When is a chicken foot not a chicken foot?

Answer: when you trying to eat it.

Our friend Jun, who is Chinese and on the trip with us, invited some of us out with his college friend. I was so excited for an authentic Chinese food experience, and got a little more than I bargained for. We ate at a restaurant in Shanghai known for its extremely spicy food. I enjoy spicy food, but this was beyond anything spicy that I've every experienced...so spicy that my tongue literally went numb and began to tingle. I think this may be what it's like to be high on LSD.

The food was a little crazier than I thought it would be. We were served cold chicken feet, a delicacy in China. For the record, chicken feet doesn't taste very good. It's very fatty and very tendony. There as also frog, soup with duck blood and liver, and fish head soup, to name just a few of the tamer entrees. Although I tried a little of everything, I went home a bit hungry that night and with a very angry stomach.

We've had some interesting visits to GM Shanghai and Intel yesterday. Last night, we had some drinks at Cloud 9, the highest bar in the world, next to what will soon be the tallest building in the world come 2008. It will be the World Financial Center in Shanghai. The construction here is amazing and happening at a tremendous rate. I had read that China is driving up commodity prices, especially in copper and nickel, due to construction, and I can now totally believe it, just by witnessing what's going on in Shanghai.

We also did a little karaoke last night...the karaoke bar was amazing. Each party got their own room, complete with their own machine and drinks. I sang "Like a Prayer" and have to say that I was one of the hits of the night! :)

Went pearl shopping this morning and bought some pretty things. We leave this afternoon for Hong Kong.