Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The 'Jambu Air'

It's really been a tiring week and my workload is still the same. And the darn load looks like it's piling up even more ... sigghhhh ... I'm still not done with my work yet and am at this point of time totally exhausted both mentally and physically. But I need a break and so I decided to just dump all my work aside for a little bit and take a breather and see what's been happening around the blogsphere.

I don't even want to begin to talk about how much work I still have waiting for me cos it'll only depress me even further. Lets just say I'll probably be busy till about the time the world starts to end! Damn those pesky clients for ruining my social life. Not that I had any to begin with ... LOL!

You know, I never realized that sometimes we take the things around us, such as fruits for granted.

'Fruits, Nick???'

Ok, before you all start thinking that maybe I'm losing it from working non-stop the past week or so, let me explain myself a little here. And no, it's not going to be one of those long winded explanations. I don't have the energy to be so long winded today.

This afternoon or rather just before lunch time, wifey called me and said to get some 'jambu air' literally translated as water apple or scientifically known as eugenia aquea on the way home for lunch. I knew the mini vegetable mart across the road from my place sold these fruits and popped by there to get her some.


But I was shocked at the price of it. It cost me RM7.90 for 4 miserable pieces! And it's not like it's any exotic fruit or anything. Back when I was a kid growing up, the place I lived had a tree growing the fruit albeit the green version and we could eat the fruit at any time to the point we got fed up of eating it. We even gave permission to the neighbours to just come into our yard and pluck as many as they wanted.

If I had known I could charge so much for the fruit, I would have taken the tree with me when I shifted out of that place years ago. I could probably corner the world 'jambu air' market by selling them at such exorbitant prices! Back then we didn't need to pay for it cos we had the tree right in our compound.

We had quite a few fruit trees back in the house where I grew up in. We lived in this semi detached bungalow and it had quite a huge front and back yards. And we had a mango tree, a papaya tree, a jack fruit tree and of cos the 'jambu air' tree. In fact, the whole neighbourhood had all kinds of fruits trees and we allowed each other to simply take what we like cos we had so much of them.

And I love this 'jambu air' fruit. It was and still is one of my favourite fruits. I'd pluck as many as I can, wash and cut them up, then eat them with either salt or sugar and 'kicap' (don't know how to describe this but it's like soy sauce) Oh man, I can feel my saliva accumulating and my jaw tightening up just imagining the taste ... LOL!

I remember the neigbour's kids coming in and plucking as many 'jambu air' as they could fit in their pockets. Me and my cousins in return would go over to their place and pluck 'rambutans' (a lychee/longan type fruit) from their compound cos we didn't have that fruit tree at our place. And we all enjoyed sharing the fruits around the neighbourhood. Those were such fun times.

The fruits were in abundance and we could eat it all year round that we'd all grow fed up of it sooner or later and most of the fruits would just end up falling off the trees and rotting away. These days if I wanted to eat mangoes, rambutans or even some 'jambu air', I would have to go to the supermarket or some fruit shop and pay crazy prices for it.

The world isn't really the same anymore. The place where I currently live doesn't even have a yard big enough to grow grass let alone fruit trees. Granted, I do have a mango tree but just having that tree alone takes up a big portion of the yard and besides that mango tree has only given us its fruit twice in its entire lifetime.

And as for the rest of the neighbours, well, they don't even have a single fruit tree to begin with. And the ones that do have, I don't think I could just walk in and pluck the fruits. They'd probably let loose their dogs on me!

Siggghhh ... how I miss my childhood days when things were so much more fun and life was so much more simpler. Everyone knew each other and gates were not pad locked, we could trust everyone and no one would call the cops if you happen to walk into their compound and try plucking their fruits or anything like that.

