Si Marie,Ako at ang Puno ng Bayabas (Marie and I and the Guava Tree)

One of the childhood memories that I would always treasure was the time when I can still run and laugh and climb a tree with one dear friend, Marie.  Marie and I are childhood friends. 

Her mother is actually a niece of my mother thru her cousin so that makes her my niece?  We were classmates throughout elementary years.  We were inseparable.  We would always to school and go home together. On weekends we'll go to their house to get heko (a smooth fish paste) and go to our favorite tree --- the guava tree at the back of the bungalow of Anda Isko and Anda Ising.  We would climb the tree without any fear of falling.  All we cared then was the joy we got from climbing that tree, picking up the guavas and eating them while we sat and clinged to its branches.  Dipping the guava to our heko was sooo yummy.  We would stay up in the tree without a care...time was not important to us. I'm sure Marie still remembers how we would go down the tree whenever an old lady shouted at us.  She's not from the bungalow so probably she's a neighbor.  Well anyway, we would ran so quick with our pockets or plastic bags full of guavas. 

My parents had forbidden me to climb trees or go near the river but this rule was soooo difficult to follow.  I would always break the rules hehehe (the joys of childhood).  They would always look for me....and when I went home with guavas...they knew that I broke their rule again hahah.  Oh how I wish I could climb guava trees again.  We used to have 3 guava trees in our backyard. The guavas were soooo sweet and juicy.  I don't really know  what happened that they all died.  Nanang Abe and Nanang Osang said, Ate Susan (my oldest first cousin) craved for them when she was conceiving.  At that time I really tried to understand why...I mean what's the connection of the death of the guava trees and ate susan's craving during her pregnancy?  They said, "napaglihian".  How I wish we still have those trees. 

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Kamias na Bilog (Philippine gooseberry)

    Kamias na bilog.  My siblings and I would always get them using a sungkit at the old house of Ka Juling, Ka Ligaya and Ka Ebeng.  Their house is just a few steps away from ours in Sagrada...very convenient. 

Nanay is a close friend of them especially with their sister, Nanang Norma (+), that's why we would always go to their place.  They also used to rent out Pinoy Komiks - Wakasan, Aliwan etc. and I was their number one customer eversince I have started to read.  They would always tell me that I'm the youngest Komiks reader they had hahaha.  One of the perks of being friends with them was our free kamias picking.  They're trees were really the best then.  I don't know why they had such so much fruits...it's like they never stopped bearing them.  The taste of their kamias was somewhat between sour and sweet.  We would always balance the taste with our salt dip.  But like any other tree, the life of their kamias would end too.  I am not sure what happened to them though.  Maybe a lightning strucked them?  Or they were cut down when they built their new house?  I would probably ask when we come and visit the Philippines again.

Although, kamias is called gooseberry in English, it doesn't really look like one.  In other countries in Asia and South and Central America.  Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing said that it was brought to the Philippines in prehistoric times and then later on spread throughout Indian Ocean, Mauritius, the Pacific then Hawaii.  In some countries, it's just an ornamental tree but  people can also make chutney, relish, candies, vinegar and syrup.  It is also good for rheumatism, blood enhancer for the liver, and purgative purposes.

hmmmm maybe we should start planting one now...

Source: http://www.nationaalherbarium.nl/ and dost.gov.ph
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Apulid (Waterchestnuts)

When we were still kids, my cousins and I would usually sit in this big long table that they had next door while eating apulid....trying our best to remove the the fruit's skins...competing on who would do it quick without losing too much of the fruit.

The skin is thin like paper so we would really remove them carefully.   They were sold then not by a kilo but by the size of the tin.  I am not really sure if you can still buy them at the market.  Maybe the new batch of kids now don't even know that they exist.  It's a good thing to know though that we can still buy them on tins or jars....but still nothing can beat the fresh ones.

Apulid's taste is similar to chestnuts that we particulary buy during Christmas season. They are slightly sweet and a bit crunchy.  Their texture is quite good.  They never change  even if you cook them. I have proven  this true when I mixed them with my siomai meat mixture.   It is also interesting to know that apulid can sweetened your breath. 

Burma: ye thit eir thee
China: ma tai, po-chi
India: pani phul
Indonesia: tike
Japan: kuwai, kurogu-wai
Philippines: apulid
Thailand: haeo-song krathiem, haeo cheen
Vietnam: go nung
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Wanted: Aratiles!

My sister's favorite fruit when she was a little kid was alatires.  To get her aratiles, we would go to Nanang Puring's  (Talucod) house in Sagrada.  We would use sungkit to get the fruits and my sister would be picking them up and put them in her pockets or plastic bags. 

As we walked back home, she would start eating them.  I did not like this fruit that much so I would usually let her have them all.  Unfortunately, my sister would have lots of red bruises all over her body after eating alatires.  She had an allergic reaction to alatires.  From then on, she was not allowed to eat aratiles.  It did not stop her anyway.  Whenever she had the chance, she would still eat them.

Aratiles tree is also known as Cherry Tree, Panama Berry or Seresa.  It originated from the Southern Americas and was introduced to the Philippines by the Spaniards during their occupation of the country.  It grows up to 10 m in height...but the trunk and branches are not sturdy that's why we wouldn't take chances in climbing this tree before.  The fruits are white when unriped and become reddish when going ripe.  It has a sweet taste on it, fleshy and lots of tiny seeds.  It's interesting to find out that this tree has a lot of use not only to satisfy your fruit cravings.  The flowers can be used as antiseptic and can  abdominal cramps, colds and headaches. 

So aratiles, is quite a versatile tree....I wonder if we could still see them around?

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