Seems a bit harsh on Durians, not being allowed in shops (and, it turns out, public transport). Why, you may ask, is there such hatred against Durians? Here we are in Singapore to find out:

Singapore is a city state with a population of just over 5.6 million, so 1 million more than Harris County, Texas. It was colonised by the British in 1819. The first Governor was Stamford Raffles. Raffles is remembered by many place names in Singapore, the most famous of which is probably the Raffles Hotel, which has been around since 1887. Although closed for renovations during this visit (due to reopen August 2019), the Long Bar, home of the Singapore Sling, was open (although this was relocated from its original place in the hotel to the top floor of a shop building). If you've never had a Singapore Sling, bring plenty of money - it costs $28, but at least the nuts are free:

People say things are expensive in Singapore, and some things (cars, houses) are. However you can get decent food at reasonable prices. In fact the best place to go are the food courts, although choose carefully as there are some interesting options:

For dessert, how about an ice-cream sandwich? In North East England, an ice-cream sandwich is ice-cream between two wafers. In Singapore, they take the sandwich bit literally, and put a slab of ice-cream between bread:

Anyway, what about Durian? Well at one of the food courts I finally bought some. Durian is a fruit, which is popular throughout Asia (it is often called the "King of Fruits"). Inside a spiky outer shell you find these weird-looking things:

According to Wikipedia, "The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust, and has been described variously as rotten onions, turpentine, and raw sewage". In my case, there was very little initial aroma, and the initial taste was quite sweet. However the aftertaste was definitely of the raw sewage variety and lasted a very long time.

I think it's only fair to ban them!