durian – ayusrimoyo.com

Never have I expected to write a post titled Durian. But here it is. For those who have never heard of the word (easy folks, I’m sure these people exist), Durian is a name of a fruit. It’s knows from its thorny skin (thorn=duri in Indonesian, thus the name: Durian), and distinctive smell. To those who like it, it’s just a normal smell, but to those unfamiliar with the fruit, like my son for example, he said it’s one of funkiest stench he’s ever smelled (granted, he’s only been here 9 odd years or so, and there are other bad smells in the world). Some would say, toilet-like, but hey, it’s just an opinion, you get the idea.

One night, my friend and a couple of her friends took me and Hubby to this place in Singapore to enjoy some Durians. The place is located in Geylang. I don’t remember which alley (lor), so Google it if you want to go to this place. Beware, this area is also known as the red district area. I’m sure it’s unrelated. But in case you encounter some odd scenes, you’ve been pre-warned…

Anyhow, this is one of the best things of living in Asian cities, and Singapore is no different. The city just never sleeps, which reminds me of Jakarta as well. After our beautiful supper nearby, we headed to this place. The place was set up like a normal off-the street restaurants, with tables and chairs, the difference was, they only serve fruits. Mainly Durians. We got there close to midnight, and the place was so bright, and relatively busy. Next to where we sat, there was a group who looked like they were from the same workplace, having fun together while enjoying some Durians there, like it was their typical office lunch time. It’s just instead of day time, it’s midnight, and not lunch meal, just Durians. It’s a very interesting place.

The attendants were friendly. Well, at one point he was even a bit too friendly, but he was very helpful. With his large bare hands he picked up one Durian or two, and he led us to the arrays of Durians that looked exactly the same (to me), but apparently came in wide variety of prices. We picked four Durians (three for S$30 plus one of S$70) for the five of us that night. Once we made our decision, another attendant came to help us open the fruits, then left us to enjoy them on our table. Disposable gloves were available for patrons who didn’t want to use their bare hands when consuming the fruit. I did not even notice there were gloves around until we finished. That’s how durian-excited I was…

Not long after, everything was finished. My belly felt as if it was almost bursting from being too full. It’s been awhile since the last time I ate Durian, my body went into a bit of shock the morning after. Even without consuming any alcohol the night before I had such a big hangover the following morning, a durian hangover you could say. I could only drink a cup of mint tea for breakfast. And that is so NOT me. I don’t even drink tea. It’s crazy.

I love the experience, though. Thank you Rini, for bringing me there.

ps: they sell other fruits too, btw