A Fruit-FULL Search for Mau San Wong

What a fruit-FULL trip to Raub attracted by the immense chi force of Mau San Wong (or Musang King) durian! Thanks to Benz laoshi's (Zhineng Qigong) connection that made the durian gastronomic delights trip possible on Sunday, 2 Dec 2012. Together with the help of Benz's uncle from Raub, I am sure that would be the beginning of many years of great durian trips that follow.

Along the journey via Bentong en route to Raub, we were thrilled to see the bountiful harvest of durians displayed at the many roadside stalls. Almost all stalls displayed sales of Mau San Wong durian to lure prospects to their produces. Looks like D24 has lost its limelight. And those RM 1 each kampung durians were cheaply priced when competing with the king of the King of Fruits.

Do CLICK HERE to view photos courtesy of yours truly (KC Leong). 

 Durians, durians everywhere! … your truly (KC Leong)

 (left): Tan CH, Grace Lim, Annie, Cindy Lim, Lim BB, Benz Ng, Ching, Brenda Lee

 The legendary Mau San Wong durian (or Musang King) with the smooth and deep yellow texture

Arriving at the durian orchard, we were really excited to see those big, healthy and low-lying durians hanging from the branches lower than our height. As Cindy quipped, she wanted to plug the durian. I was thrilled to be greeted by so many genuine Mau San Wong durians that were harvested and placed on the floor of a dilapidated workers' shelter. When the fruits were opened, from the deep yellow texture of the flesh, we know this is heavy-duty stuff. And when the flesh melted in our mouth, Hmmm, Ahhhh ... superb! ... :-) 

 At the durian orchard … (left): Brenda Lee, Ching, Soo laoshi, Yong, Cindy, Lim BB, Grace. Next to them on the floor are the Mau San Wong durians; in the wheelbarrow are D24 and Tikar durians.

  The low-lying durian … Brenda, Lim BB, Cindy, Benz, Ching

 Benz's pick-up truck for transporting the durians back to Subang Jaya … Annie rearranging the durians to create more space

Extended Eating – After eating the Mau San Wong durian, mangosteens and rambutans, the group went to Raub town to savour the famous roti bakar, coffee and 3-colour ice tea. The group sure came with big appetite. Later, the group went to Ratha Restaurant, a famous fish-head curry house to ta-pau (pack) fish-head curry. We were told that the Sultan of Pahang patronized this restaurant before.

 At the famous Ratha's fish-head curry house

 At the 3-White-Tent Durian Area ... lunch is free of charge

I particularly like the clean and spacious 3-White-Tent durian outlet besides the main road located between Raub and Bentong towns. They served lunch – yes, free of charge! The atmosphere under the oil palm trees was so pleasant, cordial and peaceful that we could sit there and chatted for hours while eating durian, rambutan, dukong and drinking fragrance coconut juice. Complete with sound amplifying systems and neon lights, we could even have durian party there dancing away with the Gangnam Style music into the evening with the carnival mood. Food is what brings us together: in this case, the durians bind us together. We saw all races eat together in this area under the oil palm trees.

Clean environment – the atmosphere under the oil palm trees is so pleasant, cordial and peaceful

Missing in the itinerary was a visit to the spectacular Chamang Waterfall which was not possible due to a massive traffic jam that blocked our way home; we then decided to take a different route to return to Kuala Lumpur.

Special thanks again to Benz who was so thoughtful that he drove a pick-up truck to help us in transporting the prized fruits back to Subang Jaya. For without the pick-up truck, our cars would be smelled for weeks after the fabric was completely infused with the goodness of the durian.

Well, with a turn of the event, my durian status has been upgraded from "I have not eaten Mau San Wong durian before" to "I am eating ONLY Mau San Wong durian" on that auspicious and memorable outing. 

 Free lunch, durian, drinking fragrance coconut juice … Brenda, Benz, Ching, Soo laoshi, Yong

Interesting Observation:

Mau Wong – At the orchard, instead of saying Mau San Wong durian, the name was cut short to become Mau Wong. In Cantonese, Mau Wong is the name for late Elvis Presley.

Durian Chi – Tan CH did not drive his MPV to Raub; instead, he was carpooling with Benz. According to Tan, he has muscle sprain in his neck which rendered him not able to perform all the necessary surveillance tasks for a safe driving when behind the wheel. However, after eating the Mau San Wong durians at the orchard, he felt the pain in his neck has disappeared. That must be the potent durian chi in action.

