Puff pastry galore (day 3)

Quote of the day: "Does your duck get along with your chickens" -me asking one of my pastry classmates at lunch

Today we rolled, folded and turned. In short, we made puff pastry. Puff pastry is a delicate yet scary monster, requiring lots of strength, patience and flour. Although in the end, I think my team and I did quite well with our pastry. Tomorrow we'll get to cut it up and make tarts and palmiers.

The diversity of my classmates never ceases to amaze me. Among the 14 of us, we have a restaurant owner, a retired salesmen, two doctors, a semi-retired oil tycoon, a hand therapist (no, I have no idea what that means), a food services manager for an "adult residence" (aka assisted living), a southern belle homemaker, a financial analyst for Pepsi, a high school student, a gastronomy professional from Brazil, and a nurse. And that leads to very interesting conversations such as the one about the nurse's chickens and whether or not they get along with her one duck (they don't). Or ones about how food purees are "all the rage" at adult residences these days -- she explained the "turkey sandwich" puree which consisted of a yellow portion which represented the turkey, a brown portion which was the gravy, and some green puree which was the veggie. Apparently, it's as gross as it sounds.

Okay, summary of food eaten today:
Breakfast - at Farquason Hall as usual. An *awesome* eggs benedict.

Lunch - at the East Wing Dining room as usual. Gravalox on a bed of frissee, followed by a vegetarian stuffed cabbage with beans and rice with a curry squash sauce. Dessert was pot de creme. The dessert was as we said "Mm" but not "Mmmmmmmm".

Dinner - at the crown jewel of the CIA restaurants, the Escoffier. I had a fois gras and ox tail terrine served with a cranberry compote, braised veal cheeks with a lemon sauce and mashed potatoes with baby carrots, and a peanut butter mousse devil's food cake for dessert. Decadent yumminess, except for the dessert which was more peanut butter than mousse.

As as for what we made: we worked on making our puff pastry, and filled and frosted our sponge cake with vanilla butter cream. We also had this kickass class on dessert wines. :)

Oh, and I stopped at Baskin Robbins for an ice cream. A nice elderly couple there smiled and said, "Oh how cute -- you're a chef for Halloween." (I was wearing my uniform.) I laughed and thought, "Indeed. I am."

Adventures in pastry cream (Day 2)

I survived my second day at boot camp. In retrospect, today actually passed by pretty quickly, even though I almost fell asleep in class more than once. We had early lecture again, followed by pastry cream galore (or hell, if creams are not your thing) -- we filled cream puffs and eclairs, brulee-ed some creme brulees, glazed bread puddings and presented our first set of desserts. It was magnificently decadent. (I know magnificently is not a word.) Lunch was wild rice and mushroom soup, prime rib (for lunch!), and profiteroles that we didn't get to since we were stuffed with cream puffs.

In the afternoon, we had a really interesting lecture on tea and coffee by one of the professors who runs Apple Pie Bakery, the cafe on campus. We sampled 6 different coffees side by side, and then 12 (yes, a dozen) teas and tisanes side by side. It was awesome and very eye opening. Conclusions? I still love my espresso straight up. And drip coffee is still gross.

Dinner was at the St. Andrew's Cafe, which I admit made me a bit homesick since the health-conscious, Asian-influenced cuisine was very similar to what you would find in SF. I had a spinach & arugula salad to start, followed by a pan seared salmon with a soy-orange glaze, served with shitake and edamame and steamed brown rice. Yum yum yum!

On deck for tomorrow: we conquer puff pastry, buttercreams (that was tomorrow and not today), and cookie dough!

Pastry Boot Camp kicks my ass (Day 1)

It's 11pm, and I'm exhausted after day 1 of Pastry Boot Camp at the Culinary Institute of America in beautiful Hyde Park, NY. We started with orientation at 6am (yes, 6am -- that's 3am to my jetlagged body), and then went straight to lecture, 4 hours of production (that's baking time), lunch, then lecture and critique, campus tour, R&R (afternoon break, or nap time, as I call it), and then dinner at Caterina de Medici, the campus's Italian restaurant. And I am pooped.

