Boiled Goat Spine... Yum

Boiled Goat Spine Hot-Pot

On Friday after work a couple of coworkers, Super Husband, and I all went out to get dinner. I deferred to my coworkers greater knowledge of cool eateries around Beijing, and so we were led to this hotpot restaurant a few stops south of work, on line 5. Now, this all sounds fine, right? So far, so good. Until we get there. And I see that it's not just any hot pot. Oooh, no. It's special, traditional, goat spine hot pot.
An aside here, for those of you not as well acquainted with my oddities: I don't eat food off the bone. I understand that animals have bones, and I understand that those bones impart flavor to soups, and things of that nature, but I would like all bones far away from me when it is time to actually partake. As Super Husband said on Friday, to illustrate my dislike of bones "She doesn't even know what a chicken wing tastes like." And it's true. I don't. I can't put the bones up to my face. It's a combination of my dislike of the savagery, and of getting grease and sauce on the corners of my mouth. Can't stand that.

So, it was with a resigned air that I sat down at the table (after waiting for 30 minutes... This place was buuuuusy, so I guess as goat spine goes, this one was good). We were presented, fairly promptly, with a bubbling bowl of spine. I don't really have any other way to describe it. Brownish and rather unappealing, it looked like something any self-respecting witch would envy. And so we dug in. Super Husband, being a more adventurous eater than I am, was the first to pluck one out of the pot. I followed suit, not wanting to offend those that had been so anxious to take us there. My only saving grace was how absolutely tender it was. I had no trouble at all using my chopsticks to divest the meat of their offending bony counterparts.
I also used a single chopstick to remove what could either be bone marrow or spinal cord. We're not entirely sure, but I was told it would be tasty, and it wasn't... un-tasty.
We also ordered these fried sandwich things, that were good, but too big for me. They would have been perfect in finger sandwich form. They're large triangles of pumpkin filled sandwiches, that have been breaded and fried, and then rolled in a sugar and breadcrumb combo. But they used Texas Toast, those thick cut slices, so there was just too much going on.
We also had what is basically a quesadilla, minus the cheese. It's a flat, tortilla like bread, filled with grilled onions, and it was yummy.
The only thing lacking, like with so many meals here in China, was a good dessert. Normally I would file the fried pumpkin thing away as a dessert, but it came out in the middle of our meal, before the veggies had even gone into the hot pot. Ah well, maybe one day I'll start carrying little Dove dark chocolate hearts in my purse for the perfect little dessert.

On Sunday Super Husband and I met a friend from work in the subway and she took us down to Panjiayuan, where there is, in addition to the cool antiques market that we went to when my parents were here, a couple of huge buildings devoted entirely to glasses. We ventured into one that she recommended, and proceeded to look for glasses for Super Husband. The first shop we went to boasted of reasonably priced french production frames. Or maybe lenses. I'm not sure. We found a pair that Super Husband was reasonably happy with, and my friend commenced the bargaining. That would have been the end of the story, but she wasn't happy with the price. They wouldn't go below 260rmb, and she said she didn't want us to pay more than 200. So on to another shop we went. The next one had a more boutique feel, with faux fur lining the display cases, but they didn't have anything in the style we wanted, so we moved on. The third and final shop specialized in sports glasses. Now, I don't really know what that means, because I'm pretty sure most athletes wear contacts while engaging in their sport of choice, but there we found a pair of glasses that everyone was happy with. They give Super Husband a Clark Kent look, although he doesn't have laser vision when he takes them off. Far from it, actually. We were told that he is both near and far sighted, and has an astigmatism. My poor, vision impaired husband. (I, on the other hand, have better than 20/20 vision. So nanananana.)
In the end we got the frames, exam, and lenses for a grand total of 180rmb ($30), which is pretty dang cheap. We plan to go pick up a few more before we return stateside.

So, you know that angry rant I posted last week? The one about how I was supposed to get a month off, and instead it's three days?... Well, yesterday, Monday, the administration realized that there was no point in having two English teachers on staff for a total of 30 kids. So, I have 9 days off. Yay! Although, I'm slightly upset because they didn't let us know that we didn't need to come in until 3:30 yesterday, so there was no time to let parents know ahead of time. I would have liked to have been able to post a note saying "I will be on vacation from Tuesday the 5th until Monday the 18th, if you have any questions _______ blablabla"...
Oh well!
Vacation!