User Comments - johnrash
johnrash
Posted on: China Fruit and Pre-Marital Sex
June 20, 2008 at 11:26 PMThe first time I traveled to Hong Kong (1 year before I visited mainland China) I discovered the beautiful and delicious 火龙果 (huo3long2guo2) Fire Dragon Fruit. I have only found this fruit in the USA in Chinatown, Manhatton for ridiculously high prices. If you visit China you must eat 火龙果. The puple skin and green leaves on the outside hide milky white flesh peppered with tiny black seeds on the inside. The flavor is like a more subtle Kiwi with less tang.
Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Hong Kong
June 20, 2008 at 6:03 PMCAGSTER
Shouldn't we be more worried about trans-fats and real risk foods other than MSG? The "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" scare was proven to be mostly a reaction to unfounded claimes and urban legend. I was scared of eating MSG before as well, but only because I have been conditioned with countless western packages claiming "NO MSG" for my entire life. As far as I can surmise there is no valid health risk in eating MSG.
Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Hong Kong
June 20, 2008 at 5:55 PMI would love to see a Chinese Menu site similar to the Olympics page you have running now at http://chinesepod.com/olympics
I know food in China is vast and varied, but having a few clues as to what some of those colorfully named items that commonly occur on menus across China would be an amazing way to practice. Even if I recognize the characters, I still haven't learned what to expect when I attempt ordering for myself. Unfortunatly, I usually resort to asking "哪个好？" and going with the suggestion of the 服务员.
Posted on: China Fruit and Pre-Marital Sex
June 20, 2008 at 4:17 PMYou totally forgot about 山竹果: mangosteen
shan1 zhu2 guo3
Posted on: Missing Luggage
June 19, 2008 at 3:37 PMBTW. Has anyone ever had a problem with the airline losing the bag on a Chinese domestic flight? I think this is something mostly common in America that might seldom or never happen in China (and Japan). Overall domestic travel in China (train/air) seems to be much better than in the USA. Guess that's what happens when the majority of the population depends on cars and driving themselves around vs using trains, buses, and planes for travel. Now that gas in the USA is skyrocketing in price people are starting to realize that the US has underdeveloped these systems. However, I still anticipate losing any checked baggage anytime I fly internationally.
Posted on: Missing Luggage
June 19, 2008 at 3:28 PMClay
You said "少一件" in your sentence from the original script. I recognize the characters, but not the meaning of the sentence you quoted here. Can you expand on this a bit?
Posted on: I Can/Can't Afford it (...得起 & ...不起）
June 17, 2008 at 6:24 AMPULOSM
Your explaination helps a lot, however I'm still in need of more examples to flesh this out. It seems the same very can be joined with any number of these "complements". I would love to see more complete sentences using these and not just fragmented V + 得／不 + complement.
Also curious here if something like 找不到, and 睡不着 are also following this rule?
Posted on: More than 50 kuai!
June 16, 2008 at 8:00 PMjiejie and auntie sue, thank you for explaining the difference between using 多+快 with multiples of 10 and 快＋多with smaller numbers. I would have never gotten that from the lesson.
Posted on: I Can/Can't Afford it (...得起 & ...不起）
June 16, 2008 at 1:56 AMPulosm
Earlier I posted the sentence: 我很开心还可以学得起Chinesepod.
Does this actually mean I can successfully study at Chinesepod, as opposed to monitarily afford to study at Chinesepod?
The previous week on Qing Wen addressed “不动“ as a means of expressing inablitly to accomplish a particular action. How do "不动“ and "不起“ compare? Are there verbs that work with both?
Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Hong Kong
June 20, 2008 at 11:42 PMPulsom
I follow you on the "那个好吃？"for clarity, but in the context of sitting in a 中餐馆with a 菜单in your hands, wouldn't it be perfectly within context and not impolite to use "那个好?" It seems spoken Chinese relies on this type of omission in favor of contextual understanding often. 对不对？