Well, this is probably the closest thing I found to it.
Durian drink anyone?
On a refrigerated shelf opposite the payment counter.
Drinks to go
All of this at the 7-11 (Seven Eleven) in the open arrival hall when you exit customs. This 7-11 is perpetually crowded with queues snaking all the way round the back of the shop. But if you need a quick liquid durian fix….. pick up a bottle and get in line!
Seven Eleven at HK Airport
Liebster Award
Thank you DCEM for my Liebster Award 🙂 All the way from Mongolia!
It was a most unexpected blog hug and the first I’ve received since starting this blog in 2009.
My answers to your questions below.
What started this project?
My often excessive durian consumption and the thought that so many more people could come to appreciate this wonderful fruit… if only they knew more about it and where to buy it. There is no other fruit which can create such an emotional connection (addiction) to its consumer.
What’s your favorite part of blogging?
It takes me and my family on adventures that we might never otherwise embark on.
What have you learned along the way, and would you give this advice to others?
Use your blog to make friends. Both online and offline. People love to see themselves featured, so use this to extract the best from them. Yes.
Do you have a particular audience in mind?
Baby having a taste of durian
Durian fanatics, babies, those interested in this exotic fruit and people trying to find the elusive good stuff. All must have a good sense of humor.
How do you use structure in your blogging – a set of guidelines for posting, or as things arise?
No prescribed structure, free flow conversation and sometimes breaking wind oops, durian news.
What particular image or memory best captures the spirit of your blog?
The fragrant aroma of a ripe Malaysian Mao Shan Wang and the sensation of its silky, pliant and warm flesh on my fingers. Then licking them clean but never quite getting rid of the scent which is transferred in every fingerprint.
If you could go anywhere in the world and share the experience through the blog, where would it be?
Delicious Mau Shan Wang
Hmm. This is a tough one. Durian hunting around the world- Hawaii, Sri Lanka, All of South America. To see if any of these places have durian species which might usurp Malaysia’s mighty position (or require an introduction to this delicacy).
Whom from your past would you go back to and thank?
Past, present and future – Mum and Dad. They still buy durian and put it in the freezer for me now. Yuuummmmm…
What about you might we not know from reading your blog?
Envy apple
I eat other fruits too. My favorite apples are sold under the label envy and jazz. I don’t like grapes with seeds because I have to eat them without the skin, so this becomes a very involved and untidy process.
What makes you feel better after a hard day?
Hugs, smiles and hot double boiled soup with vegetables. If it happens to end with a cream bath, massage, and blow-dry; that will do too. (DCEM, you are invited to join me for the latter)
Do you have an end in mind for your blog?
I can’t fathom the day when there are no longer any durians in the world. Or if I develop some sort of unfortunate durian allergy. NOOooooooo……
My nominees for the Liebster award go to:
Pepper has lived in more places than me and her blog is a nice snapshot of cross-cultural east-west living. She is busy with a permanent new project but I hope she will find the time to continue blogging.
Culinary Adventures in Hong Kong
CAHK is an honest, fun blog about restaurants and general eating by a Malaysian living in HK and traveling to and fro. It also covers fairly exotic foods that CAHK dares to try which I find interesting. I can relate to both these aspects.
MTP is an Indonesian food blogger student who is enjoying life in several countries. She’s a food and agricultural food scientist and it’s interesting to follow her life experiences. Nice pictures and well presented.
If you ever wondered what Fruitarians do in their spare time, check out this blog. It’s hard to believe that there is a convention on the subject, but if you want to be in the know, that’s where you’ll have to go. I think tickets are still available, July 17th -20th if you happen to be in Scandinavia for the summer.
My 11 questions to them should they care to share are as follow:
What is your favorite fruit?
What is your favorite food?
What is your favorite drink?
What would you cook if a friend (eg. me ha ha!) was coming over for dinner?
What website(s) do you visit most often?
How did you choose the name for your blog?
What/Who inspired you to start and keep writing?
How many countries have you been to/ lived in in your lifetime?
How many more (which ones) do you intend to visit in the next 2 years and why?
What was the biggest life changing thing/event that happened to/ for you thus far?
What was the craziest thing you did with a friend/ family member recently?
