai. I know there is great food here, and I've eaten some of it, but I am not a fan of pre-prepared food that is served cold, like the duck i had the other day. We take food standards for granted being where we're from. I believe you have to judge a place's food on the daily average place that satisfies a local. Kind of like us being satisfied with the most common places we would frequent at home--the cheaper, convenient places. We love the vietnamese places, and mexican food (don't get me started), and Hong Kong Chef in Bellaire, and fuckin Central Market, which provides us with wondrous ingredients to eat whatever the fuck we want. We like Chuy's and Istanbul Grill. They are convenient, amazing, not too expensive, quite different from one another, and they maintain quality.

My advice to whomever gives a crap is to try new places--find more places, hidden right in front of you everyday on your way home. If you don't like some place, consider it a positive that you forever know that place isn't on the level. Don't be satisfied with mediocrity. Chances are, one out of three or four places you try will pleasantly surprise you. Keep the search alive. Go to my place, Salento, and try a chicken empenada--INSANELY GOOD, and they have the best coffee and ambiance in the city if you ask me.

This place is good, with plenty of shit to stimulate my soul, but as you know, it takes a lot to impress me. It better come at me with a little more than some hot pot.

I had maybe double this written and somehow it erased and I'm really pissed off about it and refuse to attempt to rewrite it. Fuck! Google's stupid!

I taught some students that can barely speak English how to say "Fuckin A!"