Friday, July 7, 2023 – Ever since we started to plan our trip to Thailand we talked about sampling the local food. Today was our foodie day.
We were up and out early for a cooking class at the House of Taste cooking school. The class started with a trip to a local street market where we learned about the different ingredients we would be cooking with. After our brief lesson we had some time to explore the market and taste a few new things. This was our first opportunity to taste the infamous durian fruit. This fruit is ugly looking and has a bad smell from the outside, but the fruit inside is sweet and has the consistency of a soft cheese. We both found the fruit tasty, but not something we would eat on a regular basis. Fun fact: due to the smell, durian is banned from hotels and the metro system.
Our class of 13 people went back to the cooking school where we prepared four different classic Thai dishes. Our menu included Shrimp Pad Thai, Papaya Salad, Red Curry with Chicken and Mango Sticky Rice. After cooking we got to sit and enjoy a delicious lunch..we did a good job!
After our cooking class we took time for one more temple. We went to Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha). The Buddha is truly amazing in its size, 15m (50 ft) high and 46m (150 ft) long. One additional interesting fact about this temple is that it is considered the first public university in Thailand. The focus is on health and wellness. This includes medicine so this temle is thought to be the birthplace of Thai massage.
In the evening we continued our foodie day with a guided @WithLocals walking tour through Bangkok’s Chinatown (the largest Chinatown in the world). The streets were lined with various food vendors and small, open restaurants. Our guide, Tik, and the tour company’s summer intern Erica, shepherded us through this chaotic area. The crowds and packed streets and large lit up signs reminded us a little bit of Time’s Square in New York City.
Our first stop was to purchase Chinese fried doughnuts, though we saved them to eat last. While they cooled we got in line for soup at Nai Ek Rolled Noodle. This incredibly popular soup spot has unique rolled noodles. The pork soup was delicious despite it being really warm and humid (sweating in your soup just adds salt, right?).
Next was some coconut ice cream with shaved coconut on top. This dish was very environmentally responsible as the bowls are made from the coconuts themselves.
The next course was small fried rice cakes. These little bit-sized morsels were quite tasty. Then we tried another bite-sized appetizer that consisted of a handmade pastry cup filled with a mixture of corn, ham, and onion in some sort of cream sauce.
We did stop by and look at the fried insects and scorpions, but we both opted out of trying them.
The last stop was a quick Tuk Tuk ride away. Our guide took us to the rooftop bar at Above Riva. We enjoyed a drink, our fried doughnuts, and a spectacular nighttime view of Wat Pho and Wat Arun. Great way to end the evening, and we were so happy to have a guide through this fun but overwhelming experience.
On our way to the metro station to catch a subway ride back to our hotel we walked through the flower district. Although it was getting late at night, this wholesale area was bursting with bunches of flowers waiting to be distributed or bought for the next day. There were dozens of roses available for 50 Thai baht each (about $1.50 US) The sights and smells were amazing. Another amazing day in Bangkok!
Hammond Adventures 