Do you know the king of the fruit-DURIAN?
Many people hate it because they think it
smells bad.My husband and I like it very
much. In Japan you can get it at a big department
store or Chinese grocery. But it is very
expensive. One durian costs you 7000yen!
So this is one of the reasons why we go to
Singapore. From May to September we have
a good season for durian. In Singapore they
open DURIAN MARKET- especially in Chinatown.
You can get a fresh and sweet durian for
only S$5 (350yen) Any way my husband and
I go to China town every day during our stay.
Several years ago I met a nice lady at a
durian market. She said something to me first.
She said "do you like it?" I thought
she was a Japanese. But she was American
Chinese. She spoke Chinese well. And she
told the shop keeper to chose a nice durian
for me. (Most of durian sellers speak only
Chinese) And we ate durians together and
enjoyed conversation. She was living in Singapore.
And before that she had lived in Japan. And
she was born in L.A. She could speak Japanese
and English, too. She was nearly seventy!
I couldn't believe it because she was so
nice. She said she enjoyed speaking in Japanese.
Thanks to her I could be friend with an old
man of the durian shop. He couldn't speak
English. So she translated his local Chinese
to English. The old man was Chinese-Singaporean.
His face was like our grand pa. After enjoyable
talking and tasty durian, we said good-bye.
The lady said to me "It's important to
talk." I'm very impressed.
Next day I went to the market again to eat
another one. The grandpa of yesterday came
to me with a smile. And he showed a bun in
his hand saying 'Pao'. I understood it.
And said 'pao!' And we smiled at each other.
I hope he could see I liked their culture.
I' d like to speak Chinese, too! As the
lady said, I'll try to talk with many people
for understanding each other.