For our final day in Phuket, we needed to be out of the hotel by 11am and our flight to Bangkok didn’t leave until much later that evening. So we were in search of an itinerary that would keep us, and our bags, entertained for the entire day.
Having thoroughly enjoyed our only previous cooking class, back in Bali more than two months ago, and being in Thailand – home of one of the world’s most beloved “international” cuisines – we were both keen to join a Thai cookery class. And as luck would have it, I received a very prompt reply to my first inquiry, offering assistance not only with collecting us from our hotel and dropping us off at the airport at the end of the day, but also making suggestions for activities we could fill our afternoon with, after the cookery class had finished. But more on that later…
As with our Bali cooking experience, our day began with a visit to the local market.
While the market in Bali had been very crowded, and very … pungent … feeling every bit the traditional “local” market and very authentic, Banzaan could almost have been mistaken for Brixton market! The only real sign that we were on the other side of the world was the wide array of fruit and vegetables that, a few weeks ago, we had probably never set eyes on before.
But we are quickly becoming familiar with the weird and wonderful ingredients that are used in south east Asian cookery, and I suspect our guide was surprised by just how much of the produce we were already familiar with.
In Bali, nothing was bought during our walk around the market because our host had done all of the shopping much earlier that morning when everything was at its freshest. In Phuket, our tour around the market did double as a shopping expedition, but we had two hosts, and while we were shown around by her English-speaking assistant, our chef made a quick dash around to pick up everything we would be needing later.
During our stay in Patong, we have noticed that seafood restaurants – and especially ones where the day’s catch is displayed in tanks on the roadside for customers to select their dinner from – are very popular here. We had assumed that had a lot more to do with the large numbers of Chinese tourists who visit Thailand than it does local taste, but we did see a LOT of live sea creatures during our walk around the market too, so perhaps that is not entirely true.
The rest of the morning was spent at the home of our chef. On arrival, we were welcomed by a beer, and some pets who didn’t seem to understand that stroking them after washing our hands was probably not the best idea in a country where we’d been warned about the high chance of getting sick!
When booking the class a few days earlier, we had been asked to select four dishes that we would like to prepare from the very long list presented on the tour company’s website. Kit’s choices were intentionally not adventurous – one reason for going on this course was to introduce some new dishes to our home-cooking repertoire, and if we chose anything too unusual, the chances of being able to get the required ingredients back home would be greatly reduced.
So, on the menu for the day:
- Green curry with chicken
- Chicken with cashew nuts
- Fried rice with seafood
- Pad thai with shrimps
Although our host didn’t speak much English, we had her assistant (a much younger girl, who I think I offended by asking whether she was still attending college!), as translator, as well as an “intern” who was there to wash the pans and attend to our every need!
All of the dishes were quite “involved”, with 15 or more ingredients in each. Quite understandably, our host was very particular about everything being prepared to her high standards, so I got admonished more than once for chopping things wrong (or chopping the wrong things entirely!). We had a lot of fun though, a fact that was certainly helped by the very idyllic surroundings, cooking as we were out in the sun in a front garden somewhere rural, far away from the hustle and bustle that we had become very used to over the past few weeks spent in Singapore, KL and Phuket.
After more than two hours of cooking, our four masterpieces were complete, and we settled down to eat in the shade. Of course, everything was delicious (and not because we cooked it!). Inevitably, though, there was far too much, so we were sent away with takeaway boxes for eating at the airport later!
After a morning of Thai cookery, it has seemed very appropriate that the afternoon should be spent doing something else that the Thai people are particularly well known for: massage. Receiving a massage, that is!
So our host, slipping perfectly into the role of taxi driver, drove us to the nearby Mookda spa.
While drinking ginger tea in the shade beside a very peaceful garden, we were asked to choose two from a menu of services. As well as a traditional Thai massage (presumably their most popular service), there were various other options including a head and scalp massage, a blowdry and set, and a facial. To complement a Thai massage we selected a 30-minute reflexology treatment.
After finishing our tea we were escorted to the changing rooms where we were (very brusquely!) instructed to remove everything and put on the gowns provided. Then it was on to the steam room for a sweat! Although we have been in saunas and steam rooms many times before, this one was the hottest yet, so much so that Kit found himself needing to make an early exit. Still… we never were quite sure whether our friendly Thai hosts (who didn’t speak a whole lot of English) were actually planning on rescuing us once they thought we’d had enough of the heat, or whether they were waiting for us to come out once we’d reached that conclusion for ourselves!
After a very welcome cold shower, we were provided with new gowns (these ones more like a hospital smock). Exactly how we were supposed to tie them was unclear to us, so we had a slightly awkward moment where we attempted to maintain decency while being ‘dressed’ by our hosts!
And then, finally, it was time for our massage. We had a his and hers (his and his?) massage room with two beds side by side. After being instructed to lie on our fronts (with the usual face-through-a-hole-in-the-table arrangement), the next 80 minutes or so were spent in (mostly) blissful relaxation.
What makes a traditional Thai massage a traditional Thai massage is – I think – the fact that the masseur uses their own body weight to bend and manipulate you in ways that certainly take a lot of effort and skill on their part. Though our ‘ladies’ certainly didn’t spend the entire time standing or kneeling on our backs, this was a part of the ‘experience’, and not one – I can safely say – I would recommend to anyone with a herniated disc!
The reflexology part of the experience was perhaps not as ‘skilled’ as the Thai massage – I didn’t get the impression they were really worried about what pressure points were particularly relevant to how we were feeling. It was really just a very thorough foot massage… and there’s nothing wrong with that!
At the end of the experience we were escorted back to the shady (and very peaceful) veranda where we had started the afternoon. Here we drank more ginger tea while waiting for someone who could speak English to come and remind us to tip our masseurs before leaving the premises!
