Mastering the Art of Thai Cooking

We woke at 8 AM in anticipation for our day long Thai cooking class that we had booked before leaving SF. We were given strict instructions not to eat a big breakfast, but "mama," Semay's mother and Moon Dance's cook, enjoyed feeding her guests and didn't seem to take out request seriously. We got 1 western breakfast with fried eggs, ham, sausage (what we would call a mini hot dog) and oj, and one Thai breakfast of jhok, or rice porridge soup. We were picked up from our guest house at 9:30 AM and brough over to A Lot of Thai cooking school, a small family run school in the home of Yui, Kwan and their two kids http://www.alotofthai.com. In the car, we met our classmates, two young girls from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan who had quit their jobs to travel for 5 months, Billy, an Australian guy from Melbourne who was also on extended holiday, a family from Austria, and Mike, a young guy from New Orleans who had spent the last 10 months travelling as a freelance journalist. At the moment he was writing an article on cooking schools in Chiang Mai for Travel and Leisure Magazine (so cool!). The class turned out to be amazing! We each cooked six dishes: pad thai, stir fried chicken/vegetables with cashew nuts, vegetable spring rools, tom yum gung (spicy shrimp soup), chicken/vegetables in green curry, and sticky rice with mango. Yui, our instructor, was very sweet, knowledgeable, funny and passionate about cooking. In the middle of the class, we took a trip to the local market where Yui helped to de-mystify the local specialities. We learned about everything from local fruits and vegetables to the different kinds of rice, sauces, eggs, seafood, herbs, dessert, and so much more! This was a definitely a highlight of our class and our trip! By the end of the cooking class, we were so full we could hardly move. We ended the evening with an interesting 2 hour game of Chinese Checkers with Lars, Semay, Hiroshi and Marcel, an interesting Swiss guy who had a thing for Thai "lady boys," one of which we met that night - Rose. Kiran loves to share this story so I'm sure you'll more when we get back!

On to North Thailand...

From Phuket, we took a flight to Bangkok then Chiang Mai, arriving at 2:45 PM. While waiting to pick up our suitcase, Kiran thought he spotted an old friend from Cal, but I wasn't convinced. Deciding that there was only one way to find out, we walked over to where he was standing and strategically struck up a conversation about Cal, Sure enough we had run into a fraternity brother, Rabin Marfatia, half way around the world! Mr. A, a hired taxi driver picked us up from the airport and brought us to our guest house, Moon Dance on the River. The house was owned and run by Lars, a Swedish ex-finance guy (40) and his Thai girlfirned, Semay (22). The house was lovely - four rooms, gorgeous Thai artwork and furniture, a beautiful garden, and of course generous Thai welcome gifts like flowers on the bed and fresh bottles of water. We booked this guest house becasue it was the only one showing availability on the internet, but in the first few minutes, we could tell that it was going to be an interesting stay! The first guest we met was Hiroshi, a kind young Sony engineer from Tokyo. He told us a little about his week in Chiang Mai and then we headed off to do some exploring of our own. We took a tuk tuk to the Good View Restaurant, a popular spot for visitors that was right on the river. We sat outside enjoying the view while feasting on another saefood yam (unfortunately this one was made for farang (foriegn) palate) and fresh fish. After dinner, we walked to Chiang Mai's famous night bazaar and broused through the hundreds of stalls of local handicrafts, knock off wallets, purses, sunglasses and watches, jewelry, soaps, textiles and local artwork. The bazaar was enormous! Feeling too tired to see it all, we decided to stop browsing and Kiran got his third Thai massage for a whapping $2!

A Thai Culinary Adventure - Shirley Tolani, eat your heart out!

Our night in Phuket was uneventful , except that it turned out to be a real culinary adventure. We checked into our hotel in town - the Metropole, the third straight place to give us a room with separate beds (maybe they think we're brother and sister). Thankfully, the Thai hospitality and a little American-style finagling got us upgraded to a junior suite with one KING BED! Kiran, feeling "king-like," in his new castle, decided to order room service. Little did we know what we were getting our tongues into! Twenty minutes later, we were feasting on our first Yam (spicy salad). See pictures, no words to describe how outrageously hot and utterly delicious this combo of noodles, seafood, herbs, lime, and red/green chilies were. This was the HOTTEST thing we have had in years! Let's just say, Kiran had to stop and shower in the middle, but it was so good that we couldn't stop eating it. Once we stopped sweating, and our taste buds recovered, we went for a walk in town and ended up at the local supermarket. Here, we discovered Thai delights such as grass jelly soda, seaweed flavored chips, sticky rice and dried chili mango. The best discovery though was a small stand outside the supermarket where we enjoyed the most delicious guava shake we had ever had - the secret, a pinch of salt. Yum! After our shake we searched for a place to have dinner and ended up at the Beer Garden, a spot that seemed like a favorite among locals (no tourists to be seen). We saw some young ladies eating an intriguing hot pot dish with "cook your own" seafood and a mystery soup. Using our matery of sign language, we attempted to order the same thing with a Singha of course! Still sahking from the rock climbing, it took all of our energy to figure out how to eat our mystery order. Thankfully, the young waitresses with light up Santa hats were ever so helpful. Even though they didn't speak English, they were able to show us how to prepare the meal. It turned out to be a delicious dish and a lot of fun - just the sort of authentic experieince we were lookinig for. We fell asleep content and full in our king size bed...

