On Sunday we ventured to the Chatuchak Weekend Market, which is one of the biggest open markets in the world, with thousands of stalls covering over 35 acres. You can find anything your imagination dares to dream from yards of silk, to antiques, shoes, clothing, Pomeranians, flowers, snakes and chickens! We were warned about the crowds and soaring heat, and told to bring wet towels, plenty of water and even more energy. But seriously, even I had no idea it was this hot. After just half an hour of wandering around my energy died out, and I was pretty sure I�d just topple over and die if I didn�t find a cool place to sit and a bottle of frozen water.


The rest of the family, on the other hand, were dripping even more sweat than I, yet their desire to shop clearly outweighed anything else at the moment. So I told them I would find a place to rest and we could meet back in a few hours. �Okeydoke!� they said, and left me in the sweltering heat. I retreated to the nearest restaurant, nothing like water, a bench, a fan, and some food to revive oneself!

I started with a spicy green mango salad, which turned out to be more efficient in cooling me down than the bottle of frozen water, believe it or not. Pepper and spicy foods have this way of burning my mouth, but then cooling down my body temperature. Not sure if this happens to everyone, maybe I'm just strange in that way! It was a fairy simple salad composed of grated green mangos, peanuts, onions, basil and plenty of chopped chilies in a tango dressing similar to nuoc nam, only much sweeter.

This fried sausage reminded me if the Vietnamese cha, only this was deep fried till the skin was near blistering crisp and the innards rendered all hot and juicy. The spicy peanut based sauce was unnecessary for the sausage, as the meat itself was already so flavorful and fatty in the most wonderful way possible, but it proved to be very compatible poured over the rice below.

A bowl of sticky rice to bring it all together. Ahhhhhhh, I felt completely revived after this meal! My parents and sister were hungry when I met up with them a bit later...so we had to have lunch again! But we'll save that for a future post, okay? ;)