Cooking and Koh Chang

Cooking Lesson – Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy

Ian signed up for two cooking lessons with the Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy on Saturday. At 8:45, he met Ron, the owner, at Dunkin Donuts just outside the Skytrain stop Asoke. Ron retired to Thailand from Louisiana 3 years ago and looking for a challenge decided to open up a cooking school. The school is run out of his house located on soi 23, in the heart of the Asoke area.

The lesson started with a visit to the market where Ian was introduced to all the ingredients that find their way into Thai cooking: different varieties of eggplant; fruits; spices and herbs; tons of vegetables; meat and fish. Nothing was purchased because all the ingredients were already prepared.

There were four students, the other three being Australian: three males and one female in total. Chef Nat has a vast range of experience cooking Thai food internationally. According to the website, he acquired his love of cooking by helping his aunty in the kitchen in his hometown northwest of Bangkok.  At the academy, he teaches 50 dishes and on that day, the students would be learning 8: papaya salad, pad tai, massaman and green curry paste, creamy tom yum gung, coconut sticky rice with mango, rice custard, and basil chicken. Four dishes in the morning and four in the afternoon.

The students sat on mats cross-legged, a small table in front of them.  The curries were made from scratch and involved vigorous pounding in stone mortar and pestles. 

Garlic, shallots, lemongrass, long beans, rind of kaffir lemons, basil and coriander root, mushrooms, peppers and galangal were chopped on wooden cutting blocks. Stems were removed from lime leaves and leaves picked from basil and coriander plants. Dishes were cooked outside in woks and sauce pans on small gas stoves.

Chef Nat imparted all kinds of wisdom about Thai traditions, where dishes originated and “secret” cooking techniques. Ian said all the food was amazing and he was quite full eating two meals not that far apart. His favourite was the massaman curry. “It was out of this world,” reported Ian.

The day cost 3500 baht, just over 100 dollars. It was one of the cheaper courses offered in Bangkok. The thing we liked about this particular school is that the menu is set up over 7 days so you can sign up for the meals you want to learn how to cook. The Academy changes things up too. Ian might take a third lesson which I encourage because everything he learns there I will benefit from back in Canada!

Koh Chang

Koh Chang is Thailand’s second largest island and is located in the southeast not far from Cambodia. We decided to do this little jaunt because we missed diving and we hoped in our absence, Bangkok would dry out.

I booked a flight on Bangkok Airways and our accommodation through Agoda online. You purchase tickets at the Trat airport for transportation to your hotel via air conditioned van and ferry for 800 baht return. Leaving Sunday, the only flight I could get was at 5pm, arriving in Trat 55 minutes later.  We took a taxi to the Bangkok airport rather than the train for about 200 baht, tip included (6.50) and a 20 – 30 minute drive with no traffic. If only taxis were that cheap back in Canada!

All domestic flights are leaving from the large international airport in Bangkok because the domestic airport is flooded.  The airport is huge and quite busy but we found our way around easily.  We kept busy playing cards until herded onto a bus and taken out to a tiny turboprop plane painted with marine life and water in bright colours.  As we ascended you could see several areas of Thailand still underwater.

Before we knew it, we were landing with the sun setting in the distance leaving a red sky. As we exited the plane, the smell of trees, grass and clean air greeted us and everything seemed peaceful and calm. The tiny airport was open to the air and everyone working greeted us with smiles and “sawat dii” the Thai word for hello. The ticket counter to purchase transfer to the island was easy to find and once we received our luggage, we were ushered onto a large air conditioned van as promised. The ride to the ferry took no time at all and the ferry was there within minutes of our arrival.

Gaja Puri, our hotel, is located towards the southern end of the island. Female staff greeted us with cool washcloths and a delicious welcome drink. We sat in the tiny reception area to fill out the paperwork before being taken on a tour of the property.  Rooms are huts, most of them individual, and there are a few private villas hidden behind tall fences. A wooden sidewalk snakes through the property connecting the rooms and leading you to the pool and beach. The pool is very clean with a built in bench on one side of the pool and large whirlpool with a view of the beach. Here’s a photo of our little beach:

The rooms are spacious with king sized bed, a/c, fan, TV, lots of storage and a gigantic bathroom with separate tub and huge shower. We splurged on this room, getting a good deal. It is originally over 200 dollars but we got it for 138, WIFI and breakfast included.

