Orchids and Durians!

You don't get these in pots!

The weather in Singapore seems to suit some species very well. The national flower of Singapore is the orchid and we spent a couple of sweaty hours at the National Orchid Gardens which are full of hundreds of different varieties of orchids - most of them seemed to be in full bloom and I took plenty of colourful photos.
'Have you got Durians?' We'd just stepped into a hotel lift with a porter and another couple got in with a suitcase, the stern question about durians was addressed to them. They declared that they had just eaten durian but they weren't carrying any - they still looked worried though!

An explosive mixture!

At R5 to the pound - a bargain!

In Malaysia and Singapore durians
are forbidden in hotels, airports, trains (see the above sign) and various other places. But not in McDonalds it seems - here's the ad for a Durian Crunch McFlurry.  Durians are a spiky looking fruit which grow on some South East Asian trees - many people find them unusual but pleasantly tasty but others describe the flavour as overwhelmingly disgusting. The smell? Well it can be detected from miles and lingers for days - hence the ban in hotels, etc. and that pink thing? It's not a McDonald Apple Pie made with pink apples, it's a Taro Pie, Taro being a favourite root/fruit in Malaysia - you can't say that McDonalds aren't catering to local tastes!