Last time we explored more of Singapore and had our first experience with medical tourism. In between our two visits to the hospital we were able to spend time with Mr. Wander’s Aunt and Uncle that teach at a university in Bangkok eating some delicious foods, watching a Japanese movie, and exploring a few neighborhoods near Chinatown. We also met a fellow Nomadic couple travelling the world and finally experienced a Thai cooking class! After all that it was time to relax for a few days in Bali, Indonesia!
Family Reunions
The evening after our initial health checkup in Bangkok we were able to catch-up with Mr. Wander’s Aunt and Uncle that teach at the nearby university. They took us out for dinner at the Jim Thompson House a short walk away from our hotel. When the whole family was with us we did the tour of the house and learned all about the history, but if you need a refresher you can check that out here.
The dinner was delicious, we ordered several appetizers entrees and desserts! During the service of the Tom Kha Gai they poured the coconut milk broth over the chicken and vegetables right at the table. We enjoyed some unique cocktails and the staff even invited us to the bar after dinner for a post dinner drink on the house.
Our next meeting was the following morning, we walked to their apartment a few blocks away and then continued to the subway station near campus. I appreciated they had reusable single use tokens when you paid cash for a ride. You scanned it to get into the first station and then dropped it into the slot at the exit gate of the next station.
We headed to the edge of Chinatown where we had dimsum and jasmine tea for breakfast. Fueled for the day we headed to a Chinese Buddhist temple nearby named Wat Mangkon Kamalawat. There were several buildings and wandered around, it could be easy to get lost! Everything was in red or gold and very ornate, and there were many people around as it is the weekend.
The main plan for the morning walk around the neighborhoods of Talad Noi and Song Wat. Settled by many Chinese immigrants and also home to many broken down Japanese military vehicles at the end of WWII. As these vehicles had ample parts for fixing others, this area became known for excellent mechanics ever since. More recently many of the alleys are full of unique street art and murals, and trendy shops.
In one warehouse there was even a little photoshoot happening, and several Instagram photos of course, so Mr. Wander had to take one of me! Needing a little caffeine we stopped at a nice coffee shop along the river before continuing along the street. All around the neighborhood we enjoyed finding these cute elephants, each painted differently.
To learn about the neighborhood we went into a museum and they had a little movie to explain the history. Finally we found one shop that is owned by one of Mr. Wander’s Aunt’s students, she makes all sorts of desserts using Agar agar which is a vegan alternative to gelatin. She unfortunately wasn’t there but they took a picture to send their regards to the owner.
After walking all the way through the neighborhood we headed towards a ferry that would take us across the Chao Phraya River to a Portuguese neighborhood. The ferry arrived at a cute little church and we wandered through narrow alleyways to find another museum above a little cafe.
After so much walking it was time for a bit of lunch. We stopped at this cute restaurant in a traditional style house, which was upstairs and required removing our shoes to protect the wood floors. Once we finished our light lunch, we took a few very busy express boats down river, finding a few more murals along the way. Soon we parted ways and headed back to our hotel to relax for the evening.
We went out to dinner two other times during the week, enjoying many of our favorite foods and some new Thai dishes of which I wish I remembered their names. On night we met in the lowest level of one of the many malls near our hotel. Our final evening together we met at this mall called Terminal 21, which I’ll go into more detail on later. We met to watch a movie that was up for an Oscar for Best International Movie from Japan. It is called Kukuro and it is based on a book written about Kabuki, a classical Japanese performance art. The movie is completely in Japanese but this theater had both English and Thai subtitles. After the movie we enjoyed more delicious food and conversation and said farewell. One of the more interesting dishes included “chicken floss” on fried rice served in a pineapple. Most unique chicken presentations I’ve ever seen!
It was fun getting to see Mr. Wander’s Aunt and Uncle in between their classes, meetings, and our appointments. Thanks to both of you for touring us to all the delicious foods and around the area!
Spicy Morning
If you have been around awhile, you might know we like to do cooking classes as our main souvenirs, perfect for a foodie like me. We also never managed to do a cooking class last time we traveled to Thailand. Somehow we had picked perhaps the only touristy island without any cooking classes! Mr. Wander’s Aunt and Uncle suggested the Bangkok Thai Cooking school and it did not disappoint. We started with a tour of the local market where they get most of their ingredients. This time we did not need to purchase our own like when I took the class in Bolivia, but still it was interesting learning about the different types of rice, even how older verses newer rice is best for different dishes, such as fried rice or steamed rice alongside curries, respectively.
The class was set up so everyone could make their own 4 things: one curry, one noodle or rice dish, one stir fry, and one soup/salad. The two of us choose Tom Kha Gai Soup, Pad Thai and Cashew Chicken Stir Fry, but for the curry we chose differently; I picked Massaman while Mr. Wander chose the spicier Panang Curry. After the tour our stations were setup with the basic ingredients for each dish portioned but not fully prepped.
After the tour we went back inside and started prepping all our ingredients for all the dishes. We started with the curry paste. Mostly we just had to chop everything smaller, especially the lemon grass, to make it easier when we put it in the mortar and pestle. She also explained the different ingredients and the differences between each curry. We had 3 other people in the class and for the most part everyone as making different things. Then we went over and smashed it all to a nice paste, starting with spices and slowly adding other ingredients such as the lemongrass or peppers. It takes a lot of work!
Then we went back to our cutting boards to cut up all the rest of the vegetables for our curry, and set them at our cooking stations. Back to the cutting board we went through each of the dishes in turn, next was all the stir fries, then the noodle dishes, and finally the soup.