The next morning we were up early for pickup by BB divers. Breakfast was served on the second floor of a large building at the front of Gaja Puri. There was fruit, homemade bread and jams, yogurt, etc. and an egg making station where you could get poached eggs that we were actually soft; a first for us since arriving in Southeast Asia.  You can just make out the ocean from our breakfast venue and can see the resort huts below:

The BB Divers pickup truck arrived as scheduled, 8:20. The taxis here on the island are pickup trucks with two benches lining the sides of the truck bed and a canopy over top. It was full of tourists so we sat in the cab. The road to the Bong Bai pier was crazy: windy and steep and the driver drove fast. Apparently there are a lot of road accidents on the island. I think they rent scooters to anyone with a driver’s license because clearly some of these people did not know how to ride a motorcycle.  

We piled out and followed the driver down a covered narrow cement pier hemmed in with stores, restaurants and shops built on stilts in the shallow water below. BB Divers was about halfway down extending out to the side and open to a view of the water.  We met Wee, our Dive Master – a thin muscular fellow with dreads, scars and tattoos. We learned later that some of the scars were the result of fish bites.  Just the week previous he had been attacked by two Trigger fish and was bitten on the head (apparently it’s mating season) and another time, a cleaning fish took a nip out of his ankle.

 Our equipment was sorted out and we loaded onto the boat.

Pulling out to the ocean revealed a world you couldn’t see standing on the pier. From the water, we noted several different accommodations: one had a large deck with several yoga practitioners doing their thing; while another had small huts built on stilts connected by a narrow walkway. There were colourful boats for snorkelling, tours and fishing that were either docked or leaving the pier.

BB Divers owns two slow boats and one speed boat. The boat we were on had a freshwater shower, washroom, kitchen area, deck for napping and plenty of seating. In typical Buddhist fashion, the front of the boat was covered in flowers to keep us safe.

The ride to Koh Tien took about an hour and a half. I sat beside a German fellow on route and we chatted to help pass the time. On arrival, we geared up and our entry into the 29 degree water was by giant stride – taking a giant stride off the boat with fins and gear on. It was the first time we had done it since our training in the pool and both of us found it relatively easy. The descent went well, no ear problems (we took decongestants that morning just in case) and we dove at a maximum of 13.4 metres with visibility about 8 metres. The area was covered in urchins and if you weren’t careful, you could get stuck by one. There were also many large sea cucumbers of various colours and some great barrel, leaf, and feather star coral. It was neat seeing mouth-like openings in the coral clamp shut as we swam overhead. Our dive time was 66 minutes, the longest yet.

The boat anchored not far from a secluded beach and the water was a gorgeous blue. We spent an hour swimming and eating a Thai lunch of rice, seafood, and veggies. We chatted with a family from Ottawa who were on a month long vacation. The teenagers were grade 11 and 12 and not one of them was concerned about missing that much school; very different from my students last year who were worried about missing a few days for the England trip we went  on in 2010….

Our second dive was at Koh Yak for 65 minutes at a depth of about 13 metres. During the dive, the weight belt gave me a lot of grief, it kept getting twisted with all the weights on one side so my body would rotate to the left as I was swimming. In the middle of adjusting the belt, it came undone and started slipping off my body. I grabbed the end just in time but one of the weights slipped off and fell to the bottom. I turned the belt around to prevent more weights from falling off. Without weights, I would float and the last thing I wanted was to shoot up to the surface without a safety stop.

The weight wasn’t far below so I swam down to retrieve it. I looped the belt through the slots on the weight, getting it back on (I should have just stuck it in my pocket, oh well). I then attempted to get my belt on. The belt had a cheap plastic latch that was difficult to get done up on the surface let alone with a jacket and tank on under the water. Ian saw that I was having some trouble so he came over to give me a hand – unfortunately as we were working on the belt, we ended up coming up to the surface. Neither of us had realized we were only 5 metres down– which was good because we hadn’t done the safety stop.

Since we had lost our group, we waited on surface for them to appear. When you lose your group underwater, you stay where you are for one minute then surface and wait there. We didn’t have to wait long for our group to surface. We explained what happened with many apologies and down we went to finish the dive.

