Eating Rambutans, Mangosteens, Durian,and Longon with Michelle Tan and Mae Lim

I returned to Singapore at the time of unseasonable rainfall.  I was dying to get into the pool at our complex, but the weather was thwarting my plans.  Luckily, as she so often does, Michelle Tan took me under her wing.  She and her son, Ollie, picked me up and took me to Tiong Bahru market.  I bought some needed meats, coffee, fruits, vegetables, and eggs.  There were some new fruits at the market, and Michelle was eager to share them with me.

After completing my purchases, Michelle, Ollie, and I headed to the 2nd floor Hawker stalls.  Michelle and I had porridge and fried dough sticks, called "Beggar's Bones".  My porridge had small pieces of sliced pork in it, and Michelle's had pork and was topped with raw fish.  Ollie had meatball soup.  All of our selections were quite tasty.

After a short visit with Michelle's parents, we headed to her in-law's home.  The Lim's house had been in a construction zone for the past 3 years.  (Michelle says the official bird of Singapore is the construction crane.)  In the past year, the Lims have noticed cracking in their walls and floors due to nearby construction.  They had met with representatives from the construction crew in the past, but were unhappy with the purely cosmetic fixes that were attempted.  Singapore has an authority that oversees complaints against construction practices.  On this day, the Singapore Construction Official was meeting with representatives of the builder in question, the Lims, and Michelle, who was brought in for good measure, with her real estate expertise.  After a thorough examination of the Lim's home, photos that Mae Lim had taken of the damage in the past several years, and discussion with the builder's representatives, the official promised the Lims that everything would be repaired properly.

With that business successfully behind them, Tony and Mae Lim showed me how to enjoy some of the exotic fruits of Singapore.  Michelle's favorite fruit is mangosteens.  It is a hard purple fruit that resembles a plum.  Michelle showed me how to squeeze the skin to reveal a small white fruit with sections like tangerines inside.  It was sweet and very tasty.  Next, Mae cut off the skin of rambutans to unearth a small translucent white fruit that was also very good.  Fire ants are attracted to rambutans because of their sweetness, and were crawling on the bowl of fruit.  I wasn't sure that they were good enough to bring fire ants into my home for them!  Mae also peeled some longons for me, and they were just okay.  They had also had made a special purchase of durians for me.  Durians are a special Singapore fruit that initially has an offensive odor.  I tried one piece, but the odor put me off a second try.  Michelle and Mae explained that durians run the gamut in pricing - from inexpensive and bad to very expensive and very good.  Apparently, the Lims had chosen expensive and good durians for me to try.  I wish that I had been more adventurous to repay their kindness, but I couldn't.  Luckily, Michelle enjoyed the "pillow fruit", as she told me it's called.  (I later saw a notice on a bus, saying, "No durians allowed on the bus!")

Porridge and "Beggar's Bones">

Mangotides (in colander) and Longons and a fruit whose name I can't recall.

Dhurians, or pillow fruit.

Rambhutans mean hairy fruit.

The fruit inside a mangotide.

Peeled and unpeeled mangotides.

Peeling a rambhutan.

The fruit inside a rambhutan.