A.S.I.A: The Departure

May 7, 2010
Bangkok, Thailand

A familiar hotel.  A familiar airport.  A familiar plane.  A familiar airport. And, back to the familiar hotel where it all began: the Century Park Hotel.  I have to say there is something so comforting about returning to a place and having the staff remember you and greet you by name and, after the whirlwind couple weeks we'd had, it was certainly nice to feel like we were home again.

Rather than head out into the city we decided to enjoy the view from the pool.  It was a beautiful set up with a shallow and sunny upper pool cascading into a deeper, more shaded lower pool.  We spent the afternoon laughing and rehashing everything we had done and, once you get down to it, we did a lot!  Granted, there were a few hiccups along the way, but those really make for the best stories in the end, right?

Our Final Happy Hour

After the pool we made our way upstairs for one final happy hour whilst being serenaded by a live cover band who invited us to join them for live karaoke after dinner.  We weren't too sure how we'd be feeling about that, but one can never tell with Mom and Soup on board :)  Dinner was amazing with steak and red wine sauce and rich potatoes which were all things I knew I wasn't going to be tasting for a long time without my parents around to foot the bill (Thanks Mom and Dad!!)



Mom Rocking Out to Live Karaoke



Stuffed, we waddled back out to the lounge to listen to the band and were finally coaxed onto the stage (after one or two B-52s) and rocked the night away.  Sue wouldn't get up and sing, saying it was better for everyone that way, but was a great supporter in the crowd as she swayed and cheered for me and then Mom.  I think we closed the night down with a rousing rendition of She Bangs by Ricky Martin and then realized we should probably get to bed if we were to make it to the airport on time.

The alarm always seems to go off 5 minutes after you fall asleep when it's time to go to the airport and so we went through our well-practiced motions of checking the room, finishing packing and checking out.  Our hotel gave us a wonderful goodbye and even packed us individual lunch boxes to take with as we weren't going to be there for the buffet in the morning!  We arrived on time at the airport and I got Mom and Sue off without a hitch (well, minus the tears from Mom, but we all knew those were coming!)  It's amazing how fast a trip can go and how much fun you can have.  I had such a good time hosting yet more visitors to my new home and I can't wait until the next ones (yea I'm talking to you readers) get on the plane to BKK!  That finally (1.5 years later) concludes Ann and Sue in Asia!

A.S.I.A: Top Chef Chiang Mai

May 6, 2010

Chiang Mai, Thailand

There we were up again at the crack of dawn with yet another adventure before us: a Thai Cooking Class.  We were picked up by a songtaew along with a few other people and headed off for the morning market.  On the way we were given a sheet where we got to decide which dishes we would be cooking and so our guides (named Kook and Nut) knew which ingredients to buy.

Spinning plastic bags to keep flies off the chickens

 

Which part of the pig do you want?



The market was hustling and bustling as we all got out, bombarded by a caucaphony of smells and sights.  Everything from herbs and spices to fresh curry paste, pig heads, whole birds, tanks of fish (some dead, some living) and loads of snacks.  Kook walked us around a bit and explained how certain things were made and what certain sauces were used for.  It was also really interesting to hear about the rice and how different prices determined different grains and also different freshness (for example, a bag in the back row was more expensive as was picked more recently.)  We then had some time to walk around and get stared at by the locals as we just as curiously stared back at their piles of innards and various bloody organs for sale :)  I think my favorite market device is this spinning contraption to which vendors attach plastic grocery bags that wave around over their food to keep away the flies.  Clever!



All the rice you'd ever need



Top Chef: Chiang Mai



After the market we made our way to an organic farm outside the city set against a beautiful, fresh air backdrop.  We took a tour of the very nice kitchen in which we would be cooking as well as of the grounds of the farm.  Many of the ingredients we were using in our food were actually grown right there and we learned what each thing was (things like kaffir limes, chilli pepers, various gingers, lemongrass, coriander, etc)  It was cool to see it from 'the farm to the table' so to speak, but I have to say we were all struggling a bit to focus with it being about 100 degrees outside.  We thought by heading north we had escaped the heat, but in our open air kitchen we didn't stand a chance.

My Masterpieces (Tom Kha, Pad Krapow, Red Curry)

We spent the next few hours preparing our various dishes including Tom Yum Koong and Tom Kha Gai (a creamy red curry soup and a creamy coconut curry soup), red or green or yellow curry, Pad Krapow Moo (fried pork with thai basil) and Pad Thai (a famous noodle dish) as well as dessert.  We did everything by hand including making our own curry paste; I think this is where the term 'someone put their sweat into this' comes from cuz with all the mortar and pestling I may as well have just taken a shower.  I learned that fish sauce is good with meats and soy sauce is good with veggies and tofu, I learned that even the smallest little chili can make your mouth set on fire, I learned that kaffir limes are too bitter to eat but their leaves are great for flavor and, most importantly, I learned that I am an amazing chef!

Our Kitchen

When all was said and done we sat down and sampled our meals and were all pleasantly surprised at what we'd just concocted.  It was enough food to feed a small village, so we ended up wrapping up the leftovers and taking them back with us for dinner.  Our journey home was fairly uneventful aside from the raucous posse of French ladies that had been cooking with us too--good entertainment value though.  As we were all too full to eat we made our way for some live music and happy hour downstairs before heading to the night bazaar.  We walked around for a bit to digest, bought a few knick knacks and made our way to a massage parlor to work out the kinks from standing up in the heat all day.  Not too shabby.

Chiang Mai is definitely a place to spend more than a couple days, but I think we really made the most of it!