The second day’s two dives went well. They were about the same amount of time 55 to 65 minutes with depths of 13 metres. The first dive of the day, we saw a great many fish including a large school of barracuda. At the time I had no idea they were barracuda, I just saw this huge school of silver fish so I swam over to them and ended up in the middle with all of them circling around me – it was truly spectacular. It wasn’t till we were on the boat later when Ian asked Wee what kind of barracuda they were that I found out I had been in the middle of them. What a great experience.

We also saw several tiny tan coloured Kuhl stingrays that are covered in blue spots. There were more thick sea cucumbers and one that was about a metre long and snake-like called Godeffroy’s sea cucumber. The reef was again covered in urchins and sea slugs and we were lucky to see two turtles up close:  a Green turtle and a Hawksbill. We saw some huge marbled grouper under a shelf of coral, a lionfish, and a nurse shark. On the second dive we hit a strong current and were swimming against it for some time. That really ate up our air.

When we came up, we were quite far from the boat so the rubber dingy came out to get us. Getting in wasn’t fun at all and I ended up with some pretty serious bruises but getting out was easy.  The divers on BB Divers have a habit of pushing people off the boat so of course one of the instructors tried to throw me off the dingy.  I grabbed him last minute yelling: if I go, so do you – so into the water we went.

We headed back to Koh Chang happy to get some diving in and hope that we hope have to wait long till our next dive!

The last day and a half on Koh Chang we spent at the Gaja Puri pool – sad to say, we didn’t even hit our lovely beach; just soaked up the sun and swam in the pool. Pick up at the hotel was 3pm and we loaded onto our little plane for the trip home. 

Time Spent in Bangkok

Pubs

There are an incredible number of British pubs in our area: Robin Hood, the Londoner, Dubliners, and the Sportsmen to name a few. This is no doubt the result of about 51,000 Britons living here. We’ve visited three and one isn’t that different from the other except in terms of food and specials. All have a number of TV screens playing sports, all offer a variety of spirits, and each one has an interior of dark wood. We were very excited to see breakfast offered at Robin Hood’s so one Saturday morning we treated ourselves to eggs Benedict. Sadly, it was one of the worst breakfasts I’ve had. I’m not sure what the sauce was but it certainly did not taste like Hollandaise.

One Sunday night we tried the carvery at the Londoner and were pleasantly surprised. A variety of salads, smoked salmon, shrimp, cheese, breads, and two kinds of soup were available. The meat was pork, beef and chicken and the chicken was moist. There were scalloped potatoes, cauliflower, mixed veggies, and several desserts. At just under 15 dollars each, it wasn’t cheap but it was worth it.

Khao San Road

Khao San Road is a backpacker’s haven and where we stayed 14 years ago on our first visit to Bangkok. At that time, I remember thinking it was a super place to stay. There were used bookstores with books in English, restaurants serving Western food playing pirated movies in English, and there were Westerners everywhere! Living in Korea at the time, I was somewhat starved for Western culture; this time I had no desire to return there.

Then we read that it had evolved – and according to Lonely Planet, was “the coolest district in Bangkok.” Since everything was closed due to the 5 day ‘National Holiday’, we decided to pay a visit. Our first flagged taxi frowned and refused to take us there, the second agreed but on route worried about flooding and one road we travelled on did have about a foot of water across it but Khao San itself was dry.

We walked the length – about 500 metres - and left.  The place felt dirty and seedy and neither of us was impressed. There were a few open air restaurants with cheap plastic tables and chairs, a MacDonald’s and a Burger King, two food vendors both making pad tai, several vendors selling Tshirts with logos like ‘I heart Bangkok’ or ‘Let the Froth be with You’ (Starbucks). Other vendors sold loose dresses, baggie pants, hair bands, bracelets, and bags, and three vendors sold fake I.D.s. Signs sticking out of buildings advertised hotels and coffee shops and dark alleys with more shops branched off the main road. I hope that Bangkok offers more options than Khao San Road for the budget traveller. It wasn’t a place I’d want to stay.

