Quantum Leap - Vol. 1 The Leap That Starts It All

C005 Life

Ani came over and served some freshly baked bread that she had prepared earlier before she found her foolish elder brother slumped on the ground with his mouth wide open.

It was a simple pan or hot stone-baked bread that she had gotten the flour from the manual stone mill that the ladies had brought over after they had winnowed the grains clean of the husks.

The bread was one of the staple food in the settlement and was baked on a heated flat stone in the back of the house, namely the 'dirty' kitchen.

The roughly milled flour was kneaded into a dough with a pinch of salt and some animal fat as a fattening agent.

After kneading till it was uniform in shape and texture, it then was made into small balls before flattening them and finally wrapping with a layer of banana leaf.

The two open ends of the banana leaf wrappings were then skewered shut by using the twigs normally found when one shaved off the coconut leaves. It seems the uses for banana and coconut leaves were resourceful indeed.

The wrappings would then be placed on the heated stones and turned occasionally to prevent charring.

Once the familiar pleasant scent of baked bread emitted from the wrappings, it would indicate that the bread was ready to be consumed.

Sometimes the banana leaves would not be used as the dough, after being made into balls and slightly patted down with both palms, would be placed directly on the heated stone.

A pan would make a better output for this but in this era, metal might be scarce and only be used for weapons, like the keris that was on my side right now.

When Ani brought the freshly baked bread over, the scent wafting made my stomach growl. It has been a few hours since I had eaten except for the coconut juice that I had drunk from a single fruit near the beach and the honeyed tea that was served earlier by Ani.

"Careful, Abang, it is still hot," said Ani to me as I took one of the baked bread and started to unwrap it.

I blew on the exterior of the charred banana leave to rid the heat away as much as possible while I turn it around on both of my palms as if to patty cake on it.

I slowly unwrapped the banana leaves by removing the skewered ends. The moment the baked bread was exposed from its wrapping, the wondrous scent and flavour seemed to mix and escaped through its steam.

"Wow...! This banana leaf sure acts as an insulator to keep the heat in as well as a foil for roasting. Great idea indeed...! I wondered how the taste going to be like...!" I thought inwardly as I slowly unwrapped the whole leaf and I can't help salivating as the appetising scent attacked my nostrils.

I nodded acknowledging to Ani and blew my breath slowly to the hot baked bread to cool it off. The other 3 brothers also took one apiece and thanked Ani for the hospitality.

I looked around and discovered that this settlement was way too backward and there was no sign of religion nor faith around such as temple nor church.

Not only was there no such places of worship, but there was also no totem poles, statues or sculptures that depict any kind of belief among these people.

"Maybe religion does not exist in this place or the people simply were too ignorant to follow any since it may not be of any beneficial gains for them at all."

I thought inwardly as I took a bite at the naked bread and the tantalising taste of the bread melted in my mouth as I chewed slowly and try to savour it as long as I could.

During the conversation that I had with the 3 brothers along with my newfound younger sister, I discovered that the majestic 2 storey bamboo house belonged to the Chief named Zhua and he seemed to prefer being indoors rather than been seen in public.

The Chief was rarely seen outside in public, mingling around with the rest of the settlers. It was rather weird for me to feel that there must be something that made the Chief shut himself out from the public's eye and shunned the very settlers that may have aided him on the economic structure of the settlement.

Furthermore, I guessed the Chief doesn't show himself to others because the settlement was rather small compared with the neighbouring since there were only 12 houses in total here...!

I guessed the Chief might show himself to the rest of the settlers during important events like weddings, gatherings, birthday parties et cetera.

I wondered how many times the Chief goes out to socialise. Would one be able to stay lively if he remains inside the house all the time? "Gosh... I would die of boredom inside the house with no mobile phone or something of that sort of technology to accompany me...!"

"Cheng, do you think the Chief will feel boring or not by staying at home all the time, huh? I bet his skin is very fair since he never gets tanned in that type of environment. Staying indoors and never gets out to get some sun would result in dry skin, you know."

I threw some enquiries to the elder brother.

"Nah, I don't think he gets bored at home when he had a few concubine wives to entertain him." chuckled Cheng. "Why? You also wanted to have concubine wives too?" joked Ding while the rest roared in laughter.

"Concubine wives as in a harem? Hmm... Sounds interesting. He may have one for each day of the week or maybe two at least sharing the bed on his left and right."

"A bump on the left, then we would be expecting some action that night. Another bump on the right, then the Chief would have his hands full for the night already."

"Wow... Pretty amazing to have two wives sharing the same bed. Hahaha...!" I thought to myself as a smile crept up to my face without me realising it.

After spending some time chatting casually, I managed to gather some more vital information that would be crucial for the time being. At least I won't be 'lost' in translation when we were to be engaging in conversations with the others.

As the conversation goes on, I discovered more things about the simple life in the settlement.

It seems that one thing for sure, the settlement had multiple uses for the humble coconut and banana trees that grew aplenty here. Not just for food but for other everyday uses as well...!

Such as the young coconut fruit that provides drinks, the fleshy soft jelly-like meat inside can also be eaten.

For the older coconut fruits, the juice may be a bit yellowish, while the fleshy meat can be grated and squeezed to turn it into a kind of thick and rich coconut milk in making certain dishes.

After the thick and rich coconut milk' had been squeezed, the grated remainder could be stir-fried with garnishing of chilli and onions to make yet another dish or simply made into a salad while stir-frying with pieces of dried fish.

This simple thick and rich coconut milk could be turned into a thick gravy when some lemon leaves, ginger or lemongrass along with shallots and garlic were cooked together with some meat like beef, mutton, chicken or fish.

It sure reminds me of the time I used to have this kind of dishes back in some countries of the South East Asia region. Ah well, that's a different story altogether and not to be mistaken with this one though.

The coconut husks, when left to be dried under the sun, could be made into mosquito repellent when burnt as it emits a lot of smoke. Not only would it ward off other gnats, but it would also definitely ward off people from getting close to the smoke as well...!

The dried coconut husks when burnt would emit a thick whitish-grey smoke and it would be smouldering.

Dry them some more for some weeks and it would be a great fire starter or natural fuel for cooking as it would not be as smoky as those newly dried ones.

The core of the coconut when halved, could be made into cups and bowls as well as a spoon if one was able to fashion them.

It is not as hard as it seemed as most of the cookware could be fashioned out by using this simple and humble coconut core.

The coconut leaves, when used by itself, could be used to make a simple thatch roof for houses or a makeshift A-frame shelter like the one that I had woken up in.

It's pliable when fresh and could even be used to be woven to be made something like a 'patupat' or rice dumplings in a triangular shape. These rice or glutinous rice dumplings would be boiled for at least 8 hours and can be strung up and left in a cool place for up to a week...!

If the leaves are to be removed, the remaining stalks could be used as a broom when tied in a bunch together. It also can be made into skewers for a barbecue over a hotbed of embers.

Those coconut tree trunks could also be sawed lengthwise and be made into sturdy walls for houses and huts as well.

The banana trees also provide several essential and useful items. The fruit could be eaten by itself when ripe.

Raw ones could be made into a snack after being sliced, soaked in palm sugar and smoked over embers and sun-dried thereafter to provide yet another delicacy by the locals of the settlement.

I believe those banana slices that had been sliced and soaked to be left dry were called 'pisang salai' or so-called preserved banana slices. It tastes great during snacking times or during coffee or tea breaks...!

The leaves could be used as a plate, or to wrap food for transportation or storage. It is also one of a convenient way to make the baked bread earlier, or as a steamer for rice as well.

It was said that banana trees only bore fruit once in their lifetime, so once the fruits had been brought down, the trunks would be chopped off near their base. The trunks were then sawed off about 30 centimetres in length.

If someone were to dig the centre of the trunks after it had been chopped off, Natural water from the roots would be collected there.

Just dispose of the first batch of water that had been collected there and the second batch would be purer and tasteless, unlike the one that had been collected there first.

That's how one could find water easily in times of emergency.

The trunks could be peeled off layer by layer like an onion and be made into a kind of 'teepee' for young tendril plants to protect them from the harsh sun rays.

Once the layered trunk had dried off and young tendrils no longer need shelter from direct sunlight, the 'shelter' could be removed and used as tinder or kindling for fires in cooking or bonfires.

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As the sun dipped towards the horizon and birds were coming back to roost back to their nests, the women who were thumping their sticks and mortars gathered up all the prepared grains into sacks prepared beforehand.

Smoke began to rise from 'dirty kitchens' of the houses all around as all the other womenfolk prepares dinner or supper.

I was intrigued by their simple way of life, and the way the settlers had plentiful of resources at their disposal as they could easily have 3 square meals or even 5 if they consider having mid-morning and mid-afternoon as their break times.

=*=

Dear friends, if you spot any errors, please leave your comments in the paragraphs or the chapter section. Thank you and God Bless.