cooking class!

Folks go to Chiang Mai to see the temples and the elephants or travel into the nearby mountains.  Conrad and Peter go there to do nothing by and in the pool.  But also, apparently, to take a cooking class.

What a fun morning for us.  We went light on breakfast because of the four-hour session to come.  Before 9:00 we were picked up and driven all of a block and a half away.  Too funny, and yes, we did walk home afterward.  We were joined by a young couple from Italy, and the four of us set to work under the fun and patient instruction of Olive.  In the kitchen to taste some things and start prep.  To the garden behind the school for some show and tell with smelling and tasting.  A market visit.  Back to the school to really get cooking.

We had a lot of fun, truly.  And I felt pretty proud of what we made.  Am I a pad Thai expert?  Nope.  But what I made wasn’t nearly as sweet as what I have in the US.  We cooked our own portions and ate our own food, and we could choose options that were different from each other as well as make it as spicy (or not) as we liked.  I was the bravest with the chiles, and I was far from brave!  I made green papaya salad, tom kha soup, khao soi curry, and contributed to the sticky rice dessert.  Conrad did a nice job.  I was the teacher’s pet.  The other couple were friendly.  Olive was great!  Asia Scenic was the name of the school, and I recommend them.

That left us rather full and thinking it would be a good idea to cancel a big dinner reservation later that evening.  We waddled home, napped, then joined one of the hotel staff in the courtyard by the lobby to make colourful paper decorations called tung.  

A nice little activity, and kudos to the hotel for offering such things daily.

Pool time after that,

then we showered and made ourselves pretty to head back across the street to North Gate Spirits when its bar opened.  A couple of rounds of drinks including their attempt at a Last Word (not bad at all, but they really didn’t trust the recipe we told them), chat with the staff.  Once again we were the only ones there.  A nice little evening of it.  

We finished with dinner at the hotel restaurant for a third time,

then to the room to unwind.  Packing could wait until morning.

the group has come together

Good morning!  It’s 5:44 AM in Hanoi as I start this.  I am walking early here, but I went to bed at not too bad a time and slept reasonably.  It’s starting to get light out, and I will head down to breakfast soon.

It was a low key day for me and Conrad yesterday.  We walked around a little, but we didn’t quite have the energy to do so much.  And that’s ok!  We have a lot to see and do in days ahead, after all.  The grey weather wasn’t the best for photos either, alas.  

Still, there was a terrific lunch (turmeric noodles with chicken for me)

and a bit of poking in stores.  Oh, and Starbucks in Vietnam!

Most importantly, however, the tour group was all together for the first time.  Hooray!  So good to see Denelle, Peter, and Pru again, and really terrific meeting the others.  We were taken by bus to a restaurant, Spices Villa,

with a private room and a very very generous meal.  I didn’t photograph the food, but the menu shows all of the things we had.  

I especially liked the spring rolls and the pork ribs, and that sauce for the vegetables had some real tasty kick to it.  The staff were worried that we didn’t like the food because we left so much, but we simply couldn’t eat it all.  I felt badly that they thought we didn’t like it.

Today there will be sightseeing with the group, and then later today I am meeting with someone from a local library before Conrad and I (and perhaps others) go off to find dinner.  Tomorrow the library visits begin!