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Sunday, July 25, 2010

Fruits Galore


The durian season is back! This King of Fruit is back to tantalise afficionadoes with its distinctive aroma. The Sunday market had a few hawkers who proudly put their fruit on display and the durian fans were crowding around the fruit, examining it and hefting it to test its quality.

The aroma was beautiful! However to some who cannot tolerate the smell they would move far away.

I selected two durians at RM7.00 per kilo and they cost me RM34.00. Further on along the next block there were some more durians and I asked the vendor to select this time as he would know his fruit better. So he picked out another two, one of which was smaller and had an irregular shape. He said he would give that to me for a sum of RM2.00 as there would probably be only two large durian pulps inside. So these two came up to RM12.00. Irregular-sized fruit have less content in them but they taste better. I couldn't find any bitter ones as I prefer them to the sweet ones.Mangosteens were aplenty along the street. They were on average RM2.50 per kilo. They were small but the smaller ones are better as they would not have big seeds. I bought 8 kilos!! One fruit is only one pop into the mouth!!
Then I bought a papaya and some guava ( pink ) for my daughter.


The next fruit that I bought were rambutans. There are different species so I bought two types. Some are sweet but their flesh do not come off easily. Others have crisp sweet flesh that come off easily. This type is the rambutan kelapa ( coconut rambutan ). They are really excellent, with small flat seeds inside and lots of thick crispy flesh.
The last stop was the peanut vendor. She's from Kudat, a place famous for its groundnuts. They are very different from the Ipoh Mengelembu groundnuts. The Kudat groundnuts are more aromatic and their skin comes off very easily although you can eat them as well once the shells are removed.


It was a great Sunday morning, coming home with two loads of fruit. My basket could only contain so much so I made two forays, the first time loading it with durians, mangosteens, papaya and guava, the second time, more durians, mangosteens, rambutans and custard apples.

Sunday is the best day in my week as I love to look at the different stalls in the street with their different offerings of fruit, homemade cakes, trinkets, clothes, hardware, drinks, CDs, plants and vegetables. Mangoes are out of season already but the duku langsats are coming in. There weren't many so I didn't buy any as they are now very expensive. Fruit is always expensive at the beginning of the season. It's better to wait until mid-season when there are loads of them and the price comes down. Hee, hee, hee! Then your money can go further and you can get more fruit!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Right again!


Paul's prediction was spot on! Spain carried the day much to the disappointment of Holland and her supporters.


I was so happy to get back from Tawau and be able to catch the finals of the World Cup. Indeed, it was quite agonising to watch as the teams battled on and no goals were scored at the end of the allotted time. With extra time, you can could see both teams trying very hard to score.


Spain finally scored with only another 4 minutes to go! Such a stupendous reaction from the supporters and spectators when the ball flew into the net, past the flabbergasted goal keeper.


No one wanted to be in his shoes at that moment. Well in any game, there has to be a winner and a loser. One can only take comfort that in four year's time, the games will begin again and the opportunity to lift the cup can be any country's. Well done, Spain!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Paul was right!!


"It's time to get up, it's time to get up!" chanted the mechanical voice of my phone alarm. It was already 02:30, time for the World Cup semi-final match between Germany and Spain.


Bleary-eyed with sleep, I squinted at the t v screen, watching the two teams coming onto the field, listening as some of the players sang their national anthems as they were played.

Then it started! I couldn't stay fully awake and in between, nodded off but I saw the ball headed into the goal by a Spaniard.

The game then was fast and furious but the Spanish team was very fast and they did not allow the Germans to get close enough to shoot a goal. Yes, the Germans, good as they were, were outplayed by the Spaniards.

So Paul the octopus which predicted the win by Spain was right after all.

My grandchildren were more bemused than anything else when I told them the outcome of the match before they left for school. They're still wondering how Paul did it!


Sunday will be the long-awaited day when the Netherlands meets
Spain to vie for the World Cup. Who will take the trophy
home this year?

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

World Cup Fever


World Cup fever is heating up. It’s the semi-finals now .

I watched the match between Argentina and Germany with my grandchildren. This was their first introduction to football and they were really caught up in the game.

However during parts of it, my little granddaughter said that it could be boring too at times when the ball was just being dribbled and passed from player to player. Of course the excitement and cheers from the fans in the stadium were somewhat drowned by the humming sound of those instruments called vuv…. I forget what they are called but I found the sound very distracting. Maybe my ears are too sensitive.

However, my grandson found the game to be highly exciting. In fact the little girl went to bed early on in the match while he continued watching together with me. We were snuggled under the blankets watching the impressive play between the two teams.

The Germans were clearly the superior team in terms of attack and defence. The Argentinians were more emotional, by their expressions and actions. They had their nail-biting moments too.

Nevertheless both teams were worthy opponents and the better team won.

It was a good time for bonding and my grandchildren enjoyed their first football game, the girl to a lesser degree. Each morning before they leave for school their first question is “ Who won? What’s the score?”

Early tomorrow morning I will be watching the game between Germany and Spain but Paul the octopus has put lots of folks on tenterhooks regarding the outcome. Well this only makes the event more exciting and the anticipation is really on the rise. May the better team win! Good night, have to sleep now so as to get up at 2:30a.m. to watch!