Fireflies Watching

On the way to watch fireflies, we made a few rest stops to have some snacks.

Each time we stopped for refreshment, I would peeked out of the car to have a look.

Waiting for cheche to buy something from the fruit stall...

... that sells an assortment of mangoes and other tropical fruits.

I got to taste some of the fruits too before deciding which one to buy.

We finally bought a packet of rose apples, or popularly known as jambu air locally.

The flesh of the fruit is crisp and watery, with a very mild rose scent and a slightly sweet aftertaste.

And I love my jambu air.

On our next stop, as I popped out of the window...

... I caught a whiff of one of my favorite snacks.

The aroma of freshly roasted chestnut filled the air and beckoned from afar.

With my acute sense of smell, I managed to trace the divine aroma to a makeshift stall near the road.

Over here in Malaysia, chestnuts are usually roasted with coffee beans and sugar...

... in a huge wok equipped with automated turning mixture arms.

We continued our journey with two paper bags of freshly roasted chestnuts...

... to keep us busy munching on the road.

Upon arriving at our destination, we had dinner in a seafood restaurant...

... whilst waiting for the sun to set.

By the time we reached the jetty, it was already late evening.

I was filled with nervous excitement as we boarded the boat in thick darkness.

In the stillness of the night, we traveled downstream into the river to locate the fireflies' colonies. We were advised not to touch the water as there might be crocodiles lurking under the river.

Not long into the boat ride, we were greeted by hundreds of twinkling tiny lights dancing through the trees along the river.


Due to the fireflies fragility and its sensitivity to bright flashes from the camera, we did not take pictures of the fireflies. Doing so would harm the little bugs.

Anyways, pictures and words cannot really describe the amazing feeling when the glowing fireflies started to come toward us from the mangrove trees as the boatman expertly lit his torchlight intermittently to mimic a mating signal. There were hundreds of tiny luminous lights moving in symphonic harmony through the moonlit darkness and finally landing on my nose and paws. It was truly an enchanting experience as if one is transported to a world of magical fairies. A magnificent sight to the eyes of the beholder that would stay in memory forever.



On the boat ride home, I was sleepy and mostly in dreamland... dreaming of brightly lit fairies and cotton candies.

16 comments:

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

Hi Hero, those rose apples are very interesting - we have never heard of those - they sure look tasty. And those roasted chestnuts - Mom says they must have been very good. What a fun ride that must have been to see all those fireflies in the air. Ciara tries to catch the lightning bugs here in our yard - silly girl.

Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

pam said...

What a magical night. We try to catch the fireflies but never do.

Every time Mommy sees a picture of you she smiles because she says you look just like our big brother Spoiler who's at the bridge.

Bobo and Meja

The Adventures of the LLB Gang said...

What a wonderful adventure full of nommy snacks, beautiful scenery and fireflies!! You live in a moist beautiful place hero!!

Smileys!
Dory, Jacob and Bilbo

houndstooth said...

I've never heard of a rose apple or had one before, but it looks good!

I love watching the fireflies dance at night!

Bunny

sprinkles said...

I've never been lucky enough to live where there were fireflies but once we went on vacation when I was a kid to visit my granpa on my dad's side. They came out every night and I just loved watching them. I caught one and tried to save it in a jar with holes poked in the top so it could breathe. Sadly, it was dead by the next morning.

"Over here in Malaysia, chestnuts are usually roasted with coffee beans and sugar..."

^^That sounds soooooooo delightful!

Lord said...

Hi Hero. Another fantastic adventure. We also have Rose Apple in the Philippines. We call it Macopa. But to be honest it had been decades since I last had one. I used to climb trees to get them when I was growing up in province. Now that I live in the city - there are no Macopa trees to climb.

Char Siew keeps on telling me he's getting jealous of your adventures and he's asking when our next out of town adventure is.

Thor and Jack said...

We've never heard about that rose apple before. What great adventure you had, Hero! Watching fireflies sounded pawsome!

Thor and Jack

Elizabeth said...

Wow, Hero!
you do have cool adventures.
I wish I could have snacks like you do.

Love from Buster

ps how is that baby doing?

oxox

Molly the Airedale said...

What a fun adventure! Those rose apples sure look tasty, Hero. We wish we could taste one!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

Jed and Abby in MerryLand said...

Crocodiles! You are by far the most adventureous doggie we know! We just read about your strenuous hike with Lucky and your Firefly viewing excursion; you sure have an exciting life with good pawrents who take you lots of interesting places. We confess to a touch of envy.

Jed & Abby

Fantabulous May said...

they allow dogs
REALLY

May @ www.amayzing.me

Lola and also Franklin, too said...

Fireflies are great and you're right - they do look like fairies. We get lots of them in our backyard, but no crocodiles. They're fun to watch. We would really like to try those chestnuts, too.

Sorry we haven't been around. We have just not been able to blog lately, but we have read your posts.

Unknown said...

Rose apples look yummy but the chesnuts sound DELISH!!! What an amazing thing to go see the fireflies like that. We have those here in Texas in the summer nights. What a beautiful post.

Thank you so much for stopping by and saying such nice things to Fred.

JB's Big and Small Worlds said...

I like fireflies a lot and see them out our windows sometimes.
Cute set of photos. We have never seen a rose apple before.
--JB

Anonymous said...

Hi Hero! You know, every-time I stop by your blog I think to myself - Malaysia can't be that bad for animals after all.... You go to places, they let you stay there, you go off leash... Hmmmm... And those chestnuts look delicious. My person has never seen those rose apples before but will definitely try some when she is over in Asia again.

Slobbers Teal'c

georgia little pea said...

HEY! How did I miss this one? Looking at the date, it might have been when I stopped blogging to prep for my trip to Brazil.

I can taste those chestnuts. They're SOOOOOOO good! Love the jambus too. I wish there were more exciting fruits in Oz.

Thanks Hero :) X