Some observations from day 1:

-Our instructor is this really awesome, slightly kooky pastry chef who's credited with bringing the crème brûlée to America. No joke. The guy is a bad ass. He used to work at Le Cirque (remember Top Chef with the fish and potato recreation dish episode?), Tavern on the Green and the Savoy Hotel in London!

-The food here is really good. It's like food from work (cuz it's all gourmet and free), but not all obsessively organic. For lunch we had this incredible wild mushroom risotto with sausage, a salmon dish (fish was cooked perfectly!), and cheesecake. Dinner was at the Italian restaurant where I had beef carpaccio (too much oil) and a tube noodle pasta called garganelli with a green pea and prosciutto sauce. It was delish! Dessert was tiramisu, of course. :)

-In class, we made pâte à choux (base pastry for cream puffs and eclairs), pastry cream, and a custard based dessert. Our team got bread pudding. Not sure how it all tastes yet since we are finishing them tomorrow, but preliminary critique says that our pate a choux was excellent, our pastry cream was slightly bubbly (not good) and our bread pudding was "okay". Not sure what that means

Tomorrow we are making cakes...sponge cake and chiffon cake and buttercreams!!

Oh, and did I mention that I was exhausted. Time for bed. Pics from the beautiful campus can be found here.

"Iconic Itinerary" indeed

So every month's Conde Nast Traveler features an "Iconic Itinerary", a tailored trip to a destination with recommendations for everything, usually on the splurging side. This month's? Southeast Asia. Sounds very familiar somehow (plus a few cities I didn't get to)...with the same hotels to boot. ;)

After a month of soul-searching...

I'm sitting here tapping away on my Macbook (which by the way, is definitely contributing to a relapse of my carpal tunnel) at the Red Carpet Club in the Hong Kong airport. The sun is gently settling into the horizon, and outside the window, cars and trucks zoom in and out in between glistening planes, loading and unloading bags and meals, and who knows what else.

It's strange and yet somewhat comforting that most of my trips end in Hong Kong. There's a certain sense of cyclic, full-circle-ness that comes with stopping at my birthplace each time I travel abroad to Asia. And yet, it's the same repetition that reminds me that this isn't really "my place" any longer. I've realized that the reason that I always feel so antsy after spending more than a few days in Hong Kong is that it is no longer my home. I may be born here, and I have relatives here, but I am no similar to the local people as other foreign expats are. I speak their language, but I don't sound the same. I have the same skin colour, and yet I don't look the same. Hong Kong, like many global cities, is a gateway -- which by definition, is a place that takes you to another place. But it's not really a place that you stay for long.

As I traveled from place to place on this trip, I've found that there's one commonality -- in each place I visit, I've always rejected the facades and asked for the real deal. The real people behind the tourist facades. The real history behind the sights and sounds. When I pick my tour guides, I always ask them to take me to places that's off the normal circuit, or tell me stories about how the local people really live. Perhaps it's the desire to really understand the place and its people, or perhaps that's what I'm missing in my life: a sense of tradition that is historic and authentic, as opposed things that are always shiny and new.

And after traveling to four countries in four weeks, I can say that I've learned a lot about myself. And yet, none is it is really anything that I didn't already know. I've learned that I can be independent and curious, adventurous and yet a homebody at times. I know that I'm still seeking "home" and a sense of belonging, but that San Francisco is the closest thing I've got at this point. (And it's a pretty darn good home.) I guess my point is, despite the soul-seeking nature of a long trip abroad alone, I don't have any seriously deep conclusions, and I'm okay with that. I took a trip of a lifetime, and saw beautiful things and met really nice people. The sights and sounds will remain in my mind for a long long time, and I'm blessed to have had a chance to see so many new places.

But now, it's time to go home. At least the place that I call home for now.

P.S. I just had my first Starbucks almond soy latte in over two weeks. It was heavenly.