I guess as far as I'm concerned, I'm probably going to have to be paying pretty steep prices for fruits that I used to eat as a kid which I could just walk outside my house and pluck anytime I so desired. I wonder if there will even be anymore fruit trees in the years to come?
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37 comments:

  1. Now I can take my sweet time to read..anyways wahlow eh, RM7.90!? so expensive @_@ omg~ Oh I juz had em the other day. those cut pieces cost RM1 XD sodap~

    anyways my house also used to have the tree. If i recall correctly, there's a time where my sis was tied to the tree becoz she was naughty so funny. hahahaha XD *cough cough..*striking out the sentence. Anyways, cost of living increase, price of goods oso increase T_T so sad

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  2. WHAT?!!!!!! OMG! That is just so not worth it lah! Freaking expensivenya! Gila!

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  3. Hehehe But memang sedaplah the fruit. :P

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  4. We used to have a kebun in my grandma's place & it was like fruit heaven to us - rambutan, durian, mangoes, jambu air, etc etc...

    Once i sat on the rambutan tree as I tot it'd be cool to eat on the tree. Little did I know there was ants all over that tree & i became their "food". Haiyoh, kena gigit, I panic & fell down to the ground. Lol!

    But yeah, I miss those times when fruits were cheap :(

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  5. i like jambu air as well. eating with kicap plus chillies is so yummy. Talking about making money from fruit-selling, I think they're making loads. I know of this lady in klang who sells cut fruits and i hear she's rolling in money!

    we're in the wrong occupation!

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  6. i don't quite like the taste of jambu air...even though they can be juicy, but i always felt that the fresh CUT through my tongue...too 'sharp'..not sure how to put the feeling into words here..

    take care yeah, Nick. hopefully you can finish your work before the weekend arrive, and you can enjoy them with ALL play and NO work.

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  7. I used to eat lots of Jambu air when i was small. Like you, my neighbour allowed us to pluck as many jambu air as we want...so we ate it with some 'cili padi + salt + kicap'..super duper delicious man!!
    Nowadays, if u ever step ur leg at ur neighbour's compound, i think they will call the police to handcuff you then and there..LOL!!!

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  8. 7 ringgit plus for 4pc of that jambu air??? omg...i can tell my students to bring me a plastic of that with less than RM2 or sometimes FOC. *sigh* the effect of rising fuel.

    anyways, i just wanna say thanks Nick, for finding time to drop by at my site even when u are tight up with ur work. i feel bad for not doing the same.

    hope u'll get to chill out freely like ur header above very soon. :)

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  9. I've never heard of them before. What do they taste like compared to other fruits?

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  10. The cost of all food these days is Off The Chain.

    However, I have never heard of jambu air'....I wonder if that is something I would be able to eat?

    Hmm... google-ing right NOW.

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  11. Maslight - Yeah, it's so darn expensive for some fruit that I used to have in abundance.

    You tied your sis to the tree? Oh my gosh, I wonder who was indeed naughty, you or your sis ... LOL!

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  12. Rozella - Yeah, OMG!!!! That's exactly what I said when I saw the price!

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  13. Rozella - It's one of my favourite fruits, next to sour green mangoes that is ... :D

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  14. Perky - A whole garden full of fruit trees, that must have been cool :D

    Yeah, those rambutan trees have loads of those small black ants. I've been on the receiving end of it myself too and it sure wasn't a great feeling ... hehehe ...

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  15. Perry - Kicap and chillies, my whole family ate it that way except me cos I can't stand chillies that's why mine was kicap and sugar ... hehehe ...

    I'll bet the lady that sold me the jambu air yesterday probably has a Lamborghini Diablo parked in her mansion!

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  16. KM - They cut through your tongue? I think I know what you mean but that never happened to me.

    Yeah, I'm hoping to get all my work done by this Friday cos I really don't intend to work this weekend!

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  17. Kadus Mama - Yes, those were such good days when everyone trusted each other unlike today.

