Of Chiang Mai and Gap's Cooking Classes

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Slowly but surely, the holiday is winding down. We have moved on to Bangkok for our last few days in and are sitting poolside in 30 something degree weather and sunshine. The flight from Chiang Mai was short, about an hour, and uneventful, one of the smoothest flights we have been on.

This week was pretty interesting. We won seven nights at a five star resort anywhere in the world. It was a scratch and win type of thing and Nancy won one of the top prizes. It seems to be legit since the resort company was featured in the local paper opening up a new office in Chiang Mai and they have a huge website. The contest was a promotional event for the company. Never a dull moment! And I got an email from the Hong Kong Tourism Board asking for permission to use photos/video/posts from my blog on their website.

But back to Chiang Mai for a bit. I ended up taking a two day course on Thai cooking earlier this week through Gap's Guesthouse. It was great! Over the two days we got to prepare and cook fifteen or twenty of the most popular Thai dishes. Each day started with a trip to the local market to become familiar with the fresh spices and ingredients necessary. It was interesting seeing things such as fresh turmeric, tamarind, and lemongrass. One of the things that boggled our minds was the variety of eggplants from tiny grape sized to the more familiar ones that we all recognize. We all decided that we could do without the fresh ant eggs that are used as a condiment. Apparently, they are sprinkled on some things for a little extra pizzazz! Hopefully, I will be able to find most of the necessary stuff when we return to Wuhan. Now that I know what everything looks like, it should not be a problem. I stocked up on a bunch of stuff today at the local supermarket and Nancy purchased a few bags of chocolate chips, another item we can't get in China.

I was the only one who returned to Part 2 of the course since the rest were on a tight schedule and moving on to another part of their trip. So I got one-on-one instruction with another teacher while a group of new students did Part 1. It was great coming back for a second day since I had lots of questions from the first day after going home and thinking about what I had learned. Evey day I got to pig out on my morning creations for lunch and bring home the afternoon dishes for dinner.

We loved Chiang Mai and have been glad we decided to only visit one country instead of several like many of the people we have run across. A lot of them have seemed pretty stressed out as they jump from point A to point B. We have had a lot of lazing around time and don't feel like we need a holiday after our holiday for a change! We heard a couple of screaming matches last week between trekkers and tour operator offices so obviously not everyone is having a great time lol.

For our last week in Thailand, we have decided to splurge a bit and are in a honeymoon room at the Ramada D'Ma until Friday and then fly back to China. It seems like we have been on holiday forever and we are not looking forward to the cooler weather we will be returning to in Wuhan. I think I feel a case of the flu coming on...

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Photos

Tha Pae Gate
We stayed very close to here. Any special activities going on took place in the large open area in front of the gate.