Ubin

Durian season 2010
The durians in Ubin are dropping at its peak. It will be all over in a week or so. We camped overnight determined not to miss out. The durian trees nearby are known to have the best tasting durians.

Unlike commercially harvested durians, Ubin durians are harvested from the jungle floor as the ripe ones drop, sometimes from a great height, its spiky skin strong enough to absorb any hard landing.

We can only hear muffled thuds so its not easy to locate durians by sound. The first step is shine our flashlights at the tree to check where the durians are hanging in numbers, this will give us an idea where to look as they roll hidden in the bushes. Still, they are easy to miss, you need a keen nose to catch a slightest whiff, so we would not consume any durians until the hunt is over in order to preserve maximum sense of smell.

Durian night hunt

Picture of durian tree. Click to zoom in.

Suddenly a durian dove straight towards us. There is no time to react, it shatters right between us with a loud thump. The durian exploded inches from my feet, bounced and spikes into my friend’s calf, drawing blood. We have been lucky, it could have smash our faces as we looked up. The durian was already rotting. Durians get watery and some rot on the branches from too much rains.

The durian that nearly hit us.

The rains also brought in mosquitoes in huge numbers, we covered ourselves with expensive spray repellents and planted no less than 10 mosquito coils around our camp area, having run out of egg cartons to burn.

Although the harvest is plentiful, we were contented with 7 durians. Other diligent groups got more. There are small shelters built under the trees, keeping the occupants dry and safe from falling durians. Others use electric bikes, criss-crossing the island revisiting each durian grove.
Updated: 10 July 2010

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Took leave. Camped overnight for the past 2 weekends. We heard that Ubin durians are beginning to fall and were excited. Unfortunately we were too early. There were unriped durians on the grounds with teeth marks. Like us humans, monkeys are also excited and plucked the durians too early before they ripen. We sheepishly accepted durians from Mr. Lim, a Ubin villager staying at Marman “Orchid farm”.

We were again unsuccessful on the second week. There were durians pickers camped under the trees. One sat motionless for hours, coming into life on sounds of durians dropping. They would race towards the spot where they heard the durians drop. These people must have heard tales of thousands of dollars earned picking free durians. There is a family of 10 brothers earning $10,000 picking free durians or $1,000 for each brother. Small sums for many but there are lots of poor folks in Singapore.

We only managed to get one before they came running over. During to the rainy season and the cooler weather this year, the durians were watery and bland, quickly fermenting within space of several hours, unlike the previous seasons where they tasted a lot better.

It looks like we have to go to remote parts of Ubin for our durian hunt.
Updated: July 01, 2010.
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Durian seasons come to Ubin twice a year. The major one lasts a few weeks and no one knows the exact dates. The first sign is the abundance of durian flowers, indicating the season is about to due in a few months.
Some durians will fall earlier but these are usually premature durians. Fully ripened durians will fall a few weeks later and lasting for about 6 weeks. Other tropical fruits also ripen at the same time including rambutans, mangosteens, dukus and langsat.

Ubin durians are a treat. In the midst of the hot season, the durians are expected to be more fragrant too They are your organic varieties having been left abandoned by islanders who resettled a long time ago. Being older varieties without the benefits of modern cultivating techniques, Ubin durians are tough to open with flavors that vary from tree to tree. Use gloves and a “durian knife” to pry open.

During durian season, entire families would converge heedless of snakes that may hide in the bushes. Ubin villagers usually wear “phua chu kang” boots to protect themselves while gathering durians. Some even use umbrellas to protect themselves from falling durians.

Q. Why durians drop at night
Durians drop during the day too, although more at night. From the same tree, its durians will drop over several weeks, but sometimes they hang tantalizingly for weeks and are suddenly gone in a week or so. Once ripen, the frequency seems to in favor when temperatures dip or rise quickly when night come or when dawn breaks. Strong gusts of wind will also bring about unexpected bonus. Which is why picking durians is a waiting but rewarding game.

As durians usually drop at night, there are brave ones who stake out at cemeteries waiting for the loud thuds of durians falling. You need a trained eye plus a strong flashlight to find them as they roll into shrubs and bushes.

Update: 19 June 2010.
Durians are beginning to fall and we were excited for a night of adventure and durian hunting. Have bought a couple of new flashlights to try out including my favorite lights. They include:

Zebralights H60 Headlamp 18650 Flood.
HDS CR123a Ra Clicky ExecutiveTM Flashlight (General purpose)
Quark CR123x² Turbo (For throw)

I am bringing LED lights for its weight, excellent run-times, super brightness, and good color rendition. Qualities that are essential for durian searching.

If you intend to find some. Just follow your nose and look for them on the forest floor. Sometimes you hear a lucky thump of durians which has just fallen. Make sure you rent a bicycle with basket, like this lucky couple did. You also need repellents to deter mosquitoes from feasting on you.

Don’t congratulate yourselves too soon if you find durians on the floor. They are probably bad if they are discolored and smell a bit off, Those with bites marks are from frustrated monkeys who cannot get through the though shell.

Unseen, the wild boars are waiting too. During the night, they would push the durians against the forest floor with their tough snouts until the durians split open like flower petals. By morning only empty husks remained. Many ‘ghosts encounters’ were results of mistaking these pigs or islanders trying to scare people away from collecting durians.

Although durian gathering can be fun, there are ‘geylang types’ from mainland Singapore who act as if the trees are theirs. They would intimidate others including Ubin villagers who come near, loudly proclaiming their ‘ownership’. Its not true of course.
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