Bitter gourd

My neighbor wanted to share with me. What did she want to share? Some bitter gourd, also known as bitter melon.
Whatever you want to call it, it looks like a bumpy cucumber and it tastes...bitter. Awful bitter.

But she'd fried it to death and I almost couldn't make out the bitterness--it did catch up to me later, though, and stay with me for hours.
She explained all the bitter gourd's good health properties to me. Good for thinning the blood, diabetes, something something.
And she sent some home with me.
Hm.

I tried to convince someone else to eat these treats for me. You know, a cultural experience and all. Eat the bitter gourd to say you've tried it.
I was unconvincing.

My neighbor waved at me from the balcony today and said to come over. I wonder what she'll have for me to try next.

Indian Bitter Melon Resembling a bumpy cucumber, Indian Bitter Melon is much smaller than Chinese Bitter Melon, only 4 to 5 inches in length. The grooved yellow-green to dark-green skin holds a fibrous, seed-filled core. The lighter the color, the milder the taste. Its slightly sour flavor becomes quite bitter upon ripening. This bitter or quinine flavor is often combined with garlic or chili. It is used in soups, curries, stir-fry, or can be steamed and braised.

Indian bitter melon

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.

Frog for dinner?

If you have a hankerin' for frog legs, you can make your way to the local market and choose you out a nice fat bullfrog.

They'll even whack it on the head dead for you, and gut it, too. All for less than $3.

Good deal, eh?

This is the woman who will so nicely prepare your frog for you to take home for dinner.

The boys wanted a frog.

A live one, though.

It was amusing to the frog seller--and the others there in the 'meat department'--that anyone should want such a thing.

It was even more amusing to them a few minutes later when the frog got out and the foreigners chased it around the market.