Durian flavoured condoms

Well this article was certainly enlightening. I had no idea there would be a market for a durian flavoured condom. 

Apparently a company in Bangkok is commencing production of these. Whether their market survey showed that it would be profitable as a promo gimmick or a staple product, would be interesting to know… 

And, they’re not the first to produce durian flavoured condoms

either, an Indonesian company was the pioneer in this area.. I wonder whether sales of this product has been good. You can see on their website (Sutra Fiesta) that they package the condom with other sex toys…
There is a prevailing idea that durian inspires kinkiness and perhaps sex.. But the point is that the fruit itself is a huge source of energy to power a night of passion… I’m just not sure the scent or flavour of it is enough to do the same. 

News Alert: Semarang Durian Fest, Jan 23-24th, Indonesia

This announcement was published in the Jakarta Post (local Indonesian newspaper). 

 Apparently a durian fest complete with durian and rambutan eating competitions will be held in Semarang, a city in Central Java. Semarang, famous for its Jamu and beautiful batik, has a sub district known as Mijen as a regional retail and distribution Center. This is really in the boonies by the way. I reckon it’ll take at least an hour from the city in good traffic conditions.

it sounds like a fixed price fruit buffet is on offer. No mention as to the type of durians but I’m sure it’ll be fun for the locals (riotous celebration as stated) nonetheless.

Stinky Spikes investigates Total Fruit Shop in Jalan Walter Monginsidi

One evening as we were planning on our usual Korean haunt for excellent barbeque cuisine, we got the taxi to drop us off at the fruit mart so that we could have a look around prior to dinner (may I say to everyone that this is not a good idea because if you’re hungry you’ll want to buy everything in sight).

CG had told us that this mart was a durian seller in the neighborhood, stocking durians usually of any varieties from all over so of course, Stinky Spikes had to go do some research on where this was a myth or truth. So we went.

First thing you see when you enter the store is the large poster hailing durian lovers to enter and expect.

Big Durian Poster upon entry

Of course, by looking at the poster the durians from Malaysia are indeed the best (or maybe anything that is imported is better?). And they are advertising the “Musang King” which is the mau sang wang…. wow.

So I wandered around the shop looking for it but all I found in the back cool section was this:

Not very many – only 4 left and all wrapped up in cling film

Hmm. Not a lot and quite disappointing. I looked to the left – Iranian dates in huge 5Kg boxes. To the right, cut fruit. Hmm. Ok fine, what type is it and how much does it cost?

XO clearly stated

Well, it’s definitely NOT a mau sang wang or a Musang King. But hey XO’s are sometimes pretty good too. A taste of slightly fermented fine wine with a bitter tinge. Ok fine, how much does it cost?

That’s a total of about USD 12 per durian (and they were kind of small)

So for these durians under a kilo in weight, you would expect to be setback by around USD 12+. Is it worth it? I guess if you have a craving XO’s are much cheaper in Malaysia and not forgetting that once you remove the husk and extract the fruit, there’s probably not much in there which can be seriously disappointing.

On my next slow and winding path around to explore the rest of the shop, I found this:

Durian Potong Sticks at the Jalan Walter Monginsidi shop

Halal durian potong sticks for Rs 6,000 (that’s less than USD 1). Of course they come in all sorts of flavors but how are the durian ones faring in sales?

Durian Potong Sticks are popular!

Looks like it’s doing well and I think this would be the cheaper alternative to buying the durian if you just need to get rid of the flavor craving.

When I asked the guys at the counter why there was no Musang King, the response was a big smile saying “but we have XO”. “Durian Musang arrives by flight shipment next week, you can come back then”.

So I guess similar to my arrangements in Malaysia, you just have to have contacts with the fruit men to tell you when those fruits will arrive.

The main question is, will they arrive ripened or unripened? And what would you pay for it?

End of primary investigation by Stinky Spikes