Hot Pot and Sake Bombs

Whooo, last night got crayyyzayyy. Have you guys ever heard of Hot Pot? Well, last night the USAP paid for us Ambassadors to go to one of the best Hot Pot places in Shanghai, and I really think I gained 5 pounds in one night- no lie. Let me explain Hot Pot: Hot Pot is where you and some friends go to a restaurant and sit at this circular table that has a hot plate in the middle, where they put this bubbling, savory, steaming broth that has cilantro and spices, and lot and lots of msg. Then you order bunches of different foods, since we are Americans ours consisted of mainly meat, thinly sliced meat, and vegetables and tofu that you throw into this delicious broth. Every 10 minutes it seems like there is a new plate brought to the table, shrimp ( still squirming) skewers of thick junks of blood ( mmm, tastes like eggs), cabbage, 7 different styles of tofu ( shredded, chunked, sliced, dried, oh, the list can go on), and all these little red, rolled up meat slices that are so mmmm-delectable. Aaaand, I’m not even done. The best part is you go to this sauce bar thing and choose from all these different sauces, mix it with cilantro or garlic or chives, and dip all the food that has been simmering in the steamy broth in your own creative concoction. Am I using enough adjectives yet? The moral of the story is: it’s damn good. And then add some hot sake, all the beer you can drink, some sake bombs where you mix the beer and the sake together, plus some of your favorite people ever + your Bosses ( what-what?!) and you have a night to remember….or forget. What do I remember…oh yeah, befriending our waitress and pouring her a beer ( American friendliness right there), telling story after story of Chinese people’s attempts to cut in line ( the best is when they try and be sneaky and accidentally hit their head on the bar), trying really hard not to talk about work but not being to help ourselves, breaking a sake cup, watching Bree order 6 coconut milk milkshakes and Luke saying she was a coconut milk whore and then I laughed so hard I spit out my own coconut milk and it was just a huge coconut milk fiasco, and….well, I’ll stop there. It was great night, and I wish you all could’ve been there to join us. Greeting from China!