Old versus New – We adjourned to a famous but age-old pastry shop to buy curry and kaya puff. I was taking photos of the group members when buying the hot pastry. The young shop owner, however, was not too pleased with me taking of photos. Then with a quick thinking, Soo laoshi joked that I just returned from USA and found everything is something new to me. The explanation seemed to work well.
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Durian Feast – As to the amount of durian that I eat, well, I have Mau San Wong durians plus mangosteens and rambutans for lunch at the durian orchard; I ate them for dinner plus dukong langsat after arriving home at about 8:30 p.m.; next day (3 Dec 2012, Monday), I also ate them for dinner just before the chi gong practice session – what a fruitful outing and a fruity treat!

After Effect – As to the effect of consuming too much potent durian, one member in the chi gong class was wondering why the whole practice area smelled durian. I guess the one person that get the maximum impact must be a lady chi gong member standing in-line about five feet in front of me when I burped a few times… :-)

Mangosteen of Japanese species - Another new discovery at the orchard; easily open, it contains 7 segments of wedge-shaped, pure white flesh minus the big seeds.

Do click here to read postings on durians written by yours truly (KC). Scroll down the pages.

Posted by KC Leong
 

The Legendary Mau San Wong

Let me share with you a few funny incidents on the recent Qigong Retreat at Pine Resorts of Fraser's Hill (23-25 Nov 2012):

 

One member commented that she is impressed with the relentless effort of me in taking photos for the Qigong Association – from start until end. Glad to hear some kind words and positive response. I have changed some camera settings this time. When using flash, I changed the Colour Control setting, White Balance shoot in absolute Kelvin, Exposure Compensation, ISO, Shooting Mode, Metering Mode, etc. The results: much better looking pictures. But when come to changing environments, there are many settings need to revert; and at times, I forgot one or two.

 

While travelling up to Fraser's Hill on last Thursday, 22 Nov (a day preceding the event), the organizing committees have lunch at Bukit Beruntung town. Then they bought Mau San Wong (Musang King) durian from an old man and his wife. I have not seen Musang King durian before; they are big fruits and very difficult to open. Seeing the elderly couple, so I helped the seller to ply open the Musang King durian by using my two hands. The durian slipped and fell from table top, nearly hitting my legs. The old man was squatting next to me opening another durian. Luckily, the Musang King did not hit his almost bald head. But the thorns injured my finger and my wrist on my right hand.

 

Looking at the deep yellow texture of the flesh, judging from the number of hands wanting to have a share of it, and the facial expression beaming with excitement, we know this must be a prized discovery – the Mau San Wong!

 

While the chi gong members were eating durians at Pines Resort, I was busy taking photos. The moment that Mau San Wong is mentioned, I could see members’ eyes were wide opened in excitement with increased in movement looking for the fruit. Such is the severe attraction of this prized fruit. Then one chi gong member passed me one seed of flesh; looking at the deep yellow texture, I was delighted and I thought it was Musang King. Frankly, I have not eaten Musang King durian before. But it turned out to be a D24 durian!

 

During the Opening Address by Mr Liow KH laoshi, The President of the Association of Zhineng Qigong (M'sia), he even included a little airtime in his speech of his concern of eating too much durian during the qigong retreat. For the mixture of chi and gas in the process of chemical reaction in the stomach, it would be potent when the gas was leaked out from the bodies into the enclosed Lectures Hall.
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When I returned home (on Sunday, 25 Nov), I started putting medical plasters on the injured areas. When taking bath, not wanting to wet them, so I raised my right hand while taking shower. Then I realised that it was similar to John Travolta's famous Saturday Night Fever dance act. Later, when I informed the organizing committee (via email), one of them quipped: this is how John Travolta got the idea of the dance act when he opened durian and injured his index finger.

 

Do click here to read a posting "Powered by the King of Fruits" to enhance stamina in running.

 

Do click here to read all postings on durians.

 

Do click here to read all postings on chi gong retreat at Fraser's Hill.

 

 

Posted by KC Leong

San Durian

Want to enhance your performance (I mean in running)? Here is the trade secret discovered by yours truly. Click here for the discovery.

“Tiga biji untuk RM 10 (three for RM 10),” the thin Malay seller pointed to the three big durians that he was selling. I was delighted. It was really cheap there in Ulu Langat, at the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur.

