day 328 - ringing in the new year

the spread on my new year's eve dinner table - the round things are very important, but the sumptuous dishes were either in the oven or in the fridge. where i come from, tradition dictates there should be food on the table when the new year rings in so that there will be an abundance of not only food, but money and other aspects of life as well throughout the year and beyond. yes! this means i will have plenty of chocolates during the year. yay!

day 171 - Nephelium lappaceum

the rambutan, Nephelium lappaceum, is a fruit considered exotic to people outside of its native range. in southeast asia, however, the rambutan is a relatively common fruit like the apple is common to many people in North America. i took this picture today when i went to chinatown for a dimsum lunch when i passed by the fruit stalls.

day 124 - a bunch of

tropical fruits, that is!

day 122 - another tropical fruit

these are called lansones or langsat. the fruits are oval in shape and grow in clusters. the opaque flesh is very sweet but the pits are too bitter. we used to enjoy lansones as young children back in the old country. we are lucky here in toronto that this is available especially during the summer.

day 121 - fruits from the tropics

atis or ates - i believe the english equivalent is "sugar apple" or "sweet sop" or some damn thing. the white flesh is so sweet, almost sugary sweet. but it has a lot of black seeds. i remember in the 70's, magnolia came up with an ice cream flavoured atis. ohhhhh, great heavens, it was so sinfully delicious!!!