Others say weird, I say unique

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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:

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!

😀

Rihanna’s CFDA dress

Music, acting and being beautiful is not enough anymore. A lot of celebrities and wannabes either say, wear or do something controversial. It gets people talking. It doesn’t matter whether you liked what they did or not. All that matters is that you are thinking, talking and writing about them. This I believe is the reasoning behind Rihanna’s latest publicity stunt. In the CFDA’s fashion awards, Rihanna wore a bedazzled, all-revealing dress that, well, revealed almost everything. People (like me) will be talking about this dress for a very long time. Why did she wear it? WIll you say that she was brave or stupid? Was she making a statement, and if so, what was the statement? Do you like the dress? Would she lose or gain fans because of this? Would more and more females wear outfits that are similar to this?

Rihanna is a huge celebrity and fashion icon. People of all ages and sexual orientations adore her all over the world. No doubt that this wardrobe choice will have reached the four corners of the world before I even publish this article. I am very curious as to how this would affect the wardrobe choices of females around the world.

Does it matter if women wear this sort of clothing?

More importantly (for me), to what extent will this change the way boys and men think about women?

Would parents and teachers educate boys better, i.e. make sure that they do not objectify women and treat them as mere sexual objects?

Or would parents and teachers be far more stricter to girls by enforcing hard rules on wardrobe choices because they fear that males (and most of society) will not respect them if they appear ‘slutty’?

 

Animal Passions: Love really comes in mysterious (and sometimes disturbing) ways

The documentary below is about people who have romantic and sexual relationships with non-human animals. Yes, you have read that right. If you want to watch something weird, this one is for you. I want to know what you think of this. Please leave some comments.

Warning: Not for the faint-hearted!

 

Part 1:

 

Part 2:

 

Part 3:

 

Part 4:

 

Part 5:

 

Part 6: