Durian delight at McDonalds

Durian McFlurry in Singapore.

Problems
1 What can I try that's new but cheap overseas?
2 Where can I get reasonably priced durian?
3 What's durian and when and where can you get it?

Answers
First, what is durian? A large fruit which smells and tastes like a cross between chestnut and banana in ice cream smoothies and cakes, but like strong sulphur or rotten eggs when the whole fruit is fresh. That's why you will see, in high season, signs on the Singapore underground NO DURIANS.

If you wanted a whole durian, which is big and heavy, you would either have to get it delivered by a specialist company, or double or triple wrap it to conceal the smell.

According to the durian delivery firm
low season for durian is January and June
mid-season is other months
high season is September!

Thai Restaurant Ice Cream
I was offered durian ice cream on my first visit to Singapore at a Thai restaurant. It was the only dessert available. They tried to persuade me not to order it, probably because they were afraid i would not like it and would say bad things about their restaurant or waste their food and demand my money back.
However, I like to try new things, so I insisted on trying it. I loved it.

Durian At Juice Bars In Hawker Centres
Afterwards I tried several times to order desserts with durian topping at fruit stalls in hawker centres (food courts). Often I was disappointed. Either the durian was not available - they served dessert without it hoping I wouldn't notice! Or they gave such a tiny spoonful or squeeze that it was gone after the second mouthful.

MacDonald Durian Delight
No such disappointment at McDonalds.

I took the number 76 bus from Yio Chu Kang Interchange (bus station) beside Yio Chu Kang MRT (railway station) on the train line. I got off at building works, probably connected to the new MRT station opening next year (2019).

Here I am in the middle of nowhere, a suburb of Singapore, on my way to  Toastmasters International meeting at a newly opened Community Club. The bus station was heaving with people. But as far as I am concerned I am in a culinary cultural desert, miles from any Michelin restaurant, with nothing but cheap food in hawker centre.

I saw the Durian sign in the street outside. My eyes lit up. I stopped. I took a quick photo.

That's new. That's different. That's local. That's unique. That sounds delicious. Delicious, delicious!

Would I stop to buy and try on my way to a meeting? Yes, even if that made me five minutes late.

Why not leave it until later? Less anti-social than arriving carrying durian ice cream or breathing it.

But the shop might be closed later. I might forget and walk back on the other side of the road. I might get a lift in somebody's car or van to the MRT by-passing the McDonalds - which is what happened.

I am so glad I chose to try the durian McFlurry. So much of it. Delicious.

The concoction came in a beaker like a drink, but was more like a cross between yogurt and squeezy ice cream. It was supplied with a plastic spoon to scoop it out. You would not want to try drinking it and getting it dripping and dropping down your clothes. The creamy part was white, the contrasting durian a yellowy pale green.

My fears were unfounded. The cup was cunningly designed with a protective top which held in the small. The food was not so aromatic that it would disturb anybody else. Nobody commented, 'What's that?'

The price was three dollars, reduced from 4 dollars said the sign. Affordable.

It was so good that on the way home I wanted another. I looked at the station for McDonalds at Ang Mo Kio. No luck.

I am now on the lookout for McDonalds. I shall go onto the website and find my nearest and see if they have a durian promotion. While stocks last. While it's the season.

If you are in Singapore, must try!

This branch of McDonalds is near the new Kebun Baru Community Club. I took bus 76 from the MRT.

USEFUL WEBSITES
www.mcdelivery.com.sg/sg

Author Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

The Clown Hotel in Tonopah, Nevada, USA - clown tee shirts and souvenirs

Map of Nevada, USA, from Wikipedia.

Clown Motel, Nevada. From Wikipedia.

Problem
Where can I go that's different and affordable?

Answer
The Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada. Where is Tonopah? About half way beween Las Vegas and Reno. What's the motel like? Cheap and cheerful seems an apt description.

Clowns At The Clown Hotel
The owner is Bob Perchetti who has been collecting clowns for more than 20 years and has a huge collection, about 500. He says people keep sending him more. They are stacked on shelves and propped in corners in the lobby of his hotel. He was trying to sell the motel mid way through 2017 on condition that the Clown Collection stays.

