Sunday, January 30, 2011

Heart Broken in Chatuchak

Yes, there were squirrels.  BUT they were not nearly as cute as the sugar glider.  Even Nathan was smitten with these beautiful complicated marsupials.   I wanted one.  Bad.  But, I was informed of several facts which ultimately convinced me that I can live without a marsupial for the time being.
1. Sugar gliders are sold young so that they have time to bond with their owner, which requires bottle feeding every two hours (through the night)
2. They sleep all day, and scream all night
3. They mark you with their scent when you hold them, and its a terrible one

Just in case anyone wants to know, you can buy a two month old sugar glider for 50 dollars (subject to bargaining) at the Chatuchak market.  You can also buy almost anything else. 
After the market we walked through China town.  It was chaos.  About fifty percent of the items being sold were completely unrecognizable to us.  I think I saw some intestines and Nathan was certain the same item was a brain.  He also claims he saw stomachs that looked just like the stomachs in pepto bismol commercials...I thought those were cookies. 
I attracted Chinese facial hair removing professionals like no one else on the street.  Nathan got a good chuckle..I'm OK with my cheek hairs and crazy eyebrows.  They chased me around with their chalk and torture string. 
We made our way to 'Back-packer-road' for dinner and beers.  I ate my first insect.  Grasshopper.  VERY good.  Nathan couldn't look me in the face while I chewed..nausea?  He one upped me by eating Durian fruit.  For those of you who have never heard of it, let me explain (I dared to take a bite):  Its the flavor of rotten onion mixed with pudding the color of pus and with a hint of dirty feet.   He actually ate four or five bites of this stuff.  Its illegal to sell in certain markets because it smells so bad.  I'm not kidding.
We topped off the evening with a 'Fish Massage'.
This is where you put your feet into a gigantic tank of water filled with tiny fish.  Massage is sort of a misnomer.  Its actually a tank of flesh eating creatures snacking on your dry skin.  It tickled so bad I laughed until I cried. Nathan is convinced that the carnivorous massaging fish were trying to kill him...to be fair, they did seem to want to eat him more than anyone else.
We're off tonight for the south on an overnight train.  Island hopping!  I'll upload more pictures when I can.

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