I don't think you're ready for this jelly

IT was an idyllic day in Phuket. I had just told my husband: "I could float around in this sea all day..."

That was seconds before a jellyfish lightly wrapped its tentacles around my legs, enveloping me in an unsolicited, fiery caress.

"Did you pee on it? I've heard peeing helps," was the invariable response, when I later recounted the stinging tale to friends. I've since learned that we have a 1994 episode of Friends to thank for this. The theory was popularised by the sitcom's Season 4 premiere, where Monica suffers a jellyfish sting. With Joey recalling a tip he'd seen on The Discovery Channel, Chandler pees on Monica to "kill the pain".