Half the SHIVA samples have been spread on agar but they still emit some sort of gas (probably sulfur, yucks) that actually made the petri dish pop open when I tried to re-streak them again. I actually sort of foresee many streaking before I get to isolate single colonies. The bacteria growth is so thick!
Bacteria gasses aren't the only things that go "pop!" this week. Emma was back in Kuching for the first leg of her holiday post-SHIVA, and one of the things she tried was sago worms. After almost an hour's worth of hunting at the weekend market, we managed to spot a man selling them for 50 cents each. We were just in time too! Right after we approached him, someone else came along and bought ALL the worms for dinner. I told Emma that the worms can be eaten raw, and so she wanted to try them on the spot. (>_<) You can't imagine my disgust...or maybe you can. Anyway, my reaction and everyone else's nearby gave her pause and she finally decided to bring them home to cook. My mom suggested that we coat them with butter and roast them in the oven. Mind you, the worms were alive and wiggling when the coating was being done! If this isn't animal cruelty, I don't know what is...
I think they took about five minutes to cook. The worms rolled around in the heat for a while then sort of contracted and fattened toward their middle, looking like they would pop like popcorn.
Emma's verdict: "They taste like creamy mushroom...and insect,".
Well. Bravo, Ems! I'll probably never try them while they look like that. They seem more appetizing when they're well fried and brown. What I was thinking when I saw the grubs:
Hakuna matata!
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