So I have just completed my very first Thai cookery course, and now the post-food fatiuge has passed, I feel it is only fitting to dedicate my next entry to one of my greatest passions in life: FOOD.
Having a limited taste of what Thai food actually involves, other than Padt Thai and Thai Green Curry, I am not ashamed to admit that the main thing I have been looking forward to on my travels is to do a Thai cookery course. Eager to broaden my cooking horizons, one one-two-one 5 hour course, 6 dishes, and a very full stomach later, I was not dissapointed.
I started my day off learning the simple, yet delicious Paht Thai. Since our arrival, Rebecca and I have been on the quest for the perfect said dish. Using a scale of 1-10 we have dedicated ourselves whole-heartedly to this mission! Ahh, the tastebuds are tingling at the very thought. There has to be the perfect ratio of peanut to lime, not too greasy, not too much beansprout...and yes, today I found the perfect one. Made my moi. Ok, ok, under the close consule of a very experienced and knowledgable teacher and yes, it was her recipie not mine, but not the point. My mission is now complete, and now I must branch out into other areas of Thai cuisine.
I am yet to delve into the bemusing, and perhaps not quite authentic dish of deap fried cricket. The fact that the only place I have seen this being served is the tourist hot-spot of Kho San Road has made me somewhat suspicious. However, I am not adverse to trying crickets, so watch this space! Perhaps not the giant cockroach that I accidently trod on last night though...
Wandering around the food markets is a treat for the eyes as well as the tastebuds. The shear variety of colourful and delicious fruits that simply don't exist in England is staggering. I never even knew there were many different varieties of lychee! I was literally cheering when I found that mangosteen, a fruit we ate a lot of in Sri Lanka, is available in abundunce here in Thailand, And then there are the fruits that are only availale at exuberent prices in Waitrose such as the vibrant coloured, yet dissapointinly bland 'dragon fruit' . Makes a pretty picture though (soon to follow). The foodie inside me has died and gone to heaven.
So today I have learnt 6 traditional dishes, Paht Thai, chicken and cashew nut fried rice, hot and sour prawn soup, papaya salad (suprisingly delicious), chicken in coconut milk and banana and coconut soup. A-MAZ-ING. I know everyone goes travelling hoping they will shed the pounds with the numerous illnesses we are likely to pick up on the way, but unfortunatley I think I will be coming home the size of a house. The only dish that I have tried and will never do so again, is spicy fruit salad. Horrific. Whole pickled chillies hidden amongst dragon fruit and mango. Never. Ever. Again.
I am excited to see what spicy, sour and deliciously sweet dish is waiting for me around the corner. And who knows, perhaps I shall be tempted to take another course to tantalise the pallet even more.
I am so happy I think I might just do a little dance. But will have to let my six course lunch digest a bit first...
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Don't worry, be happy
Ahhh installment two... perhaps a bit overexcited about the positive response regarding installment one. Thank you readers!
So, after leaving Chaing Mai and the rain behind, we have arrived in the awesomeness that is PAI! (by public bus this time, a third of the price, surprisingly comfortable). The best way to describe Pai is a combination of a very dated Western movie, with a hippie commune. All the bars, houses etc. are made out of wood and I'm half expecting a cowboy in leather chaps to wander out of a bar welding his pistol at me chewing tobacco. Alas, nothing that exciting so far dear readers, just a crazy rasta in dungarees with a very warped version of how to 'woo' someone - the local DJ making eyes at us poor innocent girls by playing 'you sexy thing' (yes, you would have to believe in miracles my dear dungaree man.) and Marvin Gaye's 'sexual healing' Lord save me. Yet another place we can't return to. Flashbacks to the one and only nightclub in Sri Lanka, Happy Banana... the less said the better
So if any of you are indeed heading to Pai, be prepared to either hire a bike or a moped as everything you would want to see or do is just over walking distance. We opted for the latter (don't worry Mother, helmets were worn at all times!) After a few false starts, involving me managing to lock the ignition closed and unable to open it again due to a broken key, oh the safety of Thai bike hire companies, resulting in a very kind passer by calling the hire company and expalining our situation in Thai to them over the phone for us, we made it out into the open road.
Mopeds or motorbikes are truely the best way to see the beautiful scenery the north has to offer - rolling hills, huge great trees and the odd elephant along the way, we stopped at a waterfall for a few scenic snaps. That, along with the hippie bars playing good old Bob Marley, I could happily stay for weeks. Indeed, it seems as though many a traveller has arrived and never left the place. Half the population here have dreadlocks, tattoos and yes, hareem pants. I have to admit, I have delved into this traveller obsession. What a true 'gap yar tragedy' I am becomming! That along with my tragic tan lines, I've never been happier!
