I’m finally starting to get semi-decent at ordering my own food at restaurants. I’m almost always with someone else who speaks Chinese who orders. When we’re at Chinese restaurants, I can never read the menu, so when I’m asked about what I want, I usually just say something vague like “How about some spicy beef?” or “I’ll eat anything; just order whatever you like”. The latter statement has potential to yield something interesting. Anyway, I found a noodle dish at TCL (my favorite lunch restaurant) that I really enjoy called “Yi Ping Mien”, or “First Class Noodle”. It’s a tasty spicy bowl of noodles with fillings of beef, pork, egg, and select vegetables.

(l-r) Yi ping mien, Michael and Judy at TCL:

One thing that’s hard to get used to is the lack of a cold drink at meals.   Of course, I guess I could order one, but I always just drink what ever one else does:   either a tiny cup of tea or, in the picture above, a bowl of green liquid, which is basically the residue of a soup.   The Chinese are amazingly efficient at using every part of the vegetable or meat and this is an example.