Me & My Mango Tree...

Technically, it's not MY mango tree, but explainations will come after this.

Well, you know how I don't blog on weekends, but because I felt that it was worth blogging for, I thought I'd wing this particular priciple. What a weekend...

England made through after their World Cup Qualifier against Austria. But just barely. Frank Lampard scored the 'winning' penalty after some Austrian guy made a foul on Michael Owen. *shakes head* Everytime I see Lampard, I think of 2 people. Bunny & Rahman 'The Porn' Noodle. I still can't see WHAT is so good-looking about Frank Lampard that seems to 'excite' Bunny. His teeth jut out like that Porn Noodle's. Yech. And I don't understand why must it be HE who scored that 'winning' goal.

Truth to be told, I think England are out to ride their luck. Not because they're working hard at it to get their asses to Germany, but because they're just so damned lucky. And I think it's the same with France, whom also had a so-called dismal draw against Switzerland. And Germany?? God, that's even ridiculous. They don't even have to play competitively in the international matches to get in. They already qualify automatically!! And countries like Ireland -both Republic & North-, Australia, Wales, Iran, Senegal & all the least favored countries have to work their butts off just so they could get that taste of what it's like participating in the World Cup.

Ohh, and David Beckham got a red card. Ahahahahkz!! Not that I've got anything against Becks, but just the prospect of him getting sent off is just inane. What the heck did the famous Son of England do that was offensive enough to earn himself 2 yellow cards in the span of less than 5 minutes?? And Rio Ferdinand got axed out of the starting 11!! Another absurdity!! Very good. Rio Ferdinand's ever-expanding ego needs to be shot down to size. Maybe now he knows life isn't just a ride in the park (Ji-Sung, no pun intended).

I made my way to the library mid-Saturday; actually, I went to the bank first to withdraw some cash, topped-up my CashCard at the nearest 7-11, took a detour to Tampines MRT station where I renewed my bus concessions pass & added $10 to my sister Nuryn's ez-link card upon which I stumbled upon MORIIIIIII -soooooo happy to see him!!- & THEN walked all the way to the library to stock up on depleted reading knowledge as well as to pay up my long overdue fines I owed.

I was even kind enough to make a spankin' new library card for Nuryn so she could have the advantages of borrowing books in the future. Not that it was going to be frequent; I would probably be the one using her card most of the time, like I do with my other sisters. Yeah, yeah; I'm such a greedy person. 4 books is never enough for me, I have to admit.

I immersed myself within the library walls for most of the day; about 6 hours, I think. Catching up on various magazines -both latest & outdated-, surrounding the library cart everytime the library attendant came to restock the shelves & refreshing myself with stuff that I had either forgotten or hadn't known about. In the end, I came out a happy camper, my bag stuffed to the brim with about a dozen or so books & I couldn't help grinning like an idiot over my finds.

I went home to find my family preparing to go out; casserole dishes of food wrapped in aluminium foil were neatly stacked on the dinig table as my sister informed that Mummy Alonso requested that she call Bunny to know my whereabouts. Like, hello?? Who was the one who took away my mobile?? And silly Bunny thought I'd run away from home. Whahahakz!! Sorry for the trouble, Bunny.

So, this is where the tree part comes in.

The Alonso family broke our fast at Nanny Alonso's yesterday with the other Alonso family. Auntie Alonso & her two teenage kids, Farah & Hafez, piled up in Daddy Alonso's Hyundai Trajet & off we went for a surprise visit to Lorong Sarina, Kembangan; the place where I virtually grew up. Both Moms had prepared their sets of potluck, not wanting to trouble the ageing matriarch of the family who would fret & fuss over the availability of food had she known we were coming.

56 Lorong Sarina stood proudly albeit 'sandwiched' in between two taller terraces as the third house on the block. The area was more recognized for it's occupants rather than the houses themselves. Way back then, this area was mostly populated by school teachers; Malay school teachers to be exact. And Nanny Alonso was one of them. And well, you know what they say. Once a teacher, always a teacher. Even if you've retired over 20 years ago, the people who's lives you've touched through teaching will always remember you as 'Teacher'.

The distinctive feature that Nanny Alonso's terrace had was it's infamous mango tree. Standing there ever since I could remember, it was the only humongous fruit-bearing tree there was on that stretching row of houses. The tree held a special sentiment to all of us because it was also considered the tie that bound us together, always successful in gifting us with its fruits of labor.

For myself, it held memories of a younger me climbing that dratted tree. Yeah, climbing. I was the only one out of all our cousins to be able to scale up that monster, despite not making it till it's highest branches. It only took a little time before my parents knew what I hoyden I was when, during another climbing spree, I slipped & nearly fell into the big drain that separated the tree from the house, save for clinging onto an overhanging branch for dear life.

Of course, I yelled like a banshee, which brought my whole family including my uncles, Nanny Alonso, my parents & probably half the neighborhood out. It was that chaotic. It took my favorite uncle about 15 minutes to rescue me from breaking a couple of bones since I was positioned right above the drain. Well, I did escape unscathed, although a few minor bruises did surface. But I couldn't run away from Mummy Alonso's wrath. As usual. Ahahahkz!!

As I hopped out of the car, I stopped short suddenly as I looked up at the mango tree. The once huge monster of a plant was nearly half botak!!

I was like, "Mom!! What the heck happened to that tree!!??" I mean, I knew it had been awhile since I visited Nanny Alonso, but had it been that long?? Mom's calm reply made my eyes pop out. Apparently, the government thought it got in the way of some neighbors' houses so they decided to happily chop it down to size. The once majestic tree now seems to be a shadow of its former self. God knows if it would bear fruit now.

Unable to help myself, I grabbed my camera & decided to take a few pot shots of the poor thing. And of the house I grew up in. And also the food we had to break our fast.

I couldn't help but feel sad for that tree. Imagine the number of mangoes we had when it was the in season for fruit-bearing. It's probably even older than Mummy Alonso's forty years. And to think I used to squash the tree's vibrant flowers with my sneakered feet, unaware that they were fruits of the future. Here's what our tree looks like now...


It seems like it's almost lopsided...like slanted to one side...


The gap is in place for all the trunks the tree used to hold; including the one I climbed...


It looks like nothing happened to it, but from another angle, you can see it's been chopped into nearly half...


Nanny Alonso's house, our Trajet & the maid whom looked at me like I had two heads as I snapped up pics of the area...


Nanny's lush planation...these plants actually bear some fruits; starfruit & some other fruit I forgot...

I took a few other pics but will blog next time about it...Now in emo mode. Looks like the tree would be gone soon. I may never know.

Laterz...
Lenny JC