{"id":7355,"date":"2014-07-26T10:37:36","date_gmt":"2014-07-26T03:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/?p=7355"},"modified":"2014-07-27T07:05:49","modified_gmt":"2014-07-27T00:05:49","slug":"bao-sheng-ii-no-borders-no-fences-no-walls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/2014\/07\/26\/bao-sheng-ii-no-borders-no-fences-no-walls\/","title":{"rendered":"Bao Sheng II: No Borders, No Fences, No Walls"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt is no great accomplishment to hear a voice in the head. The accomplishment is to make sure it is telling the truth.\u201d\u00a0 — Terence McKenna<\/p>\n

I am whimsically intrigued by McKenna\u2019s notion<\/a> that Mushrooms may be interstellar beings who found it in their hearts \u2013 by way of having sent out billions of spores which were able to remain viable whilst gliding through outer space for hundreds of millions of years \u2013 to travel ‘cross the galaxy and establish themselves here on Earth. Mushrooms, he posited, may be the aliens among us. Are they the only ones?<\/p>\n

No, I\u2019ve not while under the Durian\u2019s hypnotic sway experienced hallucinogenic visions of little green Martian visitors. But for McKenna, that was kind of beside the point anyway. While of this Earth in ways the Mushroom might not be, the Durian is patently capable of revealing\u00a0 the very \u201cplant-induced ecstasies\u201d which, McKenna believed, could help us-here wayward human persons both to confront the alien within and to curb our societies\u2019 frighteningly destructive tendencies.<\/p>\n

I can attest that Durian messes with your mind, ruptures your soul, haunts your being, drives your dreaming\u2026and leaves you begging for more. Sure, all manner of natural and synthetic compounds are equally capable. But here\u2019s the kicker: Unlike a hunting-centred dietary which McKenna championed, fruit — that shit is as nutritious as all get-out. What\u2019s more, in Mr. Chang Teik Seng, AKA \u201cDurian Seng\u201d \u2013 whose acquaintance this blog previously made during<\/a> Miss Lindsay\u2019s twenty-fifth birthday bash — Durianism has even found its ultimate Shaman.<\/p>\n

For one reason or another, I\u2019d let slip past an entire month\u2019s time since that previous visit. But earlier this week, I finally made my way back to the Bao Sheng Durian Farm, by the same route as before: Grabbing the bus from George Town to Teluk Bahang, and then making the two-hour walk from there to the Farm, arriving at about 10:15 in the AM. This time, thankfully, there wasn\u2019t any kind of Motorcycle Armageddon to bring me down. Which is not however to say that the trip was not in any way fraught, as this fun-loving sign may perhaps serve to illustrate\u2026<\/p>\n

\"2014-07-21<\/a><\/p>\n

Sheesh \u2013 looks like somebody<\/em> needs to learn how to control their temper\u2026<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t sure, so late in the season, how much would still be going on farmside; and so upon arrival tentatively inquired whether the Durian Tastings were still being offered? \u201cOf course!\u201d blurted Mr. Chang\u2019s son (we\u2019ll call him \u201cDurian, Jr.\u201d), relating that his father would be arriving within the hour, the Morning Harvest in tow. He then back-tracked somewhat, allowing that at this time of year, it depends upon luck whether the Level 3 tasting would on any given day be available. The Levels, priced accordingly, work out as follows:<\/p>\n