I think the first time I had it was when I was 13, the year I joined the Boys’ Brigade. We have this place that we call “Rock Garden”, and the tree is located there.
After school, or during our limited Boys’ Brigade break time, we will be on the look out for it. Some are within a jump’s reach while some require a certain amount of climbing before you can lay your hands on it.
Those located high up are not spared. To us, they are just a shoe’s throw away. Oh yes, we were quite accurate in our throwing too. One throw sometimes gave us up to 3 fruits! Though they dropped on the road, we never wash them. Just a wipe on our sleeve and we’ll eat it. Those days, hygiene is not priority.
Its diameter is about the size of a 50 cents coin. Inside the fruit is a brownish seed that’s inedible. Remove the seed, and the whole fruit will down into our mouth. If we managed to get those that have ripened to light yellowish in colour, its sweetness is heavenly.
Till today, my friends and I who have eaten this fruit have never seen it anywhere in the market. It would appear that they only tree bearing this fruit is located in Rock Garden, a stone throw from my school.
They are going to tear down the place though, to make way for a huge multipurpose hall. It’s a project by the church. Ya’ know, churches are very fond with mega structures nowadays.
Hence, I am interested to know. Has anyone seen or eaten this fruit before? Any idea what it is called?
After school, or during our limited Boys’ Brigade break time, we will be on the look out for it. Some are within a jump’s reach while some require a certain amount of climbing before you can lay your hands on it.
Those located high up are not spared. To us, they are just a shoe’s throw away. Oh yes, we were quite accurate in our throwing too. One throw sometimes gave us up to 3 fruits! Though they dropped on the road, we never wash them. Just a wipe on our sleeve and we’ll eat it. Those days, hygiene is not priority.Its diameter is about the size of a 50 cents coin. Inside the fruit is a brownish seed that’s inedible. Remove the seed, and the whole fruit will down into our mouth. If we managed to get those that have ripened to light yellowish in colour, its sweetness is heavenly.
Till today, my friends and I who have eaten this fruit have never seen it anywhere in the market. It would appear that they only tree bearing this fruit is located in Rock Garden, a stone throw from my school.
They are going to tear down the place though, to make way for a huge multipurpose hall. It’s a project by the church. Ya’ know, churches are very fond with mega structures nowadays.
Hence, I am interested to know. Has anyone seen or eaten this fruit before? Any idea what it is called?
It is not easy to walk from one tower to another. The steps are huge and some stretches can be very steep. It makes me wonder, how did the soldiers during ancient times run up and down the wall? They must be quite well built and have extremely strong leg muscles. Hats off to them!
After the Great Wall, we had lunch and headed to the Ming Tombs. As the name suggests, these are the tombs of former emperors of the Ming Dynasty. The structure there pretty much resembles the Forbidden City.
This piece of monument is very unique. On one side, the glory of the Ming Dynasty is written on it. When the Qing Dynasty took over from Ming Dynasty, the Qing people wrote about the stupidity and wastefulness of the Ming people on the other side of the monument. If only I could read Chinese…
Having been here, I believe Rome comes out on top in terms of monuments and culture. The entire city of Rome is well preserved while most part of Beijing has been turned into a metropolitan city, thus making Beijing losses that bit of magic. Nevertheless, it is still a must-visit for everyone. If you have not been, you should consider making a trip there.
