Penang Fruit Farm

We started the day like most here. Emily wakes us up between 6:30 and 7:00 AM, which is a bit of a blessing and a curse. It means that we have to wake up before the sun, but also that we get views like this to start our day with. It also means that we have a lot of time to spend during the day and can get out and get back to the pool to stay cool before it gets too hot.

This morning after enjoying the sunrise, we made our way over to Mr. Pot a place that we have been contemplating for a few weeks now. It's the marker we've been using to know when to turn to get home, and advertises that it's open 24 hours, so we've been curious but not brave enough until today. While the food wasn't out of this world, we enjoyed the experience and left pleasantly surprised.

Here's Tica and Em standing on Gurney Drive right outside of Mr. Pot.

After breakfast we went out to a local furniture store to see if we could find a few things we've been wanting for the house. People have been recommending this store to us for a while and today was the day we chose to venture out and find it. Like many things here, it wasn't exactly easy to find. Google maps couldn't find the address at all, just showed us the entire street the store was on, and the GPS we were using told us it was on the other side of the road from where it actually was. So after driving past the store and around again a few times we discovered the problem. There was a Canon camera store directly across the street that kept distracting the driver/navigator. We eventually found the store, but didn't find much for us within. Emily managed to have a good time though rearranging the display upstairs.

After the store we decided to head up to the Penang Tropical Fruit Farm. I have to say that it was difficult for me to sign up for this one. We drove for over half an hour to look at and sample fruit. Not exactly the acme of excitement if you ask me. But as has become as common as getting lost, the fruit farm was surprisingly enjoyable. The experience starts with an extremely rapid ride in a van along narrow roads with steep drop offs on either side. I had to remind myself more than once in the 5 minute trip that the driver has done this before and that I shouldn't worry. The ride ends in an orchard of sorts with views of the surrounding mountains and jungle we just drove through to get here.

As soon as we arrived our guide began telling us about the various tree species, their origins, and their natural properties. For example:

• Macadamia nuts - two shells, will kill you if you eat too many due to high cholesterol (but it will take decades)
• Avocados - come in all shapes and sizes, pear shape, orange shape, etc. Apparently these counteract the effects of Macadamia nuts
• Cinnamon - cures arthritis when taken with honey. I know what you're thinking, and it doesn't work with just any crappy honey off the street. You must make sure you get a good quality honey (like the one they sell in their giftshop for $60 per bottle).
• Durian - (The smelly fruit) is very good for you, but if you drink beer after eating it your stomach will explode and you will die.

He also told us that people who named fruit aren't really very creative, so everything that is round is pretty much named "apple". He then proceded to show us about 10 different types of "apple" fruit. Here is Emily having a bite of the most expensive one, a "rose apple". They had a very interesting flavor of sweet rose that we all really liked.

I think the highlight for me was his explanation of how the passion fruit got its name in English -the Passion of Jesus Christ.

• The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance.
• The tendrils represent the whips used in the flogging of Christ.
• The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles (excluding St. Peter the denier and Judas Iscariot the betrayer).
• The flower's radial filaments, which can number more than a hundred and vary from flower to flower, represent the crown of thorns.
• The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or the Holy Grail
• The 3 stigmas represent the 3 nails and the 5 anthers below them the 5 wounds (four by the nails and one by the lance).
• The blue and white colors flowers represent Heaven and Purity.

And all this time I thought it was because the flavor of the fruit was so passionate. Here's a picture of part of the flower with the crown of thorns and a few apostles as it were . . .

We also came across this "little" (5 inch long body) friend along our journey through the fruit trees who had just finished his breakfast (poor dragonfly). This little encounter reminded me that it is probably okay that I left my camping gear back in Austin.


Just as it started to get too hot to be in the sun, we arrived at the buffet. It was almost as if they had given this tour before or something. Anyhow, here we were able to sample some of the other fruit we didn't get to sample in the orchard: mangos, papaya, pink guava, pineapple, figs, jack fruit, sapote, honey dew, watermelon, yellow watermelon, star fruit, fresh bananas, water apples, and a few others I can't remember the names of.

Here's a picture of Emily enjoying a few of the tropical fruit. She was particularly excited about the banana, but with all the other options didn't even try a bite. After drinking our fresh juice, we packed back into the van for the return trip along the bumpy, narrow road feeling quite happy with our weekend adventures. We got home with just enough time to get in the pool to cool off before nap time.