January 18, Sunday – Discover Bangkok – Cooking demonstration

Accommodations: Bizotel Premier Hotel

This morning after breakfast, we had a Welcome Briefing where we introduced ourselves to the four new travelers joining us on the main trip. Are then went over what to expect during our visits to the countries we will be touring and he gave us useful information for each country.

After the briefing, we boarded our bus and drove to the Ruan Khun Yai house, located on the banks of the Bangkok Noi Canal. Our hosts introduced us to Thai cooking and we were able to watch as our hostess prepared Red Curry Sauce as well as Red Curry with Chicken and Bamboo Shoots.

Our hostess explained each ingredient and we were encouraged to taste and/or smell the different ingredients.

After the demonstration, we enjoyed a delicious lunch featuring the Red Curry chicken dish as well as an appetizer, delicious soup, and other authentic Thai dishes. It was delicious. I had lemon grass tea with my lunch which was very tasty.

When we finished lunch, our hostess took us to tour her home. Her home is a traditional Thai style house, constructed with teak wood. Years ago the majority of homes were made of teak wood but now, only 10% remain. We admired the beautiful furniture and we were treated to a man playing the Ranat Ek/Ranat Thum, a type of xylophone that uses hard rosewood bars for bright, sharp (Ranat Ek) or lower, bass (Ranat Thum) tones, set over a boat-shaped resonator. The man who played the instrument was very talented and it was wonderful to listen to this unique music.

Friends that we met on our Canadian trip, Dianne and Dan, arrived in Bangkok to embark on the trip we are also taking, but they begin the pre-trip tomorrow, and we just finished the pre-trip yesterday. It would have been wonderful if we had known we were booking the same trip – we could have traveled together. It was great to see them, however briefly, to enjoy dinner together and catch up.