I'm back home now and being industrious, while some other people have 10 days' vacation like the Chinese school students in Penang.
On my last day in Penang I spent an hour at the fruit farm. I'd been here before, and the same routine still applied. Havin been outfitted with a wide-brimmed straw hat to shield us from the blazing sun, we were taken in a van to the starting point of the tour, with a guide.
Unfortunately I did not get his name, but he was very entertaining, first showing us a wild banana plant with it's colorful flowers pointing skywards. He said, "Don't eat these flowers or else you will be going up to the sky as well!" Apparently the cultivated banana have flowers and fruit that hang downwards, and once the fruit is cut off "you are chopping off the head", said he.I had watched our cook many times at our Balmoral Crescent home, chopping down the whole tree after harvesting the large comb of bananas. I always wondered why. It isn't really a tree, anyway. The "trunk" is made up of sheaths of thick fibre. It grows from an underground rhizome.
On my last day in Penang I spent an hour at the fruit farm. I'd been here before, and the same routine still applied. Havin been outfitted with a wide-brimmed straw hat to shield us from the blazing sun, we were taken in a van to the starting point of the tour, with a guide.
Unfortunately I did not get his name, but he was very entertaining, first showing us a wild banana plant with it's colorful flowers pointing skywards. He said, "Don't eat these flowers or else you will be going up to the sky as well!" Apparently the cultivated banana have flowers and fruit that hang downwards, and once the fruit is cut off "you are chopping off the head", said he.I had watched our cook many times at our Balmoral Crescent home, chopping down the whole tree after harvesting the large comb of bananas. I always wondered why. It isn't really a tree, anyway. The "trunk" is made up of sheaths of thick fibre. It grows from an underground rhizome.
I was fascinated by the dragonfruit plant. It is actually a cactus! We then saw the cinnamon tree, the nutmeg tree, the custard apple, the star apple, the chiku , the experimental "skyfruit", the tamarind tree and the fig tree. At the end of the tour we were treated to a 
fruit buffet and a large glass of juice.
fruit buffet and a large glass of juice.The farm is actually used for research by agriculture students.
I had lunch at Parkroyal, but was not really hungry. Later that day there was a Lion Dance show in the lobby of Bayview Hotel.
So that was my holiday. Will probably not go back to Penang, which is sad. It used to be a nice vacation spot.
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