The First of the Lasts

I spent my last weekend in Chiang Mai this past weekend and surprisingly, it was filled with a lot of firsts: ate at two new restaurants that I wish I'd discovered earlier, learned muay thai which I'd been meaning to do since before I arrived in Thailand and took a cooking class which many people have recommended but I've resisted because I prefer eating over cooking.

We've all been making our lists of things we'll miss (and won't miss) in Thailand. Recently I've been thinking I'm going to miss the food so I can at least learn to cook it for myself. So I gave in and signed up for a cooking class with some friends and now it's on my list of recommendations too!

First, our instructor showed us the ingredients we'd be using from the garden.

I guess I'm not a very good student because I forget what this is - turmeric?

Then we went on a short field trip to the market.

All different kinds of rice

Also on my miss list: so many different kinds of fruit!
When I was in the U.S. I thought a banana was a banana.
Who knew there were so many different types?

Then back to the school to start cooking!

Our workspace

A Thai welcome snack that, ironically, I ate for the first time.
It includes all the flavors: spicy (chili),  salty (roasted peanuts), sweet (roasted coconut), sour (lime), bitter (lettuce)

We chose a dish from three different categories: stir-fried, dessert, and curry. Mine were:

1. Pad gra pao (chicken and holy basil)
2. Sweet sticky rice with mango
3. Massaman curry

The sticky rice was easy and mostly required waiting. It had been soaked in water overnight and we let it steam while we worked on the other dishes.

The curry paste was probably the hardest to make from scratch.

Ingredients for massaman

Mortar and pestling them into curry paste turned out to be quite a workout.
I let this 10-year-old French girl do the work while I took a break.

 As you can see, I'm a natural. ;)

Pad gra pao

Massaman curry

Sweet sticky rice with mango

Bon appetit!

Happy New Year! Ou-Yang's in Thailand (Part 2)

Nothing beats spending the holidays with family. Last year, my parents came to visit and I showed them around Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son. This year, my brother joined the trip and we toured around central Thailand to BKK, Kanchanaburi, and Ayutthaya.

Grand Palace, Bangkok

Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

View from the top of Wat Arun

River Kwai Bridge, Kanchanaburi

Sunset over the Bridge over the River Kwai

Song thaew to Erawan National Park, Kanchanaburi

Beginning of the hike to 7-tiered waterfall

Waterfall #5 

Made it to the top!

Family meets host family in Ayutthaya

Wat Chaimongkol, Ayutthaya

 Experiencing life in rural Thailand

Mom's turn

 Countdown on a dinner cruise on the Chao Praya River, Bangkok

Watching New Year fireworks from the boat

Happy Holidays!

Chiang Mai Marathon: Race Day

It took me forever and an hour (= 5 hours and 33 minutes) but I finished the full marathon! (With a bit of walking for some stretches after the halfway point.) I got both thirsty and hungry but there were drink stands along the way. I managed to control my bladder and bowel movements. But I hurt. A lot. I'm never doing that again. I'm looking forward to a two-hour Thai massage.

Made it!

Chiang Mai Marathon: Pre-Run

Well, the world didn't end and I lied about my last blog post being my last blog post of the year.

My world might end tomorrow if I die running the Chiang Mai marathon. My first and, I decided during my training, my last marathon. 42km starting at 4am. I'm excited and nervous at the same time.

Things I'm worried about:

5. I'll get thirsty.
4. I'll get hungry.
3. I'll need to pee.
2. I'll need to poop.
1. I might not finish. That would just suck.

In case the world ends tomorrow...

This is my last blog post of the year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Nepal

 Durbar Square, Kathmandu

!!

Annapurna Circuit Trek

Thorung-La Pass 

 Bodnath

Prayer wheels - walk clockwise as you spin the wheels

Candles?

Halloween in Thailand

Celebrating with students...

And teachers

Happy Birthday, King

The King

Candles

Singing the King's song

Traditionally, lanterns are lit and float off into the sky. Someone told me the significance: you send off bad things with the lantern. Last year, we made wishes and wrote good things on the paper lantern... and sent them off. Oops.

Miscellaneous

Thailand's "Pepsi"

Some raw shrimp we ate in Chiang Mai - they were literally jumping out of the bowl!

It was spicy and a little crunchy and quite delicious.

 Kangnam style in Bangkok

...

Please don't tell me they do this in the U.S. too.