Nature boy…

That previous Sunday, over a week ago, we sent Melissa back to her school in the Selangau district but she would have to come home again the following day as on Wednesday, after the public holiday on Tuesday, she would have to attend a course for teachers here at a leading hotel in town. Thus, we decided to spend the night there and make our way back after she had finished her lessons the next day.

With ample time on my hands, I was able to browse around, communing with nature and enjoying the peace and quiet and open air. I blogged about the olive tree over a month ago and why, I spotted one right behind one of the school buildings, dabai fruits and all…

…but they were still white  which would mean that they were not ripe yet, in which case they would turn all black…

…so these were not ready for the picking just yet. We bought some recently and I gathered that they came from Sarikei, selling at RM22.00 a kilo (RM18.00 only there). No, they do not come cheap, not anymore, that’s for sure, but it certainly takes a very long time for the fruits to ripen, like the rambutans at the back of my house. It has been some months now and finally, they have started to turn red…

…so it wouldn’t be long now before we would have some of the fruits to enjoy. Actually, I was kind of worried as for whatever reason that I do not know of, the green unripe fruits were dropping off the tree and carpetting the ground below it like nobody’s business, so much so that I was afraid there would not be any left in the end. Thankfully, it has turned out that my fears were unfounded.

Anyway, back to the vicinity of Melissa’s school and living quarters, I saw some durian trees…

…as well and lo and behold! They had fruits on them!

I’m not really crazy about durians but I do know that there are many people who love them so much. What I was thinking was they probably would be familiar with what the fruit looks like – outside and inside but they probably have never seen a durian tree before. These are the wild ones – the original, authentic durian trees that grow wild in the jungle and they are HUGE!!! I remember when I was young, I used to spend the night with my maternal grandma in the makeshift hut in her fruit garden across the river and nothing would please us more than the thuds we heard in the night – the ripe durians would be falling off the trees all night long and would be ready for collection the next morning to be sent to the market for sale. If I’m not mistaken, with the present day hybrids, the trees are not as big/tall.

Other than durians, I am sure there are people who enjoy those Chinese yam cakes, steamed or deep fried, or they love the yam in their bubur cacar or in some dishes like those cooked and served in claypots but they haven’t the slightest idea what the plant looks like…

Yes, it’s a tuber so you have to dig out the roots and use that part of the yam plants.

Incidentally, if you think that I’m kind of patronising and seem to have the idea that people do not seem to have an idea of pretty much of anything, you are right…especially the younger ones these days, those living in the big towns and cities, who would be quite happy, all engrossed in what they have on their ipads or smartphones and do not seem to have the interest or curiosity to want to know about things around them.

Many might have seen these…

…dead and mounted in a glass or plastic case  for sale in the souvenir shops but have never seen one alive! For the uninitiated, that’s a rhinoceros beetle…and personally, I myself have not seen anything like this before…

*Photo taken using the camera on my ancient mobile phone*

…and I’m not too sure what insect that was either but it looked so amazingly nice that I just had to stop to admire and marvel at God’s spellbinding creations…and take a photograph of it.

Frankly, I find it very pleasantly relaxing and interesting in its own ways, living in the country…away from it all. What about you?