the eating begins - very first lunch

after i woke up from a 2 hour nap, i immediately started eating.  just for fun i weighed myself so i can see just how much weight i will gain from this trip.

the first place i want to eat whenever i come back to beijing is always bellagio, a taiwanese restaurant.  we ordered a feast - the waitress questioned our judgment.  

my absolute must have. stewed pork with egg, over rice. fatty pork, actually.

this is called "pi dan tofu" - it's a soft, cold piece of tofu mixed with chinese pork shreds (dried - never knew what they really are), and preserved duck egg. one of my favorite appetizers.

on the menu, this is called dragon something. it's a type of vegetable i've never seen anywhere else. again, another staple of bellagio that i get every single time.

this is a tofu dish in a clay pot, cooked with pork. really rich, seasoned and flavorful.

i don't even know what this is! i just asked my mom for some kind of fish and this thing appeared. YUMMY. i think it was some sort of white fish; it's sitting over one of those heating trays.

this one is a new one for me. spare ribs dusted with cumin - i think maybe a little untraditional but i had to try it. it had a nice kick to it - i was the only one eating this! i think there may be leftovers in the fridge right now...hmmm given my jet lag it might not be such a bad snack as i write this at 7:30am!

also - did i mention i got a nikon d80 for my birthday from destructor?? (he is the best!) thanks to the new snazzy camera, i am able to shoot all this wonderful stuff on my trip.

i also ghetto-rigged it with these great close-up lenses recommended by the guy at bel-air camera when he saw my face after telling me that the macro lens was $500 (on sale!).  who needs that when i can shoot close ups like this with those things?

this was the least interesting. a seafood noodle soup dish twice the size of my head, the flavors were confusing to me. the noodles were like chow mein noodles but the broth reminded me of some thai/other southeast asian dishes.

last but not least, another staple: "san bei ji" or "three cup chicken" - chopped chicken cooked with three types of sauces.