    Kicap, salt and chili, now that would have been real salty wouldn't it ... hehehe ... but I"m sure it would have tasted darn good :D

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  18. Oh, you make me miss my old kampung days too. We had durian, rambutan, jackfruit and all kinds of fruit trees. can eat all day long. But our jambu air was the dry, tasteless type. We even had buah dong dong. My friend who lives in the city has never even heard of this fruit before!! Suaku right?

    Like you, I feel the pinch paying high prices for such fruits now. they don't even taste half as good as our own.

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  19. RM7.90 for 4 pieces?! gosh! then I should get it from Tawau, my hometown and start selling here..LOL

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  20. Carol - Tu la, RM7.90 for 4 pieces. I thought that was really ridiculous la but what to do, I don't know of anyone with a tree that I could have gone and curi some ... LOL!

    Hey no worries about not dropping by, just drop by when you're free. Anything Goes will still be here ... hehehe ...

    Oh and can you get your students to send some jambu air my way for free ... LOL!

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  21. Tammy - The best description I could give about the taste would be that it tastes similar to apple but very much more juicier ...

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  22. Meleah - Yup, soon we'll be needing bank loans just to buy food!

    If you can eat apples, then I suppose you could eat this jambu air cos it's similar to apples just more juicier ...

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  23. BT - Those were the days weren't it? Running around the compound with hardly a care in the world and of cos eating as much free fruits as we could stomach ... there were good times :D

    Ya, just this afternoon I bought wifey some guava and she said it tasted horrible. The quality of fruits just aren't the same as before ...

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  24. Monica - You better start doing that quick cos with the price they sell that fruit here, you'd be a millionaire in a few weeks time ... hehehe ...

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  25. We hardly see the fruit in our local supermarket. I rem I only had it once but its not sweet :)

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  26. Janice - That's sad isn't it? These were your everyday fruits when I was growing up. I don't see it much here too but when I do, it's so darn expensive!

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  27. I'm staying in a flat, fortunantly ground floor, my grandma fence some place and plant Jambu too! Have to wrap it with newspaper before the birds spot it! & also before the kids spot it. Haha
    Sweet & delicious!

    Nick got something for you, check it out on my blog :)

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  28. I've never seen this fruit before. Is it sweet or bitter?
    I like the real apple too much but here in Brazil it cost a lot.
    Last time I bought I paid R$2,00(about 3,40 dollars) for 5 apples. It's too expensive.

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  29. Hi Nick,
    Count ur blessing tat u even have a yard. Poor ppl like me dun even have grass anywhere in the apartment! I wish I can plant rambutan/ mango/ durian/ jambu air/ etc. That way, I dont have to pay crazy price when I have the craving for local fruits! Dunno y we pay so much for locally available fruits...

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  30. Yahoo!!! I am done being busy...for now at least! Drop by my blog tomorrow and have some fun! ;)

    Btw, 7.90 for jambu air is way too pricey, good thing I'm not into fruits lol! :)

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  31. Lianny - Lucky you to be living on the ground floor, at least you got some space to do things.

    You know, while growing up, I used to think people wrapped their fruits in newspaper cos they didn't want other people laying 'eyes' on them and spoiling the fruit ... LOL!

    I'll drop by your blog in a while to see what you have for me :D

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  32. Cidao - It's kinda like apple with a lot more water to it, hence the name water apple :D But it depends, sometimes you get the sweet ones and sometimes you get the plain tasteless ones ... hehehe ...

    Wow, those are mighty expensive apples you have there!

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  33. Jen - Exactly my point. I wouldn't have minded it so much if it was some imported fruit but something that is just grown in most peoples back yard those days going for so expensive a price is what pissed me off!

    Well, at least you finally got your own place, ya :D Happy weekend to you.

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  34. Marzie - Well, good for you, now you can enjoy the weekend. At least my work load is slowing down a little at the moment so I'm really looking forward to the weekend :D

    What? You don't like fruits? Well, neither do I but wifey is a fruit fanatic :D

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  35. Those days were so much simpler weren't they?

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  36. Gypsy - Back then EVERYTHING was so much simpler ...

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