China Day 7 - Muslim Quarter, Xi'an

Assalamualaikum. Ni Hao!

Previous post here.

18 Jan 2016
Xi'an, China

Setelah sesat yang bermanfaat (ah gitu kan justifikasi), we eventually got back on the right path. Alhamdulillah.

"Xi’an was the starting point of the ancient Silk Road 1,000 years ago in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-9 AD). A number of merchants and overseas students from the Arabic countries and Persia went to Xi’an for business and studying since the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-9 AD); they settled down on the present Muslim Street, and they were called the Hui people by the locals. One generation after another, the descendants of the Hui ethnic people multiplied and lived on the street, and the number has now reached over 60,000" 
-chinahighlights-

Muslim Quarter / Street ni actually dalam vicinity Bell Tower & Drum Tower. Tapi dia paling dekat sama Bell Tower lah. Haritu kitorang jumpa jalan yang betul (setelah sesat) sebab ikut signage for Drum Bell. Insha Allah ndak kan terlepas Drum Bell ni sebab dia tu duk tengah-tengah roundabout. Tersergam nan indah gitu. To get to Muslim Quarter, perlu ikut underground passage. 

# Drum Tower (you wouldn't miss this huge monument, right?)

# View from one side of the roundabout

# Buatlah faham signage yang ni. First time jumpa yang langsung tiada Ingerish

# Pretty unique Starbucks cafe in Xi'an. Sampai ke sudah aku nyesal ndak singgah ngopi dalam ni. 

# Walking down the street to Muslim Quarter (far ahead is the Bell Tower)

# Bell Tower

# Entrance to Bell Tower but we didn't enter 

# Those are wood sticks used for the skewer

Entering the main food street area; known as Muslim Street or Huimin Street. And immediately operasi rambang mata began. Every gerai looks so tempting. Memang rasa mau beli semua. 

# Fiesta mata indeed; walhal baru jus delima

# Also considered as snack street by locals; it actually an ideal place for locals to kill time during a hot summer

# One for the memories

Since both of us memang dalam level lapar gila, teruslah cari the best kedai for brunch. Tapi macam biasa, aku yang perut Piranha ni mencekik street food dulu (appetizer kataku). This time Jea said she will skip rice; just today. Tu penangan fascinated tengok orang duk buat mee tarik at almost every shops. 

# Benda PALING FIRST aku mau try even before sampai Xi'an sebab si Merengmate cakap that snack doesn't suit her tastebud

# As expected, sedap di tekak aku. Paling sedap bila dip dalam ala gula melaka Eonni tu bagi

# Jea isn't as adventurous as Yours Truly. To quote her;
"Perut aku sejenis cerewet ngan makanan asing"

# So, haruslah aku yang semangat try test this 'carrot cake'. Sedap gila juga!

# Abang Kopiah putih making candy; in real time. 

# Menguji perut betul

Jalan punya jalan, we decided to have our brunch at this one stall located in the alley. Tersorok sikit dari main street tu. Malas mau bersesak dalam kedai katanye. Macam biasa, tunjuk gambar jak untuk order. 

# Our brunch (don't ask what this is called)

Sebenarnya sedap. But tengah makan tu, suddenly rasa macam sakit tekak (itchy to be exact). And Jea indicated the soup has this distinct soapy taste. Not long after, both started coughing. Jea lagi teruk, siaplah mau muntah. We predicted something wrong with the noodles. Kot ler dia buat the night before kan. Or cross contamination perhaps. 

Alhamdulillah neither of us experienced diarrhea. Kerja pula mau mencari toilet sepanjang masa. 

# Si Bibie macam biasa, dalam itchy throat tu sempatlah cari menu lain

# One of my ter-favourite; barbequed lamb. Too bad I forgot to take picture of me indulging the kaki kambing

# Wanted to try this but Jea said no to another bowl of noodles. Trauma ha budak tu

# Quail egg on skewer

# Makan lagi 

# Stalls selling dried fruits & nuts

# Walaupun ni Muslim Street, ada juga few shops selling non-halal food

# Abang-abang Kopiah Putih

# This one also so sedap. Dalam tu ada glass noodles

# Demiii

Macam biasa, nampak orang queue...si Err pun sibuklah joined queue juga. But this time bukan membuta-tuli join. This stall memang aku sudah locked-eye since sampai mula-mula tadi. Tapi saja pergi lambat sebab tadi mau cari brunch. Katakau!

# Adik Handsome jual kebab. While tunggu turn, sempat cuci mata tengok dia

# Haruslah sedap! Line for this stall seems to never subside. Locals pun queue juga, tu yang aku tau ni mesti sesuatu. Gitu kan tekaan

# Cute colorful bao (pau)

# Curut, cigarettes

# Kerlas abang delivery hias motor

# Bila si Err korek poket & started taking out her money...haruslah ada yang menarik perut dia

# Lamb skewer. Had 3 of this that day 

# Dua wanita jelita ukur Muslim Street since noon to dusk

# Sculptures at the end of the street

Pastu patah balik to Bell Tower. I had another round of feeding-the-craving-tummy session. Kau memang 24-jam craving for something kan.

# I think this was the last snack I bought that day

Time to get back to the hotel. Kaki pun almost gave up on us. Ingatkan gumbira makan sampai lupa penyeksaan kaki kan. Kali ni, ikut laluan sampai Drum Bell. 

Pastu ikut signage to Main Train Station. Adalah dalam 30 minutes baru sampai hotel. Sesat no more. Clapclap.

# Night view of Drum Bell; so very beautiful

# Bell Tower at night

# That pedestrian roundabout near our hotel. 

Xi'an is a big city; there's no way we could cover the whole city in a day. Or two. But we're satisfied with our journey that day. We got to see loads of things despite wandering without map & proper planning. 

In between the street food journey, we managed to go to the Great Mosque of Xi'an. Alhamdulillah, sempat solat jama' in the 1,200 years old mosque (as of 2016). That I will put up in a different post. Saja gatal mau asing post bagai.

Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim