The Durian Day Tour

Ambivalent. This is one word that you never hear when it comes to durian, the "king of fruits." People pretty much either love them or hate them. Other stinky foods like Limburger cheese, or perhaps things like cigars, invoke the same kind of responses.

Tropical fruits come in two categories: seasonal and non-seasonal. (With 12 hours of sunshine and with the weather pretty much the same all year, it's a mystery of nature how plants know what season it is.) Durian is seasonal, with Malaysian season lasting from June to August. This means that mid-July is prime time and there are a variety of tours up into Malaysia to sample the current harvest. So we signed up for a day tour and off we went on another adventure.

A short taxi ride got us to the Yio Chu Kang MRT stop in plenty of time for the 6:15 coach pickup. After a second pickup stop to the west (oddly called Jurong East), we were at the Tuas checkpoint, the "second link" to Malaysia on the west side of Singapore. The procedural choreography was interesting: get off the Singapore bus, go through Singapore departures with your passport, get back on the bus, drive over the causeway, get off the Singapore bus with all your stuff, go through Malaysia arrival immigration and customs, and get on a Malaysian bus. It's actually the same procedures as any international travel, but with a bus ride over a bridge in place of the international flight.

The Malaysian bus was comfortable, with an unusual decor that included curtains over the windows and a karaoke machine (more on that later). We picked up a second tour guide, a Chinese Malaysian who talked to us in a mix of 60% Mandarin and 40% English. The tour group was ~75% Chinese, 20% Filipino, and 5% American (that would be the 2 of us).

Our first stop was in Gelang Patah for breakfast at a Malaysian hawker center. We opted for Fried Carrot Cake and an 3-egg omelette with green onions and a hint of chili. Carrot cake is neither cake nor has carrots in it; it's made from a white raddish. It's really good, especially the 'black' version that is made with sweet soy sauce. Together both cost 7 RM (Malaysian Ringgit) or about US $2.

The drive took about 2 hours and took us by countless palm oil plantations, rows and rows of regularly spaced palm trees. (Malaysia is the world's largest exporter of palm oil, an edible oil that is also used in making soap. The palm oil business is a point of eco-controversy because it replaces rainforest yet is also a potential source for renewable biodiesel.)

We arrived at Gunung Ledang Resort around 11:30 am. Turns out that the tour doesn't go to the durian plantations because of complaints about the quality and cleanliness of the facilities there. Instead of the durian comes to a resort where they have tables and tables set up, covered with newspaper and durians. It was crowded with eager visitors, more than ready for "makan durian" time.

Turns out that saying "durian" is like saying "apple." There are many varieties, but instead of being "delicious", "macintosh", "jonathan", they have names like "mao shan wang", "XO", "Sultan", and "black pearl." Some are know by the cultivar number, e.g. "D13" or "D101". We had several varieties on each table, and yes, you can taste a difference, just like you can with different kinds of apples. I like the D101; the fruit is orange (instead of pale green or yellow) and is creamier and sweeter than the others we tried. Durians in Singapore cost between S$10 and S$18 (US$ 7-12) per kg, and an individual durian weighs about 1.5kg.

There are also some important customs associated with eating durian. The durian is a "yang" fruit, one that increases heat. Proper eating require a balance of "yin" (cooling) foods. Mangosteens serve this purpose, and these were also provided about half-way through the 'feast.' Another option is to drink salt water, salt being a "yin" herb. True affianados drink the salt water out of the durian shell. We opted for the mangosteens, which are called the "queen of fruits", are very tasty and apparently chock full of anti-oxidants.

Next on the agenda was a rainforest hike up to the Puteri Falls. This is the very bottom of the Gunung Ledang Trail. It took about 20 minutes to walk up the trail, with lots to see both in terms of the natural surrounds and the variety of people who were enjoying picnics or camping along the stream. At the top was a natural swiming area and some additional minor falls that people were sitting under. We stayed about 20 minutes, chatting with a Singaporean tourist on a different tour (he went to Indiana University and has a son at Purdue) before returning to the resort for High Tea.

Back on the bus around 3:30 PM, we headed for Yong Peng for a shopping stopover at a local product shops. Along the way, they fired up the karaoke machine connected to the TV at the front of the coach. Fortunately, they only played the tracks that included original artists singing so there were no 'performances.' But it was a little surreal to be on a bus in penninsular Malaysia, half-way around the world, listening to songs like "Yesterday Once More" and "A Whiter Shade of Pale."

Our next stop was for dinner near Johor Bahru (just across the straits from Singapore) around 5:30 PM at the Grand Straits Garden Seafood Restaurant. We were grouped with a Chinese couple and the six Filipinos on the bus and had a great time. The courses: chicken feet soup, stir fried tofu, thai-style chicken, pink tilapia with sweet & sour chili sauce, stir fried kang kong (like spinach), Cantonese style squid ringlets, braised prawns, white rice, and a fruit salad for dessert.

By 8:30 pm were were back on the bus and headed over the 'first link' causeway into the Woodlands checkpoint and back into Singapore. This time, we got to stay on the Malaysian bus after Singapore customs. It dropped us off at Jurong East and we took the MRT (subway) back home, arriving around 10PM.

How much did this cost? Total value of the deal (including breakfast on us): US$85 for the two of us, including breakfast, transport, durian, dinner, guides, and tips. A great value and a terrific adventure!

(You can click on the slide show below to see larger version of the pictures.)