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| Calvin and Hobbes November 19, 1985 from gocomics.com |
There is only one polite way to eat at a Chinese Buffet in America, and that is to stuff oneself silly. It is what they are designed for. They come by it honestly. In South Korea, public meals in restaurants were all about stuffing your self silly, bit by bit. True feast such as at weddings were mind blowing all weekend affairs of course after course after course fixed up by the women of (I think the brides) family you would come with friends if you even remotely knew the family eat a meals worth. Now you might object that this is a Chinese Buffet, not a Korean buffet, but I would say to that actually it is an American buffet of a generally Asian food. Korean Chinese food is different, and their version of Italian food often has corn kernals in it.
So on Wednesday I stuff myself silly with a small bowl of egg drop soup with fried wonton sticks, four or five eggrolls, and a couple of helpings of honey chicken with some fried rice, sans peas, which I remove from the rice and soup. Peas. Bleh! Then I go back to work and go "Man I shouldn't have done that." and try not to look like I want to take a nap.
And that is the problem. I meditate quite a bit, and read even more, and one of the side effects of these activities is that I have become quite aware of how I am feeling physically, mentally and spiritually through the day, and why. When I stuff myself with candied chicken and deep fried bread then feel lethargic for the next several hours I can't help but make a connection. Of course, my tastebuds deny the connection. They are all for Honey Chicken and against Peas(Bleh!). But my tastebuds when it comes down to it are just one small voice. Why should they have the most say?
Well I am going to find out. There are many ways to stuff a tiger, and feeding him what he likes is just one of them. But disappoint a tiger and you have to watch out...
Some food for thought?
ReplyDeleteDepending on where I'm at in a training cycle, I think that stuffing myself silly sounds like either a fantastic or a terrible idea, but for right now, when I stuff my face I want something good for me. A salad with as many different types of vegetables and beans as I can find with a dressing not made primarily of syrup. Maybe an avocado based dressing with plenty of sesame oil!
Having a Chinese Buffet lunch is quite different than having a Chinese Buffet dinner. Stuffing oneself silly at lunch is infinitely more dangerous than the same meal at dinner for the simple reason that you can go to bed at anytime after that dinner meal. Tempting fate in that way is certainly not good for your belly or your chakra. A lesson can be taken from your grandfather on the subject of Chinese Buffet eating.
ReplyDeleteI observed him one time when I was already full from a dinner I had earlier, but he needed to eat so I took him, at his own request, to his favorite Chinese Buffet. Hey, he's 87, he can eat where he wants. Anyhow, we get there and I order the tea, he orders the buffet. Off he goes to gather his first round.
The first round on this and most all days he goes to the buffet is salad with all the trimmings...trimmings consisting of mostly boiled shrimp. The less the iceburg he gets the more the shrimp. Can't find fault there and he generally eats all of what he brings. (Of course he grouses about having to take the shrimp apart...but hey, he's 87, don't they have machines to do this now?). Once salad is done it is off for round two, the second and final round.
The second round is very important because it is in this round that the REAL buffet goer gets his grub on. He meanders about like an astronaut in space looking for all the right stuff. By right stuff I mean the shrimp. He stuffs his plate full of interesting tidbits from all over the buffet universe but really piles on the shrimp offerings.
They’ve got all manner of shrimp including pan fried, deep fried and stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad but not shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger or a shrimp sandwich. Bubba would be mostly proud.
To Dad, and to a vast majority of shellfish eating humans, when God created the fruit of the sea He meant for them to be bar-b-qued, boiled, broiled, baked and sautéed. Made into shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole and shrimp gumbo. Most of these styles are available to the discerning palate at Dad's favorite Chinese Buffet and he finds them in abundance.
Dad overfills his plate and then, depending on the amount of grousing he put up with earlier, eats 1/5 to 1/3 of what he gets and says his eyes are bigger than his belly. Most of us do this as well, but he’s 87 and has no remorse. Nor, should I guess, should he. He is paying his own way. I just wish he would get it to go.
Afterwards it is off to home and the nice bed he has there to lay down upon and tumble towards a well fed rest. But then again, that is OK…see, he doesn’t have to fight his way through the afternoon at work trying to keep his stuffed to the gills eyelids open. Take a lesson from your elder, Hobbes, erp, Robert and save your Wednesday buffet for supper. :-D