First Morning in a Hainan Village 在海南农村的第一个早晨

I am not naturally an early riser and it wasn't easy to get up for breakfast at 7 am. My nephew's wife cooked millet gruel while my elder brother-in-law made me coffee and hard boiled free-range (kampong) eggs. I was the last one eating breakfast at the dining table. :P

Specially ordered from Qingdao in northern China, the gluten-free millet with low fat composition has a subtle flavour, lots of vitamins and minerals. I am not used to eating millet gruel which was bland.

我是城市人没法醒得太早。在农村的第一个早晨, 8点吃早饭只剩我一个人。大伯给我准备咖啡和煮甘榜鸡蛋 (菜园鸡蛋)。

早餐食用健康食品 - 纯小米粥, 没有什么味道。原产山东的优质小米，营养丰富，能调理肠胃不适，同时补血滋阴, 能開胃、養胃，幫助消化、養肝明目并且容易吸收，尤其适合儿童与老人食用。

After breakfast, went with my brother-in-law TK for a walk in our farm lands. Watched him brought the water buffalo to graze in the field, I did not dare to go near. *wary of its horns*

We brought grains to feed the poultry which are allowed to roam free-range style on our farm.

跟着大伯放牛, 我从远处看黑水牛吃草, 那对牛角让我害怕。大伯每天还要带谷物喂饲自然放养的家禽, 有鸡, 鸭, 鹅。

Surprised to see our neighbours on the left has a big rubber plantation, which seems neglected. TK said the prices of latex has fallen dramatically that harvesters are not tapping the rubber trees.

They used to wake up at 3 am to tap the rubber trees in the dark and sell the latex to a factory outside the village.

由于工人工资上涨，橡胶价格走低, 胶农成本曾加, 邻居的橡胶树无人收割。

Our small village has only a hundred odd families and the residents are mainly the elderlies. Many of the elderlies are still working in the fields...., for a few hours in the mornings and evenings. They plant some padi and vegetables for their own consumption.

While TK was bringing me on a quick tour round our village, I notice many residential apartments are being built around the perimeters of the village. TK is worried the developers might come acquiring our land.

We went home to change as my eldest nephew was coming to fetch us to the ancestral shrine.