THE GOOD, THE BAD and the UGLY

So many unfamiliar and funny things happen over here that after the initial ‘shock’ or ‘disbelief’ fades away, we forget about it- probably because we move on to the next thing that’s taken our attention.

Delicious roast chicken now, but earlier...

Hence the title, ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ because some of the ‘shocks’ we get are good ones, some bad and yesterday I had the experience of a really “ugly” one. 

I’ll explain.

We visited a big shop over here called Makro.  It’s a bit like Cash and Carry.  You can buy in bulk if you want or just individual items.

Anyway as we walked around doing our grocery shopping, we decided to buy the items we needed for a roast... our first roast over here.  As you can imagine after lots of rice dishes for the past month, we were really excited about the idea of a roast meal. Hmmm yum!

Later that afternoon, as Dave set up a towel rack upstairs, I enthusiastically went to the fridge and pulled out the big chicken ready to put in the oven.  Wondering how I would lift the huge bird in to the dish without touching it (I dislike handling raw chicken at the best of times and this was a BIG and strong smelling chook) I opted for two pairs of tongs. As I went to lift the hefty beast in to the roasting dish, what should flop out but its head and neck still attached!!!!  

Oh my goodness I got the shock of my life and ran shaking up to Dave with the news.

Thankfully this was no great concern for him and he set about removing the extra ‘bits’ with a trusty pair of scissors.  (I can still see those beady eyes staring at me) and (as he discovered) the chicken feet were still there as well!!! Ewwwww!

After all the dramas (and carry on from me) I was eventually able to block out the precooked version of the chicken and enjoy what ended up being a really wonderful tasting roast.  

So what about the good and the bad?  Well one good thing according to Dave is not having to ever get out of the car to fill it up with petrol.  They serve you over here at the petrol stations and you just hand your money out the window at the end.  We even had our wind screen washed for us the other day while the petrol filled up!  How good is that?

I think the snacks over here are pretty good. My sweet tooth has sweetened even more.  Today whilst out I bought a banana muffin for myself and a pastry for Spencer totaling  all of 80 cents!  Dangerous!

This next one isn’t a particularly ‘bad’ thing more so just a bit confusing... when ringing someone on the phone, the ring tone is the same as what we know as the ‘engaged’ signal.  

It’s gets me nearly every time!  I’m just about ready to hang up because I think the person is on another call when they pick up!! 

Anyway, that’s all the good, bad and ugly stories I have for now.

I still can’t help but shudder every time I look at that chook photo!