Java Jamboree: It's the Garden of Eden!

Entering the Agro Park in Surabaya, Indonesia requires a small fee and visitors will be given a welcome strawberry drink and later to another glass of apple juice and the right to pick two apples from an apple tree of your choice. And here then lies our delight! My friends and I, all from the Tropics were thrilled to be able to pick real apples from real apple trees. It was not that there was no apples at home; in fact there was an abundance of apples in fruit shops and supermarkets and while apple trees could not be found in the lowlands, there were a few in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia and these were behind locks and keys. Then, of course, these apple trees were like the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden and you could just peer at the trees and the apples from behind fences, salivate too if you have to but in no condition, would you lay your hands on them! In Surabaya, it was like there was Eve around, now in the guise of the guide, cajoling you to take a swipe of the apples and you'd do just that, even though it was rather expensive considering thatone has to pay about RM 25 for two apples but then who cares. Those two apples would probably remain the most expensive we had ever bought but they did bring the utmost joy and probably, no one would mind growing another Adam's apple!

At the Agro Park in Surabaya...