Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

A sense of humour.
It's always good to meet a girl who has one.

She: What do you want to have for dinner?
Me:   Hey, maybe you can choose a local specialty.
She: OK, that's a great idea.
She: Do you like dog?
Me: Yes, we ate dog a lot in Guangxi during winter, it is a hot meat.
She: ARGH! I’m a member of the Small Animals Protection Society in China.
Me: And you eat dog?
She: No…um…What?

Thankfully she then understood what had happened.

She: (Between giggles)…I meant do you like dogS, I have several.
Me: Of course but I love cats much more.
She: Do you eat cats?
Me: Yes, in Guangxi we ate my friend’s best friend’s cat.
She: Ewww, why?
Me: Her father hated it and I was a special guest so he cooked it for me.
She: Is there anything you wouldn’t eat?
Me: A table.
She: Huh? But a table is not an animal.
Me: Yes but it does have four legs!
She: Giggle Giggle Giggle Giggle Giggle!

OMG, You Have Your Passport But You Are Still In Dexing!

Well strange as it is, it seems I finally joined a riding movement.
They like to call themselves 'The Night Riders’.
I though, call them The Flash N Whirly's!
(Due to the amount of bike lights)

It’s now 2am and I just got home from Beers N BBQ along with a six hour night ride with a group of Uni students who call themselves 'The Night Riders'. They are a small bunch of friends who only get to see each other once a year for several weeks and as it is too hot to ride during the day they choose to begin riding during twilight. This time of the year though I am usually three quarters of the way through my ride by dusk mainly as I have always thought of 'real night riding’ to be a little too unsafe.

When I do I stay mainly to the bright lights beside the river and around the city.

Several nights ago I met a beautiful girl (who loves dogs and small animals) who introduced me to a small bunch of her friends and after they spent 'some time’ convincing me that where they rode was actually a lot safer to ride at night than during the day we set off and I was more than surprised to find we were heading in the direction of Tongkuang Town (Copper Mine) which is a road and ride I never would have thought of riding at night.

Each night twenty kilometers later has found us at the town’s night market eating vegetables and guzzling cold bottles of water. A further twenty kilometers later finds us back in Dexing and we then began our ride to the back of the dam that is over looked by the town’s main attraction (the Jinshan Tower/Pagoda after which we headed to the local night food market to feast on BBQ and cold beer.

After a week of riding to other small towns (always around twenty or so kilometers away), chatting and sharing beers N BBQ together, in several days the Flash N Whirly's will be disbanded as most will head back to their Uni City to begin their Summer Employment (work experience) and as much as beautiful Chinese girls clad in extremely tight fitting bike riding gear are, I find that I am now missing the sun filled hours during which my eyes feast upon peaceful green things such as bamboo covered mountains and rice fields.

The 2013 Summer Beers N Noodles Adventure
 
I've just got off the phone to Ting Ting and we both think that is time the 2013 Summer Beers N Noodles Adventure finally left the Flesh N...oops...I mean the Flash N Whirly's behind(s) and made its way south to Fuzhou city (Jiangxi) for more Beers N Noodles & BBQ. She has taken several nights off work next week, my packs packed and I should arrive sometime Sunday.

So Is Night Riding Actually Safe?

Actually it is and it is much safer riding it at night than during the day as the entire twenty kilometers between Dexing and Tongkuang is totally lit by street lights as is also the entire ride from Dexing to the rear of the dam. There are no trucks and buses and tonight from Tongkuang back to Dexing I counted a total of five cars that passed us which is little when compared to the nineteen bike riders that I counted on the other side of the road making their way to Tongkuang Town as we slowly made our way back to Dexing.

The road is relatively new, double lanes each way with a grassy medium strip dividing ‘too and from’ and as I have ridden it several times during the day I know there are no pot holes and unexpected surprises etc.

What really did surprised me though is that ALL cars used the lane closest to the medium strip and we bike riders used the wide shoulder which means we are totally separated by an entire lane and due to the amount of riders each night (which includes entire families) I am now thinking that this has been going on for some time and that the local drivers totally respect our safety.

Pork & Pigs: How Much Does Pork Make Up My Life In China?

