hard work. We decided to go to Jackie's Kitchen, a restaurant owned by Jackie Chan (no relation). The menu was surprisingly diverse and the food was actually good! Typically when you hear of a celebrity owned food-chain, the
food sucks and it is all about name, but this place was different and the food was actually pretty good/authentic. Ben got roasted duck w/ rice buns (bao's) and Ashley got shrimp stir fry...both things that we generally don't eat together because Ben HATES shrimp and Ashley dislikes duck. "Hates" is an
understatement...simply thinking of the disgusting invertebrates makes him gag. Anyway, when the bill came, the waiter informed us that we did not have to pay for our drinks! This was great because Ben ordered an $11 drink (the most expensive drink on the menu)! Why were our drinks free? Because Jackie Chan
himself called the restaurant earlier that day and said he would pay for everybody's drinks for the whole day! Whether this is true or just a gimmick it was cool none the less! It sounds like our luck may be reversing back in our favor, ya?
Ashley has been working FULL TIME this week with the Pre-Vacation Adventures program (children just starting kindergarten). They (the children) are so cute and Ashley loves them! It is only Tuesday and she's already seen some cool stuff! For example, the elephants can do tricks and Ashley got to feed the Giraffe's today!
They ate from the palm of her hand (like most people do...) and it was so cool! She still can't wait for the next few weeks pass so that she can help me out more because she thinks it is more fun than what she does at the zoo. Ashley is still taking very good care of the tadpoles in spite of her work and they are growing so fast!
We have LOTS that are turning into little froglets and she loves them a lot (possibly more than the children).
Ben has been very busy making lots of observations in the field of frogs dropping off their tadpoles and we almost have enough for a publication! Today, he observed 3 tadpole depositions which is almost 20% of all observations to date! Today while Ben was collecting food for all of our frogs he was ATTACKED!
By what, you ask? A killer centipede!!! This is not one of those little 2 inch centipedes that are under tiles back home...this is a vietnamese giant centipede (highly toxic)! He was kneeling on the ground collecting leaf litter and all of a sudden it felt like someone slammed a hammer into his kneecap. Thinking that somehow
his knee was broken he flinched and saw the centipede clinging to his leg. He flicked it off and that is when the real pain set in...Shortly after the feeling of the hammer, it felt as if someone had peeled off all of his skin and poured acid on the area. It swelled up significantly and we would have posted pictures but he was not thinking
so far ahead after this experience and didn't take any. The pain subsided in a short period (an hour) and life is back to normal, but he definitely learned his lesson: Don't mess with extremely toxic centipedes!
Here is a quote from a website that talks about these guys:
All of these centipedes are voracious predators and their venom can be medically significant. A bite to the skin that does not reach a vein or artery produces extreme pain, headaches, vomiting, and more. Complications can lead to necrosis in the area of the bite. At this writing, only one death has been reported, a young girl who was bitten on the head. Treat all centipedes with respect.
We also posted a picture that we stole from the net below...we'll post a picture of our own as soon as we get a good shot as these centipedes are EVERYWHERE...flip a log, you are certain to find one...
On a brighter note, we also decided to post a picture of our new 'bed' that has been a work-in-progress for nearly a week. We've slept on it the past couple of nights and it seems to be working out well. Ben's wiggling doesn't wake up Ashley and we both get a near full night rest! Also, thankfully, our back's don't hurt anymore! It does take up a lot of space in our place, however, as you can kind
of see from the picture below, but it is well worth it!
Sleep tight, don't let the centipedes bite,
Ben & Ashley
killer centipede...isn't it cute? Trust me, "cute" was not the thought that was going through my head while this thing was poisoning me...
Our 'bed'
