Last Few Scenes of Hua Hin

Just a final few scenes of Hua Hin - there are lots of pictures left - but these are my top 5...

This bird is so interesting looking...we have him Qatar as well. I can see how his camo helps him in the land of sand, dirt and concrete - but in Thailand?



The train station in Hua Hin was built for the arrival of the King and is sitll a beautiful building.

Roof of the train station...

We took this one because this was a bit like what we pictured the streets of Thailand to look like.

We stopped here before dinner on our last night in Hua Hin. That's right... "El Murphy's". An Irish pub meets Mexican grill. Run by a British guy and his Thai wife. Makes sense right? Guinness and nachos isn't so bad though!

A short update...

I am going to take a small break in the Thailand recap to give a life update. It has been another busy stretch for us. We came back from Thailand and moved (yes, that's right moved) two days later.

At long last and thanks to my boss for her tireless support (strong 'discussions' in French seem to be more effective than my standard passive agressive Canadian email), we moved into Al Jazi Gardens. A beautiful, established compound with all sorts of amenities (swimming pools, squash, tennis, badminton, gym, clubhouse and more!).

What we love the most about it (so far) are three main things:

1. Community - there are children riding bikes, people walking dogs, couples and families taking a stroll.

2. Green - this is an older compound with trees, grass, bougainvillea, periwinkles and so on...

3. The house is smaller. Two bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. Our stuff does a better job of filling the house and there aren't any more cavernous empty spaces.

We are going to post pictures soon, I promise. We are making some changes in our attitude to the house...we came with the idea that we would get enough "stuff" to make it liveable for three years and not feel like a rental. Then we went to the home of the mom of a friend of ours...and well, it felt like HOME in there. Granted they have lived here for nearly 30 years, but it was a good reminder that three years is long enough to spend a bit on things that will make it home (like artwork for the walls, knicknacks, the nicer bedspread) without going spending crazy.

Pat-La-U Waterfall, Big Buddha & More!

The next day we hired a taxi to take us to a nearby waterfall – Pat La-U for a short hike. There are 7 levels but we just went up to 4 (due to the fact we only had about an hour) and it took about an hour to get there up a meandering "mountain" road.

It was really great to see greenery and to be outside (minus the dust & sand for a change).


There was even giant bamboo - I had hoped to see a panda but I am pretty sure I wasn't quite in the right part of the world (close, though!) And though we were right next to the elephant park...we didn't see any of those either!

There were carp everywhere!



My scarf did double duty to protect my head from falling tree bugs!

There was only one scary jungle moment when I realized that while I was waiting for Big C to finish taking pictures, I was slowly being surrounded by giant red ants… seizing up my feet! I quickly got the heck out of there! We didn't get to see the top of the waterfall, but what we did see was very beautiful.





C got some amazing shots with the fantastic camera we received as a going away gift from my family – it has some really great settings and C has a really great eye!



On the way back we visited the Big Buddha Monument at the Wat Huay Mongkol Buddhist Temple. It was huge!




We also visited the Night Markets in Hua Hin and there were bargains to be found! We enjoyed wandering the stalls and looking for bargains (and yes we found some!). Beach dresses, thai silk scarves and funky lights for the house! Unfortunately we were still full from dinner so we didn’t try any of the stalls – but they looked good!


And of course we found a spot for a drink before we went back to the resort!

Thai Cook Off!

One of the highlights of our Hua Hin trip was the Thai Cooking Class that we did at Wora Bura with the Executive Chef Mr. Mongkol Raksakiettisak. As the resort wasn't very busy, we ended up being the only people in the class which made the experience even better. We met the Chef the day before and selected the four dishes that we would make with him. They were...(in English)...Green Curry with Chicken, Sarong Prawns, Beef Satay with Peanut Sauce and Pad Thai (as you can see we went for the classics!).

The next morning we met the Chef and then we went by motorized tuk tuk to the Tesco Lotus and we went around with him and he pointed out commonly used Thai ingredients and how to pick good ones (most importantly for us was just seeing what they were supposed to look like!). We looked at some fruits (kind of hairy things along with pink & green dragonfruit) and lemongrass and sea bass and talked about thick and thin coconut milk.

We went back to the resort and got ready and then it was time to cook! We cooked outside - amazing set up with all the ingredients ready and everything. The Chef and the two sous chefs were on hand to help out as the Chef would show us the key steps and then we would do them ourselves.

The green curry was interesting as the chicken is cooked in the coconut milk and I was surprised that the milk doesn't burn. It was our first time cooking with green curry paste as well - Big C made his hot (lots of paste) but mine was milder. I am not sure that we will find Kaffir lime leaves in Doha though!