Once we had everything prepped, they showed us how to make mango sticky rice. They already had the rice cooked but showed us the setup, equipment, and process all without actually turning on the burner. I never realized that pandan leaves could be used in the simmering water to flavor while steaming the rice! It also needs to be washed several times before cooking. Then they showed us the process of making the dessert with coconut milk, sugar, salt, more pandan leaves, and water from soaking dried butterfly pea flowers to create a blue color. It was one of my favorite mango sticky rice dishes as it was almost more salty than sweet, a nice balance, and they garnished with dried mung beans.
After enjoying dessert, we went to our cooking stations where others had been adding the various meats or seafood to each tray, as needed, as well as things like coconut milk and cream. We started with the curry and pulled out a wok and spatula and they added oil to each pan as we turned on the flame. We cooked our homemade curry paste for about 30 seconds. For spice wimps like me, they suggested starting with just half the paste just in case it is too much, so that’s what I did. You can always add more later but you cannot take it out! Then they had us add the coconut milk and the rest of the ingredients by groups that were already prepped by us.
It only took about 5 minutes to cook each dish, and it was a well oiled machine where they would tell us what to add next, and despite us having different dishes the proteins, vegetables, and sauces were mostly added in same order. Each time we finished a dish, we put it onto a plate or in a bowl they provided for us, brought it to our station, and by the time we got back the dirty pan was gone and we could grab the next one and start cooking the stir fry, then the noodle dish, and finishing with the soup.
When we were all done we had a feast! Each dish was one of my the best examples of each that I had tried, even the Massaman despite it being the first chicken one I had ever had as usually it’s served with beef. The cashew chicken was especially delicious an we both agreed it was the best of the bunch. It was hard to eat about four entrees worth of food so I tried to mostly eat the soup thinking it was the hardest to take back with us but tried everything. When we were full they put all our leftovers in bags, gave us certificates and sent us on our way.
They have several levels of classes, we were in the beginner version. One of our classmates was a line cook for a seafood restaurant back in Canada where they have pad thai on the menu. His chef was upstairs in the professional level class. I’m guessing they made more dishes since their skills would make them considerably faster. There are long term classes you can take as well, even making you eligible for education visas for longer stays in Thailand. Even better is after you take the classes they show you their catalog of recipes which you can access, even for dishes we did not make! I am excited to make them back at home, and if anyone wants some house guests that could cook them a bit of Thai food let us know!
Nomadic Meetups
While travelling it can be a bit lonely, even though we have each other. Most of our friends or family are busy back home and in another time zone so it is hard to even get them on a video call. However, in the last several months I have joined a few groups online comprised solely of other nomadic travelers like us! We found another couple that had been staying in Bangkok over the same time so we set up a meeting on one of the days Mr. Wander’s Aunt and Uncle were busy. We met in a park they knew well as this isn’t the first time they had lived in Bangkok.
We started walking around the various paths where many locals were running, seeing a few Komodo dragons which the park is famous for, and several cats. As we were chatting they suggested taking this walkway to another park with an elevated boardwalk that is such a unique oasis in such a large city. You almost forget where you are as the sounds of the city drift into the background and we spent hours just talking about travel, and books, and scuba diving.
At this point we were all getting thirsty and a bit hungry from so much talking. Close by was the mall Terminal 21, which has the most affordable food court in the city. It is subsidized by the mall with the idea that people would buy things at the stores. At a booth you exchange cash onto a card with a QR code. When you order food, you use the card to pay for it at each food stall.
We had a few fresh fruit smoothies, pad thai and fresh coconuts since we were so thirsty, and a mango sticky rice and only spent about 200 Baht total, or about $6 USD. We spent another couple of hours chatting until we decided it was time to go, but headed to the lowest level to get soft serve Thai tea ice cream before we said farewell. To Lauren and Sascha, it was lovely meeting you both!
Terminal 21 is a unique mall, we came back our last night when we went to the movie with Mr. Wander’s aunt and uncle. I had heard about this not long before we had come here, it is a themed mall where each floor is a different city and each escalator looks like you are going through an airline gate. Part of the main floor and even the aisles with shops follow the theme, and especially the bathrooms! I wandered in and awkwardly tried to take pictures at least of the sinks and the area approaching the bathrooms. It was fun to recognize different elements from several cities we have visited.
The floors from the lower level upwards are: Caribbean, Paris, Rome, London, Istanbul, San Francisco, Pier 21 with the food court and Hollywood where we went to the movie. We highly recommend checking it out, even if just for a few pictures and the food court!
A Little Taste of Bali
As you can see we had a busy week! By the time we left Bangkok we were ready to relax for a few days which was perfect as we had booked an award stay at the Intercontinental Resort in Bali, not too far from the main airport. Originally we looked into a longer trip to a few different islands in Indonesia but in our investigations some things were not available in February due to the rainy season. We figured it wouldn’t be the most pleasant to do the rest so we decided to just let ourselves have a week off from being a tourist.
The resort had five different restaurants so we were still able to eat some delicious international foods and try a few local dishes. We enjoyed the pool and taking walks around the campus. It did rain and occasionally thunder and lightning but wasn’t too intense. The resort was busy the first two days over the weekend but by Monday it completely cleared out! We figured it was because Australia’s summer holiday ends at the beginning of February and Bali is an easy trip for most of the country.
The resort had two temples on the property, so we did the free tour that was offered and learned a bit about Bali Hinduism, but there is a lot more to learn! Consider this just a teaser though, because we’ll be back to do justice to the country and see more of what it has to offer!
Next Time
From Bali we had an overnight flight to get to Melbourne, and arrived a bit sleep deprived but just in time to visit with a friend of mine from back home! We also were able to catch up with our new friend we met on the Southern Africa trip that lives in the area. Then we flew to Cairns in the Northeast corner of the country to see the Great Barrier Reef up close and personal before journeying south on Road Trip #2!
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