Cycling the Marina and what smells like rotten eggs & tastes like custard?

27 Feb 2008
Another beautiful day. Us 2 geeks, Dad and I, went to Harbour Freight store in Pleasant Hill where we found nick-knacks of all types (i.e. tools, wires, plugs, electrical gadgets, etc.) We both walked out with an armload of stuff and Dad was still in the salivating mode. Afterwards, we went to Fry's and salivated (again) over the computer and techie stuff when I realized I was becoming just as bad a "gadget-geek" as my father-in-law was. We had left 9:30 that morning and barely made it back home to pick up Mum and Kai and meet Greg at the marina by 2:30. (Gadgets are really distracting, you know!)


We were an odd gang of cyclists on the marina along Richmond to Albany, as we did not ride a standard bike. Greg and Kai rode the recumbent trike, Dad and I the tandem, and Mum the folding upright bike.
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Dad scared the bejesus out of me as he navigated the tandem! He tried to maneuver around tight corners, go between metal poles on the path, weave around pedestrians, and then worked me like a horse and had me cycling harder than my fair share! Later on he tried out the trike (he wondered why it was more difficult to ride- he may have realized that Arleen's gerbil legs were no longer there to assist him). And I was left with a semi-sore throat from screaming and laughing so much riding that scary tandem with him.
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We went to the Pacific East Mall to find dinner and Dad's curiosity and wanting of Durian fruit. Durian fruit is prohibited on the Singapore trains. Why? It is as big as a coconut with spikes that can make you bleed, and if you can get past its smell of rotten eggs- it tastes as smooth and sweet like custard. The question is- is it really worth it? Well to a lot of Asians it is!

I've overheard Mum warn Dad not to eat that around her as she would get queasy- and Dad responded by telling her he would eat it in the bathroom with the fan on. (Acknowledge that there is a hint of sarcasm between the two in this conversation...I quietly left the room.)