Late last spring I had a haunting experience at my host family’s house.
I came home late one night after dinner out with some of my friends. As soon as I opened the door to my host family’s apartment, I was hit with the overwhelming smell of rotten meat. The stench caught in the back of my throat and stuck, almost gagging me.
I wandered to the back of the apartment where my host mother was working on the most intimidating fruit I’ve ever seen.
The durian is native to South East Asia. It’s known there as “The King of Fruit,” but it’s actually banned in most public places, especially hotels.
Why, you ask?
Because of delicate tourists such as myself.
I cannot stress enough how much it stinks.
My kind host mother offered me a piece of her precious fruit, brought back to Japan by her daughter who had just returned from sunny Okinawa.
And what do you imagine that I did?
Well, I tasted it, of course. I’m no whimp. And it tasted just like I expected. Like rotten meat. Even thinking of that taste/smell now makes me gag a little.
I spit it out, I couldn’t stand it. But at least my host mother thought it was funny!
But, over the next few days, I realized why this fruit is banned in hotels in Thailand and other countries.
That smell lingers. It suck around for over a week. THAT is why it’s banned in public spances in Asia, hotels have to quarentine a room and air it out for several days using charcoal and air filters.
So, Hold the Durians, please.
