adventures in china

Last night, some friends of a friend of Jocelyn’s showed up. They’re herp guys from a university in Georgia. Real herp guys, like the kind who spend years radio tracking thousands of copperheads and swimming with Japanese giant salamanders.

We took them to Dai barbeque. It’s mouth-numbingly spicy food that you won’t find in any other part of China, the kind of restaurant I like to eat at a couple times a week. Skewered meats, tofu, and fish are mostly what ends up on the table, but my favorite is a fiery cucumber and tomato vinegar-based salad that tastes like it belongs in Central America. Everything is loaded with MSG, and the spices and sauces painted onto the foods you pick out taste like nothing I’ve encountered before.

After dinner we went frogging, normal Monday-night work frogging, just around the gardens. The jetlagged professor and friends did well. We will go out again Wednesday night, this time to the rainforest. I’ve promised them flying frogs! I hope I don’t disappoint.