But what about the food? (part 2)

From Macao and Hong Kong, we went to Thailand -- where a bounty of yummy foods awaited.

Thailand
I think I enjoyed the food in Thailand more this time for a couple of reasons: 1) I finally took a class and understood the ingredients and how they contributed to the overall flavours of popular Thai dishes, and 2) my recent increased tolerance for spicy foods allow me to at least sample many of the spicy flavoured dishes, which I must say, are much better than their de-spiced versions!

Most memorable meal would have to be a tie between lunch at the Blue Elephant (probably because I cooked the whole meal myself), and the traditional Royal Thai meal at the Sala Rim Naam at the Oriental Hotel. I still have dreams about my favourite Thai dessert of all time -- coconut sticky rice with fresh mango. The rice part may sound a little fishy, but all together, it's definitely a winning combo! As always, I'm still a sucker for lemongrass iced tea, which I tried to have almost everyday. :)

In Chiang Mai, I was also impressed by the calibre of non-Thai dishes that were available at the hotel. For example, when we arrived late on the first night, I ended up order pasta from room service (you know, comfort food) -- the squid ink fettuccine was cooked perfectly al dente, and the seafood flavours spot on!

Cambodia
I'll be the first to admit...I had very low expectations for Cambodian food. Not because I didn't think that they had a big food culture (because all Asian cultures have big food cultures!), but I just didn't think that I would like it that much. And in the end, the local food "won out" -- all of the western food that I had was pretty greasy and tasted slightly funny (even the eggs at breakfast), while the Khmer and Asian foods were generally okay. Rice is also a staple in Khmer food, so I always had enough to eat. :)

For my last dinner in Cambodia, I got a free Khmer tasting menu meal at the hotel's restaurant, Meric. I remember a lot of it tasting very similar to Thai food, but the dishes that really caught my attention were the green mango salad with dried snake (yes, SNAKE), and the fried frog on a stick. Well, they had a nicer name for it, but it was literally an entire frog battered and deep-fried and served on a stick. And yes, it did sort of taste like chicken. Let's just say I ate a lot of rice that night.

Vietnam
Oh I do love Vietnamese food. From their super strong coffee to the simplicity of a good bowl of pho, the Vietnamese food in Hanoi was great. I have to admit, I didn't really eat off the street that much -- I really tried, but every stall I stopped at, I managed to see where and how they washed the food and the dishes, and then very quickly lost my appetite. So in the end, I stuck to Vietnamese restaurants, where at least I couldn't SEE the kitchen. Besides the ice cream, the pho and the spring rolls, I have to say that the French food in Hanoi (at least at the Metropole) was pretty spectacular. I had some macarons that would absolutely divine, and a beef tartar (prepared 3 ways) that I had was also quite yummy. My reco's for the city: Fanny's for ice cream, the Sofitel Metropole for French food and pastries, and Pho24 for hygienic but yummy pho. Also, check out Au Lac Cafe for coffee, and Bobby Chinn for a dose of other-worldness in the midst of the chaos of Hanoi.

And as for all the meals in between (as in, in the air)? Let's just say that I'm sad that I didn't fly Singapore or Cathay Pacific this time. Thai was tolerable, but everything else (Vietnam, Bangkok Airways, and United), you're better off starving.

Halong Bay and other final Hanoi-an thoughts

Today I made the 3-hour pilgrimage to Halong Bay, which is not only now UNESCO protected World Heritage site, but also the backdrop for one scene in the James Bond flick Tomorrow Never Dies. Alas, the weather sucked today. And by suck, I mean it really sucked. Almost zero visibility with a layer of haze wherever you looked. I must admit that that my camera skills are definitely not to the point where I knew how to deal with this yuckiness...and so there are very few photos from today's journey (scroll to the bottom for Halong Bay in grey ;)).

But nonetheless, Halong Bay, with its 2,000 limestone islands and green waters was still a sight to behold. I hope I'll get a chance to revisit one day when the weather is better. Although I have to say, it did remind me a lot of Langkawi, a trip for which I also don't have any pictures. Perhaps limestone islands and I were not meant to be.

