I travel quite regularly to Indonesia. Once, I was waiting for a connecting flight - which was delayed as usual - at the new airport Sukarno Hatta in Indonesia.

This airport is beautifully designed and seems up to date. The shops look nice and the cafeteria is fitted with the latest stainless steel utilities. The food was nice and the service professional.

I was sitting not far from the door, when I noticed a huge brown rat heading right towards the food counter. There were no customers present, but I could see this large rat disappear under the counter. I stood up and walked over to the young female cashier:

"Miss, I just saw a large brown rat coming into this restaurant and it disappeared under the counter where you serve hot food!"

The young lady looked at me as if I had just arrived from Mars and said, "Mister, we know that already, he (the rat) lives there!"

Ian P. Zwiep
The Netherlands

A memorable holiday in Spain

Our group of six was on a driving tour of Andalucia recently. Andalucia is the southern part of Spain and was once ruled by the Moors. As part of its rich legacy, the region boasts beautiful Moorish and Islamic architecture. The gem of them all is Alhambra in the city of Granada, some 120km from our base, Velez Malaga.

We were bowled over by its simplicity and ethereal beauty which moved us to tears. Thankfully, it was preserved even after the Moors were driven out of the country.

After admiring the architecture, we decided to have lunch before exploring the rest of the city.

We chose a spot under a shady tree. We were about to eagerly tuck into our lunch bag which comprised a huge loaf of bread, a container of sambal ikan bilis, some cheese and fruits, when suddenly, I felt something fall on my jacket. At the same time, a few young Spaniards who were passing by, shouted, in Spanish of course, and pointed to the tree.

We looked up and saw squirrels scampering off like lightning.

Actually, I never saw the squirrels. It happened so fast. It took us a while to realise that the pesky squirrels had left streaks of green poo on our clothing.

One of my friends did not have her hat on and she was 'baptised' with the poo!

The young Spaniards handed us tissue paper to wipe off the poo. In fact, they were not spared either. One of them had streaks of green poo on her white jacket.

So we theorised that the squirrels were merely trying to shoo us away to get to our food! Nevertheless, it certainly disrupted not only our lunch break but also our visit to Granada.

We could not be walking around with streaks of green poo on our clothing and worse still, squirrel poo caked to the hair! So Granada would have to wait for our next visit.

We will forever remember Alhambra not only for its exquisite beauty but also the day we were sprayed with squirrel poo.

Thank goodness, it was odourless. The experience also taught us to be wary of sitting under a tree. One handy tip is to hand wash the soiled clothing before it is thrown into the washing machine, otherwise the poo does not come off.

As for my friend, whose hair was streaked with green, the baptism did not end there. On our return flight, she and her husband were showered with icy water/iced crystals from the jetliner's vent overhead upon take off. Is this a good omen or what?

Nor Hapizah Ahmad
Ampang

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