The Salak Fruit

Had an interesting encounter earlier today when I went to look for my colleagues in another office. Upon entering, I noticed some weird looking objects lying on the table and after closer inspection, I thought they looked like some shell-like reptile. After a few pokes with my finger, half expecting some head to pop out, I concluded that they were some kind of fruit.

My colleagues questioned if I am Malaysian since these were supposed to be common fruits. I HAD NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THESE BEFORE IN MY LIFE!
They did not remember the name of these fruits until one of my colleagues shouted out SALAK! Huh! So much for teasing my nationality. Naturally, I took one, opened it up and ate it. My first impression after opening it was... GARLIC! But no, it was different from it. The fruit was crispy, sour and kind of sweet at the same time. Researching online, I found the trees to be like these:
The fruits grow in clusters like these:
A brief description from Wikipedia:

Salak (Salacca zalacca) is a species of palm tree (family Arecaceae) native to Indonesia and Malaysia. It is a very short-stemmed palm, with leaves up to 6m long; each leaf has a 2m long petiole with spines up to 15cm long, and numerous leaflets. The fruit grow in clusters at the base of the palm, and are also known as snake fruit due to the reddish-brown scaly skin. They are about the size and shape of a ripe fig, with a distinct tip. The pulp is edible.

Photos from Wikipedia.