Chiang Mai - Spicy Papaya Salad

When I had the first bite of the seafood papaya salad, I was thinking "this is not spicy at all!" I just had a chicken curry, it had red pepper in it. I accidentally ate one and was drinking my Thai ice tea to calm my tongue. Now with the papaya salad, since I ordered "mild" instead of "spicy", I thought they really took mercy on me. 10 bites down the road, the juice got soaked into the papaya, every bite became increasingly spicy. My mouth, tongue and even my gum became unbearably hot. I gulped down my ice tea and started drinking Mike's pineapple shake. Nothing helped. It was so bad I started tearing and my nose ran incessantly. The waitress, a girl no more than 17 started smiling at me when she passed by, probably amused by my misery. I couldn't describe this spice. It's not like the Chinese spice at all, which in general make your lips numb. What's even more interesting is you don't see one pepper in the dish. Mike said it was all in the dressing.What a shock!

Food was very good so far but not as good as Chinese food I had back home. It's different.

Here is my first taste of the local food. I had a bite into the red curry. I was happy with it when I realized there was no chicken in it and I ordered chicken curry. The waitress gave me someone else's order. I informed her and she brought me the second dish. For a carnivore, it was so much better with meat in it.