Good questions.  Lindsay taught us how to recognize the top durian varieties, to avoid the possibility of being ripped off by unscrupulous merchants misrepresenting fruit, shared the best durian fruits and farms of Malaysia with us and also provided transportation, lodging and other adventures for a week.  So, yes I feel it was worth it.  It was a risky adventure for Lindsay to undertake, really. Many things could have gone wrong, ( a couple things did), so I am very pleased it worked out financially for her.
I don't foresee myself doing the tour again for a couple reasons.  First, following a set schedule for a week isn't ideal for me.  And, now that I know where to go in Malaysia it wouldn't be necessary, unless I was looking for companionship. The group was good fun, for sure. The long haul travel is certainly a negative.  I felt good in Malaysia despite the heat (Hilo's daily high temp is about their average daily temp), but it has taken me awhile to re adjust back home.  There's just no way to make the trip an easy one.  I would probably fly to Singapore next time and stay at the airport hotel there, then fly Air Asia to Georgetown or KL the next day.  A friend really wanted to go, but for health reasons could not.  I may return to some of the farms with his family at some point, but otherwise don't currently have a desire to return.  Our durians in Hawaii are almost as good.    When I sampled the fruit known as Jackie Chan's Wife at Bao Sheng, I thought it tasted just like the D-123 we grow in East Hawaii.

Glad to hear you made the trip successfully. Totally jealous, needless to say.
Hope to read all about it on Lindsay's website....

Thanks.  However, I'm still within the window of incubation for dengue fever and malaria, so we'll see.     Actually, I was surprised that the mosquitoes weren't very bad there, compared to how they would be in Hawaii with similar conditions. .  Lindsay does have a write up on her website, but it's a general over view rather than a description of any specifics.  Believe it does give thanks to the farms we visited though. Must admit my durian eating was surpassed by at least one other tour member.  Probably just him. Young  Carlos from Ecuador was the King of consumption.

...Trying currently to convince my fiancee that a durian tour like this will be an awesome honeymoon next year but imagine she ends up hating durian!...

Find some frozen durian to try out on her!

Marang is delicious.  Just had some myself while in Malaysia for Lindsay Gasik's durian tour. Fantastic Chempadeks too.    Regarding durian in Vietnam, it is certainly grown there.  Whether or not it's peak season or not now, well....maybe take a look at Year of The Durian website for info on that.

Nice.  I love this fruit, best when creamy.

Looking good. Shoot, I missed these. Just returned from Malaysia without finding much in the way of pulasan.  Bought some in KL Chinatown, but they weren't very tasty compared to the Sibabat I've grown in Hawaii.

.. I've heard that UV-A or UV-B is required for essential oil production and leaf pigmentation, but what about fruit ripening? ..

I doubt it.  Many fruits have been grown indoors under that kind of grow light.  Not sure it would be worth the price of electricity, but it would be fun to do.

How did you get rid of the albizzia?  Good move eliminating that scourge.  Abiu is another fruit that should do OK from seed.  They take some work to maintain at a good height though, even grafted trees.   I wouldn't think Koa would grow at your elevation, but don't know for sure.  Clumping bamboos are beautiful windbreaks too.

Hi all, I'm Caesar from Puerto Rico, and I'm a Bio student on my way to becoming a farmer. I've been an armchair biologist all my life, got started on tropical fruits (and other edibles) about four years ago, and it's been downhill ever since. I'm a complete newb with precious little practical experience on hand, but I hope to change that over the coming years. I hope to be able to work with rare species to bring them out of obscurity and into the commercial sector (at least in the States and PR, as I'm sure many "rare" species are well commercialized in their homelands).

My backyard is very small, but that hasn't stopped me from amassing an ever-increasing collection of exotic edibles (which will surely be cramped for space when they reach maturity). Apart from the locally common stuff, I've tasted very few exotics, but I'm eager to taste more, and it seems the only way to do that is to grow 'em myself. My collection currently consists of Durian, Achachairu, Sweet Madroño, Luc's Garcinia, Garcinia intermedia, Abiu, Rambutan, Cashew, Anonna reticulata, Açaí Berry, several Eugenias (uniflora, involucrata, brasiliensis, selloi, candolleana), several Myrciarias (vexator, glazioviana, coronata, aureana, Red Hybrid), Kwai Muk, Marang, Pedalai, Mocambo, Cupuaçú, Langsat, Bunya Nuts, and a few other species. Most are seedlings, and the bigger ones still aren't of bearing age.

I'm also interested in experimenting with exotics, especially breeding and grafting, and I've already got a few projects in mind. So... that's pretty much it. Long time lurker, first time poster. Not sure how often you guys will see me around here, but I'm looking forward to being a part of the community. Cheers!

Welcome.  How about some photos of your place?

NO question about my most stupid horticultural event/act.  In about 1995, I was fortunate enough to get some viable mangosteen seeds.  I planted them out and eventually, after about 10 years. Had one seedling that had grown to about 8 feet in height.  It was somewhat spindly, but it had blooming potential. It was growing in a shade house I had built for my orchid collection. Hurricane Wilma came and I left the potted 8 foot mangosteen in the shade house during the storm.  Wilma lifted two sections of portable aluminum bleecher sections from the adjacent high school property, over the power lines and on top of my shade house, causing the entire shade house to collapse.  This knocked over my mangosteen and pinned it to the ground where it sat in a foot of standing water for a couple of days until I could dig it out from the mangled shade house structure and support beams.  It lived for a short time thereafter, but was never the same and after struggling to re-gain strength, gave in to the forces of nature and my unending stupidity, it eventually ended up with an express pass to mangosteen heaven.

That is quite a story.
 My biggest mistakes so far have been:  1.  Planting mangoes in Puna (too wet)  2.  Planting a passion fruit vine, leaving for six months and returning to find it invading the ohia forest on my lot.  It's since been removed, with no plans for a repeat trial. 

Thought all the jaboticabaholics out there would like this photo:

I thought all jaboticabas were overbearing, but that's taking it a step further. 

..
the person who finally does fruit one in the USA will be a celebrity!

Lots of us celebrities in Hawaii!