Dong Hua Men Night Market, Beijing – NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED!

If you are going to Beijing and you have a free evening, you must go to the Dong Hua Men Night Market (address: Dong Hua Men Avenue, West of Wang Fu Jing Avenue, Beijing 100005, China). The stalls open from 5pm to about 11pm. The market has about a hundred food stalls that offer everything from rice and noodles to cupcakes to deep-fried starfish, grasshoppers and snakes on sticks. Locals and toursists walk around to watch other brave people devour some of the most un-imaginable food items in this market.

I went there one evening a couple of weeks ago with my parents and sister. We were all curious to see whether this place can live up to the hype built by the media and other tourists who have been here before.

I was so excited when we arrived:

We arrived just as the owners were opening their stalls so we were among the first few people they enticed to try everything. The first few items were not so bad.

Cute pastries

Insides of pigs

Lobsters

Lobsters, deep-fried seafood on sticks

Then, as we carried on walking, the items on sale became weirder…

Pig intestines

…and weirder…

Dried and fried lizards (?), grasshoppers and seahorses

A closer look at the grasshoppers

Some sort of lizards

Yes. Seahorses!

…and weirder…

Scorpions

Deep-fried breaded starfish

Snakes, millipedes, spiders, etc. on sticks

But hey, some people tried them. Here’s a picture of a man who is a lot braver than I was:

Take a bow, Sir. Take a bow!

We have had an amazing night people-watching. I definitely would recommend this place to anyone who comes to Beijing. If you feel brave, try any of their food, take a picture and post it on your blog and let me know!

Despite having a rather interesting and fun night, I went back to my hotel wearing this expression on my face:

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10 funniest English translations in Beijing

During my travels in Beijing, I have had a hard time with communicating with the locals. I had a very difficult time trying to find my way around the city because the signs were incredibly confusing.

They try their best to communicate with you, which is great. However, there are signs and product labels that were poorly translated to English. Here are the best ones:

10. An incredibly talented artist who can…

Make Your Face

9. Use Google Translate, they say. It will be fine, they say…

Umm… Sure!

8. The best way to tell shoppers that photography is not allowed:

Please don’t.

7. I still don’t get this. I found this gem of a sign in the men’s toilets at Beijing Zoo:

At least it says I am the best!

6. Found in the men’s toilet at The Red Theatre. Not to be taken literally! The floors are slippery. But if you want to slip, do it carefully!

The floors are slippery.

5. A rather confusing I Love Beijing t-shirt

You love WHAT?!?!

Someone who REALLY REALLY loves Beijing

4. Yet another Google Translate gem. This is a postcard, by the way.

Good good study!

3. The ‘No Parking Sign’ sign

Just park somewhere else!

2. Found in a Chinese Medical centre

1. I don’t mind if you don’t find this funny because my water bottle does!

The happiest water bottle in the world!

A Philosophical Question From a Busker

Below is a photograph of a piece of paper with one of the most interesting philosophical question ever given to me. I was walking around Cardiff city centre when a very friendly busker gave me this. I no longer believe in a deity, but this got me thinking. I did not ask myself whether I am good enough for heaven. If there really is a god, then god will decide for me.

What I asked myself is whether I am doing a good job in life. Am I serving my purpose? Am I doing my part to help others become better people? Am I doing enough? Are my methods correct? What am I doing for myself?

It offered me a chance to reflect on my life- my actions, my decisions and my future plans. 

When Famous People follow me on Twitter

Well, well. Looks like 1/3 of my fantasy day out is about to be come true!! Haha!!

DP

Full Disclosure Chip

Today’s Daily Prompt:A mad scientist friend offers you a chip that would allow you to know what the people you’re talking to are thinking. The catch: you can’t turn it off. Do you accept the chip?

The idea of having a device that tells me what people are thinking is too good an opportunity to miss. I’m going to say YES even though I cannot turn it off, providing that I am the only one who would ever have it.

I can only imagine dealing with car-, insurance-, and mortgage sales representatives who would try to con me. Job interviews would also be easier, not to mention my future job as a psychologist!!

How can I turn it off? Well, I would not talk to people if I do not want it activated!!

My Picky Tongue hates Mackerel

Today’s Daily Prompt: You have to chose one flavour that your sense of taste will not be able to distinguish. Sweet, sour, bitter, salty, umami, spicy (not a taste per se , but we’re generous): which one do you chose to lose?

I have never liked the taste of mackerel- however it is cooked. I cannot stand it. I am well aware of the benefits of eating different kinds of fish- protein content, healthy oils, etc. But I still cannot stand the distinctive taste of mackerel. It’s not for the lack of trying though. Losing the ability to distinguish its taste is probably the only way for me to eat it!

😀

Vending Machine that dispenses ideas

Today’s Daily Prompt: Soft drinks, electronics, nutrient-free snacks – you can get all of those from a vending machine. But what type of vending machine is sorely needed but doesn’t yet exist? Share your automated retail fantasies with us!

