Elevator don'ts

What does that funny little sign next to the elevator mean?  It was inconspicuous and normal to me, and I paid it no attention.
Until the woman in the elevator said to me, "I just don't know what that other thing beside the dog is.  A loofah?  Are we not supposed to bring loofahs on the elevator?"

"Oh, that means durian," I said to her.  "You can't bring durian into the hotel."

"What's durian?"

"The stinky fruit."

"What?  Stinky fruit? I haven't heard of that.  What does it smell like?"

"Uh...it's stinky and the smell carries a long way, so they don't want it in the hotel.  You'll have to look for it in the market.  Give it a try," I smiled.

She wasn't looking like she was feeling adventurous enough to try a fruit that is so stinky it's not allowed in hotel elevators.

I guess I don't blame her, though I know there are some durian connoisseurs out there.

Bananas

 Bananas grow on trees. 

A person might forget that if they don't see it in person every now and then.

Avocado lament

My avocado is gone. I accidentally gave it away.

You see, I asked the vegetable man if he had broccoli, and he had to go to the market special just to get it for me. Broccoli is out of season and expensive, so he then checked back with me to see if I really wanted it before he brought some. When he did, I showed him the avocado and asked him if he knew of them so that he could find those for me, too.
He understood the avocado was a gift for him and he took it away with him.

Sniff.

Now that I think about it, isn't an avocado a fruit? So I guess I'm asking the wrong guy anyway.

I had big plans for that avocado.

Aw man.

Language barriers: boo.

The boat, er, boats

So when we arrived at our houseboat, met the staff and were given our "Welcome Fruit Basket", we settled in to enjoy our floating adventure.

Boat One (because, yes, there were two) was a great boat. It had two bedrooms, and a spacious front room with an "entertainment system" (Seriously? Who wants to watch tv when a whole world of sights is passing right beside you!) and nice woodwork. And, of course, the kitchen where the chef made all his chopping noises.

Somewhere was the engine. I think it was under the floor of my room (noisy).
It was that engine that gave us trouble.

We made it through the first day and the boat was moored for the night.
There was trouble with the engine, we were told by the staff at that time, but a mechanic was coming and he would either fix it that night or come back in the morning and fix it then.
Okay. No worries. We ate our nice dinner, watched the sunset, and then the boat rocked us to sleep.

The next morning, though, the departure time was delayed, and delayed some more, and finally suspended all together.
A new boat was coming, they said.
And--finally--it did.
Quick as possible, we and all our belongings were transferred to the new boat and we were off--pulling Boat One behind us. An hour or so later, we left it behind and continued our journey on Boat Two.

Sadly, Boat Two was not quite as nice.
It was an older boat. All of the rooms were smaller. And it wasn't very clean. I suppose the staff had not really been given enough time to prepare it for us.
What was prepared, was our lunch. The chef from Boat One stayed with us and he brought along all his good skills.
And the engine. The engine was working.

So down the river we went, for more sightseeing.
Really, if we'd never seen Boat One, we might have been perfectly content with Boat Two the whole time.

A hint of beauty

Isn't that pretty?

This orange has held a place of honor on my counter-top for the last week and a half. It was just too pretty to eat.
But even a pretty orange will succumb to the rottenness of unmet potential if it never gets to be eaten--the purpose for which it was created.

Sitting there on a plate, the full beauty and goodness inside are only hinted at.
An orange, to be fully enjoyed, must be eaten. It's outward beauty destroyed, it's insides consumed. If not, an orange is not an orange.

Ah the mystery of beauty.

Things not allowed

Have you tried durian?
If you have, then you probably know how it smells.

I must say that the first time I tried durian, I didn't notice the smell at all. We were out on the streets of Thailand in a rather pungent market area and everything smelled somewhat unpleasant. My friend and I had been walking down the street and she would buy one fruit after another and give me some to try. She is a fruit-lover and was in heaven in Thailand where sweet, ripe and colorful fruit is abundant.
So we were walking down the street and I tried all kinds of things I'd never seen before.
Yes, there was a bit of mischief in her look when she handed me the durian, but I'd never before heard of the stinky fruit. I trusted her and bit into it.
I know it's odd that I didn't notice the smell. But what I did notice was it's similarity to muskmelon, which I don't care for. The others with us were disappointed with my reaction--or lack thereof.

Here in the hotel where I am staying, durian is not allowed. It's too smelly for this professional, clean establishment.


Speaking of things not allowed, I have a tangent:
On a recent flight, there was a girl who sat near to me. During the flight she got up and went to the back. After only a few moments she returned and whispered to one of the flight attendants. "No," he loudly replied, "This is a non-smoking flight. There is no where for you to smoke."
"Where are you from?" asked another attendant.
"Russia."
"Ahhh," the flight attendants nodded and looked at one another, "Most flights throughout the world are now non-smoking. It is banned internationally."
I didn't know Russians were unaware of this. Or that they could smoke on their airplanes.
Huh.

Where to go for a strawberry smoothie

I still love the night market for taking photographs. It doesn't matter how many times I go, there's always something new to notice.
Besides, so many of my pictures were stolen that I need to go back to where I've been and replace them, right?


After all that picture taking, I was thirsty. So I had the fruit drink stand whip me up a yummy strawberry smoothie.
Mmm...