KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 -- It feels unseasonably hot.

(Or perhaps seasonally so, given the time of year. Who knows nowadays, given the scourge of climate change?)

My Thai friends remind me that it's less than a month to Songkran, their national holiday marked by water pouring rituals for purification (or raucous water fights, if you end up in the streets of Silom).

Songkran is also the hottest time of the year for Thailand. Maybe we are getting some of that heat too.

Which makes me long for some yum neua yang or spicy Thai steak salad. When it's served chilled, it absolutely soothes the soul.

That is till the prik ki nu (bird's eye chillies or as we know them, cili padi) in the dressing kicks in. Tiny chillies, big heat.

Perhaps it's...