First of all, I must say that this prompt is a very, very cool one! Kudos to the peeps at Daily Post!!

I found it very hard to think of a really cool, yet non-existent vending machine. What I really wanted already existed – a vending machine that dispenses cars. Look:

What I think this society needs is a vending machine that dispenses really bright and cool ideas. Most people (that I have encountered) lack imagination, creativity and innovative ideas, and I feel that we could all use an easy way out. I know that this idea sounds ridiculous as each of us may have a different opinion of what constitutes a good idea and what doesn’t. Also, who would monitor and manufacture the vending machines? Nevertheless, even though it is a wild idea, I would stick to it.

There’s a catch, though. Every idea that you get from the vending machine comes with the chip that Sheldon Cooper  described in the Big Bang Theory:

PINGBACKS:

UNDERTHEMONKEYTREE

tuckedintoacorner

alanewart

agent909

thoughtsofamisfitjunkie

thefloralbunny

keyboardpizza

fibercompulsion

kansamuse

Dirt Road

pippakinclawz

artmoscow

psychologistmimi

rebeccaraelyn

flowersandbreezes

nonsmmokingladybug

jaynesdailypost

angloswiss-chronicles

alotfromlydia

missayleen

abouquetofroses

mydeliblog

UK Supermarkets Asda and Tesco Apologise for Disgraceful and Offensive Costume

UK supermarket giant Asda has apologised for their hugely inappropriate halloween costume marketed as the ‘Mental Patient Fancy Dress Costume’  which featured fake blood, a mask and a fake meat cleaver. They have withdrawn the sale of the said product and pledged to donate £25,000 to Charity Mind after they were bombarded with tweets from offended individuals such as ex-footballer Stan Collymore and charities such as Rethink Mental Illness.

Tesco, who had a similarly absurd ‘psycho ward’ costume (boiler suit, mask and machete) also withdrew their product subsequently and like Asda, have issued offical apologies.

As an advocate for teaching mental health awareness and diversity, I am hugely offended and horrified by the sale and  advertisement of the costumes. We are still living in an age where people with mental illnesses are stigmatized, and stupid publicity stunts such as this is totally unacceptable. Not only does it fuel the negative stereotype but it also gives the masses an opportunity to publicly mock those who are living with mental illnesses. I am sure that they are aware of the fact that several people have killed themselves because they could not live with the stigma.

In addition, neither of these costumes accurately depict people with mental illness. Having visited many psychiatric wards and mental institutions, and having worked with people with psychiatric conditions, I have not seen anyone who dressed and looked like the pictures on Asda’s and Tesco’s  advertisements. The mentally ill need support, understanding and acceptance. They certainly do not need any public mockery such as this. Apologies and donations are not enough.

An Eye-Opening Documentary About The Different Ways of Torturing Humans For Information

The documentary below exposes the many different ways in which interrogators tortured fellow human beings for information. It shows the history behind physical (electrocution, sex, etc.) and psychological ways of torture. What is interesting to me is how twisted the minds of the interrogators are. They really believed that what they were doing was right and should be done.

 

I’ve literally just seen God! Can you explain why?

Over the course of our history, there have been people who claimed that they have seen God (Christian and others). These people are often able to vividly describe the ‘god’ that they have seen. They usually have an interaction with this ‘god’, which changes the way they live their lives. This phenomenon has been experienced by people, regardless of their stance on religion. But why? Did a ‘god’ really visit them? Or is it all in their minds?

 

Temporal Lobes and Spiritual Experiences

One theory proposes that there is a part of the brain, called the Temporal Lobe, which possesses the circuitry for religious experiences. This theory was proposed by Professor Vilayanur Ramachandran, who found that around 25% of people with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) are obsessed with religion. After an episode of intense seizure, these patients claimed that they saw ‘god’ and afterwards are convinced that they should follow the path shown to them by that ‘god’. Prof. Ramachandran mentioned in an interview that after such an experience, most patients will be walking around with huge necklaces with crosses and bibles.

In order to test this theory, Prof. Ramachandran and his colleagues seeked to find out how people respond when they are shown neutral words (e.g. chairs and tables), sexual ones and religious words by measuring their Galvanic Skin Responses. What they found was that TLE patients are highlly responsive to religious words, but not on sexual and neutral ones. In addition, based on their skin responses, they are far less interested in sexually loaded words that neutral ones. Participants without damage to their Temporal Lobes on the other hand, were highly responsive to sexual words.

 

Can this be induced?

A better question, I suppose is that is it possible to give healthy (people without TLE) people these experiences by altering their brain circuitry? Dr. Persinger set out to do just that. He developed a helmet connected to a machine which if worn, alters the function of an individual’s Temporal Lobes. He asked participants, who did not know what the experiment was about, to wear this helmet while doing various activities. 80% of them reported feeling that something or someone (which they cannot see) was around them. It should be noted that Dr. Persinger insisted that the susceptibility to experience such a thing varies from one person to the next.