I inspected the freshly harvested green durians for a while with strong and long spikes. He said these are “san” (wild) durians. He showed me another one which was partially opened and the flesh looks yellow and the aroma was just like the “kampung” durians.

While traveling back around the Ulu Langat area I stopped by my car to buy durians. The initial plan of going to eat durian with other trekkers together was spoilt as the sky started to rain at 2:00 p.m. It took me a lot of determination to stop my car in the midst of heavy rain to buy durians..

Looking at the other five durians, I asked how much it cost for all. He looked at them for a while and said RM 25. Without hesitation, I offered RM 20 for all – eight big durians. He pondered for a while, presumably, doing his own internal complex calculation. At first, he declined but I pressed on. Eventually he agreed and said, “Boleh lah” (okay).

Ulu Langat is famous for its good quality durian. I know that the durians are cheap there. But I never know that it is that cheap.

While I was running to and fro across the road in heavy rain from the stall to my car to get my wallet, I began to notice that his wife and his daughter (about seven years old) were helping him to put the durians in two big red plastic bags. While waiting under the temporary shack with water leaking from top, I began to feel regret that I should not have reduced the price. They need the RM 25 more than I do.

I checked my wallet but other than the two RM 10 notes, the rest are RM 50 notes. If I have a few loose notes, I would top it near to RM 25. After making payment, I thanked them and left. Out of the eight big durians, I shared half with other trekker.
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That evening, I have durian only for dinner, a concept similar to eating fruits or salad for a meal. When I opened the durians, the thorns were exceptionally firm and sharp. The aroma was quite similar to kampong durian but with extras – a little alcohol smell. Wild stuff is more potent than domestic, I thought. The taste is a little plain and not that sweet. I suppose it is good for those who suffer from medical condition such as diabetes who like durian but cannot stand the sweetness level.

One awful and eerie sight was the presence of fairly big worms in the segment of durians. Though the shell of the durian is thick, the worms have their means to penetrate and made comfortable nest inside with potent supply of food.

Overall, one third of the durian is spoilt. Imagine those branded durians (eg. D24, D22, D101, Red Prawn, King of Cat Hill, etc… Yes, our durians are having all sort of designer names) that is virtually devoid of worms. The worm is like a gauge to determine the amount of chemical or pesticide used to cultivate the durian.

I ate three durians for dinner. Seeing that the durians were not that good compared to the kampung or branded durians, I felt better for the bargain.
Written by KC

Powered by the King of Fruit

Some runners are powered by PowerGel during runs; some by PowerBar. For Penguin-2 and -3, they are powered by both PowerGel and PowerBar. But for me, I am definitely powered by the King of Fruit -- the Durian.

I had durian for lunch and dinner for the

past few days. Instead of eating the normal fried noodles or rice, I think it is an excellent idea to have durian instead. After all, this is the durian season, and the best thing is that the price of durian is very cheap. For RM10, I can get six fairly large durians.

I went for a run this evening after work. After running for 5km, my energy level was as high as when I started the run -- full throttle ahead. This is the second time that I experiment with durian as fuel. Last November, during the durian season, I tried the same method -- I had durian for four consecutive dinners. And I could feel the power during running. I could run blissfully on and on without feeling tired.

One area that needs special management is that after taking too much durian, not only the fart sounds like thunder; it smells like rotten eggs too. So, avoid letting the gas out especially when you are surrounded by other runners. Otherwise, you could scare the hell out of them due to the thunderous sound or intoxicate them due to the smell.

Why is durian so cheap? According to a colleague, it was published in a Chinese newspaper that other than potent mix of nutrients from the durian, it is also high in cholesterol. I think the cholesterol must have scared many folks avoiding this fruit.

To show how potent this fruit is, it was reported in the Star newspaper that in the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai, a 68-year-old Thai had died after over-indulging in durian. As in the case of diabetics, eating two to three seeds means having to adjust their medication such as increasing their insulin intake.

But for runners like you and me, I think it is very safe that the cholesterol from durian -- whether good or bad ones -- helps to power us during runs. With the extra power, much like after taking steroid, a runner’s performance would definitely improve. But the best thing is that you would definitely pass the dope test because (a) this is a very unusual performance enhancing method; (b) durian is not popular with the Westerners and as such, they would not have developed any benchmarking yet against durian power.

Keep eating and enjoying the fruit. After all, they say eating fruit is good for us.

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