Looking forward to what the rest of Pai has to offer, but for now, a Phat Thai and a G&T is very much in order!
Lots of love dear readers - keep on reading! xxxx
So, after leaving Chaing Mai and the rain behind, we have arrived in the awesomeness that is PAI! (by public bus this time, a third of the price, surprisingly comfortable). The best way to describe Pai is a combination of a very dated Western movie, with a hippie commune. All the bars, houses etc. are made out of wood and I'm half expecting a cowboy in leather chaps to wander out of a bar welding his pistol at me chewing tobacco. Alas, nothing that exciting so far dear readers, just a crazy rasta in dungarees with a very warped version of how to 'woo' someone - the local DJ making eyes at us poor innocent girls by playing 'you sexy thing' (yes, you would have to believe in miracles my dear dungaree man.) and Marvin Gaye's 'sexual healing' Lord save me. Yet another place we can't return to. Flashbacks to the one and only nightclub in Sri Lanka, Happy Banana... the less said the better
So if any of you are indeed heading to Pai, be prepared to either hire a bike or a moped as everything you would want to see or do is just over walking distance. We opted for the latter (don't worry Mother, helmets were worn at all times!) After a few false starts, involving me managing to lock the ignition closed and unable to open it again due to a broken key, oh the safety of Thai bike hire companies, resulting in a very kind passer by calling the hire company and expalining our situation in Thai to them over the phone for us, we made it out into the open road.
Mopeds or motorbikes are truely the best way to see the beautiful scenery the north has to offer - rolling hills, huge great trees and the odd elephant along the way, we stopped at a waterfall for a few scenic snaps. That, along with the hippie bars playing good old Bob Marley, I could happily stay for weeks. Indeed, it seems as though many a traveller has arrived and never left the place. Half the population here have dreadlocks, tattoos and yes, hareem pants. I have to admit, I have delved into this traveller obsession. What a true 'gap yar tragedy' I am becomming! That along with my tragic tan lines, I've never been happier!
Looking forward to what the rest of Pai has to offer, but for now, a Phat Thai and a G&T is very much in order!
Lots of love dear readers - keep on reading! xxxx
Monday, 25 July 2011
So...how does this thing work?
Right. Hello readers. Are you out there? Hmm... Can't help but feel that this will shortly turn into a Bridget Jones style diary, which no one will actually read. Anyway, I have the arrogance to believe that people WANT to hear about my gap year adventures so here goes!
I am typing this in the amazing city of Chaing Mai, Thailand on the start of my year of deciding what I actually want to do with my life. Those of you who don't know, I am moving out to Melbourne, Australia for a year to work as an au pair for a wonderful sounding family with three children, one on the way (yikes!) Am starting my adventures, as all 'gap yar' twits do, in Thailand.
So, after week one of five, I decided to blog about our adventures in this hot and sweaty country so far. I hope I can help a few people out there who are planning on making the trip themselves, and learn from my mistakes rather than making them their own!
Lesson number 1: always check your visa expiry date.
However, if not, cry a bit at the airport and they may just bump you up to business. Yes, Mum, I didn't quite tell you the truth on this one. You will laugh at my typical 'Groggy moment'. So anyway, we arrived at London Heathrow (yippie!) only to be told at the check in desk that as we did not have proof that we were leaving the country within the required 30 days, there was a chance that we might get deported at Bangkok. OH GOOD GOD. Frantically trying to book train tickets to anywhere, Laos, Cambodia, Timbuktu... to no avail. OK, so we are just going to have to wing it! Both of us were bloody scared and kicking ourselves for being so stupid, arrived at Dubai for our connecting flight only to find we had been upgraded to Business. HURRAH! Couldn't quite believe our luck, and realised that it must have been the poor guy at the check in desk at Heathrow who felt bad for making me cry. SUCCESS! Free Champagne, seats that turn into beds, free stuff... amazing.
Needless to say, arrivals and visa issuing was not a problem, they barely looked at my passport anyway. Can now breath again.
Lesson number two: Do not trust Tourist Information Office (TAT)
The most common stop off point in Thailand for most Western travellers is Kho San Road. Basically, what I imagine Zante or Falaraki to be like but hotter and busier. Ok, so I've never been to either places but its basically horrible and has a disturbing amount of tattoo studios next to clubs. The more adventurous (or perhaps disgusting) travellers may be enticed into going to a 'ping-pong show' - we however, were not. If you don't know, Google it but I take no responsibility for what you may find.