And with that, my trip to Hanoi draws to a close. A few final Hanoi-an thoughts....

-The ice cream is really really good here. Try Fanny's (oldest in town, I think) for the "Com" or young rice (when it's in season), or right here at the Sofitel Metropole for their cinnamon or sapa honey flavours. Delish!

-Hanoi is charming. I can't really describe it. It's probably some combination of the colonial architecture mixed with the crazy chaos.

-There are no Starbucks here. Or McDonald's. The people of Hanoi just wouldn't stand for it. They'd rather sit around little tables on the street drinking and eating with their friends as they have for decades. Something about that is cool and admirable. Sucks for the Canadasian chick who likes soy almond lattes though. :(

-The coffee that they do have here, though, is great. And they like their coffee strong. If you think that Vietnamese drip coffee back in the US at your favourite pho joint is strong, think again. They use about 1/3 of the condensed milk and probably double the grounds. The result is an awesomely yummy, excruciatingly buzzing caffeine infusion. Gotta love it.

And now, it's time to pack for the journey home.

I'm a millionaire...in dongs

...that's Vietnamese dongs, the local currency. But I got your attention, didn't I? ;)

Today was my second full day in Hanoi, which means I've been successful at dodging an untimely death by Hanoi traffic for two days in a row now. I can't even begin to describe the traffic conditions here. I've been to a lot of places in the world where there's a lot of traffic congestion (Bangkok, Los Angeles), bad drivers (Delhi), and even non-law abiding drivers (Beijing), but Hanoi has got to be the first that has a wonderful, um...synergy of all three.

First, there's a LOT of traffic. And I mean all day long. I'm not sure how there can be so many people on the road at all hours of the day; perhaps nobody actually works and just drives around all day long?

Second, the traffic lights do not work, and/or not obeyed on the side streets. That means if you were standing at the crosswalk waiting for the light to turn green, forget about it. Because it's never going to turn green. Because it's never going to be turned *on*, period.

Third, the "rules of the road" (both written and ad hoc) are not obeyed in any way. For example, no one actually follows the traffic lights (see above). Also, all one-way streets can be two-way streets when necessary. Which means at any given time, on any given street, motorcycles, mopeds and cars can be going every which direction they please, regardless of what the arrows on the road indicate.

Fourth, Hanoi was not designed for pedestrians. (See aforementioned points about lack of traffic lights and compliance.) Nobody ever slows down for someone crossing the street, even if you technically have the green light, and/or are standing at a crosswalk. The only way you'll ever cross the street is to weave in and out of MOVING traffic. Some mopeds will also speed up on purpose when they see that you are trying to cross in front of them. Like I said, I'm grateful to still be alive.

I wish I could capture the cacaphonous soundtrack that is Hanoi in words. Everywhere you go, there are bikes, street vendors, pedicabs, mopeds, motorcycles, and cars. They're all honking and shouting, giving you a distinctly disturbing feeling that you are about to be run over at any moment. And yet, there's something very energizing about all of the craziness -- the city feels alive an buzzing throughout the day. But perhaps the "buzzing" could also be a result of the copious amounts of Vietnamese coffee I keep drinking all day long.

Yesterday, I walked around the Old Quarter and experienced the 36-street retail phenomenon that has been around for years, with each of the streets specializing in a particular product, ranging from silk to motorcycle seats to religious worship implements. Then it was a quick stop into SF-chef Bobby Chinn's restaurant for some good ol' American food before heading to local favourite Ipa-Nima for some retail therapy.

Today was my official "tourist" day: I hit up the Temple of Literature, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum & surrounding complex (alas, Uncle Ho was not available due to renovations and annual maintenance), and the Ngoc Son Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake. I even managed to sneak in some pho bo, and more souvenir shopping in the Old Quarter.