We decided to head to Siam Paragon for their spectacular food court and a tuk tuk driver tried to convince us to go with him for 100 baht. We laughed because we knew a taxi was only about 80 so we chose the comfort of a/c for less. Lunch was seafood tum yom gung for Ian and pad tai again for me (I can’t help it, it’s so yummy!). Lunch came to about 6 dollars total.

Planetarium

On arrival to Bangkok, we discovered a tourist book in our house called Top 10 Bangkok and we have been using it a lot. Under Top 10 Children’s Activities was the Planetarium at the Science Centre so we headed there today. The address was 289 Sukhumvit so we took a taxi in the direction we thought it would be but the numbers started going up instead of down so the cab turned around and went the other way to find the same thing happening. It was most strange. Luckily we had the book with us so the cab driver called for directions and it turned out that we had headed the right way to begin with. The poor driver kept apologizing but it wasn’t his fault.

The lady in the ticket booth informed us the planetarium didn’t open till 2:00 (it was 11am) so we bought a ticket for the science centre and went in. To our dismay, everything was in Thai. You’d think if the place was recommended in a tourist book, they would have said it was in Thai. Ian and I made the best of it but it was pretty boring. We couldn’t read anything and there was a lot to read. We grabbed some lunch and then visited the building on site called the Aqua-life Centre. It was very small with a few aquariums inside with some species of fish that we haven’t seen before. We poked about and then headed to the planetarium.

An older female employee met us at the door. She looked at our tickets, mumbled under her breath looking at the clock then said something to the security guard. He came from behind the desk, turned on a flashlight and motioned for us to follow him into the theatre. Turns out, there’s a show that STARTS at 2pm and it was already underway.

It was pitch black inside and we settled down into our seats. They didn’t lean back very far so we mostly had to crane our necks to look at the sky of stars above us. The narration was in Thai so again, we were out of luck. I don’t understand why this was listed in an English tourist book! The show went on for another 30 minutes.  It got frightening at the end when large meteors hit the earth causing tidal waves and destruction (I swear I heard the word Hiroshima). Strange.

A Thai Restaurant

We decided to head west of our street and found a fantastic Thai restaurant called Puangkaew located on 108 Sukhumvit soi 23. It’s a tiny place where one can feel comfortable in shorts or dress. We ordered som tum thai (spicy papaya salad), rice, tom kah gai (chicken coconut soup) and red curry with chicken. The papaya salad was spicy and fresh, the broth in the soup was delicious but the red curry was the dish that really topped the meal. It was amazing. I think our meal with two ice teas came to about 12 dollars. We’ll definitely be back.

The Snake Farm (Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute)

In 1929, his Royal Highness the Prince and VP of the Red Cross Society of Siam, persuaded his three siblings, friends and relatives to donate funds to help with the treatment of patients hurt by venomous animals, as well as, aid in the construction costs of the Simaseng building for public education.  After 70 years of operation, the Simaseng building becoming dilapidated and was rebuilt by the Red Cross Society with an opening ceremony in 2008.

Apparently Thailand has over 200 different kinds of snakes with 60 of those being venomous so you can see why there is need for such a centre as Simaseng. Here they not only educate the public but produce anti-venom serum for snake bites nationwide. Venomous snakes are milked daily to produce the serum (which you can see at an earlier show). Some of these poisonous snakes have been found in kitchens, along roads, and in backyards so it isn’t just in the jungles that you can come across one.

We arrived just before the 2:30 show and were rewarded with quite an experience.  The audience is seated on raked cement benches and one at a time, different snakes are brought out. Often they are let loose on the pavement before the audience. Only one snake tried to get away; most sit waiting for a chance to strike the handler.

The MC spoke in both Thai and English and explained the various snakes and the effects of their venom to a mixed audience of Thai, Western, adult and children. He showed us his finger where 5 years ago, he was bitten by a snake. He spent a month in the hospital where he almost died. He explained that snakes have very poor eyesight so when you come across one, you should remain very still as they will only strike when you move. It is also interesting to note, that should you be holding a snake, their eyes will stay riveted on your head so they don’t think to bite the arm holding them.

We were introduced to the King Cobra, the Siamese Cobra (which was quite pretty), the Banded Krait, a green Pit Viper, a Sunbeam snake that sparkles as the sun hits it, and few others that I cannot remember. One snake could actually jump to 2 metres – that’s the one that tried to get away. It was fast! The best was the Burmese python because we were invited us to get our photo with it. No one volunteered but I sure did.  Down I went with Ian close behind.

