long lost friends

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Just the way it was when we left?

We went for breakfast early on our first morning as we are off on our Thai Cooking course with the crew from Phuket Thai Cookery School. Just a light breakfast as we are assured that we will be eating lots throughout the day, on the menu we have Tom Yam Goong, Phad Thai, Khao Niew Mamuang, Kaeng Kiew Wan Gai, Kai Pad Med Ma Muang and Poa Pea Tod or in other words hot and spicy prawn soup, stir fried noodles with prawns, sticky rice and mango, green curry chicken and spring rolls.

After being picked we were taken to the biggest fresh food market in Phuket where we were shown how to choose the freshest ingredients and also picked up some of the ones we would require for today. After the market we made our way to the beachside location that would make a nice backdrop while we cooked and ate our way through the day. The instructors and staff here were magnificent and even though there were 20 people in the class there were plenty of instructors and you always got individual attention. Ben, Get, Ollie and Janny in particular were Awesome and very helpful. The food was awesome and we left very full and with much more confidence in being able to reproduce these dishes in our own kitchens. Although the courses here are more expensive than some of the other ones around I highly recommend the staff and courses here.

While we were at breakfast we were surprised that there were no familiar faces among the staff and very sad not to see Wannee however we found out later that she now works in Papaya restaurant and Banana disco, seeing as we were so full from our day of cooking we decided that a light dinner at Papaya would be the order of the evening and would be a good opportunity to see Wannee. After a very warm greeting from Wannee it was at this point that we really started to feel like we were back in comfortable surroundings.

We were happy that things were so quiet in Patong this year compared to previous years as it gave us plenty of time to catch up with Wannee and find out some of the things that have gone on with the hotel since last year. As we had already noticed Wannee told us that almost all the staff had been changed by the new management and many things had changed but not for the better. The current generation of staff with the exception of Wannee and maybe 2 or 3 other's from what we have seen are all new, young and not very welcoming, you get the impression from them that they are only there because they are getting paid. We have had to ask on most occasions just to get tea and coffee at breakfast and you very rarely if at all get a smile with any of the service if you can even call it service.

Although we were disappointed with the changes at the hotel it is good to see that some things do not change with Wannee treating us like we had never left and after several unsuccessful attempts we finally got Mr Tom on the phone and arranged to be picked up at 11am on Saturday morning.

When he arrived he was very happy to see us and his wife Anna greeted us very excitedly as we jumped in and headed off to Kata beach so I could stop by Phuket Scuba Club and get fitted out with the equipment I needed for the Diving course I had scheduled for Sunday and Monday. I really hadn't timed it well so although I was able to be fitted I needed to come back a bit later in the day to finalise everything else.

Colli had not been feeling well for a few days now so was not up to doing a few of the things that I had planned on doing on this day so we asked Tom for some ideas to kill some time before lunch, much to Colli's dismay he suggested we go see the King Cobra show near Chalong bay where we were planning on going for lunch. As a favour to Tom we went along paid the fee and had a look around the park while we waited for the next show to begin with Colli getting more and more nervous by the moment. When the show started we sat right up the back so Colli could be as far away from the snakes as possible.

Unlike some of the other show's around I'm here to tell you these snakes are fully functional with their fangs and venom well and truly intact and these guys are crazy to do what they do with the main handler proudly showing he is one and bit fingers short of a full hand after an accident with a Thai cobra not so long ago. After Colli had the shit scared out of her as we were leaving we decided to go next door to the shooting range to work off her frustration and yes she did beat me.

After the shooting range we headed off for lunch at a restaurant we had been to when we came with the boys two years ago and apart from some new buildings and extensions not much has changed. It is really cheap with great views overlooking Chalong Bay and the food is awesome although after a mishap with Colli's order of Yum Woon Sen being loaded with seafood instead of the pork she was hoping for I would suggest if you are not a fan of seafood unless the menu says otherwise you might want to find out if it contains seafood or not.

After lunch we headed back to the dive shop where after talking with Kevan the owner we found out that I could have been diving for years as the certification I had received as a junior was still valid so he suggested that providing I could satisfy the instructor that I still had good knowledge and understanding of the basic fundamentals of diving then I should do the advanced open water diving course instead. So the start date was pushed back to Monday and I left the shop with an extremely large amount of reading to do.

Colli was feeling a little unwell by this time so we decided it would be an earlier day than we had planned and I also needed to get some passport photos taken for the diving course so we got Tom to drop us off at Jungceylon where after paying and saying good bye to Tom, Anna and Ball we went and had a coffee before finding a shop across the road to get the photos done at we were told I could pick them up at five and seeing as though it was already 330 ish we decided to go into Jungceylon where Colli had a pedicure and foot massage while I wandered around the shops.

After getting back to the hotel I set about the task of studying while Colli watched a movie and got some rest before we headed out for a late dinner at Harry's again where we had another excellent meal before heading for a massage and then back to the room for some well earned sleep.

Sunday was a very easy paced day with me studying while Colli watched a few movies we didn’t even make it out of bed in time for breakfast. We ate lunch by the pool and generally spent the rest of the day relaxing, dinner at the hotel pizza restaurant a few drinks at the banana disco bar and a little bit more studying before bed. Tomorrow is going to be a big day and I am looking forward to diving again but also a little nervous as it has been such a long time so I am hoping I don't embarrass myself by making any stupid mistakes.

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Photos

View From Lunch
Chalong Bay

Comments

[BERYL]

GREAT COBRA SHOTS
Glad you had a great day at cooking school I will expect a free feed next time I see you. Sorry about the snakes Colleen no wonder your feeling sick hope your feeling a lot better now. looking forward to hearing how the diving goes take care love Beryl see u soon