An early night last night just meant it would be an early morning wake up for cooking. Seeing as I hadn't cooked for weeks, I thought navigating myself around a kitchen would be a little difficult without a good nights rest!
We were dropped at the market where we met our cooking instructor named Chet who showed us the ingredients we would be using to cook throughout the day.
We were then given the opportunity to explore the market and buy fruit. Typical me... (I've been so clumsy on this trip...) I dropped my first piece of Mangosteen on the floor whilst trying to peel it and then dropped the second one on my top (which is now stained and won't be seeing the light of day again... sniff). However I did manage to consume the Dragon fruit I brought safely and without any accidents thankfully.
We then walked to the cooking school where we were given a list of dishes and told to choose five that we would like to cook. I decided to make: Pad Thai, Local Hot and Sour Chicken Soup, Spring Rolls, Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango and Phanang Curry with Chicken.
It was so much fun as Chet referred to a full spoon as 'pregnant' and chilli powder as 'sexy'... Its not the cooking I've taken away from this but it will be the nicknames (at least I have a recipe book to remind me of the food)!
I really felt the heat when I was cooking the filling for the Spring Rolls for the whole group. I tried hard to stir and not let it burn but cooking in a Wok is harder than it looks. Charlotte managed to capture me cooking... something which I know the family will use on me in the future 'you cooked in Thailand you should cook here too', thanks Charlotte?!
The food was oh so delicious... I totally hope I can make it taste exactly how it did when I made it then. Something tells me it won't though.
We also met two other people from our hostel who also joined us at the cooking class- Vincent and Pippa. They both joined us for the rest of the evening too and were also joined by Chris and Faith who were also staying at the hostel.
It's show time:
After another night time exploration in the night market for goodies; myself, Charlotte and Roseanne ate an amazing chicken shawarma wrap from a lady on a stall and also the most delicious chocolate paratha freshly made... I can still taste it as I write this.
We then headed to a free (yes free) lady boy cabaret. It was the best show ever! It didn't last long but its worth seeing. The happy faces of the singers and dancers (and even the waitress/waiter), the classic caberet show songs and (oh yes) disco lights made it seems so surreal. It's definitely a must do in Chiang Mai and even the boys liked it.
That night... according to Charlotte I fell asleep 'charging' (I just fell asleep with my headphones in and sprawled accross my bed... Well it was a power nap not a sleep)!
Thai massage:
Now I'm definitely not one for massages but this one sorted my achy calves and strain in my shoulders right out! She even made my toes pop (I have never heard my toes pop)! But throughout it I could not stop laughing... I think I'm just overly ticklish!
Jumping off a crane:
So the day we had to leave Chiang Mai a few of us had decided to do a bungee jump (crazy right?) I was actually quite glad for this as I had decided to do one on my birthday... So glad I had people with me for this!
After a full breakfast including a croissant too, we were taken to the activity centre in Chiang Mai for the plunge... literally!
Now no idea what happened next but when the guy asked who would like to go first my clever mouth opened and said me (something I still kind of regret to this day).
I was taken to the base of the crane and began to get prepped for my jump. They put me on a scale (the last time I weighed myself I was quite happy. What I wasn't happy about this time was the fact I had put on a few kilograms since I'd been here... they wrote it with a black marker so it was stuck on my hand for the rest of the day! How subtle... I even put down a packet of crisp because of the kind reminder on my hand!) They used velcro to put my legs together, tightly tied my ankles with elastic and asked if I was ready... I sure was! I have no idea where I got the strength from but I had something. There was a photographer to capture all my nervous smiles too, great! One thing I was grateful for was the the elevator up to the top and not stairs... Don't think I could have hopped all the way up.
Once at the top the photographer told me three things... not to jump feet first, to put my arms out and then look back up towards him so he could take a picture.
So I hopped to the edge... looked straight ahead, lifted my arms and... (you expect me to say jump here but that wasn't the case!)... I froze. My legs were jelly. I honestly just wanted to jump but couldn't figure out how to throw myself head first off a crane (if I did, then you guys should have been worried)! So the photographer counted down and I counted down with him and... I was still standing there. According to those below I was up there for quite a while... It didn't feel like that!
I eventually got the guts (and a surprise little push from the photographer) and went feet first (stupid!) But eventually I flipped and started diving head first. I could see myself heading towards the pond and then I was suddenly sprung back up into the air...
It was the most exhilarating experience ever and as you stop bouncing... this next bit was scary too. Grabbing the pole so they could pull you in. I guess it was kind of fun as you're fighting against the spring of the elastic while they pull you. I could literally feel myself be pulled apart. With a little 'in the air forward roll' and a lie down near the crane, I was freed from all the restraints and took a final picture with my certificate to show them, myself and you all at home I'd done it!
With my CD of pictures and T-shirt of the place we headed back to the hostel to grab our stuff and make the journey (by bus) back to the remaining eight days of school.
We were dropped at the market where we met our cooking instructor named Chet who showed us the ingredients we would be using to cook throughout the day.
We were then given the opportunity to explore the market and buy fruit. Typical me... (I've been so clumsy on this trip...) I dropped my first piece of Mangosteen on the floor whilst trying to peel it and then dropped the second one on my top (which is now stained and won't be seeing the light of day again... sniff). However I did manage to consume the Dragon fruit I brought safely and without any accidents thankfully.
