"Try new things", they always say that...



Yesterday was another full day. We took a free shuttle to a new mega mall that just opened up 2 weeks ago. Mostly I went to see what I could see on the way there. One of the highlights was seeing some local graveyards, they looked Chinese, but what do I know? They were pretty cool.
The mall was freezing cold! I almost bought a sweatshirt. There was a four car kid train that went around super slow. Most parents just walked behind it, as it circled around the top floor, going by all the stores. We went to a food court - there was more than one. The most interesting part of the food stalls was the one that served only two things. Baked sweet potato and roasted chestnuts. I want to try those next time.
Then we came back and had a tasty meal of pork and rice for a total of $5 including drinks. Then we went to a concert on the waterfront at 8pm. It was traditional Chinese music, with really interesting instruments. It was great, but we didn't last for the whole concert. It was hot, it was hard seats, and it was music just a little bit too loud for the small open theater. Some of the high notes were just too much, with us being in front of a speaker. But it was super interesting. They were dressed up nice. Poor pretty performers, in long sleeved outfits in this heat. Bless them all.
Then we were walking back to the hotel and Ron said: let's go to that local place down the block for some ice cream. Well they were out of chocolate and vanilla. The only other options were yogurt or durian. I thought about all of those times that everyone has ever said to me: try something new, especially in now that I'm here in  Malaysia. (I forgot that I knew what durian was!) I remembered after my first bite. Good thing I only asked for a small ice cream. I tried to not be a big baby, I took a few more bites. But then we threw it away a few steps later.
It was just terrible. It was like raw onion ice cream with a bad after taste. I even like the taste the onions. But it was like the worst onion I'd ever eaten in my life. But the torture didn't end there! No. I had several durian burps after that. I winced every time. But I also laughed! Because I was watching Ron experience the same thing, with the same reactions playing across his face. At least it was a shared misery, right? I seriously laughed so hard at him for the rest of the night.


                           I forgot that I had learned about durian from a sign in the hotel lobby.




What durian does NOT do, is improve your breath!




This picture is from our concert, to show you the cool outfits. The other 2 pictures are to show some of the musical instruments more clearly.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Age of an Angel

Image
  Happy 75th birthday! Best wishes to my Mom. I call her Mom and everyone else calls her Angel or Lita.  This is a story of ancestral mathematics. In order to be born, you need: 2 grandparents 4 grandparents 8 great-grandparents 12 second great-grandparents 32 third great grandparents 64 fourth great-grandparents 128 fifth great-grandparents 256 sixth great-grandparents 512 seventh great-grandparents 1,024 eighth great-grandparents 2,048 ninth great-grandparents For you to be born today from 12 previous generations, you needed a total of 4,094 ancestors over the last 400 years. How many struggles? How many battles? How much happiness? How many love stories? How many expressions of hope for the future? All this for you to exist in this present moment. Then along came Angela. Who grew up to be an Angel. She is a tropical Angel, and those are a special category of kindness. If kindness was currency, she would be a billionaire. Angel has been a child with three siblings, a mother ...
Read more

Hurrican Otto

  Can you believe everything that you read? They were surprised that Otto became a hurricane. They say the last time one formed in the Caribbean was in 1969. 5 people died in Costa Rica back then. 3 people have died in Panama already from Otto. It has already caused all kinds of flooding and mudslides on the east coast. State of emergency and all that. Schools closed in some parts. It's supposed to make its way to the west coast tomorrow. Here. We bought some water, but most Costa Ricans seem to take it in stride. No big deal. I don't know, maybe they don't watch the news?    We'll see how tomorrow goes. I'm going to take some pictures of the neighborhood. In case craziness happens, and they become part of a Before and After album. I spent 8 months in Florida, I don't remember being this concerned about a storm. The good news is that my Mom built a sturdy cement house. It's not the first house she's ever built, either. We will be fine, depending on if t...
Read more

I held on and laughed

Image
What do I write about? The outstanding things we've been seeing and doing every day? The way it all makes me feel? How much it all cost? The days full of wonder and excitement? Let me tell you about one moment is an epic day. I was talking to my Mom (oh, the wonders of technology and satellites) while at a monumental Buddhist temple here on the island of Java called Borobudur. She said to me: I've ridden an elephant once in my life, if you get a chance, you should do it! I hung up and a few minutes later I saw this elephant in an empty field. I had my picture taken with him, so show how the bottom of the saddle is much taller than the top of my head. In person is so amazing. You hear that elephants are big, and I get it, but the size of it's feet are even bigger than what I imagined. The footprint was so huge! The trunk was so long! Guess why that guy is standing in the picture with me? He's considerate. It's a male elephant with elephant sized male body parts. H...
Read more