The snake was very heavy and although hard and dry to the touch, was also soft; sort of like a hard pillow with a tough exterior. The snake moved around a bit to get its bearings but mostly it was inert. Once Ian and I got our photos the Western people in the audience lined up but no Thai people joined us. I managed to squeeze in a photo at the end solo.

Following this little adventure, we went into the exhibition building where we learned more about snakes: skin shedding, eggs, babies, various snake bites and what to do when bitten, etc.  Outside, we wandered around examining different snakes in natural looking habitats. There was a huge elephant snake twirled around a tree stump and in a large cage were two cobras sitting up looking at us ready to strike. Most of the snakes were curled up sleeping. Overall, it was a good day.

Week Two in Bangkok

National Museum

We found a taxi to again take us to the museum. I called ahead to make sure it was opened and was told “yes, open.”  Turned out that several areas were actually closed due to renovations, but since we didn’t find this out until we arrived - and this was our second attempt - we decided to go in.

The site for the museum was originally the home of the Second King of Thailand but Rama V decided to abolish the role of second king and turned the building into the country’s first museum.  The first gallery gives an overview of Thai history and offers theories on the origins of the Thai people. Along the route, visitors follow the many wars that Thailand has fought and the history of Thai royalty.

We poked our head into the temple built in 1787 for the Second King. The walls and ceilings were covered in murals and floors gleamed. We also went into the Red House, an example of an Ayutthaya style teak house originally the home of Rama I’s sister, but the building we liked the most was the Royal Funeral Chariots Gallery.

As you can see, the carriages are elaborately decorated and weigh several tons.

Large urns that carry the ashes of royalty are pulled by hundreds of men through the streets. Some of the urns were delicately carved sandalwood and stood a couple metres high.

We had a difficult time getting a taxi out of the area. It’s a high tourist area so everyone is looking to make a buck and no one wants to use the metre. We finally found one but then he wanted to take us to a seafood restaurant which we begged off saying we were not hungry.

Asian Herb Association

Since it was so early in the day, we decided to head to the Asian Herb Association for a massage (recommended by our housemate Sara). It’s just off soi 31, our road, and is open daily 9am to 2am. 

Upon entering, we felt we were in the right place.  The English speaking girls at the desk helped us decide which treatment to get and we filled out a form showing which areas we wanted our therapist to focus on.  The spa’s speciality is using hot herb satchels (or herb balls) filled with basil, ginger, carrot leaves, citronella, lemongrass, etc., so we went for the 90 minute massage with the herbs for 700 baht or 23 dollars each.

Our shoes were replaced with a pair of fancy slippers and we were served hot lemongrass tea. After our feet were washed, we were led to a private room where we changed into very comfortable pyjamas. The room had a cupboard for our clothing and a wooden platform with two massage beds (mattresses) lying a few feet apart. Our massage therapists returned and instructed us to lie down.

They started with our feet and eventually sat on the bed with us pulling and twisting our legs in all sorts of weird positions. At one point, they dug their feet into our thighs and cradled our legs in their laps so they could pummel them better with their fingers. It was invigorating. After about 45 minutes, they asked us to remove our pyjamas and off they went to retrieve the herbal balls. The satchels were filled with the sweet smelling herbs and were quite hot. These were firmly dabbed about our bodies. When they cooled off, they were replaced with hot ones. It probably seems a bit odd if you haven’t had this done, but it felt wonderful. Following this, our backs, necks and head were massaged. The 90 minutes was over in no time and we have every intention of returning.

Flooding

The flooding concerns grow and the government has announced a 5 day national holiday beginning Thursday with schools closed until Nov. 9^th. Apparently the smaller of the two Bangkok airports has had some flooding and the evacuees temporarily housed there have been told to leave. I called a few places this morning but everything seems to be closed so Ian and I are at a coffee shop reading and blogging. Sara is headed to Singapore for a few days on a visa run. We thought about going for a weekend jaunt but that’s what many Thais are doing and neither of us wants to deal with the massive crowds at the airport or the traffic jams on the highways.

