Friday, July 24, 2009

Kaelinisms: Smelly Edition

Jens was in the kitchen the other day when Kaelin departed from watching her movie in the living room to tell him a very important message…

Kaelin: Um, Daddo.
Jens: Yes, Kaelin?
Kaelin: Daddo, I’m sorry to tell you this.  But you smell.
Jens: I do?
Kaelin: (holding her nose and making a dreadful face) Yes.  You smell like dirty diapers.
Jens: I do?  Um...sorry?

Jens spent some time pondering the logistics of an odor that a) was unbeknownst to him, and b) had apparently traversed two rooms with enough strength to disturb her movie-watching pleasure.  He soon remembered that he had walked behind Kaelin a few minutes ago, while taking a large bag of trash (including a good supply of dirty diapers) outside to the trash bin.  Since she wasn’t watching him, she didn’t see the trash bag, and thought he personally was the one responsible for the aromatic breeze she experienced.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Singapore, Edition 4

On our second day, we did the Tree Top Walk.  We walked through a nature preserve to get there, which had a remarkable number of loud insects but no birds.  This little guy darted across my path and just about scared me to death:

Here are Rich and Jens on the trail that leads up to the bridge:

It was a long walk, but the view from the top was worth it.

Can you see the monkey in the tree top?  We had fun watching them jump from tree to tree below us.

The way down was just as long:

But we got to see some monkeys up close:

They look all cute and friendly, don’t they?  Watch out - if they think you have food they’ll attack you.

Singapore also has some monster ants.  It’s sort of distrubing to see an ant that’s easily an inch long.  I didn’t get any pictures of those, but if you Google “Camponotus gigas” you’ll see what I’m talking about.

And here’s us at the clubhouse, where we parked to visit the Tree Top Walk.

Singapore: Edition 3

Like every other major city, Singapore has parts of town that are dominated by people of other countries and cultures.  One such area we visited was Little India.  Our main stop in Little India, besides getting some tea, was a place called Mustafa’s.

Mustafa, apparently, imports everything in the entire world.  We walked through room after room of aisle after aisle, piled from floor to ceiling with STUFF.  There are 6 levels, spread over 2 connected buildings.  You can find jewelry, electronics, textiles, any over-the-counter or toiletry item of your desire, and pretty much anything else except maybe live animals.  And I don’t know for sure that they don’t have those - I just didn’t see any. 

It’s like walking through a commercial labyrinth.  The aisles are narrow and the shelves are stocked to capacity from floor to ceiling.  You just have to hope you’re headed in the right direction because you certainly can’t see your way out.

Here is a small portion of the jewelry section.  And I do mean small portion - I think the gold jewelry takes up an entire floor.

Mustafa Centre is also one of the few places in Singapore that’s open 24/7.

Kaelinisms: Mrs. Bennett Edtition

We learned last night that when she was “little,” Kaelin had a teacher named Mrs. Bennett.  But then Mrs. Bennett retired “because she had to go die.” And she died of the same thing Uncle Jackson* died of: Allergies.

*Michael Jackson