Rambutan!

It's the same cheap plastic colander the "ginger lily" or "Kamias" was in in my first post. That's just to follow "tradition"--like the kamias, a whole bag of Rambutan came also from a neighbor...whose tree has been giving an excess of the fruit!

     At no other time have I had so much rambutan...many fresh-picked and for free.  Well, maybe over a decade ago during a series of long stays in Thailand. There, rambutan is regular fare, along with papaya, pineapple, and other tropical fruits it seems.

     It is only this year that I realize how much there is in Santa Rosa, and even more so in Silang.  I am happy that my child has come to love this fruit so much, she asks to have it for snack time at school.  In fact, so many of her classmates love this. It was actually interesting for me to see one of her classmates open his food container, packed tight with the peeled rambutan. This is what snack time ought to look like! Not the processed, plastic packaged, additive, preservative, coloring-laden junk kids are now being discouraged (hopefully) to snack on.

   Inside, it is an oval shape, with a firm, smooth cloudy gelatin appearance. To open it, you squeeze the middle level of the skin (it looks prickly but those prickles are soft not sharp) with your thumb and forefinger, this should open crosswise. To eat it, you may nibble it in bits.  It doesn't matter if some of the seed's skin gets stuck in the flesh. If opened at the right stage---apparently when firm and maybe even slightly green sometimes--the flesh comes off the seed easily.  The seed resembles an almond.

     The rambutan has a mild flavor. Strange how in the past weeks since its abundance I have come to actually seek the taste, despite the almost-blandness.  That's it's beauty I guess, a mild, gentle, juicy flavor that provides refreshment. In my childhood I've mostly had tangy, tiny ones, often not fresh anymore. It was always a surprise to open one...I was never sure if it was still alright--plump and smooth--or rotting.  In the groceries the fruits turn black on the outside. These are not as great as the ones I saw for sale by the roadside today:

     Just as I've admired the following fruits' colors:  Avocado Green, Macopa pink (and green), Guava Pink, Kamias Green...I have a new addition: Rambutan Red.  The photo doesn't quite capture it...but the Rambutan's red at this fresh-picked stage is not deep. It's something I would describe as maybe coral-red...it would make a good lipstick shade, I think.

    Lanzones is also in season. When I got this Rambutan, Lanzones had run out.  

Enchanted Kingdom's 18 this year!

     Just have to make special mention of the staff at Enchanted Kingdom. As is expected of an "amusement park" or "theme park", they make the experiences pleasant. 

   Since it seems I have a leeeetel beet more readers lately, I will post this old feature from 2011 where apparently I already mentioned the staff's being nice.
The only difference is I mentioned the ride attendants were serious (as they have to be); that's not completely true, many were seriously focused on their jobs, yet were cheery enough to also greet children. 

   During last weekend's visit I noted that even in the evening, and on a Sunday, ride attendants were still alright.  Not that we expect anything less; just that it had been an extremely warm day.  I even noticed the approx 2 liter water jugs at each ride's station.  I hope that is enough for the attendants and gets refilled regularly. 

   Here is the past post.
    http://www.lagunagingerlily.blogspot.com/2011/07/ek-enchanted-kingdom.html

     I just cannot believe it's been 18 years since we drove to the park's soft opening.  There are new rides, and although the entrance-only promo I mentioned in that post is no more,  the day pass includes those new rides. (There used to be separate fees for certain rides and attractions).  The park is also undergoing a facelift.

   This really is sort of a landmark destination in Sta. Rosa.   It's close enough to Metro Manila, and the shuttle service is convenient.  Last Sunday, we noted many balikbayan visitors. Some probably visiting OFWs (Overseas Foreign Workers) with their entire clan. 

    Visit in October...the anniversary month. There will be a fireworks competition. Of course it is enchanting during the Christmas season, with all the decorations.

Animal Encounters

     Be sure to catch this show with your children at Enchanted Kingdom, by the Jungle Outpost.   Isa Garchitorena's Wildlife Experience.  It's a good show, brief, engaging, with lots of impact...

