Sugar and Spikes

Technically it was not my first encounter with this Queen Fruit of the South. Whenever my father would come home from a business trip to Davao and its environs, he would bring home packs of durian candy. Being the incurable sweet tooth, that pack would be a goner before you can say, Honey I'm home. Then when I myself was able to visit Davao a decade ago, I got the chance to eat durian ice cream and all the candy I can get my hands on. But still, the fruit eluded me.

Yet the durian and I were destined to meet. In Cagayan De Oro last month, I finally caught a major whiff of and a spoonful of this delectable fruit. It isn't really malodorous; rather, it's sweet scent is so strong that it wallops one's sense of smell. And, at least that particular spoonful I tasted, was Pure Condensed Milk Pretending To Be A Fruit. IT WAS SOOOOO DELIRIOUSLY SWEET. Too sweet and too creamy, even for my own taste buds. I'm sure it's a great fruit, and other varieties are far tastier than what I sampled- but I don't believe I will be rushing to my suking prutasan to devour another durian.

If it is in ice cream form... That's another story.

As my bosses attack a couple of durians at a roadside durian stall, Iligan City, April 2007, using my Canon A430 digicam.