Where else?
Well, I was in Chengdu the past two days - taking my wife to the airport since she was going back to Canada before me, and also to tour a few places within Chengdu.
I arrived back in Neijiang late in the afternoon today, after another lengthy bus ride from Chengdu to Neijiang. Luckily, it's still not peak travel season, "yet". Once we get to a few days just before Chinese new years (Feb 18th this year), and a few days after Chinese new year, the commuting traffic will be insane. Each year, several hundred million Chinese flock to the train and bus stations - airports aren't as bad, since it costs much more.
During this time, it's almost impossible to get around to anywhere.
Diner time, so hungry
I had to get up early in the morning to goto the airport, so I had an early breakfast at 7 something, and so it follows that I had an early lunch as well. By about 5pm I was starving. So I decided to head out by myself and find a fish restaurant - fish is one of my favorites.
Just down below the building where we live, there's a lineup of dozens of restaurants, serving a wide variety of foods. Mostly sichuan food of course. I randomly pick one of the restaurants specializing in serving fish.
After walking in, I head over to the fish tanks where there are many varieties of fish. I picked one that I wanted (live), and had the cook weight it, which came out to a little over 2.5lbs ($12yuan per lb). Before they weigh the fish, they take a stick, and smack the fish on the head so it doesn't flip around. There are several ways to cook the fish that you can choose from such as home style, steamed, stewed in chilli sauce, and cooked in szechuan preserved vegetables. I also ordered a plate of stir-fried vegetables.
After a few minutes the fish came. It was decent - I've had better, but this was not bad. I did manage to finish all of it. Unfortunately, I didn't bother bringing my camera with me, so I don't have any photos to show what the cooked fished looked like. Basically, it was chopped into small chunks, and cooked in a deep red colored chilli sauce and oil. It was quite spicy.
The meal came out to only $39yuan... Or, under $6USD, which included a 2.5lb fish, a plate of vegetables, and an orange pop. This is why I love this place so much. Awesome food, at insanely cheap prices. |
