Seafood, Chinese style

Last weekend I went with some of my lab mates to Qingdao ("cheeng-dow"), a coastal town which was a German concession in the early 1900s. Its history has provided it with some seemingly misplaced architecture. Because it's on the Yellow Sea, the area is famed for seafood. I obligingly agreed to feast on the fruits of the ocean.

Declaration of bias: I grew up with very little seafood in my diet. Besides the halibut that my brother sent to us from Alaska and the occasional salmon bakes at my grandpa's house, I usually stuck to tuna sandwiches. Sometimes toasted tuna sandwiches.

yes! I can definitely handle fishy dumpings.

and steamed whole fish? oh yeah, I have that down pat.

baked clams? well I've usually done clams in chowder form,
but I suppose I can try these, even if they look like little alien fetuses.

and oysters. never tried them, but some people swear by them.

Despite my mind-over-matter attitude, little could prepare me for the next two dishes.

SEA URCHIN!

thankfully, the chef mixed the meat (?) into scrambled eggs. though lab mate says raw is better. I'll take his word. 

I love being so culturally adventurous.
good for me

proof.

oh no, my friend- those innocuous pink tubes are not penne pasta.
Look to the next photo to see the live organism.

the wriggle. they writhe. they went into my belly.

clean plate club!