The Durian Doesn't Fall Far From the Refugee Tree

For the gwailo's among us, durian may be a complete mystery. This may even be their first exposure to the fruit. If you are a foodie and watch Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods TV show, you might be familiar with the fruit (since it is one of only three things that Andrew Zimmern could not eat). But, to refugees like Nonny Nu and her sisters, durian is like Heaven, a very stinky but tasty Heaven. It is really very good if you can get past the smell (kinda like refugees).

Anyhow, why am I telling you about durian? Well, because I see durian as somewhat symbolic of Asian refugees. And, what do Asian refugees do? They bring their own snacks to the movie theatre. One of my dreams is to have a Lee's sammich (#5) while watching a good movie in the theatres.

Okay, but back to my story. This weekend, Freelance Midget's Sister is visiting the SF Bay Area. (Welcome, FMS!) The two girls came to the Nu residence on Saturday. We played Monopoly* and it was kinda fun to watch the two sisters go at each other like a couple of Orcs. I owned Baltic and Mediterranean, the two cheapest properties. I built a hotel on each of the properties, and welcomed my guests several times, though (Mr. Nonny Nu stayed twice--once in my Mediterranean hotel and once in my Baltic hotel). I also owned the Yellow properties (Atlantic, Ventnor, and Marvin Gardens). Mr. Nonny Nu owned the pricey ones--Park Avenue and Boardwalk--and also the upper middleclass Red properties (Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois). Freelance Midget owned the Light Blue properties (Oriental, Vermont, and Connecticut) and the Orange properties (St. James, Tennessee, and New York). I was immune in those two areas, though. FMS owned the Green Properties (Pacific, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania). Long story short, Freelance Midget got the Free Parking money several times, FMS did a great job refusing to bargain with anyone (making my slum hotels the only improved properties on the board for a long while), and, while I was feeding the cats, Mr. Nonny Nu got declared the winner. Don't ask how that happened. I couldn't tell you--I wasn't there!

Okay, sorry, that was yet another tangent. Oh, wait! Just one more tangent before I get back to the story. I made a cheese plate with brie, harvarti, and gouda with assorted crackers and it was a hit!

Now, I will go back to the story. Yesterday, I went to see No Country for Old Men with Freelance Midget and FMS. These girls were born in the US, and are one generation from refugee-ness. In fact, their mother, 3-Fish, is the least refugee-like of all of us sisters. Yet, these two durian did not fall far from the refugee tree. Lo and behold, when we were in line for the tickets, Freelance Midgets whispers in my ear and says that she "brought snacks." I couldn't believe my ears. That's my girl! We brought in egg tarts, fruit tarts, and cake rolls (we had coffee and chocolate). We did purchase Icee and a root beer, and some Dibs, though.

* OMG! There's a London version of Monopoly!! I'm going to try to get that one. I LOVE LONDON AND ANYTHING ENGLISH!!