One fun memory of Singapore is the adventure of the Durian Experience.
The Durian fruit is rather large fruit, green with a thorny spiked exterior.
Even uncut it has a rather pungent smell. Above you can see Terrance in purple deciding on which Durian in the stand behind him that we were going to try. Terrance is rather an expert when it comes to finding the finest Durians. I use the term finest rather loosely, as we shall explain as we go on with the tale.
The Durian is so smelly that carrying a Durian fruit is banned on public transportation in Singapore:
Our Singaporean friends Terrance and Johnathan (an expat I knew from my High School and university days) after a dinner took us by a fruit stand that sold durians as we had to experience it during our visit to the Far East.
The Durian is sliced open, revealing the yellow fruit inside.
Verily the smell got worse. Yes, just like a Tauntaun, you only thought they smelt bad on the outside.
Eating durian is done while wearing disposable plastic gloves, or the stench will linger on your fingers for a long time.
Eating it was an experience.
Leah, the first of us to eat it was rather doubtful as she was poised to take a bite. Some native Singaporean strangers seted behind us enjoying their Durians watched rather intently.
Her expression upon tasting a Durian for the first time did not disappoint, and they had a good kindhearted chuckle at her reaction, as did we all.
She quickly spat it out. Abby and Tash tried it with much trepidation and found it yucky but less so than Leah had, but neither finished their serving of Durian.
I then gave it a go.
The best description I could give it is that of enjoying a smooth creamy custard while sitting in and tasting a sewer.
Can't say I'd recommend it, but I did finish my piece.
My Singaporean friend Terrance considered it a great delicacy and happily ate the parts we passed on, while my friend the expat Johnathan sadly shook his head that Terrance could like such a smelly yucky fruit.
We then ate some mangosteens which washed away the taste of the Durians.
The Mangosteens and were sweet and really, really good.
Such was the great Durian Adventure, not an experience that will soon be forgotten.
3 comments:
It's also best not to forget you have one in the baggage pod of a jet when you abort your departure and it stays there an extra day in the tropics...in the summer. DAMHIK.
juvat: Yikes! Talk about a bio-hazard. Did they have to scrap the baggage pod after that?
I'm pretty sure they did. Lord knows I didn't want to put my bag in it and luckily the base I was at had another.
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