Master Chef

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1/19/19

This morning we had a cooking class with our buddies at the college. Our buddies taught us how to make green curry, red curry, papaya salad, Pad Thai, TubTimGrob (waterchestnut in coconut milk), and butterfly pea juice. There were different stations set up with all the different recipes. We started at the green curry and red curry station and then moved down the line until we got to the drink and dessert station. I helped make the Pad Thai dish and the best part was that it was gluten free. They were so sweet and made all the meals gluten free for us. Necktie (my buddy) helped me make the Pad Thai and he called himself the “Master Chef”. The papaya salad recipe called for ten Thai chili peppers, but we could only handle half of a chili pepper because it was so spicy. Most Thai people like their food spicy. After we finished making all the dishes we ate lunch with our buddies and then headed to the umbrella factory in the afternoon.

On our way to the umbrella factory we stopped at Sankamphaeng Hot Springs. At the one part of the hot springs it was boiling water so you could hard boil eggs. Molly and I bought a basket of chicken eggs and boiled them in the hot springs. They had little hooks on the side of the hot springs where you could stick your basket to hard boil your eggs. We put our eggs in for the suggested time of 15 minute, but they were still a little slimy, so I did not eat them. Molly ate one, but we mostly just wanted to do it for the experience. Once we finished boiling our eggs we went over to the part of the springs where you could put your feet in. The water had minerals in it that made your feet soft after 15 min. Of course, we found coffee and drank it by the hot springs. I think I have bought a latte just about every day here. The coffee tastes delicious and it is only about a dollar or two for a latte. After we spent a few hours at the hot springs we finished our journey to the umbrella factory.

The umbrella factory had vendors set up in the back of the factory where people were painting various items. You could bring just about any item to them and they would paint what you wanted. For example, people were getting their golf clubs painted, phone cases, and t-shirts. Also, there were ladies making umbrellas in the back of the factory. In the front of the factory they had a shop full of handmade umbrellas with paintings on them and other knickknacks.

Outside the umbrella factory there was an umbrella festival, which was like the walking streets we have previously visited. Therefore, the rest of the evening we walked around the festival and bought more souvenirs and food. We found these beautiful vases that were only about three to four dollars, so of course we had to buy a few. Also, we found one of our new favorite desserts, called Roti. It is a delicious pastry that tastes like a donut. We ended our evening listening to a band playing “God is good”. It was amazing to hear this in a country that is 95% Buddhist.

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