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After all the savory food, I was ready for the fruit course. All along the streets of Thailand, fruit vendors with glass cases display their wares. They vary according to season: papaya, melons, pineapple, guava, watermelon, green mangos, and all sorts of other fruits I do not know the names of. In the glass case the fruit is already prepared for consumption. You just point to the one you want. I chose rose apples and pineapple. Rose apples are an amazingly refreshing fruit, somewhere between a melon and an Asian pear. They are small, green, crunchy and mostly water. With them, you receive a sugar, salt and chili mixture. The vendor throws about ten prepared rose apple halves, a skewer and a little bag of the spices into a larger bag. While walking you dip the rose apple into the spicy, tangy mixture. Pineapples in Thailand are amazingly delicious, sweet and never overripe. The fruit provided a perfect break.

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Then Prisca spied a Durian vendor, Asia's famous stinky fruit. They grow on trees in a greenish spiky armor. Once opened they reek something terrible, like rancid fruity blue cheese. In Singapore, there are actually signs on the subway forbidding the fruit. We bought a section, intending to try it back at the hotel.

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After the fruit, we bought a couple of desserts. Tiny, about an inch in diameter, red bean and coconut wheat flour pancakes are one of Will's favorite quick snacks. They are mini American pancakes, but instead of syrup, they are sweetened by red bean or coconut mixed in the batter. We grabbed a bag of 10 and munched on. Steamed sticky rice packages were the next stop. Wrapped in a banana leaf and about the size of your palm, sticky rice is mixed with red bean, raisins and sometimes banana. The banana leaf adds an earthy flavor to the rice that makes it another of Will's favorite sweet snacks.

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The final string of vendors sell prepared food and food preparation packs. The prepared foods are available for takeaway. They include curries, soups, condiments, and the like, packed to go in plastic bags with rubber bands. More interesting are the food preparation packs. They consist of everything you need to make your own Thai dish at home. For Pad Thai, you get diced limes, dried river shrimp, chopped peanuts, chili, bean sprouts and noodles, all chopped and packed in their own plastic container. All you need to do is go home and fry it up. Oh, if we only had a kitchen.

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The food prep kit whetted my appetite for Pad Thai. After a bit of last minute shopping for souvenirs, we stopped at the street kitchens on the alley that leads to our hotel. For every day meals, Thais often patronize food stalls or open air kitchens, usually located right on the sidewalk. They are family run affairs that offer staple, and sometimes exotic, Thai food. Although we had eaten a number of courses, it was Prisca's final meal in Thailand. We ordered Pad Thai, spicy green papaya salad, mango sticky rice and a couple of Singha beers. The Pad Thai was perfectly spicy, citrusy and peanutty. The crunchy bean sprouts contrasted exquisitely with the stir-fried rice noodles. The papaya salad, made with fresh shredded green papaya, river shrimp, tamarind, fishsauce, lime and healthy dose of fresh chilies, left an awesome burn. Finally, the piece d'resistance was the mango sticky rice. Fresh mangoes were sliced next to sticky rice; over top a sweet coconut cream was poured. We licked our lips as we fought for the final bites.

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As we began to leave, Prisca cried, "What's that horrible smell?" It was the Durian, the smell had permeated the seams of her bag. "We'll we'd better try it now," she exclaimed. We all reached in and grabbed a slimy, mushy piece. It was disgusting, just like the smell. We finished our beers to wash the taste out and headed back.

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Our culinary adventure was the quintessential Thai food experience. Save the Durian smell that never did quite come out of Prisca's bag, everything was fresh, spicy, sweet and yummy. We all walked away perfectly happy, full and with our wallets still completely intact. The whole adventure - the snacks, fruit, beer and dishes - only cost eight dollars. No, I am not kidding. God only knows how we will readjust to those fifty-dollar plus meals for two in DC. Our friends will just have to be patient with us, especially when Will attempts to bargain down the price of an entree.