November 18, 2023

Day 11

Today is a Saturday, which means I have a full day with my nephew! My brother in law told me to take him to the Guangzhou Auto Show, which is one of the biggest auto shows in the nation and perhaps the world. We had breakfast at home, and since my brother in law didn’t drive home yesterday, he drove the car away first and me and nephew called a ride to his office.

Right after my nephew got on the ride, he started to whine about his pants not being comfortable. He said that his pants are going to fall down and couldn’t stop whining. Since we already got on the car and I already paid for the ride, I wasn’t going to just ask the ride to turn back for supposedly falling pants.

My plan was to get my brother in law’s car first and then head straight to the auto show. We will walk around the show until lunch time and be back before afternoon starts. However, once my nephew got to his dad’s office, he started to cry about his uncomfortable pants. He didn’t even like the suggestion that we use a shoelace as a belt for his allegedly falling pants. There’s no trying with this kid. We had to drive back all the way to home, for him to pick a pair of pants that’s comfortable enough, and went on our way.

Guangzhou is an hour away from Foshan, and it’s the second time I’ve visited this city since Day 7. When we arrived by the auto show, it was lunch time, and my nephew asked for KFC. I asked him if he wanted something fancier like western style cuisine in a fancy restaurant and he said no, he wanted KFC.

Can’t really fight his decision, so I put in KFC in the navigation’s app and went to a really really new and fancy building that happened to have a KFC. Parked the car in its fancy underground parking lot and went upstairs to get KFC.

KFC in China no longer has the in person ordering thing. Now, the only way for you to order is through their app, which I don’t have on my phone. I had to download it and do everything from there. It’s so stupid. But anyways.

My nephew wants to order the hamburger with beef. I let him know that KFC beef sucks, and if he wanted a real hamburger, McDonald’s is better. Yes, KFC in China has hamburgers in addition to chicken sandwiches. I ordered the 新奥尔良鸡腿堡, or “New Orleans Chicken Thigh Hamburger” and a bowl of mashed potatoes for him.

Here is my biggest gripe with the Chinese definition of “hamburgers”. Hamburger only means bread with grounded beef, and it has been the true definition of the English word. However, when KFC entered China, unlike McDonald’s who had a strict control of its menu and creative decisions, KFC HQ gave the right to the Chinese KFC group. KFC entered China in the 1980s, and China didn’t have western fast food at that time, so KFC grasped the opportunity to call its chicken sandwiches, “鸡肉汉堡”, or “Chicken Hamburgers” to make its food sound fancier. The Chinese public didn’t know better, and soon, the word 汉堡 just means anything that has round bread and meat in it. It makes discussions with foreigners about the concept of hamburgers a lot harder when I first started to learn English.

But anyways, my nephew couldn’t eat anything that’s remotely spicy, so when the New Orleans chicken thigh “hamburger” that I have no problems with got to him, he couldn’t take a bite. He started to whine about how spicy the thing is.

He kind of got on my nerve with the hamburger thing, because I had to make so many detours just for him, including the KFC. I was going to go to a real restaurant later anyways, so I told him to just throw this one away and we will be on our way to a real restaurant. He ate the whole thing anyways, and said something like: “my uncle bought it for me, so I must finish every last bite.” It sounds like he is a good boy, but man he can get to you sometimes.

While he was eating his “hamburger” and mashed potatoes, I was looking on my phone for Guangzhou style lunch. The restaurant that my friend Jenson recommended a few days ago is too far from the auto show and isn’t worth the time commitment, so I looked for something closer. Turns out, at the building where we parked, there happens to be an expensive ass restaurant that is just on the 4th floor that has Cantonese food. So after he finished eating at KFC, that’s where we went. He claimed that he is not full yet and is capable of eating more. I knew he had a small stomach, but decided to let him eat more anyways.

Since I know from their ad listings that their food is kind of expensive, I went to their front desk, asked for a menu and see if the food is worth it. They don’t have pictures for their food at all on the menu, which is a sign that their restaurant might be too fancy, which means it will be expensive. I saw the price, sweated for a bit since I’ve never dined at somewhere this fancy without my parents, and decided to just go in and stop being cheap. It’s not like I can’t afford it anyways.

So I got to my seat, and ordered 3 items. Their most famous 冰冻三层肉, or Frozen Three Layers of Meat, was all sold out. That was a 200 RMB dish, so I was very glad to substitute it to something cheaper.

Right after I finished ordering the main courses, the waitress asked me what my preferred tea is, and showed me a menu. They have a bit selection of teas. I chose the 桃花乌龙茶, or Peach Flower Oolong. I thought it would be interesting to try for a bit, until I saw the price. It costs 98 RMB per person. HOLY SHIT.