Our homeowner called from Afghanistan to check in. Potential tourists who had booked the third room in her house have cancelled so she offered it to us – it has a TV and tub so we’re changing rooms. Denise also recommended an Italian restaurant so we’re going to check it out.

Antonio’s

Antonio’s is an Italian restaurant a few feet down a side street off soi 31 not far from Sukhumvit. We didn’t realize there was a dress code but they let Ian in with shorts because ‘it was our first time.” During the course of our dinner two other men came in wearing shorts and others wore jeans but maybe it was their ‘first time’ too. Who knows?

I ordered rucola salad with shaved parmesan and cherry tomatoes and Ian had the lobster bisque. The soup had chunks of lobster and although strong tasting, Ian reported it as delicious. My salad was good but was unfortunately drenched in dressing so next time I’ll ask for the dressing on the side. All diners receive a plate of bread sticks, slices of baguette, and a dish of tomato relish. For our main course, I had fettuccine al pesto and Ian had the restaurant’s signature dish: mushroom stuffed ravioli with creamy truffle sauce that was rich and yummy. We had the house white wine that complimented the pasta dishes well and topped everything off with a homemade lemon liqueur recommended by Antonio himself.

Antonio came around to all tables greeting his diners. I explained that Denise had recommended the restaurant to us and after our meal he joined us for a drink. Antonio was born to Italian parents who immigrated to Australia. His cooking is self-taught but his basic knowledge of Italian food came from the women in his family – mother, aunty, and godmothers. The secret behind his success is putting his diners first and although, as Antonio explains, he may not know how to plate a meal, he does know how to cook one that will please his customers.

The current restaurant was built two years ago with a small parking lot out front and garden in the back. There are two private rooms on the second floor and the seating on the first is carefully arranged. There are apparently 300 Italian restaurants in Thailand. We chatted about politics, the restaurant business, Australia and Cuba (Antonio’s wife is Cuban). It was a great way to spend an evening.

Transportation

We’ve managed to use the Skytrain a fair bit and Ian has even gone on a water taxi (but we’re avoiding those for a while until the river goes down).  For the Skytrain, customers can load up cards with trips according to set prices. You cannot enter or leave without using a card as there are physical barriers in the way. These move once your card is scanned. For a single trip, the card is fed into a slot and not returned; for multiple use cards, trips are subtracted on the exit.

We use taxis a lot because they are dirt cheap and we’ve even used motorcycle taxis. Using a bike each can sometimes be cheaper than both of us going in a taxi. For one trip, it was 10 baht (about 40 cents) each whereas a taxi would have been about 50 baht. When I first saw these taxis in action (many Westerners and Thai women use them) I thought I would never use one because passengers are not given helmets. After a while, you just shrug and go with the flow.

Taxis are my favourite way to travel but sometimes the drivers don’t like where you’re going and they’ll turn you down or refuse to use the metre. One time we walked up to a busier road because we were not having any luck getting a cab where we were. We finally saw a free one, flagged it and climbed into the back seat after the driver agreed to take us where we wanted. However, he ended up ditching us right back where we had walked from because he refused to use the metre and we refused to pay the exorbitant fee he was asking. We’ve also had drivers use our dime to get gas but it only ended up costing us an extra 5 baht so we ignored it.

Sometimes the easiest way to get a taxi is outside a mall. We often grab one in front of the Emporium. Outside hotels however doesn’t always work. After Calypso Cabaret in the Asia Hotel, one driver demanded double what we knew it would cost to get home so we just waited for the next cab to come along and he took us using his metre.

We’ve also used the metro and it is the cleanest subway system I’ve ever seen. Both the metro and the Skytrain are air conditioned and freezing! You are not allowed to eat or drink on either which certainly helps keep things tidy. There’s only one subway line. You go down about three levels to get the train going in one direction and down two for the other direction. There are escalators everywhere and a security check that you walk through before entering the subway. On our exit, we passed through huge steel doors that are clearly meant to be closed and locked tight with trouble (A bomb? Flooding?). Along the train track are walls like at airport rail stations so you cannot get anywhere near the tracks. When the train arrives, it lines up with the doors and two sets open. Passengers line up at both the subway and the Skytrain; all very civilized.