One day Lalana was walking down the streets of New York City. She had just moved there and was looking for some fermented fish and papaya salad.
She came across a lovely Chinese grocery store. “Do you have fermented fish and papaya?” She calls to the clerk as she enters.
“No,” she answers. “But we sell seafood.”
“Oh okay,” and she bought a little bit of seafood to try.
At the next Chinese grocery store, she asks, “I’m looking for fermented fish and papaya salad. Do you have any?”
“No, but we sell dragon fruit.”
She buys some to try. It’s the year of the dragon after all.
She then goes to a Mexican store in the vain hope that they may have some. But, all they had is barbacoa, so she got some to try.
Next, she goes to a Yemeni store. No fermented fish or papaya salad, but they did have fresh mandi.
She spotted a Jewish store, without what she was looking for, but she did get some homemade sweetbread that was fresh out of the oven.
She eventually got frustrated. All she wanted was some fermented fish and papaya salad! She pauses, and being a little hangry, starts munching on the food she discovered along the way. Only to realize that they would make a fine dinner as well.
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