Thursday, May 31, 2007

Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!!!

I'm don't know if it comes across in this blog but I'm a very childlike and simple sort of bloke. I get excited by small things and struggle with deep stuff like the meaning of life and cooking. Having said that I am learning lots about the meaning of life at the moment. Not cooking though.

But, at a time in my own life when some very big and exciting things are going on, I have just experienced a moment of excitement, a bit of pure joy that will take some beating even by my own high standards, for years to come.

Let me explain; I was in Tesco a short while ago, buying my lunch, the usual healthy option of Ginsters chicken and mushroom slice with some microwaveable rice. As I passed through the fruit section I glanced sideways at the "exotic fruit" bit. I did a second take, something that I'm very used to, being a drummer. Then, on even more familiar ground, I did a third take. Yes, I wasn't dreaming, or no I wasn't dreaming I should say. They had Rambutans there. Packs of four.

My favourite fruit of all time, the fruit that I would happily foresake all other fruits for, the fruit that I can never find here in the UK apart from that one time I saw it at Tesco a few year ago. They stared at me, the little red juicy beauties were calling my name out

"Rhythmic, rhythmic, come and buy us, all of us.....please" I heard them say in high pitched tones. I had some thoughts. If I didn't buy them there was every chance that some sudda would buy them and eat them without understanding their special taste and flavour. The sudda would casually think that they were nice but not as nice as Lychee and then eat his Mars Bar.

So I did the only thing that a man could do. I bought them all. There were only twelve of them, in packs of four for £1.49 for each pack. So I paid £7.47 for twelve Rambutans or 62p each. Or, just to make me feel really bad I paid about 132 Sri Lanka Rupees per Rambutan.

You know what?

I'd pay double that, they're lovely!

5 comments:

Sachini said...

hehe i read this post out loud to my dad. not to make you feel bad or anything (now why would I want to do such a thing) but it's rambutan galore these days. so tasty but it always gives me a bad sore throat. anyway hope the rambutan was worth that price.

Ian Selvarajah said...

Just to confirm that "rambutans" are those small white balls with a sort of spikey red exterior? Is this the first time you've seen them in the UK? Wow...that's more than $1/each! lol

I remember picking them up when I was in Stockholm and the rest of my roommates enjoyed them. I think we were getting them at like 10-15 for $3 or so if I remember correctly.

Not sure if it's my favorite fruit, but they're definitely delicious!! :) I'll have to check if and how much we get them for here in Canada.

Darwin said...

Oh I *LOVE* rambutan but I've only seen them once at a supermarket here, and gosh they did look a sorry sight. They were rather small, definetely a few weeks old at the best and had started to go black around the edges. Not pretty. Were the ones you bought actually fresh? Because I'm a sucker for fresh-off-the-tree rambutan and tend to be quite picky that way. Oh the pains of having grown up with my own personal 'Malaysian Bud' rambutan tree in the garden back home in SL!

Rhythmic Diaspora said...

Sach - you've just made me very jealous!

Ian - Yes, those are the fellows, pretty expensive but still worth it for me when the alternative is no Rambutans at all - Happy 25th too!

Darwin - Frankly they are not the best examples I've seen or eaten but far better than nothing. They all taste a bit dry too, I think they wouldn't have got past Rambutan quality control in SL

Bea said...

Hi,
I saw some for the first time in a while in Badulla the other day. I didn't buy them as I couldn't be arsed with the whole over charge thewhite girl thing, got some mangousteen from my friendly fruit seller. I think I prefer mangousteen anyway.
xx
Bea