City kids harvesting coconuts – Do they even know how to do it?
Here’s how it all started. Helen, my sister introduces us to a drink truck selling blended coconut smoothies and they are the BEST smoothies we ever had. Well, at least to my Malaysian family and I. It is Shane’s first taste of this refreshing drink and he is hooked.
He asks Helen every few days if she has seen the truck on her way back from work. We will all pack into her SUV car, including mom (7 of us) and rush to the street where the truck parks. Sometimes it is gone when we get there so we will circle around the area to look for it. The kids get so excited when they see the truck and immediately call for their preferred cup size. It never crosses my mind to take a photo of this coconut smoothie because I am usually the first one out of the back seat to make orders. Mom and I like our smoothie plain. The rest prefer it with a scoop of coconut ice cream on top. We have brain freeze and feel cold by the time we drive back to the house.
Everyone is craving for coconut smoothies today so I suggest to Shane to get the coconuts from the trees outside the house.
We can make coconut smoothies at home and save money!
Helen says she has a machete the gardener uses to clear the garden. The boys take a long ladder out but it’s still not high enough to reach for the coconuts. Talk about city kids harvesting coconuts! They have never done it before. Shane finds a long bamboo pole so he ties the machete to one end of it.
Shane and Eashan (eldest nephew) hold the heavy bamboo pole and they start sawing on a bunch of coconuts. It takes quite an exertion and a few attempts. Check out the video and see the result!
These city kids have no clue and neither do we that these coconuts don’t have flesh in them! Mom comes out to check the commotion and tells us we have to use the green coconuts to make smoothies! The yellow ones are called Malayan Dwarf Coconut and we can use its juice. Oh man! Why didn’t Siva (kids’ dad) plant the Green Coconut variety instead. We are going to keep in mind to plant these for future coconut smoothies. Oh wait…I’ve better check how long it takes to produce fruits!!! 😛
Check out our Lifestyle Living in Malaysia section for more stories of our family activities.