What kind of tea costs 98 RMB per person? This will be the most expensive tea I’ve drank in my entire lifetime. But since I’ve already ordered, despite me starting to sweat again, I went ahead with the tea. I figured that I can’t stay cheap my whole life. Have to be spontaneous and order the expensive stuff sometimes. It’s not like I can’t afford it. Still, it’s so extra…

I remember turning to my nephew and said that we are about to walk out of here with 600 RMB less. That’s my estimation of the bill. TBH if I am to dine at a super fancy restaurant in America, it will cost more than this; but this is China, it’s still a lot of money here. 600 RMB is about the same price as a medium-end restaurant for 2 people in the U.S., so it’s not too bad.

The first dish is 干炒牛河, Pan Fried Beef Vermicelli Noodles, or “Dry Fried Cow River”. I’ve had it on Day 6 at Foshan. The last time I had it it wasn’t so good, so I’ve decided to try it again at the fancy restaurant and see what’s what. It wasn’t bad, but wasn’t surprisingly good as I was kind of hoping for. It’s meh, similar to the ones I’ve had before, so I’ll give it a pass.

The second dish is called 高汤炖菜, Stew Vegetables with Broth, or “High Soup Stew Vegetables”. They didn’t mention that the vegetables mentioned in the name of the dish is just spinach. I thought it would be something like assorted vegetables, but no, it only had spinach in there. It tasted bitter from the spinach, but the broth is good. My nephew hated this, though.

The third dish is called 水果咕噜肉, Fruit Guru Meat. No funny name for that one. This is like fried meat that is later dipped in sweet and sour sauce. This restaurant added diced apple to make it “fruit guru meat”. Not bad, not the best I’ve had, but not bad. This is the meat that was substituted for the one that was out of stock. My nephew hated this one too, said it’s stinky. I think he’s just too full from the KFC he had earlier and didn’t want to finish the food that I put on his plate. Bad boy.

Even though I’ve decided to go with spending so much at the restaurant, which is very a big step for me, I’m still kinda cheap. That’s why I kept drinking the expensive ass tea while eating. My stomach was 50% water at that point.

The bill was only 400 RMB, which is a big surprise. I guess I added 98 RMB of tea for my nephew who wasn’t counted, and the 100 RMB difference from the meat dish. 400 is still a lot of money for China, but it is something I am ale to stomach with much more confidence. I am ashamed of my value system. I should be better.

After lunch, it’s Auto Show time! The waitress took my license plate number so parking would be free, but I guess she got my license plate number wrong, because I was still charged a hefty parking fee. 30 RMB, didn’t really make me gripe though. Gripe.

I went with the navigations app and went to a street that I was supposed to then turn left. I saw all the vehicles parked on street sides and was worried that there might be no parking near the auto show. I asked a police assistant where to park, and he pointed me to a public underground parking lot, and so I did.

When I finally found a space to park the car, I was faced with a new dilemma. How the hell do I get to the auto show, and where the hell is the elevator? The underground parking lot belongs to a building that is currently holding an art show, so we couldn’t use the elevator. Luckily, there was someone else who was trying to go to the auto show too and we followed him. Turns out, we had to exit the parking lot through the vehicle exit, which is rather dangerous.

Once we got out of the parking lot, we had to go across the street through an underpass that’s very far away from the parking lot. When we got there, I have to buy tickets. My brother in law told me that the ticket is probably something like 20 or 30 RMB. When I got to the gate and looked on my phone, there are two tickets.

One is 50 RMB and one is 100 RMB. The 50 RMB is called “General Admission”, and the 100 RMB one is called “Press Admission”. With my reptile brain, of course I picked the cheaper one because I am not the press. I forgot to read the date which the tickets are applied, though, as the 50 RMB general admission is for November 20th and so forth; the 100 RMB one is the one I should buy for that day.

When we lined up to go through security check, that’s when I figured out I made the purchasing mistake. I can’t find a way to return the ticket and buy it again, so I had to buy another ticket with no refund. Ticket is free for children, so I spent 150 RMB on tickets that day.

The auto show itself was not that interesting, to be absolutely and completely honest with you. I am a car guy, I love cars. With my experience with the EQS, I now love electric cars. However, as I started to love cars the day I got to America, I’ve seen most cars. Most cars on the auto show are not new, and I’ve either seen them while driving or driven them at some point, so there was nothing interesting.

Mercedes had a new E Class though, which is my first stop. There were too many people at the auto show, and people were surrounding the new e class with people already sitting in all four seats of the car. There was no way for me to get in there and check it out, so I bailed.

There were some interesting car internals that were worthy to take a picture of.

Since I sold my Cayenne in 2022, I’ve been driving my only car left, the Toyota Sienna. Can’t exactly get girls excited to get in a minivan, so I am eyeing the Continental GT. This car is mighty sexy though, just a little too mature for my age group. Still, this is probably the one I will buy when I start law school next year.