The American TV programme Ghosthunters was there checking out the ghosts. Ghosthunters is shown in many countries throughout the world. The ghosts, I understand, are not clowns but from the adjacent cemetery which some bedroom windows overlook.

From the humorous to the serious. Next door is the old silver miners' cemetery, 1901-11, looks like some of the graves have only simple wooden crosses and whilst others have small knee high gothic wood headstones, except they are not stone but wood. Stones mark the edges of the graves.

The graveyard is open to view with a simple low wicket fence (spaces between each upright small plank).  Supposedly haunted. The miners died of plague and a fire. Some of them supposedly haunt the hotel.

If you don't go inside the motel, what can you see on the clown theme?
Two clowns either side of the roof fascia.
A clown on the tall lollipop sign, lit at night, advertising prices: in 2017, $39.50 for one person plus tax. $42.50 for a double room. plus tax. More for three. Signs say bikes welcome and truckers welcome.
A fourth clown is on a billboard on the ground.

The reviews on Tripadviser says the motel is good value but you get what you pay for. Reviews elsewhere on the internet really are hilarious. The hotel and cemetery are both supposedly haunted.

My clown bookend. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

Buying Toys and Souvenirs and Collecting Clowns
I must admit I am a clown collector myself. I have a few clown items. I am into comedy and always enter two humorous speech competitions at Toastmasters International every year. I did a comedy course run by Amused Moose. I have been to the Edinburgh Festival. My collection is more modest. My clown items include:
clown bookends,
a clown in a 3D glass-fronted box frame,
and a couple of clown brooches, one with movable legs. You can buy clown brooches on the internet, as I did.

Clown in frame. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Clown brooch. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

It is not hard to collect clowns. you just need to have the will and the money. I saw a clown for sale in Morrisons supermarket in England last Hallowe'en. I have a video of it. The same one is in the Clown Motel. I saw it in the pciutres on TripAdvisor. (I looked at every picture, checking out the clowns and souvenirs. You'll find many clown gifts and souvenirs on the internet.

Any Real Clowns?
You don't get to meet a clown at the Clown Motel. However, one visitor said they saw a cleaner wearing clown pants. (In the UK we say trousers and pants. The Americans say pants and underpants.)

If you want a selfie at the clown hotel, on Amazon I found: a red sponge clown nose or two for about £1 or one dollar; a clown hat, a clown bow tie, a clown face mask, face paint, a stacking clown toy for a toddler, clown jewellery ranging from inexpensive pewter to gold-plated, including rings, pendants and ear-rings, clown outfits for children and adults, and even a clown outfit for a pet, plus a clown horn, books about clowns and clown videos.

If you want to see the clowns, stay in a room haunted by clowns beside a haunted cemetery, or buy the motel:

Clown Motel,
521 N Main Street
Tonopah
Nevada 89049
USA
Tel: +1 775-482-5920

Tips
Rooms, like most US motels, are on two floors. Most convenient for unloading your car are rooms on ground level (Americans call that floor one). It might be quieter on second level (which in UK would be first floor).
The cemetery is to the right as you face the front.
Rooms look a mixture of old and new. I would ask to see two rooms and go early in the day so you don't get told there's only one room left.
The place is b and b, no restaurant. Lots of restaurants at budget prices around the small town.
If you can't get afford the time to stay or the motel is fully booked, you can buy from the motel a postcard, 50 cents, or set of five, two dollars. Or a tee shirt.
Look at the 500 clowns of all sizes on shelves in the lobby. One large freestanding clown resembles the one at my nearest McDonalds.

If you can't get in here try another hotel for a couple of night and do a turquoise tour. (See next post.)

www.travelnevada.com (Includes a page of activities for families and children.)
https://www.visittheusa.co.uk/USATrips
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g46006-d2253211-Reviews-Clown_Motel-Tonopah_Nevada.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonopah,_Nevada
http://www.chron.com/weird/article/Nightmarish-Clown-Motel-town-cemetery-up-for-sale-11339690.php#photo-
https://www.facebook.com/The-Clown-Motel-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_McDonald
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulrophobia (Fear of clowns.)

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See other posts on Nevada.