And tomorrow I'm off to the legendary Halong Bay, rounding out my 4-week sojourn. In some sense, it makes sense that my last full day will be on the water, having visited so many places on this trip where life evolved around the water. More overall trip thoughts will come in a couple of days -- from my favourite "trip-summing-up" place in the world, the Hong Kong airport. (All roads do lead to and from Hong Kong, don't they?)

Until then, bring on more spring rolls and coffee!

Update: "Cacaphonous soundtrack" of Hanoi captured here in a video. Thanks to Debbie for sharing her own same mind-boggling experience. ;)

But what about the food? (part 1)

Besides little snippets about my adventures in Thai cooking, or my first day in Hong Kong, I realized that I've spoken very little about all the food that I've devoured on the trip thus far. Food, of course, is a huge part of the attraction traveling to Southeast Asia. Everything from sketchy street food to hometown favourites to extravagant feasts are all available easily in Macao, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, and maybe even Cambodia. On this trip, I've learned a lot about the actual authentic "version" of many foods that we're familiar in the west. I can honestly say that I've developed a greater appreciation for foods that I used to shun, simply because I've had a chance to taste the real thing, and not some watered down, Americanized (Canadianized) version created for the western palates.

One good example is Thai curry. They come in a myriad of "colours", generally indicating their level of heat and spicyness. From yellow to red to the spicy green, I've always dismissed Thai curry as being very coconut-y and spicy but without much character beyond those two dimensions. On this trip to Thailand, I finally went through the process of learning how to make red curry paste from scratch (all Thai curries start from a paste, which is then mellowed out by the addition of coconut milk and other spices as necessary), and learning the contents and taste of each underlying component of the paste. I also learned about a tell-tale sign of whether or not a curry is well made -- the layer of red oil must be present (and distinct) on top of the curry to indicate that the curry paste itself was well-cooked before coconut milk was added to the curry. Many restaurants outside Thailand change or rush through this step in order to prevent the red oil from floating to the top as to not offend or scare away health-conscious diners.

Some food highlights from the first half of the trip:

Macao
Hands down, the Portuguese egg tart takes the prize for most memorable food. Although sold in a lot of places, Lord Stow's Bakery is supposedly the place that actually invented them, and sells the best tasting ones in town.

Hong Kong
My favourite non-Chinese meal has got to be the one from Amber at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel (thank you, Olivia!). Although we skipped the 10 course tasting menu, we did end up picking the highlights recommended by the server. We knew the meal was going to be different when the amuse bouche consisted of not one but three dishes, one of which was a foie gras bite that required a plastic pipette of raspberry sauce to be "squirted" into the diner's mouth once the foie gras was in your mouth. (And I won't go into the phallic presentation of that particular dish!) The Iberico ham appetizer, served slightly warmed on a "pyramid" (more like a tangine stove with a tea light inside) with toasted bread and a white radish salad was a winner. As were the braised beef short ribs (served boneless), and the john dory in a surprisingly light tomato broth with aubergine stuffed calamari.

Dinner at Opia was also pretty good -- the seared foie gras with chocolate mousse was the most memorable dish from that meal!

As for Chinese food, I could go on and on. However, this time around, I definitely found that I leaned towards more casual, "street" food that's usually harder to find in Vancouver or North America, for that matter. Hand made fish balls in rice noodle soup, hand-wrapped sticky rice with dried pork, warm egg tarts and pineapple buns fresh from the oven, stewed cow tripe, and freshly made tofu dessert make me salivate just thinking about them. The sheer accessibility of good, cheap food in Hong Kong never ceases to amaze me.

Only food regret from the Hong Kong leg was the lack of roasted goose (my favourite from the venerable Yung Kee). Due to reports of avian flu in mainland China, goose imports were halted temporarily for precisely the one week that we were there. *Sigh*

All this talk about food is getting me hungry...more on the 2nd half of the trip's eats another day!