At the Jetta station of Volkswagen, they had a transformer looking thing up there. It’s pretty cool. Me and my nephew took a selfie there.

Other than that, the car show is pretty boring. Recommended for people who are interested in cars but couldn’t see them on the street too much, but for me, though, pretty boring.

As we finished walking around the auto show, my little nephew was exhausted from all the walking. He wanted to go home and play with his Nintendo Switch when we were two thirds done with the show but I wouldn’t let him. When we reached the parking lot, he asked me to carry him in my arms. I refused, since, you know, I’m tired too. As we were a one minute walk away from the car, he begged me to carry him again. I refused, since he is 6 years old now, and is no longer a little baby.

When we reached the car and I opened the passenger side door to put my jacket on the seat, he threw himself on the passenger seat and asked me to carry him to his seat. I got frustrated and I scolded him to get on to the car seat himself. I don’t know why I did that, and I regret it one day more than the other. He looked upset, and he got on his car seat himself.

I discussed this situation with his dad, and his dad told me that he really is tired when he says he couldn’t walk. All I had to do was hold him up for a bit before he will get down voluntarily. Although my actions were right for not spoiling him, I still don’t feel good about what I did. I hope that a few years from now, when I am a Dad myself, I will be able to make better decisions.

He really was tired.

My brother in law got a dinner lined up for me tonight, and it is 鱼生! His friend who he worked with in Dalian while he was the sales manager there came and visited the South for a few days, and my brother in law invited him to dinner with me. He is a solid guy, very knowledgeable and not pretentious at all. I like him.

Since I drove my brother in law’s car away, he had to borrow a test-drive car from his dealership. It is a GLE 350 with 4 cylinders. It is a big looking car, with such a small engine. He drove to the restaurant while I was in the backseat. It really is a solid car.

Restaurant name: 海三饭店 (hǎi sān fàn diàn) [Haisan Restaurant]

Address: 佛山市文华北路桂园市场旁 (Foshan City Wenhua North Road, Next to Guiyuan Market)

It is the same restaurant that I picked up my to-go order on Day 7. Since my brother in law always dines there, the owner is knows him and likes him a lot. On the day I picked up the to-go order, I mentioned my brother in law’s name, and she got visibly excited and brought my order with me to my car. She is also capable of holding onto a room when there are other people waiting. It’s nice to be special.

We also had deep fried fish and some amazingly tasty shrimp heads that day. Oh yes, you have to dip the raw shrimp into soy sauce and wasabi, like how the Japanese eat it. It is so fucking good I can’t even tell you in words. You will have to try it out yourself. SO GOOD!

We also had the correct lemonade that I tried to have on Day 10. It tasted much better than the one I had. I feel duped.

My brother in law and his friend had a little whisky, so I was the one driving. We headed towards a bar right next to my brother in law’s home. It is a German pub with a lot of foreigner presence. It sells beers only, I mean beer is the only alcohol it sells. It also sells a lot of German stuff like pretzels and sausages. Me and my brother in law had a beer here the last time I was here in 2022 while the FIFA World Cup was going on. Fond memories.

While I was driving, I can immediately feel the difference between a 4 cylinder car and the EQS. The difference is HUUUUUGE. I can noticeable feel the degree of car vibration every time the car shifts into the next gear and the huge turbo lag it had for trying to get this giant hunk of metal to move. It is not even one bit as smooth as the EQS where there are no gears. Anyways, I digress.

Bar name: Haxnbauer海森堡德国餐厅 (岭南天地店) (hǎi sēn bǎo dé guó cān tīng) [Haxnbauer German Restaurant]

Address: 佛山市福贤路协天里9号XT902号铺 (Foshan City Fujian Road Xietianli #9, XT902)

The bar is located in a group of ancient buildings that the government forbade the developer from tearing down, which is extremely special. A lot of people dress up in traditional Chinese clothes to take pictures with the ancient buildings. The ancient Chinese buildings and the foreignness of everything that is modern China created a very interesting vibe.

We each ordered a tall glass of beer, a pretzel, and a German sour cabbage. We didn’t order sausages, since we already had so much fish a few moments ago. I asked if the waitress spoke German in 2022. She didn’t. Das ist sehr traurig.

There were also live music playing that night. They only sang non-Chinese songs. Most of them are English, some of them are either Spanish or Portuguese, as they’re South American songs. English is the only language I speak out of the three, so I could only sing along to songs like Shape of You, Hall of Fame, Diamonds, and etc. The guy had a killer voice, the girl wasn’t half bad either. Since we were told that we will be sitting close to live music, all three of us applauded every time they finished a song. We were so nice.

After drinking, my brother in law’s friend called a ride to his hotel, and we went upstairs.