We then walked to the cooking school where we were given a list of dishes and told to choose five that we would like to cook. I decided to make: Pad Thai, Local Hot and Sour Chicken Soup, Spring Rolls, Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango and Phanang Curry with Chicken.
It was so much fun as Chet referred to a full spoon as 'pregnant' and chilli powder as 'sexy'... Its not the cooking I've taken away from this but it will be the nicknames (at least I have a recipe book to remind me of the food)!
I really felt the heat when I was cooking the filling for the Spring Rolls for the whole group. I tried hard to stir and not let it burn but cooking in a Wok is harder than it looks. Charlotte managed to capture me cooking... something which I know the family will use on me in the future 'you cooked in Thailand you should cook here too', thanks Charlotte?!
The food was oh so delicious... I totally hope I can make it taste exactly how it did when I made it then. Something tells me it won't though.
We also met two other people from our hostel who also joined us at the cooking class- Vincent and Pippa. They both joined us for the rest of the evening too and were also joined by Chris and Faith who were also staying at the hostel.
It's show time:
After another night time exploration in the night market for goodies; myself, Charlotte and Roseanne ate an amazing chicken shawarma wrap from a lady on a stall and also the most delicious chocolate paratha freshly made... I can still taste it as I write this.
We then headed to a free (yes free) lady boy cabaret. It was the best show ever! It didn't last long but its worth seeing. The happy faces of the singers and dancers (and even the waitress/waiter), the classic caberet show songs and (oh yes) disco lights made it seems so surreal. It's definitely a must do in Chiang Mai and even the boys liked it.
That night... according to Charlotte I fell asleep 'charging' (I just fell asleep with my headphones in and sprawled accross my bed... Well it was a power nap not a sleep)!
Thai massage:
Now I'm definitely not one for massages but this one sorted my achy calves and strain in my shoulders right out! She even made my toes pop (I have never heard my toes pop)! But throughout it I could not stop laughing... I think I'm just overly ticklish!
Jumping off a crane:
So the day we had to leave Chiang Mai a few of us had decided to do a bungee jump (crazy right?) I was actually quite glad for this as I had decided to do one on my birthday... So glad I had people with me for this!
After a full breakfast including a croissant too, we were taken to the activity centre in Chiang Mai for the plunge... literally!
Now no idea what happened next but when the guy asked who would like to go first my clever mouth opened and said me (something I still kind of regret to this day).
I was taken to the base of the crane and began to get prepped for my jump. They put me on a scale (the last time I weighed myself I was quite happy. What I wasn't happy about this time was the fact I had put on a few kilograms since I'd been here... they wrote it with a black marker so it was stuck on my hand for the rest of the day! How subtle... I even put down a packet of crisp because of the kind reminder on my hand!) They used velcro to put my legs together, tightly tied my ankles with elastic and asked if I was ready... I sure was! I have no idea where I got the strength from but I had something. There was a photographer to capture all my nervous smiles too, great! One thing I was grateful for was the the elevator up to the top and not stairs... Don't think I could have hopped all the way up.
Once at the top the photographer told me three things... not to jump feet first, to put my arms out and then look back up towards him so he could take a picture.
So I hopped to the edge... looked straight ahead, lifted my arms and... (you expect me to say jump here but that wasn't the case!)... I froze. My legs were jelly. I honestly just wanted to jump but couldn't figure out how to throw myself head first off a crane (if I did, then you guys should have been worried)! So the photographer counted down and I counted down with him and... I was still standing there. According to those below I was up there for quite a while... It didn't feel like that!
I eventually got the guts (and a surprise little push from the photographer) and went feet first (stupid!) But eventually I flipped and started diving head first. I could see myself heading towards the pond and then I was suddenly sprung back up into the air...
It was the most exhilarating experience ever and as you stop bouncing... this next bit was scary too. Grabbing the pole so they could pull you in. I guess it was kind of fun as you're fighting against the spring of the elastic while they pull you. I could literally feel myself be pulled apart. With a little 'in the air forward roll' and a lie down near the crane, I was freed from all the restraints and took a final picture with my certificate to show them, myself and you all at home I'd done it!
With my CD of pictures and T-shirt of the place we headed back to the hostel to grab our stuff and make the journey (by bus) back to the remaining eight days of school.
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| The Living Place in Chiang Mai and the family we made there. |
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| Market time! |
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| Indoor and there was also an outdoor kitchen for the groups which had half day experiences... not us we opted for the full day. |
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| Me in a cute elephant apron. I did cheekily ask if I could take it but he said no. |
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| My first dish cooking... the local hot and sour chicken soup |
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| And here it is!! |
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| Before: Pad Thai |
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| After: Pad Thai |
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| Before the spring rolls are cooked... filled them and rolled them and everything I did! |
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| Fried spring rolls with sweet chili dip! |
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| The spices which needed mushing for the Phanang chicken curry |
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| And here it is. It's similar to the red curry but only difference is the peanuts. |
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| Before dessert.... |
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| Oh yes! Definitely making this when I get home!! Pass the fresh mango! |
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| So we don't forget how to cook... how cool is that! |
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| The amazing chicken shawarma wrap (yes we were still hungry after eating all the food we made earlier!) |
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| And yes... dessert! |
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| The night market near the cabaret. |
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| Amelia and me at the cabaret |
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