Hello everyone! It's the continuation of my Guangzhou escapade together with my workmates! In my last post, I shared with you about my first ever train ride from Hongkong to Guangzhou, China. Well technically, it's not my first time because from Hongkong Airport we were transported from the main arrival area to the exit of the terminal via a short train ride. But the longer ride is the one going to China. So yup, that's basically my first! No one's arguing here! Haha
It was late in the afternoon and after we settled the hotel check-in and moved into our room, we figured it was time to eat a hearty meal after such a long flight! It was my longest nonstop travel out of the country. Despite the wishes of everyone to eat something that'll give us back our energy, we decided not to travel farther. We walked around our hotel's neighborhood and luckily, it seemed like a busy district full of establishments from a small market, a convenience store, restaurants, general merchandise stores, and a lot more. We wander farther and saw this inviting restaurant. I honestly think my workmates were already tired to look for another one so we went in. I don't read nor write Mandarin/Cantonese so there's no way of telling the name of the restaurant. I only got pictures of its facade.
Just when I thought we'd peacefully be able to order and eat, I was wrong! The ordering process was so intense as no one from the restuarant speaks Engligh. And no one from our team speaks their language. It was all hand signs and nodding and pointing at the menu. I remember when Ma'am Ann asked the waitress "Is this with fishball already?" The waitress frantically answered, "No, no, no Facebook!" That's when we all laughed and wished things won't be like this the entire time we're in Guangzhou. Remember, it's only Day 1!
In the end, we were able to communicate our order, and because there were only a few people, it was served immediately. It was my first shabu-shabu experience and it could not be any better. Their sauces were on point I wish I could've brought some at home. If you're not familiar with what shabu-shabu is. It's a Japanese nabemono hotpot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water and served with dipping sauces.
Everyone's happy and satisfied with the dinner! That's all for now. Find out in my next posts if we still experience the language barrier and how we made it out alive! 😂