Monkey Boy Meets Monkey Girl on Limestone Cliffs

Sunday morning (Christmas Eve) started with a delicious breakfast of fried eggs, toast, oj and thai coffee. We then shared a longtail boat with a bunch locals carrying supplies from Au Nang for Railay (beer, soda, bread, water, rice, etc). The trip was as scenic as ever in the morning sun and quite a unique experience! The next four hours were spent scaling the limstone towers (at least they felt like towers) near the Diamond Caves on Railay East. We did four climbs of varying heights, the last of which killed us! We met several tourists from all over the world, the most interesting of whom was Nora, an eight year old girl from Norway. She was fearless and on her second climb, she put our climbing skills to shame! Our teacher Champ, was a young Thai from Bangkok who spoke broken English but was dope nonetheless. The afternoon ended with a delicious lunch at Ayavadee Resort of papaya and pineapple shakes, thai seafood curry with rice and fish sandwich. We left Au Nang at 3:30 on a ferry headed back to Phuket...

Second Stop: Paradise

We left Ko Phi Phi on a ferry bound for Krabi (city on the mainland of the Krabi Province on the Andaman (Southwest) coast) at 9 am on Saturday morning. From Krabi, we took a sawngthaew (a pickup truck taxi) to Au Nang where we planned to stay for one night. The concierge at our last hotel recommended this beach so we had no idea what to expect. Sadly this area turned out to be quite touristy - with a waterfront promendade and rows of restaurants serving everything from Swedish to Mexican food. Luckily we were able to take a longtail boat (water taxi) to Railay, a peninsula just a few kms south of Au Nang. This place was a hidden jewel! The scenery on the boat ride was breathtaking - huge limestone karst formations and caves surrounded by palm trees and picturesque turquoise water. This place was unreal! Railay boasted a few chill resorts, beachfront restuarants and white sand beaches. Many came to Railay for the scenery and cool vibe but most were there for the diving and rockclimbing, apparently some of the best in the world! Feeling adventurous, we decided to partake in the local activities. Unfortunately, we had to wait until the next day to take a rock climbing class so we spent the evening at a bechfront restaurant in Au Nang where we selected a freshly caught fish and live crab for dinner (yes Shirin picked a live crab to eat but is still reconciling this decision). The entire meal cost us only 14 dollars! Oh and we also met couples from Sweden and Isreal (Au Nang seemed to attract tons of visitors from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe) on the longtail boat ride and got our second spa treatment at a local parlor. Au Nang turned out to be okay, but the real excitement was still to come...

First stop: Paradise

We arrived in Phuket at 9:30 in the morning and took a minivan into town. The ride from the airport always proves to be one of the most interesting since it's a first glimpse into the new world you have just entered. First impressions: reminiscent of India - dirt roads, retail "stalls" with metal roofs spotted by an occasional car dealership and scooters zipping past. Locals spoke very little English and upon arrival I already had that feeling that everyone was trying to take advantage of us. It was a rough start, but then we got into town and found a local restaurant that served AMAZING thai noodles with seafood for only $2. All of a sudden we were in heaven!
We took a ferry that afternoon to the famous island of Ko Phi Phi (where the 2004 Tsunami did a great deal of damage) where we planned to stay for the next 2-3 days. We checked into our hotel and spent the afternoon enjoying Singhas at the beachfront bar - Carpe Diem. Sadly, jet lag got the best of us and we fell asleep at 8 PM that night. We woke up at 5:30 AM the next day (Thursday Dec 21) and decided to explore the island and watch the sun rise. Most of the town was still asleep but we did see several people who were still up partying from the night before. It took us half a day to realize that Ko Phi Phi was a haven for 20-something backpackers (from all over the world) in search of a great party on the beach. Needless to say, we found a few favorite spots and indulged in island faves such as fresh fruit shakes, rotis (Thai pancakes as they call them) filled with everything from cheese to nutella and banana, Thai massages, pineapple on a stick, fire shows on the beach and of course Pad Thai! We discovered beautiful serene beaches, hillside villas, lush tropical gardens, and amazing limestone formations. Much of the island was still recovering from the Tsunami (construction was going on everywhere). Our last day was spent on a Sunset Cruise on which we kayaked to nearby Maya beach (where the movie "The Beach" was filmed), saw monkeys and caves, snorkeled in crystal clear tropical water and watched the sunset. The cruise ended with a delicious Thai meal of green curry over rice and fresh watermelon and pineapple! Ko Phi Phi definitely lived up to all of the hype. Next stop - Au Nang...

Much Rest for the Weary: Confessions of a Singapore Air Traveller

After only 3 hours of sleep, we packed up our last minute sundries, prepared the cats for our departure and left our Google calendars behind. Thanks to Kiran, we arrived at the airport 4 hours early (okay only 1.5 hours but if he had his way...). We boarded the flight and were pleasantly surprised by the plane's accouterments - individual TV screens, lumbar support, on-demand movies, tv and video games, slipper socks and unlimited access to wine and bloody marys! The flight to Seoul and then Singapore was a total of 18 hours but with the comfort and and hospitality, it "flew" by!

Movies Watched Rating
You, Me and Dupree 3 1/2 bags of peanuts
The Illusionist 3 bags of peanuts
Step Up 3 bags of peanuts
Pirates II 3 bags of peanuts
Project Runway (lingerie and dress for Nickie Hilton)

We spent the night in the Transit Hotel at the Singapore airport and boarded the flight for Phuket in the morning. Highlights of this flight - noodles in oyster sauce for breakfast and Kiran solved his first Sudoku puzzle...