Musings of an Idiot

Cooking Thai – Day 9

The main agenda for the day was the Thai cooking course that I had enrolled into even when I was in Auckland. A good way to learn about a culture is to see how they cook plus there is the added bonus of actually learning a few dishes to use in daily life. I was looking for a cooking course that was affordable and most of the cooking courses were about 2000 baht and upwards and it is a good chunk of money but then I found this cooking course which was half the price and had generally positive reviews plus it happened to be in the same area as my second hotel, so picking that particular school was a no-brainer.

I woke up early as usual and had a shower before wandering over to the local seven eleven store to grab some iced lemon tea. I've probably drunk more iced lemon trip in Thailand than at any point in my life – maybe because it is sweeter than the one's you get in NZ. I was specifically asked by Nusi – the course instructor, not to have a heavy breakfast since we would be cooking and eating for better part of the day, so I skipped breakfast altogether. I wandered around to the meeting point (lobby of some big hotel) for the cooking course and soon Nusi appeared with the rest of the group. In the group was David and his family, who were staying at Lub'd as well and I had briefly spoken to David yesterday when he mistook me for someone else. It is a group of 10 people, so it is a relatively compact class.

Our first stop was the local market where we started buying all the ingredients for our cooking class. Nusi basically showed us different kinds of vegetables and also different varieties within the same vegetable/spices – like there were various varieties of chillies and ginger and he explained to us the various uses of each separate kind and also when you use them. After we finished our shopping, we proceeded to the cooking school. We walked through the residential areas before we got to a house – basically the school is located in a house and this is probably the closest one can get to actual Thai home cooking.



We were soon given our cooking uniform and divided into smaller groups of 3-4 and set upon the task of basic preparation for the main cooking. The group I was in was given the task of cleaning and cutting the chicken and beef into respective sizes for their respective dishes. After that was done all of gathered around in a single room, cutting vegetables and various ingredients for the first dish and once that was done we proceeded to our work stations where Nusi basically guided us through the cooking process. As soon as the dish was done, we would put it in a serving bowl/plate and eat it ourselves before proceeding to prep the next dish and then cook it and repeat the process all over again.


Overall we learnt 5 very different kinds of dishes and I was bloated by the time we made the 4th dish and could just do a spoonful of taste of the 'Green Curry Chicken'. Just when I thought I couldn't eat anymore - the 5th dish was made and I happily ate it. It was Mango with Sticky rice and it was so yummy. By the time the course came to an end it was already 1.30 PM and it was time to bid farewell to the class and explore more of the city on my own. During the course I met a very interesting couple – Helen and Stephen [Helen was from Germany while Stephen was from Ireland], who had stayed for a few months in India (mainly in Tamil Nadu) before their Thailand trip, and we had a good conversation during the course and once the course ended they asked me if I wanted to hang out with them for rest of the day and I readily agreed.


There was no specific plan per se but we first went to Khao San Road because we got a free ride back there plus it was close to a fair few temples. We sat down at a cafe and discussed the rough plan for rest of the day based on what each of us wanted to see. Our first stop was Wat Pho – where there is a huge reclining Buddha and it was amazing. We wandered around the temple complex for a while but skipped the thai massage there since we were short on time. Thai Massage at Wat Pho is supposed to be really good and they have a school there as well where they teach Thai massage.


After Wat Pho we walked over to the local ferry terminal and caught a ferry across the river to Wat Arun – which is supposed to look majestic at sunrise but also looks great during sunset. The ferry ride was very short but very hairy because of the distance involved. It was also very cheap – a one way ride from Grand Palace pier to Wat Arun pier was 3 baht. Wat Arun is a very masculine and imposing temple but at the same time it has some very intricate architecture and carvings. The steps to get up the temple are steep and going up is usually never the problem – it is the coming down that is kind of fear inducing. I hope the kings and queens never had to go to the top of the temple in a pavilion or something. The three of us spent time on the maximum level allowed for visitors and soaked up views of Bangkok from up there. And as it was getting dark pretty quick, we decided to climb down while we could still see the stairs, especially since neither of us wanted to tumble down the stairs to certain death.


Next stop was Chinatown and I was keen for another visit since I loved the food over there. A couple of ferry rides with the locals and we were in Chinatown. We explored the market for a while and at one point I was almost tempted to buy cooked chestnuts but the minimum quantity was 1 KG and that was too much to eat on my own, so I had to reluctantly walk away from the vendor without buying anything. Helen's nickname is 'Oink', so I took a photograph of cooked pig faces for her. Stephen wanted to buy some jeans from a road side stall and he asked the lady if there was any try room to which the lady seriously replied that he should try it on there. Helen and me looked at each other and cracked up laughing and then we encouraged Stephen to try it on, so Stephen tried the jeans over his shorts and they didn't quite fit, so he decided to let it go. We were getting hungry so we sat down at a restaurant to eat some food but it turned out that they only served seafood, so we escaped from the place with sheepish grins on our faces. Soon after we found a eating joint which served all kinds of foods and we sat there eating and chatting for a good while exchanging lives and stories.


Once we finished our food it was time to part ways and we bid each other farewell and went our separate ways. They were an awesome couple to hang out with and they made the day totally memorable. I returned to the hotel and I decided to try out the entertainment lounge since I didn't feel like going to bed straight away. In the theatre space I met Heath & Jules – a couple of australian's returning home after their OE in UK/Europe; they also happened to be sharing the same dorm as me. We watched 'Pineapple Express' for a while on a pirated copy and when it got stuck we decided to call it a night and retired to our dorm where we chatted for a little longer about UK; Holland; Art & Culture and finally about Melbourne before we finally called it a night.

There was no phone calls from Tuan, so I buzzed her in the evening but she didn't pick up the phone, so it is a definite full stop there. Kind of sad but in a way I was already expecting that yesterday, so it didn't bother me too much today. Tomorrow I have most of the day to myself and I have plans to check out a fried chicken outlet and then do some gift shopping before I catch my flight to India later in the evening. It's been a good day and I am retiring to bed feeling satisfied.

Later,
Amit

Labels: Thailand, Travel

posted by Amit @ 9:55 PM