     Mostly reptile photos as my photographer failed to take clear shots of the cute little owl and hedgehog!  You must absolutely go see them yourself.
  

     If by some fluke you have been following this blog, you would have gathered by now that we are into bird watching. However "educational" they are labeled, we stay away from "bird shows" and "exotic animal" shows where they keep the creatures caged in not so happy habitats.  I don't particularly enjoy seeing birds being made to pedal bikes or do such tricks, for example. It can be amusing to children, but teaches them nothing about preservation of the animals' natural behaviours and habitats.

    This company obviously aims to educate us about wildlife; and you can tell by listening to Isa that they really care (seriously they have the credentials...she is like our very own Jane Goodall).  It is really important how they stress that these are not to be kept as "pets" in the home or apartment.  That was one point in my video posted earlier--the iguana I saw in the laundry area of my apartment in Makati was surely an escaped pet...or a pet that was purposely let loose by its owner. 

    You gain respect for the creatures, which in turn makes you hopefully consider them each time you toss something in the trash or even choose what to eat :-O 

Enchanted View

    Yesterday, Sunday, was extremely hot.  This was taken last night at closing time, Enchanted Kingdom, Sta. Rosa, Laguna. 

   From up there, the city looks very peaceful.

   This is on the other side of the SLEX (South Luzon Expressway).  Here is the ferris wheel visible from the SLEX.

     I am typing at the stroke of midnight. It is now Monday, 2 September.  

Back in the Neighborhood

     Just realized reports said Janet Napoles lived in Binan, Laguna before.  So now she's simply going back to this province...

     So this is probably the photo our new helper saw on television last night.  No wonder she told me "but it is surrounded by tall grass"..after I told her that the fort is actually within the barangay sto. domingo also in our city; that this barangay is also full of residents, that the street to the entrance gate is actually surrounded by residents.  She had imagined it to be an isolated grassy area.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/478255/court-okays-napoles-transfer-to-laguna-fort

      There are those trees...very Silang-Sta. Rosa. 

    Maybe just my imagination, but sometime ago when I first heard the initials JLN,  I kept recalling seeing vehicles with JLN license plates. It must have been a regular sighting around here; I remember correcting myself, thinking JIL?  And yes, it is because I have a weird fascination or curiosity about license plate numbers.  This is rooted in my childhood when I would read license plate numbers on the drive to and from school. Plus of course sometimes they can be cryptic.  They can also get irritating, such as when they are composed of only the number 8 and happen to be luxurious; happen to be the latest model Hummer, Lexus or what not...happen to speed, weave, with blinking lights and a convoy of goons in lesser suv's.  Stand along the Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay highway on weekends and you will get to see all these.   Not that I do that. 

   Until recently I would notice all these license plates around here all the way to Tagaytay----plates with NBI, or PNP. And many times, these were the cars of Koreans.  How nice they are to celebrate with their police friends, with those commemorative license plates.

   Anyway, I don't have a point...except maybe when we see these luxury vehicles, with special plates and convoys that attract attention...I mean, really, many of them come from new wealth or wealth that is "ill-gotten". New wealth is not wrong.  I'm just saying, that it seems many of them are from government. Truly "old rich" do have more class and go about in simpler, unmarked vehicles.  Take the case of one of the handsome owners and developers of the "neighborhood"...you wouldn't know it but he used to get on his motorbike, stop for coffee in these parts...      

    

Welcome to the Neighborhood, Janet

   Sorry I cannot resist.

   Breaking news is, Janet Napoles is being transferred to Fort Sto. Domingo. Home of the Special Action Forces.  Here in wonderful Sta. Rosa.  The sweet corn mais vendors along Bgy. Sto Domingo's stretch of highway will make more than their usual weekend sales, I am certain of it.  Journalists get hungry too.

   It's the end of the month, and with good weather, there will surely be more commuters by tonight, and then back Sunday evening.  

   I hope they show aerial views of the place. Just curious.

   Here's a bit about the Fort... 


http://lagunagingerlily.blogspot.com/2011/04/cuartel-de-sto-domingo.html
   

video for Green Lung Gone