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jgb7573
New Member


44 Posts
Posted -  07/11/2007  :  20:35
Being in strange places or doing strange things can sometimes be fraught with danger, of embarrassment if nothing else.  I'm used to this, having long ago decided that looking a fool was something I couldn't reasonably expect to avoid from time to time.  Just grin and bear the ridicule is my general rule, they just think 'mad Englishman in sandals' and carry on.
Take this visit to Kuarla Lumpur for instance.  One day a bunch of us (Hoay-Mei, Siew-Boon, Boon-Yee and some of the other support and implementation people) went to lunch in the food hall downstairs (that's 49 floors downstairs, being as we were way up among the clouds in KL's very own Twin Towers).  As is the way with food halls, we each wandered off and chose what we wanted from the various stalls and met back at the chosen table to enjoy food and pleasant company.  I'd chosen a noodle thing with thick sauce and meat and all sorts on a sizzling platter.  Well it wasn't actually sizzling much, more of the odd spit now and again, but it meant well.  So there we were, into our assorted lunches, conversation flowing freely ('And nation shall speak unto Nation') when it was noticed that I was using my chopsticks upside-down.  What can one do in such a situation?  Go and get a spoon and fork.
See what I mean?  I'm going to look a fool from time to time, so why worry about it?
So on Wednesday, I decided on a Japanese meal.  I enjoy sushi and I'd enjoyed sashimi the one time I'd had it over 15 years ago, so why not give it a go?  So I find the restaurant and am shown to my seat by an attractive young waitress in a kimono, folded blanket back and front and knitting needles stuck in her hair, and take a look at the menu. 
This is very imposing, with lots of words that end in 'i' and alarming numbers on the right hand side, and I haven't a clue.  Then I find the other menu underneath which has pictures and I heave a sigh of relief before choosing set meal 23.  This has sushi, sashimi, miso soup, salad and a desert.  So I order that and sit back with a self satisfied grin and a hole in my stomach just about set meal 23 size. 
After a short while the kimono returns bearing a tray of goodies, I take a look, and my mouth starts to water.  I check out the contents of the tray. 
Top right is the sushi, and there's the little bowl for soy sauce, and yes there's the sliced ginger (I think), quite hot and tasty.  Finally there's the green stuff you mix in with the soy sauce, but seems to cause rapid vibration of the feet on the floor and a florid countenance if eaten directly. 
Bottom right is the salad. Bottom left there's the sashimi (veg, prawns etc. fast fried in a light batter) and in front of me is a bowl which must contain the gravy you can dip the sashimi into (I remember that from 15 years ago). 
Top left is clearly desert (water melon), but in the middle of the tray is this brown plastic pot rather like the bottom half of a teapot, but without handle or spout.  It has a smaller plastic dish thing jammed on top.  It must be the miso soup.  I take the little dish off, and yes it looks like soup inside, but how are you meant to drink it in polite Japanese society?  Did they forget to give me a spoon?  Do you just drink straight from the bowl?  Or do you tip some into the little dish, add soy sauce to taste before quaffing it down in one?  Or what?  Never mind, I'll come back to that later and put the lid back. 
I first sort out the chopsticks (being very careful to get them what I think is the right way round) and attack the sashimi as that looks like it would best be eaten before it goes cold.  Delicious!  And the gravy works a treat.  Before long it's all gone and I have to decide what to do next.  I'm on my own and can't discuss the niceties of Japanese soup drinking with friends, so think maybe I'll get stuck in to the sushi.  I've done that before and know the score.  Mixed some green stuff into the soy sauce, picked up the first piece of sushi, dip it in the sauce and eat slowly.
Bliss on a stick!  I just don't understand how raw fish can taste so good.  A delight not to be missed.  So I have some more, sometimes with a bit of ginger to spice it up a bit, occasionally fitting in a fit of foot stamping and florid countenance just for the fun of it. 
All the time, though, I'm worrying about this soup.  What am I going to do without making a complete fool of myself?  I keep an eye on everyone else in the restaurant to see how they cope, but unfortunately I can only see one guy, and he's eating noodles, so no help there.  Sushi nearly gone, I'm beginning to get desperate. Then the kimono comes floating towards me and I decide to go in for that very un-manly of activities and ask for directions. 
"Excuse me," I say, wearing my best idiot in paradise expression,  "I know this is a dumb question, but how do the Japanese eat soup?". 
Poor girl, she nearly died on the spot.  Embarrassed giggles was nothing, but then I suppose she was young and not used to middle-aged men asking importunate questions.  Fortunately, one of her colleagues noticed something unusual was happening and came to see what the problem was.  Actually I don't think she was a waitress so much as a potboy/girl because she was wearing black trousers and blouse with a red belt.  More the kung fu type I thought. 
Anyway kung fu explained that you first wind the soup up with the chopsticks (to get the heavy bits off the bottom) and then pick the bowl up and drink as from a cup, but did I want a spoon?  No thanks, came the reply.  Now I know the form, I'll do my best to conform.  So I did and jolly nice soup it was too.  Maybe a little cool for my taste, but I had been putting off the decision for quite a while!
So is there a moral to this tale?  Not really.  But I think I will try to remember in future to go for the kung fu types rather than those all dressed up to allure!



JohnB,

Found that horn - gorn!
Author Replies  
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 08/11/2007 : 06:44
Nice piece John, I enjoyed it.  Reminded me of the first time I was ever given a lobster and all the tools.  Me and my mate Paul made a right mess of it.  Bits of shell flying all over and a lot of skidding off the plate.  I once asked for a BLT on a bagel in a Jewish Deli on 2nd Ave in NY.  I got it as well!


Stanley Challenger Graham




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stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk Go to Top of Page
melteaser
Genealogist


4819 Posts
Posted - 08/11/2007 : 15:18
I was given lobster, minus the tools. From the sounds of it Stanley, I'd have been worse off with them not that it was easy without.  Not something I'd bother with again.
Oh, and I have used chopsticks the wrong way round John. I carried on, was proud that I was managing so well!

Edited by - melteaser on 08/11/2007 3:18:57 PM


Mel


http://www.briercliffesociety.co.uk Go to Top of Page
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 08/11/2007 : 15:55
I have never been any good with chopsticks.  You know when they twist and the bit of meat flies over onto the next table.......  Then I saw an old Chinaman in Fremantle eating a bowl of rice, he just held the bowl to his lips and scraped the rice into his mouth with the chopsticks.  very heartening!


Stanley Challenger Graham




Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk Go to Top of Page


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