tongkat ali

well, i was chatting with natkean and dilbert this morning and the topic of tongkat ali surfaced. hmmm, frankly, due to my aging mind, i could not really recall how it came about other than i mentioned it. i think it must have been something to do with supplements, collagen or something, and that the conversation went on to someone saying collagen tasted like cum... haha, ok before i digress, yup, tongkat ali. i mentioned about tongkat ali and asked if the pharmacy natkean spoke about sells it. and he was kinda curious why i asked about it. of cos it is about impotence, i said. this was something i blogged about previously. well ok, to be exact, about the need to maintain a certain level of male health (you know...) and to stay healthy of cos. (ya... i can hear you guys going "ya rite!")

and talking about tongkat ali, i actually studied it when i was an undergrad some 26 years ago (gosh, that was a superbly long time ago)! i remembered clearly one day when we were in the midst of a field trip to the bukit timah forest and we came across a rather interesting looking plant. we stopped and my supervisor told us, with this cheeky grin on his face, that it was something men take to boost their sexual prowess. we quickly moved on after that and the topic was never brought up again. heh heh... anyway, the vernacular name "tongkat ali" means "ali's walking stick" in malay. i understood that the reference to "walking stick" was due to the fact that the plant typically has a central long stem, like a walking stick, and a nice rosette crown of compound leaves at the top. and as to why the name "ali", hmmm... perhaps the person who first used it was called "ali"? haha... whatever the case, the scientific name of this tropical plant that is endemic to this region is euricoma longifolia. this plant is commonly used by natives for its healing as well as its aphrodisiac qualities. ok, shan't go into the botanical details of this. you can read it here if you are curious enough! 

while it was not too well known commercially back then, the popularity of this plant has since spread  far and wide. products of this plant can be found in all sorts of forms and drinks now. just google it and you can find lots of it in the net. but beware, i read that there are many fake products too... and as for me, well... if there's something to take to boost my health, i guess it is ok right? 

heh heh...

;-)

picture from http://www.itsnature.org/plant_life/vegetation-plants/eurycoma-longifolia/