"Who" is Durian ?

On May 16th, I noticed a comment on my "My One Word" post. WOW - someone is reading my blog ! Anxiously, I checked to see which of my friends was sending encouragement in my direction. Imagine my surprise to see the comment was from "Durian Guy - Malaysia" He said his one word would be "faith" and he ended with "Good Luck" as it was only my second day of blogging.

Curiousity got the best of me, so I started poking around. Turns out this Durian Guy IS in Malaysia - and also a new-comer to blogging on his spot "Durian talk ... spikes, smell and richness"

A visit to Durian's blog reveals a lively character who displays an excellent command of the written English language. His stories are animated and engaging - very tactile in that his words activate my senses as if I too were with him experiencing life. Ummm ...like eating "curry fish head" (oh my ..); playing golf while the sun pierces thru the skin like a thousand stinging bees (Malaysia is a tropical country near the equator); and the noise of children playing after school, their antics vividly described.

A few days ago another comment - this time on my "What Is In An Email Address?" post. "Durians is the King of all fruits.... and I like them very much....that's where it inspired me to use durianguy@hotmail.com"

Oh my ! My fellow blogger, who I had known as Durian, was suddenly nameless .. and actually a "fruit?"

Google search. YAHOO search. Malaysia - a gorgeous and culturally rich country in Southeast Asia ... is also a native country to durian.

From Wikipedia:
"Widely known and revered in southeast Asia as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk."

I now understand the 'nameless' blogger's blog ... spikes, smells and richness. But it seems the "SMELL" is the foremost characteristic of the 'durian' fruit.

Excerpts from Wikipedia:
In regard to the 'odour' of durian - westerners are quite graphic.
British novelist Anthony Burgess writes that eating durian is "like eating sweet raspberry blancmange in the lavatory."

Anthony Bourdain, chef, while a lover of durian, relates his encounter with the fruit as thus: "Its taste can only be described as...indescribable, something you will either love or despise. ...Your breath will smell as if you'd been French-kissing your dead grandmother."

Travel and food writer Richard Sterling says:“ ... its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away.

So what have we learned today?
- Durian is a 'what', not a 'who'
- Durian is a fruit, not the name of my fellow blogger (who is now nameless)
- Durian is a fruit that elicits the use of many 'very descriptive' adjectives
- And, although I may never know the real name of Durian Guy - the nameless blogger, he has nonetheless enriched my life by expanding my world to the other side of the globe and "activated my senses."

....and I thank him