Tonight I need a break from eating dinner with the entire group. I am actually sick of Chinese food and crave something else… anything else. No more spice, at least for tonight.
As an aside, one of the main spices in Sichuan cooking is Hua Jiao (pepper). When used in cooking, it flavors the food with a very interesting taste and smell. Unfortunately the large pepper grinds are usually left in the food. If you bite into one directly, it causes complete numbness and involuntary salivation for about 10 minutes. Hua Jiao is in just about all of the food here… breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I am pretty sure it’s in the water too because no matter how much I shower, I still smell it all over me.
A few of us found an Irish pub that had a somewhat American menu. After eating we met a group a guys from Nigeria who all currently live in Chengdu. One plays pro soccer, one is a local DJ, and two others work for a manufacturing company. They bought us some beer and shared their experiences about living in China.
