Day Five. 10th Sept. 2009 - Thai food at the Asia Scenic Thai cooking school
Although Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand only 170,000 people live here which means it's pretty quiet, especially this time of the year. Therefore during your visit you have to plan your days and organize activities. Unless of course temples are your thing.
Today's activity was Thai cooking. We took a half-day cooking class at the Asia Scenic Thai cooking school. The class is run by a very friendly and enthuestic lady called Gayray. We were picked up from our hotel and taken to the cooking school and after meeting our fellow students, Arial (Argentinean) & David (Italian) from Spain, Oliver & Louise from South Wales, we headed out to the market. Gayray explained some of the finer points of rice and noodle varieties and we toured the market for 20 or so minutes prior to returning to the school for some hot cooking action. Before cooking, we then had a tour of the organic herb garden and an explanation of the main herbs used in Thai cuisine.
So, the concept of the course was to choose 3 items to cook and eat from 5 categories (Appetizer, Noodle, Stir fried, Soup and Dessert) and then a curry paste and a curry. I chose spring rolls, Pad Thai and sweet & sour (the classics) whilst Gisela went for the Glassnoodle salad, Pad see wu and Hot basil stir fry, for the curry course I went for green curry with egg plant and tofu, Gisela selected Khaw soi with chicken.
Gayray explained how to cook each of the dishes and provided the ingredients and off we went to our respective woks. All of the recipes were highly successful; the spring rolls crispy, Gisela's stir fry was excellently cooked and the curry was top class. After each dish we sat down to eat prior to cooking the next course. We took the half day course which is more than enough. We left at 2pm completly full with good Thai food and left the remaining folks to finish with a soup and dessert. If you should decide to take such a course I recommend the half day version
unless you are a big eater!
After a dip in the pool and a spot of sunbathing we headed out to arrange tomorrows activities; more on that subject tomorrow.
Gisela wanted a pedicure so we headed off to the nearest Spa and Massage called Baan Lanna. Whilst Gisela had a pedicure I tried out a Thai foot massage. The masseur starts by washing your feet in lime water and then gives them a quick run with alcohol. Then for 30 minutes per foot she massages some Thai herbal lotion on your feet, in between your toes and ten uses a pencil shaped implement to apply all over the foot and in between your toes. Finally finishing by giving the feet and legs a good physical beating with her clenched fist. For a little lady with a big smile she was pretty strong. I didn't quite realize how strong until she finished me off with a neck and back massage which was quite possibly one of the most painful experiences I've had in a very long time. Afterwards however I felt like I was wearing someone else's feet and I'd been beaten around the neck with a goal post.
Well worth 4 Euros! (I think)
This is the start of my Thai massage experiment. I'm psyching myself up for the real traditional Thai massage; the one where they bend you over in half (the wrong way) and drag you through a burning fire of hot coals. That one is for another day.
We (well I at least) hobbled back to the hotel for a cocktail on the balcony before heading out to another night market for dinner.
The night market is really for the tourists of Chiang Mai but if you walk past the main market and follow the Changklan Road and the Wichayanon Road for another kilometer or so you will reach a second market called the Warorot market. This is where the locals shop. We were the only foreigners on the market. I thought there was a lot of fake stuff on the night market but it seems that everything on this market is fake: bags, shoes, jeans, perfumes, watches
everything was a rip off of something. You can even buy fake perfume by the liter, choose one or many bottles for the perfume and they will fill them for you on the market stall. We also saw puppy dogs with prices on their foreheads. A bargain at 800 Bhat (16 Euros) I was all for buying one but Gisela was no so keen
something about planes and customs worried her. Close to the market, there is a very old and very nice café called The Old Café of Chiang Mai. They sell a lot of local artists work here. We found 4 very large paintings (one of an elephant and a gold and red lotus triptych) we are hoping to buy the paintings and have them shipped back to Paris. If we are successful these will be a gift from Jason's parents!! More updates on Saturday when we go back to the café to meet the artist.
Following the visit to Warorot market we ran into our fellow cookery students David and Arial who were doing some last minute shopping prior to heading south. A quick beer, goodbyes and back to the hotel!
Jason & Gisela (on the terrace enjoying a final beer of the day)
Today's addresses
Asia Scenic Thai cooking school
31 Ratchadamnern Soi 5,
Muang district,
Chiang Mai
Tel +66 84 6400 988
www.asiascenic.com
gayray@asiascenic.comBaan Lanna Spa & Massage
89/1-2 Ratchpakeenai Road
Phrasing Muang
Chiang Mai
Tel +66 83 864 2098
