Rambutan nan sebatang

When we moved in 8 years ago, I told my father we should make the empty area beside our house in the compound be made a badminton court. He seemed submitting to the idea but months later my parents started planting trees there instead. Good thing they didn't buy my idea because today we have a mini farm in our very own yard. This evening I took a walk around the trees, I'm sure my parents are quite proud to see these plants to have grown and even started to bear fruits!

This is our little farm. The closest tree is a sapodilla tree, or ciku as we call it. There are fruits but too small, only half of my knuckle. Behind it is the kaffir lime, or limau purut. Then the rambutan and few other small plants. The rambutan tree has started bearing fruits, which is great. Plus, it's cool to be able to pick a fruit fresh from the tree, and that tree is just literally a few footsteps away.

Limau purut. I don't know why it's too hard to find this kind of lime at the markets. 

Chilli. In standard Malay is called cili, but we in Terengganu commonly call it 'lada'. Still baffles me of why the difference.

Serai kayu. Literally 'wooden lemongrass'. The young leaves are delicious ulam (salad) material. Look at the banana trees behind. They don't even look like living. The only plants yet to bear fruit. Quite a letdown since I always like bananas. Perhaps it's the soil. Our home site foundation is soil layered on sand so maybe some plants can grow but the lack of minerals may take toll on their fertility.

Anyways here is a story. So I was walking around the trees when I saw a handful of red, lush rambutans hanging but there was no pruner so I improvised with a broomstick. It worked and I got to eat a fresh rambutan, was tasty so i plucked and ate another, when I wanted to pluck the third one my father saw me chewing. Spontaneously he said to me, "I thought you are fasting today". Ha ha I forgot we were fasting today to mark the wukuf at Arafah, a part of hajj pilgrimage. Fortunately according to the ustazs, unintentional eating wouldn't void fasting. 

Happy Eid Adha everyone. :)