Durian lovers worldwide – don’t miss this durian shabang! This promises to be the biggest durian event in Penang history! For the first time, Penang Times Square Mall is hosting a durian festival. It started today, so I moseyed over to check it out. Earlier in the week Rob and I walked by Penang Times […]
Nonthaburi Durian Quest
Who would pay $300 USD for a durian? Rob and I wondered out loud as we rode the water-taxi to Nonthaburi. Located an easy 45 minutes hop up the Chao Phraya River from Bangkok, it’s hard to believe that Thailand’s most renown, and most expensive, durians are grown only 20 kilometers north of its […]
Miss Durian World Beauty Pageant
In most countries, the durian fruit is thought to be ugly, misshapen, and stinky. If you remember the story about the Petruk durian from our travels in Indonesia, a durian beauty pageant might seem like a bit of an oxymoron. Rob and I were joking that maybe the winner of the Miss Durian pageant is […]
Durian Speed Eating
Probably the most exciting part of the World Durian Festival is the speed eating contests. Held twice a day and featuring a few different fruits, they attract crowds of Thais and a surprising number of foreigners. The premier event is of course the durian race, but the rambutan and mangosteen contests add another fun element, […]
Chanthaburi World Durian Festival Overview
Chanthaburi’s World Durian Festival is fairly new. In fact, when it was first held in 2004, it didn’t focus on durian. It’s original title can be roughly translated as “Good Things of Chanthaburi,” and included, in addition to fruit, wicker furniture, jewelry, seafood, and woven mats. As the festival matured, the spotlight rested on fruit, […]
New Year’s Water Celebration
Sawadee Pee Mai! Happy New Year! Yesterday was the New Year’s celebration of the year 2555 here in Thailand. This is our third New Year’s Day in 2012, and definitely the most fun! Unlike our New Year’s back home in Oregon, which is celebrated in the depths of miserably cold and dark winter, the Thai […]
Durian Tasting Competition, Day 2
Papaya fish with longans for eyeballs! We had an exciting day at the Soropadan Horticultural festival. It was even more crowded today than yesterday. The parking lot was jam-packed with cars parked every which away. I think almost everyone was parked in! There were a surprising number of large black SUVs and other expensive looking […]
Durian Fair Day 1 | Central Java, Indonesia
We just got back to our hotel from Day 1 of the horticultural fair in Soropadan, Central Java. It’s a celebration of Indonesia’s first export of vegetables to Singapore, as well as a 4-H style competition with prizes for best duku, mangosteen, avocado, salak, and of course, durian. Why else would we be here? For […]
