POSEIDON

Did you know that the trident is an eating implement in Xi’An? In lieu of a fork, they give you a small (about four inches long; quarter of an inch wide and about a centimeter thick) white plastic trident with long tongs (two inches of tong, two inches of handle) to eat cakes and mouses. It’s wild. Oh, and cherry tomatoes and corn are considered fruits, not vegetables. So, with the fruit platter (the starter and the end of a meal) come melons and cherry tomatoes.

Atop cakes (which are angel food/ sponge cake so as not to break said plastic trident) that are covered with whipped (but not sweetened) fresh cream sit cream animals (usually a teddy bear) as well as peaches and cherry tomatoes. I guess I can sort of buy it, considering that cherry tomatoes are pretty sweet and are often sweeter than strawberries.

Hardest for me to buy, though, is the corn thing. Corn is treated like a fruit. There’s corn is a yogurt (and “yogurt” is universally spelled as “yoghurt”) as well as a corn candy that tastes just like corn, but in sucker form.