Buah Pampong, a helmet-sized fruit from a jungle creeper

There is a village in Raub called Kampong Bukit Pampong and I wondered where that particular name came from and it turned out that it came from a jungle creeper that bears fruit the size of a motorcycle helmet calle buah Pampong!

It is not a common creeper and can sometimes be seen on the fringes of forests on tall trees, bearing a few disproportionately large fruits visible from afar...

The above 2 pix are from a creeper on the way to Pos Sinderut...

Steam boat at Fong Lye

Some time back we had a steam boat makan-makan at Fong Lye's upper end offer at Midvalley. The set menu was quite copious otherwise the usual steam boat affairs was offered. The difference lies in the soup base which was their forte.

Generally, the meal was quite well received by everyone but the service will need to include a little more servers who can communicate with customers - not foreign workers who can hardly guess what we were trying to tell them...

Blast from the Past (3 - 2): adventures in the port city of La Rochelle on the French Atlantic Coasts

The protected harbour turned into a mirror on the morning after the snow shower - first time in 11 years according to the locals.

Persisting snow on the grass patch...