Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya

Here is the FOURTH and for me the MOST DELICIOUS of the
'Uncle Shane Do You Eat Cats & Dogs & Bats & Frogs' food entries.

Besides eating dogs, cats, rats and bats I manage to also sit down to a bowl or two of very normal food once in a while. Over the past week I've chosen my favourite little 'hole in the wall eateries' to sit at and take some happy snaps for my friends and family so they can see what I 'normally' eat during the week.

And not a health inspector in sight!

Over the past year and a bit that I've been living in Shaowu city I've managed to eat my way around most of the cities pokey little restaurants. These ones are very much at the top of my list for both their delicious food and the happy smiles from the owners and the people that eat there.

Most also seem to have less 'Bugs & Crawly Things' racing around the place.

TODAY

Today was such a wonderful day. The weather was perfect, my students were perfect, my afternoon bike ride was perfect and happily both my lunch and my dinner were perfect.

Could ask for a more perfect life!

Why was lunch perfect?
I knew that would be your first question so let me tell you why lunch was perfect.

Two words.....Lanzhou Noodles!
Or as I've called them on many occasions 'The Great Northern After Bar Noodles'.
When it comes to noodles here in China these are the Big Daddy Noodles!

If god owned a Noodle Bar it would be a Lanzhou Beef Noodle Bar.
And God (he/she/it) would have grown up in Lanzhou City!
God would them be able to make the perfect of the holiest of the holy noodles!

The perfect bowl of noodles.
Lanzhou Beef Noodles!

Right before your very eyes and with his/her hands the Holy Noodle Creator turns a ball of dough into a hundred long thin noodles. They are then placed into a large pot of boiling holy water and when ready placed into your bowl. Tender beef and several herbs and spices are soon added and within minutes the Holy Noodle Creator places before you, a steaming bowl of the Worlds Perfect Noodles!

Don't believe me?

Head to China town and ask for Lanzhou Mien. Take some ear plugs as when the noodles are being made they are thrown around, twisted about and slammed onto the steel bench several times.

A rather scary experience for those raised in a Meat and Three Veg family!
It's not often you see Mum throwing your food around!
Unless she's throwing it at you for being stupid!

I had no idea what was going on the first time I was taken to a Lanzhou Noodle Bar. I remember nearly jumping out of my seat when I heard the first SLAM! I had to ask my friend why the bloody hell the crazy white capped noodle man was hurting my noodles.

OK, dinner.

So where does a Chinese person go when they get sick of eating Chinese food?
They go to Yu Jin's parents Vietnamese Rice Eatery.
That's where they go!

There are two of these rice eateries here in Shaowu and they are both delicious. The other one makes EXACTLY one hundred bowls of rice each night and NO MORE! Yu Jin's parents I think open for only several hours and through out those several hours they are pretty much packed the entire time.

I don't get there very often as I finish riding too late and by the time I arrive it is closed. But sometimes like tonight I think to myself, I've only been riding for two or so hours, I can't smell that bad...hahahaha!

Along with the rice comes a very tasty seafood soup that has thinly sliced bits of fish and tofu along with several shell fish and some seaweed. There are other things in there but these are the main. I didn't know about this one until I met Yan and crew and Yu Jin invited us all there for dinner one night. Wasn't I so happy as the other one is always so packed and a lot of the time there are no seats left.

As I am a good friend of Yu Jin's a seat is always found for me in this one.

Her parents really are beautiful!
And my god, how beautiful is Yu Jin!
She is a real beauty!

The photo of her and I was taken one day when I was probably the most sick I have ever been in my entire life. Her and Yan brought around a steaming bowl of life saving soup. The other one was taken last weekend at Yan's huge Birthday Dinner.

What a lucky boy!

Beers N Noodles full of creepy crawlies toya.....shane
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The soundtrack to this delicious entry was by the very Holy 'Steve Vai'.
Only a Holy Man can create and play a seven string guitar!
Only a Holy Man has played for both David Lee Roth and Frank Zappa.

I think in a former life Steve Via was a Holy Lanzhou Noodle Man!

The album was 'Passion & Warfare'.
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