GameSpy took a trip down to Doheny State Beach for an office outing at the end of July. What better to do on a Thursday afternoon than grill burgers and dogs, drink beer and play in the sand?

In addition to a cookout and some play at the beach there was a “Fear Factor” style eating contest. The delicious entrees: dried sardines, barbeque-flavored crickets, durian and balut. The prize for the person to finish all three courses was a hard-to-find Wii Fit.

I’m always one to try cuisines from other parts of the world, including things that might be considered disgusting by Western standards. Witness my delight at eating shrimp heads, sparrow, chicken ovaries and lutefisk.

The sardines and crickets were no problem. Crunchy a but still with some flavor.

The durian I was excited about. A few folks in the office have brought some in on occasion but I’ve always missed out. Flavor-wise, the durian wasn’t bad! The texture was nice and it was a little sweet. The sulfurous stink, described as “pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock” by some, on the other hand, reminded me of chemicals I used to work with in the lab. Not exactly what I was hoping for in terms of a food item.

The final course was the balut. I can’t say what I was expecting but, believe me, it wasn’t what I saw when I cracked the egg open. Once cracked, the liquid from the egg spilled on my hands. I got one whiff and it was over. No Wii Fit for me.

Only one brave soul finished the balut. After being awarded the Wii Fit this spouse-of-GameSpy said, “What’s a Wii Fit, anyway?”