Among the fruit choices at our breakfast in Beijing on Wednesday were two items neither of us had ever seen.
One was fleshy white melon with black seeds, which I dubbed "dalmatian melon." It had a kiwi-like texture and its flavor was a subtle mix of watermelon and kiwi.
The other tasted like a sweet pear. Its texture and appearance, however, were exactly how I imagine a scooped-out eyeball to be like. Thus, I could not convince Elizabeth to try it.
One was fleshy white melon with black seeds, which I dubbed "dalmatian melon." It had a kiwi-like texture and its flavor was a subtle mix of watermelon and kiwi.
The other tasted like a sweet pear. Its texture and appearance, however, were exactly how I imagine a scooped-out eyeball to be like. Thus, I could not convince Elizabeth to try it.
"Dalmatian melon" is on the left and the "eyeball fruit" Elizabeth was too chicken to try is on the right.
These were among the mysteries we were looking forward to having my sister, Kate, solve for us when we arrived in Xi'an. She took us grocery shopping Wednesday night at her local Lotus store, which is like a Meijer with its sections for clothes and other home items in addition to the food.
The "dalmatian melons" are actually dragon fruit, which look even wilder on the outside. The "eyeball fruits" are Lychee. We picked some out and will post a follow-up on how to shell them or peel them or whatever needs to be done to them.
Kate guided us through Lotus, which requires getting all of your fruit and vegetables weighed and stickered at stations in the produce department.
The "dalmatian melons" are actually dragon fruit, which look even wilder on the outside. The "eyeball fruits" are Lychee. We picked some out and will post a follow-up on how to shell them or peel them or whatever needs to be done to them.
Kate guided us through Lotus, which requires getting all of your fruit and vegetables weighed and stickered at stations in the produce department.
Kate gets her selection of mangos properly stickered.
Grocery shopping in China was another example of the blend we've found between foreign and familiar.
Familiar: the layout, aisle arrangement, bread, most of the vegetables, ice cream (with the exception of flavors like honeydew and green tea -- which we bought to try).
Foreign: Turtles and frogs, milk that's not refrigerated (Kate explained the milk is ultraviolet pasteurized and doesn't need it until opened), dog food-bag-sized containers of rice and an entire section devoted to giant plastic vats of cooking oil.
Familiar: the layout, aisle arrangement, bread, most of the vegetables, ice cream (with the exception of flavors like honeydew and green tea -- which we bought to try).
Foreign: Turtles and frogs, milk that's not refrigerated (Kate explained the milk is ultraviolet pasteurized and doesn't need it until opened), dog food-bag-sized containers of rice and an entire section devoted to giant plastic vats of cooking oil.
No oil crisis here.
But Elizabeth's favorite section was the tea accessory station. It featured dried lemon slices, dandelions, flower petals, lavender, pieces of tree branches and other unidentified dried stuff.
-Ryan
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