Fruits on Path

Our human saw and recognised these fruits on the path. These were still young, not matured or fully grown yet.

It is possible that either the bad weather or some animals may be the cause of the falling. Due to the thick foliage above, our human could not determine which tree these fruits belonged to.

These are either nangka (jackfruit in English) or cempedak (honey jackfruit in English).

Nangka is usually huge and oval in shape while cempedak is smaller and tubular. Nangka tastes sweet and fruity when ripe, like a mix of banana, pineapple, and mango, with a fragrant, sometimes durian-like smell, while unripe nangka is mild, chewy, and absorbs spices, often used as a meat substitute in savory dishes.

Our human loves unripe nangka cooked in coconut milk with a bit of chilli, 'Nangka muda masak lemak' or 'Young Jackfruit Curry with Coconut Milk' and could seldom enjoy it as unripe nangka is so difficult to get.

Happiness is Meeting Friends

Our human turned a corner, something moved in front, immediately stopped and looked.

Monkeys were in front on the path a few feet away. They, too, stopped and looked.

Then someone approaching from behind said, "Good Morning!" Our human turned and saw a hiker acquaintance. He asked, "What are you doing?" I replied,"Snapping photos".

Those monkeys scampered!

Isn't that rear end view cute?

That hiker walked on.

Perhaps the monkeys recognised our human and then came down from the upper branches.

Our human was delighted to be able to capture this wonderful moment and had to refrain from hugging it. It looked at our human in such a cute coquettish position with seemingly cross-eyes.

Actually they are not cross-eyed but the markings made it look such.

They are so cute and friendly.

These are dusky leaf monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus), also dknown as the spectacled langur or the spectacled leaf monkey, a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae.

When It Rains

Our country's monsoon is not over yet and forecasters say it will continue.

There were days when our human, eager looking forward to the walk, changed to walking gear with a packed haversack, stepped outside, and it started raining!

Outside, our human stood looking at the falling rain for at least half an hour hoping that it was just a passing shower. When it did not stop for over an hour, our human gave up and went inside like a 'tortoise retracting into its shell'!

The very next fine weather morning, the walk was different. It was slower and cautious.

The fallen tree trunk fell on the path and broke on impact.

Muddy slopes and rain-filled holes.

Beauty of Old Vines

(Continue from the previous post.)

This is how it looks after years of growing together. The wrap-around vine cuts into the trunk.

Our human wanted to place either the hiking pole or haversack against the tree for comparison but could not go near it as it is off the path and on a slope.

This is one of the biggest vine covered with moss that is off the path.

PS: Could not blog earlier from house electrical power trips due to lightnings and continuous thunderstorms.

Vine Riot

Walking down the familiar path daily with one fine day when a scene suddenly caught your eye and you wondered how is it that you did not realise its beauty earlier.

A riot of vines in its raw beauty!

A young vine coiling round an older one which will eventually dig and carve into the older one as time goes by.