After several conversations with the Flash N Whirly's about diet I have come to an understanding that many of the young Chinese are now cutting pork from their diet and this got me to thinking; Where does Porky The Pig fit into my life and after several more rides, snacks and meals I found that pork actually is a big part of my diet here in China.

So I thought I’d look into ‘pork’, its history and whether I should actually be eating it.

After reading a heap on Wiki & Yahoo I found this one answer (below) on Yahoo Answers actually covers much of what I found. I’m sure many people will and can question some of it but from what I did actually read it is a nice ‘summarized’ version.

So will and should I stop eating pork?
Highly doubtful that I could ever give up dumplings!

Yahoo Answers

It’s not a question of like or dislike as the poor creatures have no choice in their abode and that they must eat and sleep in what is also their toilet. That in fact is our fault as humans, yet we then turn around and call them disgusting. Thousands of years ago, people didn't have the sanitation that we have today so, 'unclean' meats that weren't cooked properly actually killed you.

Ancient laws about avoiding certain types of animals/food were very necessary to humans and their survival at the time and those principles were passed down.

Take the Jewish Kosher laws for example; they primarily revolve around basic cleanliness. During the Middle Ages, when many Europeans were dying of disease etc, the Jews weren't and none of them knew anything about germs or bacteria. The Jews had no idea that their kosher laws were saving their lives. After a while, the Christians started thinking that the Jews were using evil magic to attack them and this was one of the cornerstones of anti-Semitism.

It says not to eat pork in the Qur'an.
This actually makes sense if you go by ‘you are what you eat’.

Pigs are considered disgusting physically and morally as they have a habit of sleeping in a mixture of mud and their own feces (even wild pigs). Pigs will eat their own young and male pigs will invite other males to mate with their mates to appease them and build alliances, so in a way ‘pimping’ their own mates.

On top of that, pork is one of the fattest meats and like other fatty meats can cause health problems such as obesity and heart disease. Pigs are also prone to get the same diseases we get, meaning that most bacteria and viruses that can infect pigs will infect humans as opposed to viruses that infect cows and chickens etc. Pigs are also THE ONLY animal to sweat internally and many of the toxins in the skin that get into the meat (pork) actually are poisonous to the human body.

Many people are now realising how unhealthy pork is and cutting it out of their diet regardless of their religion simply because it is just plain nasty!

The Photo’s in This Entry  

The photos in this entry are from what I call Pig Squeal Village which is a village I found many months ago and upon arriving in this village I wondered how on earth the locals could actually lived there. I have been riding China for almost a decade now, through hundreds of villages that have never seen a foreigner before, therefore they come out in droves just to see and touch me to see if I am real, but sometimes, only sometimes I look back and wonder if they are actually real.

How can they live with such sounds of torture?

Piggeries smell and sound like nothing you have ever smelt and heard before and if you put many of them together in the same very small village then you have not only the first Exorcist movie but all of the movies that deal with exorcisms put together. When it comes to the sounds of torture all I have to compare are crazy eighties horror movies combined with movies such as the SAW series etc.

My school has several adult pigs and they are worse than any movie I have ever heard!
Sometimes I feel that I should turn off Slayer in exchange for Stryper!

The Food In This Entry

Throughout my nearing fourteen years of travelling and blogging I have found myself to be extremely diverse and open to different cultures and realities BUT I also find myself to be a little too hypocritical when it comes to the things I live, say and eat. Though I probably will never return to the Pig Squeal Village due the immense stench and evil sounds I find that I still continue to eat pork.

The noodle dish in this entry is what is known as Da Pai (big pork chop) and the huge pork chop is slow cooked for many hours and totally melts upon entering your mouth. The noodles are Xinjiang Hand Pulled Noodles (La Mian) and together they make up one of the most amazing noodle dishes I have ever tasted.

Yes I can hear all of the 'oh my gawd, what a hypocrite' thoughts.
Yet so many continue to eat chicken, eggs, beef and of course lamb.

The Students In this Entry

The student photos in this entry are actually from last winter and I included them as some of my pre-school students are actually from Pig Squeal Village.  
Beers N Noodles toya…..shane
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The soundtrack to this entry was by REM
The album was ‘Automatic for the People & Monster’
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