#19 - Drink from a Coconut

Like so many things in life, I based my expectations of drinking from a coconut on t.v. and movies. I pictured a tropical nectar somewhere between ambrosia and a Corona commercial. I was disappointed.

Honestly, coconut juice/goo is a warm, slightly syrupy drink that while healthy and pleasantly sweet, is tough to get through. A dude with a machete cut it open right in front of me (very cool) but that means it was room temperature and in Malaysia that means warm. I had to power through the surprising amount of liquid inside (you lied to me Tom Hanks in Castaway) and fought down a slight gag near the end.

All up it was a good time, but I probably won't do it again.

#14 - Eat a Malaysian Spike Fruit

Ok. I know it’s a lychee (or rambutan for you Aussies), but it sounds lame when you say that instead of “Malaysian Spike Fruit.”

I saw it on a few stalls so I bought a half kilo of em and dug in.

P.S. Not very good.

#4 - Ride a Camel...and then EAT it.

Wow. Ok.

I got back twenty minutes ago from my three-day tour to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), Kata Tjuta, and King’s Canyon and I’m so pumped to write about it but I’ve got a dinner to go to and I want to post something asap. So here's another first:

I rode a camel.

It’s a rough ride (it hurt my nuts) and smell gnarly but it was a rad first. I recommend it, and Australia is a great place for it too, with over one million wild camels disbursed throughout the outback.

Afghani immigrants brought them over in the 19th century to help move goods through the great red center and the animals have obviously thrived, so much so that they’re routinely caught and butchered for their tasty, tasty meat. Which leads to my side note first:

Side note – 4.1 I ate camel meat.

We had camel sausages at night. My nuts are avenged. P.S. That's also Kangaroo on there. Word.

#1 - Eat Green Eggs and Ham

"I do not like
green eggs
and ham!

I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.

You do not like them.
SO you say.
Try them! Try them!
And you may.
Try them and you may I say.

Sam!
If you will let me be,
I will try them.
You will see.

Say!
I like green eggs and ham!
I do!! I like them, Sam-I-am!
And I would eat them in a boat!
And I would eat them with a goat...
And I will eat them in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
They are so good so good you see!"

- excerpt from Dr. Suess' "Green Eggs and Ham"


I’m typing this post with green-stained fingers. Nice start actually…

I remember reading "Green Eggs and Ham" as a kid and being confused why the main character wasn’t stoked to eat some sweet green brekkie. Was it so much to ask that he take a bite of some green food? Not really. I would have done it.

So in honor of my 10 hour train ride to Adelaide today I decided that the first thing I'll do which I've never done is:

1) Eat Green Eggs and Ham.

And I'll say that Sam knows what he's talking about. I'd eat them anywhere.

#2 Eat Sushi off a Conveyor Belt

How good is sushi? Awesome, right? I know. But you know what makes it even better?

A conveyor belt.

Raw fish and tasty rice were friggin Tokyo drifting around every delicious corner. "Where you goin next soft shell crab roll? Left? Left again in a never ending circle o' awesomeness? Wrong. You're going in my belly." That's what I said to the sushi when I ate it.

I know the first two posts have been about food, but hey man, I'm in Adelaide. This place is like a provincial French hamlet on a Sunday night. My train - The Ghan - leaves in an hour for my 24-hour train ride to Alice Springs so I'll post when I get there. Then it's all about Uluru. I have a feeling something weird is gonna go down on the rails first though...