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| star-fruits (carambola) |
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| mangosteen fruits (garcinia mangostana) |
But anyway, farewell 2012
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| sorry it didn't happen, wakakaka |
And welcome 2013.
Happy New Year to all Malaysians and other friends (Aussie, Thai, Indon, Singaporean, Viet, Cambodian, NZ, Chinese - Mainland, HK and Taiwan - Korean, Pommie, French, Canadian, US, Paki, Egyptian, Lebanese, etc).
It has been a reasonably good year for me, and I hope for same or even better in 2013, to jolly and to kong-more-samkok with my mateys.
What did I achieve in 2012 - well, nothing spectacular but a better job, more travelling, and hey, I get to eat mangosteen in China after umpteen years of missing the fruit each time I returned to Malaysia.
Yes, when I was back in Penang in 2004 to vote for my Penang larng, Zulkifli Mohd Noor, in the Bukit Bendera (BB) federal constituency and again in March 2008 (that time to vote for Liew Chin Tong in BB, and my ADUN Lim Guan Eng in Ayer Putih) I couldn't find any mangosteen, wakakaka.
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| Ayer Itam, Penang |
Yes, you can get mangosteen in Australia but the quality is terrible and the cost worse (bloody prohibitively expensive). However, availability of durian and its cost are moe man t'ai thanks to imports from Thailand.
So when I was in Yunnan and Guangxi (China) about 3 months back I gorged on the succulent fruits. From my Aussie mateys' own experiences with mangosteen and their shocked observations of the quantity I took (bloody cheap lah, RMB15 per kilo only), they were fairly worried I would suffer tummy upset, but hey ho, my tummy had been lined up with Penang kampung toughness.
Additionally I also gorged on star-fruits (carambola) which was about RMB4.50 per kilo. The last time I had decent star-fruits was in KL some 10 years ago, though I grew up with a star-fruit tree in front of my old house in Ayer Itam, Penang. I have to admit the quality of star-fruits I obtained in KL were bigger, sweeter and overall superior to the one from my tree.
Before my recent/latest feast of star-fruits in Guangxi and Yunnan, I did partake of same in New Caledonia when I stayed with a French family in the capital Noumea. They have two star-fruit trees in their backyard but the fruits were very small and not sweet at all. Mind you, I love the sweeties there, wakakaka.
I've also taken up sudoku after being convinced by a Malaysian doctor whom I met in China during my last trip there that it helps relieve tension. But I feel terribly tensed each time I couldn't solve one.
Anyway matey, it's drinking time liao, so Happy New Year. Cheers
Wakakaka.
Kaytee,have you ever heard of the Chinese superstition.Buy starfruits and present to your hosts(enemies or competition) when you visit them.It means the hosts(people)that you despised,whom you wished would be beggars or worse during their lifetime.It is only a belief or superstition.Whether it works or not I dunno.But many of the business people I know do practiced it on their competition or people whom they despised or always cursed.
ReplyDeleteaiyah, bring starfruits to me lah, wakakaka
DeleteKaytee,maybe you should start the New Year by getting a new pair of reading glasses.It should be 'But anyway,farewell 2012 And welcome 2013'.Hehehe.Anyway 'Happy New Year' to you and family.
ReplyDeletewakakaka, you spot my "deliberate" mistake, thanks bruno and happy new year to you and yours
DeleteHappy New Year KT, and to all the commentators and lurkers here too.
ReplyDeleteTalking about Mangosteen which also happened to be one of my favourite as well, this fruit is now in season. Yayy...it's gorging galore for us here now. Usually when you see Mangosteen, you would see Durians and Rambutans too. These 3 fruits always come together. After the 'heaty-ness' of Durians, the 'cooling' Mangosteens is just perfect to bring back the balance. That is why we usually take these 2 fruits together....the Durians first, followed with the mandatory Mangosteens.
perfect combination of Yang (durian) and yin (mangosteen) matey, happy new year
DeleteHappy New Year to Ktemoc and all....
ReplyDeleteSo that's what you have been up to.....gorging yourself up with China sweeties...
As for me, Malaysian sweeties are good enough...
A Happy New Year to Ktemoc and friends....
ReplyDeleteMy feelings for 2013 are a Dickensian "It was the best of times, It was the worst of times, It was the Spring of Hope, It was the Winter of Despair"
There is a slim chance 2013 could turn out to be the year Malaysians finally summon up the courage to throw out of power the Colonial power called UMNO.
There is also a good chance 2013 sees the break up of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition in the aftermath of a GE13 defeat.
DAP goes back to mainly championing Chinese and occasional Indian interests.
PAS bares its true Taliban fangs...
PKR fizzles out into Oblivion.
Malaysia accelerates its steady slide towards a dysfunctional kleptocracy...Hello Zimbabwe, here we come...
Happy 2013 rambutan KT, durian Monsterball, mangosteen Bruno from Ciku me, your fave person. Let us all be awesome by voting Najib and BN again.
ReplyDeleteKt's New Year message is simple: Vote LGE in Penang. But DON'T VOTE Anwar Ibrahim.
Mr Ball, heard you are very happy and looking forward to receiving BR1M 2. How about treating all of us here?
KT-by any chance your house in Ayer Itam is at Jalan Rambutan? I remembered there used to be lots of rambutan trees there, but the star fruits were very small and sourish.
DeleteHappy New Year KT.
NO, not Jln Rambutan, Zul and Happy New Year to you too
DeleteCiku Buttercup,
ReplyDeletewhat better way to start the New Year than to see a better life and opportunities for all Malaysains by voting in the opposition.Whoever become the new PM is of no importance to me as long as the good for nothing Umno and its lappies are in Sungei Buloh.A better way of honest life is in store for Buttercup in the new and exiting year of 2013 too.