Update 23 October 2011
According to Ubin villagers. A mini durian season is expected in November 2011. Harvest quality is not expected due to constant rains. For die-hard pickers.
Update 10 July 2011
Its the height of the durian season in Ubin with most of the durians already dropped. Still there are some late bloomers trees which should start dropping in the coming week before the season ends. This year’s harvests has been lower than previous year.
We got about seven durians last night. 2 of them are very good. One was dry with slight bitterness. Another was sweet. Rest have rotted or worms infested.
My friend KP Tan who helped out on the island saw massive crowds who heard of free durians, some carrying scraps of newspapers cutting with maps purportedly showing locations of durians. I haven’t seen the cuttings but if true, such tabloid journalism can put people into danger. The jungle floor near demolished houses contains rusty spikes and broken glasses. There are more than 10 deep boar pits dotted about which have been neglected. The villagers have reported their pets missing so we do not know if they are victims of predators or if they have fallen into the pits. One can easily fall into them and break a leg.
As durian gathering is added fun for a night camping, I am also looking for ways to enhance my enjoyment.
Getting enough sleep outdoors is a challenge. Hard sleeping surface makes one turn about to ease pressure build-up and resulting discomfort. For this I bought a Therm-a-Rest air mattress to improve sleeping comfort. This air mattress is too expensive, bulky and takes too long to deflate so hammocks might be better solution.
As most local ones are cheaply made, its another Amazon shopping spree to get one that works for heavy folks. Shopping with Amazon is excellent with timely shipping and immediate refunds for loss. They are shipped using Vpost to save on shipping (Customer service is poorer with Vpost, but it the only option for retailers who does not ship internationally). Fortunately, they arrived in time for this camping trip and the whole idea worked (although time will tell) and I slept well without backaches.
Here are the details for those interested. I got the Eagles Nest SingleNest Hammock which is able to bear loads up to 180 kilos. A generous safety margin is needed as the whole system is subjected to uneven weight stress. The hammock does not come with suspension ropes to allow for customization. For this I bought military grade 1″ tubular webbings from Sheares Marketing to wrap around trees without strangling or damaging them. 4 meters lengths at each ends should be slip proof and sufficient to wound the trunk a few times. In addition I bought 2 pairs suspension rings from a ship hardware shop in Sungei rd for each end to form a quick release system and to prevent dead knots. As usual, watch youtube videos and read camping forums on how to set hammocks correctly and safely.
Update 2 July 2011
Our friends at Naked Hermit Crabs are planning a Chek Jawa boardwalk nature trip cum durian gathering on Saturday 9 July at 9.30am. Highly recommended. You’ll need to be at Changi Jetty by 8.00am to reach there on time.
Update 26 June 2011.
Durian season has just started in Pulau Ubin. The early fruits are usually premature or rotten ones. We camped overnight as it is fun as always. We brought our newly purchased flashlights to see how they performed in durian seeking department. The latest Surefire 3 cell ‘Invictus UB3T’ did not disappoint, the most powerful yet. It was able to light up durians from the topmost tree for a ‘census count’. The rate the durians fall over the next month will help us determine when it peaks to plan our next overnight camping trip.
We also brought Malkoff high-cri drop-ins. I am impressed by its excellent color rendition, good-runtime and excellent flood. Zebralight headlamps are a class of their own also. More pictures will be posted.
Line-up of flashlights we brought.
For boys and girls, your requests are being heard. Since there are so many search requests for “Ubin ghost”, this is probably how she looks like when we found her. Full details embargoed for now.
Update 12 Jun 2011. Durian season must be in the air. This site got so many hits for latest durian season updates. Went to the trees where I took pictures of its blossoms. It a total fail for one tree as none of its flowers got pollinated with no fruit. The other was a lot more promising with clusters of growing durian fruits. That was two weeks ago and a number of nonviable small ones have already dropped prematurely. Ubin’s durian season 2011 should start end June but no bumper harvest is expected. Meanwhile I went to Giant Hypermart just before closing and bought the “cat mountain king (猫山王)”, custard like and slightly bitter with ample flesh with its small seeds, at half price.
Update 2 April 2011: The full season should start at around July. Durian buds are now appearing. This is the actual photo taken. I will be tracking its growth stages for the next few months.
Update 18 April 2011
Durian flowers blossom at night and by midday they would fall and the grounds will be covered with them. Luckily I managed to catch them at mid-bloom. The air is sweet with their fragrance. And some say they taste great when cooked with curry!
