May Peace be upon you.
It's the fruit season in Malaysia. Durians, rambutans, mangosteens can be seen almost everywhere especially sold by the roadside.
When I was a kid my family and I will usually spend our school holidays in my kampong (village).
The name of my kampong is appropriately known as Kampong Seronok. Directly translated 'Seronok' means Fun.
My kampong is in fact a really fun place to be. Well, when i was kid anyway. We didn't have to buy these exotic fruits. They were free. The only thing is you have to go and find them.
My late aunt lived in our old ancestral home. At that time, there was no electricity, no gas stove and the bathroom was outside the house. We went to sleep early since there was not much you can do without electric lights. But the nights were filled with my aunt's bedtime stories.
During the durian season, I would follow my aunt to the fruit orchard before dawn, when it was still dark, searching for the beautiful, pungent fruits. To people who do not know... you cannot pluck durians. You have to wait for them to fall on their own sweet time.
And why do we have to find them so early in the morning...? Simply because, any later, all the fruits would be missing. Durians are prized fruits, known as the king of the fruits, they could fetch quite a handsome sum of money.
Armed with just a torchlight, we would search for the fruits on the grounds under the durian trees. My aunt would say, "If you want to find durians, follow your nose not your eyes."
To me durians have a lovely,unique smell but to some especially foreigners, the smell is so strong that they even describe them having the same smell of a sewage?!
Another fruit that perhaps the young generation would not know is 'keriang'. A boy in my kampong would invite me to join his 'gang' to find this fruit.
We had to go across the cemetery grounds where my dad was laid to rest. and climbed the hill and at the edge of the jungle we could find the 'Keriang' trees. I have no idea whether somebody planted them or they were wild fruit trees.
The fruits are deep purple in colour and if you're eating them, make sure you're not wearing a white shirt because the stain will stay forever...
The Keriang fruits taste sour yet slightly sweet and bitter. Well... I had a great time finding them with my friends. This fruit is not popular nowdays, perhaps unknown to many youngsters today. What a pity because it is such an exciting, beautiful fruit with a real exotic taste.
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