Thailand
Bangkok

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    • Day 23

      Bangkok Cooking Class

      April 20 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

      Pünktlich um 5:50 erreichte der Zug den Bahnhof in Bangkok. Nach 2-3 Stunden Schlaf steht aber schon ein kleines Highlight für mich an - 8:30 beginnt ein Kochkurs!

      Also ging es zunächst Downtown Bangkok, kurzes Frühstück bei Starbucks und dann vor Tiffany auf den Pick-Up warten. Für mich total surreal, dass wir uns dort vor all den Luxusmarken treffen und dann in einen Slum zum kochen fahren. Aber vor dem Kochen stand das Einkaufen auf einem lokalen Wet-Market. Finden konnte man hier alles, was das Herz begehrt und noch mehr. Bei Gemüse und Früchten habe ich mich etwas wohler gefühlt, als bei Fleisch, Innereien und lebenden Fischen etc, aber spannend das bunte Treiben zu beobachten war es an jeder Station. Die Einkaufsliste wurde kurzerhand auf die Hand geschrieben und als wir alles eingesammelt haben, ging es weiter in die Kochschule. Gut zu wissen - die Zutaten für die Thai-Küche findet man auch hier super gut und unkompliziert.

      In der Kochschule haben wir Grüppchenweise drei Gerichte zubereitet: Zitronengras-Hähnchen-Salat, Pad Thai mit Riesengarnelen und Massaman-Curry. Den süßen Abschluss machten allerlei lokale Früchte, Kokosreis mit Mango (liebe) und einer Art Crepe mit süßer Füllung.

      Die liebe Poo ist ganz geschäftstüchtig und macht neben der Kochschule noch eine Art HelloFresh, also vorbereitete Kochboxen und finanziert mit einem Teil der Einnahmen Projekte im Slum. Klar musste ich das Kochbuch von ihr kaufen.😉
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      The train arrived at the station in Bangkok at 5:50. After 2-3 hours of sleep, a little highlight was already in store for me - a cooking class started at 8:30!

      So we first went downtown Bangkok, had a quick breakfast at Starbucks and then waited for the pickup in front of Tiffany's. It was totally surreal for me that we would meet there in front of all the luxury brands and then drive to a slum to cook. But before cooking, we had to go shopping at a local wet market. You could find everything your heart could desire and more. I felt a little more comfortable with vegetables and fruit than with meat, offal and live fish, etc., but it was exciting to watch the hustle and bustle at every station. The shopping list was quickly written on our hands and when we had collected everything, we went on to the cooking school. Good to know - the ingredients for Thai cuisine can also be found here really well and easily.

      In the cooking school, we prepared three dishes in groups: lemongrass chicken salad, Pad Thai with king prawns and Massaman curry. The sweet finale was all kinds of local fruits, coconut rice with mango (love) and a kind of crepe with a sweet filling.

      Dear Poo is very business-minded and, in addition to the cooking school, she also does a kind of HelloFresh, i.e. prepared cooking boxes and uses part of the income to finance projects in the slum. Of course I had to buy her cookbook.😉
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    • Day 18

      Phed Mark

      December 4, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

      While walking around the Wat Sriboonruang, I thought about my next destination and I decided to head to Phed Mark for an early lunch. I again called for a ride using Grab, and my ride - again a regular taxi - arrived within minutes.

      I recently learned about Phed Mark from a food blog. Phed Mark is is partly owned by American food blogger Mark Wiens. Mark deserves much credit for bringing Thai food - in particular southern Thai cuisine - to a wider audience in the west. The one issue I have with him, though, is that he eats everything with a crazy amount of chilis, and in doing so he is perpetuating the myth that Thai food must always be spicy.

      Mark's blog: https://www.eatingthaifood.com/

      The ride to Phed Mark in the Ekkamai area took about 25 minutes. Again, I marveled at how quickly I got there. I found that Phed Mark was right next to the Ekkamai Bus Station, which serves points southeast of Bangkok. I remember in the past battling traffic for two hours one way just to get to this station to hop onto a bus bound for the beaches and islands east of Bangkok. Now, the BTS runs right to it.

      Phed Mark serves only one dish - pad kaprao, a much loved Bangkok street food dish made of minced meat fried with thai basil and chilies and served over rice with a fried egg. I ordered a pad kaprao neua (beef). Out of an abundance of caution, I ordered spice level two. The version served here was very good, but I ended up putting more chilies into my dish because spice level two was actually quite mild. While eating, I realized that Phed Mark was a clever wordplay. It could mean "Spicy Mark (Wiens)", but it could also mean very spicy (phed maak).

      After eating, I took the train to one of the big malls in the Chid Lom area. My initial plan was to look at silk cushion covers at the Jim Thompson stall. My first stop at the mall was a coffee shop. While sipping coffee, I browsed the cushion covers online. I balked at the prices, and then I realized I was lukewarm about silk as a material because the silk worms have to die in order to process the silk. I decided to not buy the cushion covers, and I once again found myself pondering my next move. I thought about visiting the Jim Thompson House, but I realized going through a curated exhibition wasn't going to help me connect deeper with Bangkok. I knew I still wanted to go to Chinatown, but I was unsure about going to Thipsamai because getting back would be a pain without the klong taxi in operation. I decided to go straight to Chinatown. So, I hopped back onto the subway and made my way there.

      https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Centra…
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    • Day 18

      Musings: Khob Krun Krup, Krung Thep

      December 4, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      Just some random thoughts...

      Bangkok never disappoints. It is one of my happy places because it was in this setting that I was thrown into the deep end and forced to learn how to make my way in the world. I learned how to read my environment and assess what I need to do to figure the place out. My time in Bangkok gave me the confidence to become comfortable with being uncomfortable, and from there, to cultivate the internal resources to figure (or muddle, depending on how you view it) my way through almost anything.

      I've lived in four countries, traveled to dozens more, and changed careers more often than I care to admit. In fact, four years ago when I took my career break, I didn't know what would be next for me career wise, but when I was approached to work in my current job, I embraced the challenge even though I had never worked in the industry (banking) or in that functional area (IT/digital transformation). Sure, it has been a steep learning curve, but it was in Bangkok that I learned to not fear the unknown and the learning curves that come with it, and I am a better person for it. For that, I owe Bangkok (Krung Thep) a huge and heartfelt khob khun krup.

      https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Centra…
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