Anyway, I'm rambling. So we decided to go to the train station to book our tickets to Chaing Mai. Got into a tuk-tuk who took us to a TAT office, where he obviously gets commission because he charged us a fifth of the going rate. We decided this seemed a bit dodge so proceeded to make our own way to the train station. Beware: the TAT offices in there are not official either it is a scam!! They sell you over priced tickets and tell you the train is full, so you have to get a private bus which then takes you to a few more TAT offices picking up other unwitting travellers as ourselves, involving a three hour wait before you get to see the bus.
The bus itself was hilarious. The conductor was the most fantastic lady-boy we have seen so far. Pink miniskirt, matching jacket, clashing lipstick and red painted toe nails who insisted on playing TERRIBLE Thai music on the plasma TV the whole 8 hours. Yes, our bus had a plasma. Insane.
Anyway, we finally arrived in Chaing Mai, have had a fantastic day of elephant rides, jungle trekking, waterfalls and white water rafting. Feeling rather pooped now so will update again soon. Oh and if you are going to go to Chaing Mai, it is worth staying on a Sunday as the night market is fantastic
Much love my little Blog-reading followers :-) xxxxx
I am typing this in the amazing city of Chaing Mai, Thailand on the start of my year of deciding what I actually want to do with my life. Those of you who don't know, I am moving out to Melbourne, Australia for a year to work as an au pair for a wonderful sounding family with three children, one on the way (yikes!) Am starting my adventures, as all 'gap yar' twits do, in Thailand.
So, after week one of five, I decided to blog about our adventures in this hot and sweaty country so far. I hope I can help a few people out there who are planning on making the trip themselves, and learn from my mistakes rather than making them their own!
Lesson number 1: always check your visa expiry date.
However, if not, cry a bit at the airport and they may just bump you up to business. Yes, Mum, I didn't quite tell you the truth on this one. You will laugh at my typical 'Groggy moment'. So anyway, we arrived at London Heathrow (yippie!) only to be told at the check in desk that as we did not have proof that we were leaving the country within the required 30 days, there was a chance that we might get deported at Bangkok. OH GOOD GOD. Frantically trying to book train tickets to anywhere, Laos, Cambodia, Timbuktu... to no avail. OK, so we are just going to have to wing it! Both of us were bloody scared and kicking ourselves for being so stupid, arrived at Dubai for our connecting flight only to find we had been upgraded to Business. HURRAH! Couldn't quite believe our luck, and realised that it must have been the poor guy at the check in desk at Heathrow who felt bad for making me cry. SUCCESS! Free Champagne, seats that turn into beds, free stuff... amazing.
Needless to say, arrivals and visa issuing was not a problem, they barely looked at my passport anyway. Can now breath again.
Lesson number two: Do not trust Tourist Information Office (TAT)
The most common stop off point in Thailand for most Western travellers is Kho San Road. Basically, what I imagine Zante or Falaraki to be like but hotter and busier. Ok, so I've never been to either places but its basically horrible and has a disturbing amount of tattoo studios next to clubs. The more adventurous (or perhaps disgusting) travellers may be enticed into going to a 'ping-pong show' - we however, were not. If you don't know, Google it but I take no responsibility for what you may find.
Anyway, I'm rambling. So we decided to go to the train station to book our tickets to Chaing Mai. Got into a tuk-tuk who took us to a TAT office, where he obviously gets commission because he charged us a fifth of the going rate. We decided this seemed a bit dodge so proceeded to make our own way to the train station. Beware: the TAT offices in there are not official either it is a scam!! They sell you over priced tickets and tell you the train is full, so you have to get a private bus which then takes you to a few more TAT offices picking up other unwitting travellers as ourselves, involving a three hour wait before you get to see the bus.
The bus itself was hilarious. The conductor was the most fantastic lady-boy we have seen so far. Pink miniskirt, matching jacket, clashing lipstick and red painted toe nails who insisted on playing TERRIBLE Thai music on the plasma TV the whole 8 hours. Yes, our bus had a plasma. Insane.
Anyway, we finally arrived in Chaing Mai, have had a fantastic day of elephant rides, jungle trekking, waterfalls and white water rafting. Feeling rather pooped now so will update again soon. Oh and if you are going to go to Chaing Mai, it is worth staying on a Sunday as the night market is fantastic
Much love my little Blog-reading followers :-) xxxxx
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