Grocery Store Discoveries

Posted by Kanga.

Rocky Road Ice Cream – and there was the sound of angels singing…

Fudgee Bars, which come in “vanilla jolt,” “mocha rage,” “milky craze,” and “durian delight” flavors. The size and packaging led us to wonder if these were like Twinkies, but no, they are not that squishy or lacking in nutrition. Cupp Keyk takes brand misspelling to a new height. Kat Kat Tat doesn’t sound very appetizing to me.

Quaker seems to have thought of everything. Oats to put in your rice, because not just any ol’ oats will do.

Discoveries at other stores:

Pega-bunny jumps over the moon!

These kinds of things always stick out like sore thumbs to us. Apparently, no one is concerned about sexualized toilet plungers.

Joys of Shopping

Posted by Kanga.

The joys of discount store shopping in Fujairah match those of doing it in Dubai. Here’s a few highlights from today’s adventure.

First, some quite realistic looking toy handguns and plastic rifles. I’m fairly sure that these have been eradicated from American store shelves.

Not far away are the Barbie wannabes. There were some brunettes in the bunch, but they were all fair of complexion.

This “one piece mug” apparently comes with two pieces – mug and spoon.

If you wondered where all those summer camp popsickle stick craft projects went, here they are.

Do these remind you of any well known detergent brand? Maybe it wouldn’t be so obvious if they weren’t displayed side by side.

Amusing Duck and Friend

Posted by Kanga.

It’s been a long time since my last toy video. This should make up for it.

Lucky man

Daddybird, being a very lucky man married to a woman who knows where to shop and what to buy, got this for Christmas. And, as you can see, the castle is sometimes under the attack of a dragon.The dragons are now forbidden to get up on the table, but is it a hard lesson to learn. They do like to chew on the trees.

The castle is foam with interlocking pieces. Pretty cool toy. Of course, he wants another set so he can combine and make a bigger castle. Hmm… it’s already taking over my sewing table.

Chicken and Lion

It’s time for another episode of weird toys. Interest Chicken, who ends up being not very interesting, and a lion with a bunny in his mouth.

Toy – Monopoly

The store downstairs had two cheap versions of Monopoly, so we bought them and here is what you get for $1.62 or $2.72.

New Camel Toy

Inexplicable use of English

We have a new favorite website – http://engrishfunny.com. A small warning — some of the content is not for children. It is a collection of pictures of signs and packaging with badly translated English. Very funny, especially since we see this stuff around us frequently.

Yesterday, I was in Abu Dhabi and saw a business sign “La Poupee.” We were driving by, so I didn’t see what kind of business it was, but even if it is French, it is a poor choice, I think.

Daddybird has a collection of pictures of nonsensical sayings on t-shirts. See a few of them below. I agree with Etlsac about the “slips of paper in a hat” theory related to the creation of the strange toys, but I also envision a sweatshop somewhere where the “designers” are given refrigerator poetry magnets and encouraged to arrange the words randomly to produce the slogan to be put on the t-shirts.

Roses grow wildland
Feeling plue indeed like the timre you didn’t do me

2 cool fo school

Saturday Evening Post — WORR — Unfortunately, the words at the bottom are illegible, but I am sure they didn’t make any sense.

Dream Dream — This beauty built by heart — Shining my personality — Destroy all of the culture — Bright Bright

Let’s play a fun game of Living – Non-living! Can peacocks sing? I’ve always wondered.

This is a personal favorite. Daddybird saw this and thought someone had slipped that penguin into the bear’s pants as a joke. No, the penguin was sewn to the bear. It is supposed to be a set. I’m sure there is a world of tasteless penguin in your pants jokes, but I will refrain.

Random remarks

So, Linda is critiquing my use of the word “mute” (see comment on previous post). Mute refers to inability to or choice not to speak rather than choice not to write. So, what is the right word? “Illiterate” doesn’t work because it implies the inability to read as well as write, and clearly that doesn’t apply. “Dysgraphia” doesn’t work ’cause that refers to difficulty/inability in writing skills.

How about “voyeurs?” Looking on, silently. I better quit before I offend you all and you stop looking on.

Glad you have all enjoyed, or at least been astonished by, the most recent toy episode. I think that Mickey is from an alternate storyline where he accidentally got into some PCP for a “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign. Why hasn’t Disney seen the merit in the “Mickey goes berserk” concept?

A street atlas of Dubai was just published. This was a major undertaking because Dubai is a city under construction. So, this atlas includes the finished and the unfinished. It is amazingly detailed. They have marked where there are stop lights, supermarkets, banks, ATMs, gas stations, cinemas, libraries, pharmacies (only the major ones), and more. Pretty exciting to us. I’m going to suggest to the college that the new employees arriving in August be given a copy.

New Toys

Here it is, finally. Sorry to make you wait, but the fancier my videos get (title screens, captions, etc.), the longer it takes to produce them. Hope it was worth the wait.