HOT POT!

Shirly,a student at school, invited me around to her new home for a hot pot dinner. I asked if Dave could come along as well and that was fine, "the more the merrier" she might have said. Shirly's parents had just moved into their new appartment the day before so Dave and I felt a little bad for going when they were not fully settled in, but they didn't seem to mind,

The appartment was a little distance away nearby to where Dave and I had done our ECO Effort the week previous. The area was very clean and the apartment was lovely. It was more akin to a western home than a Chinese one. Shirly's parents must be very well off as they had Flat Screen TV's, DVD Players and lovely furniture. The toilet was even westernised!

Shirley's family were lovely. Her Younger Brother is 4 years old and has started learning a few words of English. He was active throughout the evening and obviously very excited to meet Dave and I. Shirly's parents were also lovely. They had been at work all day but they were still amazing hosts.

The Hot Pot is something of a Chinese Tradition. The idea is to have a huge bowl of boiling water into which you put various meats and vegetables. Once they have cooked you remove said items from the boiling water and then dip in a sauce and eat. We used Lamb, Beef, Chicken, Pork, Shrimp, Fish and many different vegetables.The sauce was a little salty at first but once we had added some water to it it was delicious. There was so much food and Shirly's parents, being as kind as they are, kept on trying to feed Dave and I more but in the end we had to resign ourselves to being unable to clear the table of its entire contents!

There is always a next time though!