🙂
I still had another hour before the flight. I had my toasted Starbucks cheese bagel (which was bad it was more like a spongy cheap bread with a dry crust) and an orange juice. I ate it because I was starving hungry, but my recommendation is to choose something else, maybe quiche.
Starbucks Cheese Bagel – Not recommended
Anyway, I left Starbucks via the shop next to it. It’s a bit awkward but essentially Starbucks got the premium space with the windows and the shop just gets the corridor facing bit. If you ever go to that airport (terminal 2), you will see what I mean.
So this was the first display I saw which I was curious to see. It looked like lego boxes piled up high.
Colorful boxes
I went in for a closer look.
Aha! Durian Crepe
And then one particular box caught my attention. Not just durian from anywhere mind you but Bali durian. I suppose the target market is Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Basically North Asia.
Price wise, it’s 9USD per box and if you buy 6, you get 1 free. That’s how they get you to buy it as a souvenir and distribute it to all your friends.
Competitor Durian Crepe
And then round the corner was a display of another box and brand of durian crepe. It specifically says “A gift from Indonesia” on the box. Well, now you know what its for.
I didn’t buy any but here’s something that’s not dol-dol from Indonesian durian.
On our most recent expedition to Jakarta to investigate and inspect AR’s new property, I looked all around the roads we travelled for fresh durian but didn’t see any.
It wasn’t until I got to the airport for my flight (which was severely delayed) that I perused the shops and found some durian related items. It does look like the Indonesians are finally catching the durian commercial bandwagon and starting to process them into something other than dol-dol or frying them in nasty looking orange oil.
After verifying that the plane would eventually leave from that gate, I wandered off to explore the various shops in the terminal. This shop was nearest my gate in the “D” section.
Looks like the usual spread of chocolates and packaged snacks.
Then I came across these. What were they? Chocolates, Dol-dol or something else entirely? It’s called Choco-Dol and comes with different fillings…. one of which is durian. Hmmm.
Here’s a close up.
I am not sure whether it is from the town of Garut in Java, near Bandung. Probably.
How much is it?
Rp 12,000. That’s about 1.50 USD. It’s about the same price as a Magnum ice cream stick. I haven’t tried this dol-derivative but think I would rather have a Magnum.
I happened to walk by my usual fruit shop along Wan Chai Road (next to Serge) and spied this…
Ooh don’t those lychees look good. But I tell you what, the durian is better!
I stopped and remarked “wow you’re pregnant and love eating durians?” (reminds me of someone I know)
She said ” I just ate one or two, its just freshly arrived”
So I said “is it good”
She said “you want some? here try one” and handed me the not-too-big husk.
“Sure, ok thank you I’ll try one.” I said.
It was DELICIOUS. pungent. yellow. not too moist. not too dry. fibers that just melt on your tongue.
I was so happy she let me try that one durian seed that I couldn’t tell her off for giving me lousy mangosteens last week. She also let me try a lychee (she’s not a fan of lychees) but after the durian, the lychee was bland in the way that a bad watermelon is bland.
July is almost here and I hope we will be inundated with Malaysian mao shan wangs in Hong Kong.
At the fruit stall just outside Wan Chai Market, next to Serge et le Phoque, a little fruit stall with a nice fruit seller and some decent fruit, stocks durian from Malaysia.
Musang Kings for sale
He told me that currently it costs HKD 300-400 per fruit or HKD180 per pound. I asked if it would be cheaper in July to which he replied resoundingly “yes”.
I told him it seemed expensive (of course way more than what I would pay in KL), and he told me to come back tomorrow. I suspect that the fruit is already very ripe and he will be re-packing them in individual trays for sale.
Fruit stall in Wan Chai
I’ve been buying some fruits from this stall and it’s been relatively good quality. I’ll let you know if I get the durians.
While in KL, we were craving for some durian. We were short on time and decided that Imbi was our best bet. It looked like durian uncle had renovated his booth again and this time there were nice bright yellow chairs and the concrete was better cast. Or it might have been the better lighting that made the floor look smoother.
We were very disappointed when we were informed that there were no MSW’s. What little they had were sold out. "Best to come next month or July" uncle said. The MSWs are going presently for an eye-popping RM50 per kilo
We settled for a 101 but it was nowhere near what we wanted. As I said, very disappointing.
Dedicated to Durians 