Next up was the beef satay which we threaded on to the kebabs after we tossed them in spices. As there wasn't charcoal grill of BBQ around we had to pan fry them but that worked out better than I thought it would! The Chef then walked us through making our own peanut sauce and it was actually easier than I thought it would be! C's ended up being darker and spicier - but I am pretty sure I could have bottled and sold mine! :)

The Sarong Prawns were next and unfortunately I couldn't eat them as they are prawns wrapped in egg noodles and then deep fried. Deep frying in a pan was interesting (had about 3 inch sides). Other than the egg noodles (rice or glass noodles could have been used instead), everything was gluten free!

Finally we did the Pad Thai and it was very interesting - overall it is a simple dish except for the sauce. The kitchen had actually pre-made one for us to use as it takes a while with lots of ingredients and is best if the sauces/flavours mix for a while. However, they still showed us how to make the sauce and I am intrigued by the amount of palm sugar in everything! Unfortunately my pan got too hot so some of my noodles stuck to the bottom - but C made a delicious Pad Thai!

We finished by eating our creations with the Chef (who kindly didn't really comment other than that we had done a good job!). Then they gave us copies of the recipes, spice kits, and certificates to commemorate our success!

Enjoy the pictures!

C and Chef on the way to the market

Iron Chef style!

Practically a natural!

Ready to cook!

Team work!

I think my face is priceless here...say what?


Making the satay

With the finished satay

Green curry

Action shot

Making the Pad Thai

With the finished Pad Thai

More action shots

Ta da!

Passed! Thanks Chef!

Highlights from Hua Hin

We had such a great time in Hua Hin and at the Wora Bura Resort. The staff were very attentive and very friendly and sweet! Our first day there we had a sleep in (yay) and then walked from the resort into the town (about 5km). We wandered around the "Market Village" and looked at the stalls selling all kinds of fun beach clothes (sarongs, dresses, bags, jewellery, etc) and then went to the Tesco Lotus in search of beer (for Big C), wine (for both) and gluten free snacks (for me). I totally forgot to bring even a rice cracker with me - a move I regretted for a good portion of the trip especially at the breakfasts where there was very little I could eat!

Some scenes from the walk...

Wild chickens!

C out front of a temple

Temple

C in the tuk tuk taxi on the way back to the resort

Looking out the back of the tuk tuk - lanes are optional

We took a motorized tuk tuk taxi back and I had a pedicure while C relaxed and then we enjoyed a three course dinner. The resort wasn't very busy so we had the whole restaurant to ourselves. They put us on the patio at a candle lit and decorated table for two. This resort is all about service - they even put bug spray on us before dinner! (lemongrass is very common for all sorts of things - drinks, food, etc in Thailand and we know it also as...citronella...aka mosquito repellent!).

I had written out a note to the chef indicating that I couldn't eat anything with bread or flour and he had re-worked the set menu we had chosen to ensure that I could enjoy a gluten free meal- it was really great to be able to eat without stressing over the ingredients!

The dinner was lovely and an eating adventure...the steamed whole sea bass (and we do mean whole) was interesting! There was also a clear broth soup with large chunks of cucumber stuffed with pork and while the idea of warm cucumber in broth wasn't very appetizing it actually tasted pretty good! Desert was pumpkin pieces in coconut milk...their pumpkins are a bit different than ours...more squat and dark green...but tasted similar. They made some fantastic garnishes too!

Carrot lobster with pork & cabbage bites (yum, yum pork!)

Our candlelit dinner for two

The table

After dinner, Big C and I decided to head out of the resort and down the street to a restaurant & pub that we had seen called "Papa John's" (ha ha - and it serves Italian food too!)

On the way, C almost squashed a killer Thai tree frog and that nearly jumped right onto his foot - if it wasn't for my hysterical shrieking he would have been a goner! But luckily he moved out of the way thanks to me (that's my story and I am sticking to it!)

Can't you see the killer look in his eye...!

The pub side was very cute with rustic tables and a full bar (all outside of course) so we had a couple of drinks and a couple of laughs...

We had taken the camera with us and so I took a nice picture of Big C and then he took the camera to take a nice one of me...or so I thought.

He fiddles with the camera and then finally takes a picture. I am (of course) trying to look pretty and posed (and not like I am sweating buckets in the humidity). He looks at the picture and promptly bursts out laughing...of course I am not too pleased! I mean, I know I am sweaty but does he really have to laugh?! I get cross and grab the camera to assess the damage...and realize that he had decided to test out the "fisheye" setting!!

Which was actually pretty funny! So then I took my own!

Then C actually took a nice one...

And so ended the first day!