Rambutan or Hairy Cherry

The fruit of the rambutan tree is hidden inside the "chom chom" or messy hair as the Vietnamese say. Rambut means hair in Malaysia. The small oval shaped fruit is hidden inside the red casing that protects its soft leechee-like fruit.  At the center of the rambutan is a seed.  These seeds are mildly poisonous if eaten raw.  The fruit is a round or oval drupe and it is juicy and delicious by itself or added to a salad. The trees themselves are either male or female and can grow to 50 or 60 feet.  Just grasp the fruit on either end and twist, the shell splits apart and the center is revealed.

Pamulaklakin Forest Trail

The Pamulaklakin Forest Trail is in the Subic Bay Freeport area. It cannot be accessed by jeepney or public tricycles. This is an ecological area that has been preserved by the indigeneous Aetis Tribe.  The Aetis have a village on the land and they live there with their families in much the same manner as their ancestors.  Hunting wild boar and plant gathering are a part of their daily lives.  We did not trek up to the Pastolan Aeta Village but you can book a tour and take the two hour hike (each way). The tribe suppliments their life style by allowing tourists on their land in guided tours.  These tours are educational and interesting.  The tour that I took focused on medicinal plants and the materials needed to build huts and living quarters.  After hiking for a couple of hours, we settled into an outdoor cabana and watched while Mang Casey, an Aetis elder, showed us how to make eating and cooking utensils from bamboo.  Mang has let jungle survival courses on the land.  The participants are not allowed to take food or water into the jungle but instead are trained to live off the land.  US military forces have trained at this site in the past.  If you come to the Zambales area, I highly recommend this trek.