Roaming Around Town (Part ii)

After the long walk underground, we finally 'surfaced' to upper ground.
And we ended up at somewhere what the literally translation would be Grand View Garden.



They say it's a happening night market woh.



Wah, no bad. I long for ancient architecture, that's my kind of trance, which is REALLY LACKING in Mountain East.



And while my Malaysian colleagues were engaged in a healthcare equipment shops (ya, those slimming belts again), I found a Chinese Tea Shop.
How can you not taste tea when in China?
So I dragged them and try out some teas.
The intern told us that the best tea would be this green tea called Mao Feng.



Really not bad! And cheap! RMB 10 only for one WHOLE pack!
That's what I called chinese tea. But Green Tea is not really suitable for my body, so I went for the classic: Tie Guan Yin 铁观音- and you can translate it to be Iron Goddess of Mercy - which is really the best of Oolong tea because of the wonderful taste it leaves on your tongue and throat after drinking.

Even better than KISSING!

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about Tie Guan Yin, but just too lazy, so I found from the net this entry on the legend of Die Guan Yin:

As is the custom in China, people will give offerings for Guan Yin at the statue ... and that it is blessed by her. I've also heard that it was originally made by monks at a temple dedicated to GuanYin.

By far the most sensible explanation for the name I've heard though, is that "Tie Guan Yin", is actually an idiom-slang that was at one time used in the tea industry. The idiom in that case would mean "As heavy as an Iron statue of GuanYin". Apparently this statue was a standardized unit of measure at an important tea trading point. It would be used to measure certain quantities of tea for accuracy. Since many teas are much more bulky than others, and some are very dense, weight is the only method of measuring tea accurately. In the world of Oolongs, the higher quality of tea is more dense than the cheaper teas. So one poud of high quality tea would look like a much smaller amount. So if you were a tea salesman, and were selling a diminutive-looking bag of tea to someone who was questioning it's quality, you could say "no! it's as heavy as an Iron statue of Guan Yin!" to let them know it's just a very high quality tea, that is very dense. Over time, the name just came to mean "the highest grade of Oolong".

For Chinese readers who are more of a Romantic sorts, here is one of the many legends of Iron Goddes of Mercy tea:

铁观音原产安溪县西坪镇, 已有200多年的历史,关于铁观音品种的由来, 在安溪还留传着这样一个故事, 相传, 清乾隆年间. 安溪西坪上尧茶农魏饮制得一手好 茶, 他每日晨昏泡茶三杯供奉观音菩萨, 十年从不间断,可见礼佛之诚.一夜,魏饮梦见在山崖上有一株透发兰花香味的茶树, 正想采摘时,一阵狗吠把好梦惊醒. 第二天果然在崖石上发现了一株与梦中一模一样的茶树. 于是采下一些芽叶, 带回家中,精心制作. 制成之后茶味甘醇鲜爽, 精神为之一振. 魏认为这是茶之王, 就 把这株茶挖回家进行繁殖. 几年之后, 茶树长得枝叶茂盛.因为此茶美如观音重如铁, 又是观音托梦所获,就叫它"铁观音". 从此铁观音就名扬天下. 铁观音是乌 龙茶的极品, 其品质特征是: 茶条郑曲, 肥壮圆结, 沉重匀整, 色泽砂绿, 整体形状似晴蜓头, 螺旋体,青蛙腿. 冲泡后汤色多黄浓艳似琥珀, 有天然馥郁的兰花 香, 滋味醇厚甘鲜, 回甘悠久, 俗称有"音韵". 茶音高而持久, 可谓"七泡有余香".

More reading of tea in chinese can be found here.


Engraved with picture of ancient tea experts competing with each other.

The shop assistant told us Selangor Pewter tea holder is the best container for storing tea! Something to feel proud of being a Malaysian, finally.
This one is about RMB 500-800. Liddat oso can?

We walked around a bit and found all sorts of EXOTIC food with CREATIVE FUNNY NAMES that you can NEVER find in Malaysia.



Fried Donkey Bun for you my friend.
Eee... I don't want.



Roasted Deer Meat.
Ok, not so weird lah.



Even-the-Dog-Not-Like Bun.
What the heck is that?




This is even better.... the Hong Kong Peeing Beef Ball.



Holy mother of earth, you tell me, how can meat ball pee?



This is where Mountain East people enjoy all the beef pee and dog-also-no-like food.
But I'm such a snob, I want to dine in this:



Haha... for some unknown reasons, Mountain East people tend to think us Malaysians are rich. But we didn't end up sitting there, or else everything else would have added up to RMB 1000, or more.



We settled for a more humble setting and ordered:



I think it's the stem part of Garlic (which is very SWEET) fried with meat. Surprisingly refreshing. Never tried this before.



Tada... Fried Fresh Chinese Yam! ( In Chinese: 淮山 or 山药. )
You know this is one of those mystery herbs that your mum uses to boil soup!
I feel flowers blooming in my heart when I eat something that's food and at the same time a chinese herb that we prescribe for patients.

Send me to cloud no.9 straigth away.
I do get high over weird things.

For those of you who are going to ask me what Chinese Yam is, click this link http://www.foodsnherbs.com/new_page_49.htm

Strong recommendation for Sook Fan and Nai Der. :-)



Yo, I just L O V E tofu in Mountain East.
It's got texture.
Not all soft and smooth like those in KL.
No CHARACTER!



How can a meal with my Malaysian colleagues be complete without the usual torture of ordering the SAME FREAKING kind of dishes leh.



After my satisfying meal.
Saw this brilliant translation on my way home:
Millionare = 米力乃 (Mi Nai Li)

So, to recap:
Yeng gets high over
1) Ancient architecture
2) Herbs that are also food

*I can see people rolling their eyes already*