Cambodia and the "Angelina Effect"

Ask anyone in the Siem Reap if they know who Angelina Jolie is, and their faces will light up as they share their own story about an Angelina encounter (or two). The Cambodian people like the pouffy-lipped actress so much that they granted her Cambodian citizenship (good luck traveling with that passport). You can argue that she has singlehandedly increased awareness for Cambodia, both its plight and its cultural riches, more so than their tourism board or government could ever hope to. Indeed, the two temples that were featured in the first Tomb Raider movie, Angkor Wat and Ta Phrom, are now the two most-visited places on the Angkor temples circuit. In addition, she has also donated $1 million towards conservation and preservation of natural areas in the southern part of Cambodia. $1 million dollars in a country where the average monthly salary is $30 is a whole lot of money. While in Cambodia, I must admit that I, too, have been impressed by the "Angelina Effect", and have to tip my hat to Ms. Jolie for her generosity and humanity.

Yesterday, I visited a few more temples: Angkor Wat (again, but just for the sunrise), Beng Mealea, Bantaey Srei, and the aforementioned Ta Phrom. Beng Mealea was definitely a sight to behold -- almost completely run over by the jungle, the temple was "discovered" only ten years or so ago, and hasn't really received any funds to be restored. As a result, the place feels like a lost city, with piles of rubble from parts of the temple that had collapsed, and vines and tree roots twisted everywhere. At the same time, the place also had an eerie sense of calm. Fewer tourists come to this part of the Angkor temples, as it's at least an hour's drive outside of Siem Reap, so I almost had the whole place to myself.

Bantaey Srei was an interesting contrast because of both its appearance and its scale. The entire temple was really small (the doorways were barely as tall as me), and the entire place was made of pink sandstone instead of the grey sandstone used at all of the other Angkor temples. It was also extremely well preserved, and the intricate carvings were absolutely beautiful. Of course, I was partial to the apsaras carvings. :)

And last but not least, Ta Phrom. It was the last temple I visited yesterday, and also the last one on this trip. And there's definitely some truth to leaving the best for last. Like Beng Mealea, Ta Phrom also looks run over by the jungle -- mostly the local "strangler fig" trees who, well, strangle the buildings with their roots. Ta Phrom is also home to what's probably now the most photographed tree in the world -- the one that was featured in Tomb Raider from which Angelina plucked a flower before falling into the "tomb" (which was of course, a set). Ta Phrom was also really beautiful -- I'm glad it was the last temple I visited since it's probably hard to top the views and beautiful weather (and hence lighting) that I saw there.

Tonight, I bid adieu to Cambodia for the last stop on my trip -- Hanoi, Vietnam. Thanks for the memories, Cambodia. It's been fun.

Siem Reap, Angkor Wat, and deja deja deja vu

I'm sitting here sipping an iced coffee at the Cafe de la Paix at my hotel. As I stare outside the "rush hour" traffic is rushing by: cars, bike, trucks, and the local motos, all getting people home as they would in any other city anywhere in the world. But as I've learned today, Siem Reap is not just any city. As the closest town to the current hottest tourist destination in town (that's the Angkor temples, in case you were confused), Siem Reap has experienced a tourist boom and an onslaught of foreigners in this once sleepy countryside neighbourhood.

And yet, there are things about Siem Reap (and Cambodia in general) that continue to shock and surprise me. The country and its people are poor, very poor, and yet, everyone I see has a cell phone (usually a very trendy one), and there is an amazingly well-connected mobile network even when electricity supply is often spotty. We often get power surges at the hotel, and yet, I was able to check my email and send text messages right in the middle of Angkor Wat. Go figure.

The US dollar is the unofficial official currency here. When I went to "change money" at the front desk with a $20 bill (everything is very cheap here), the hotel clerk simply broke my 20 into smaller US denominations. I looked at him confused, but he shrugged and said that "we use US dollars here." And true enough, everyone from the Angkor tourism office to the little lunch stand on the side of the road had their prices in US dollars.

"It's like Venice, but not..." -- it's the 4th time on the trip that I've said this. This time, it's referring to the floating village of Chong Kneas, where there is literally an entire village of people who live on the water in house boats, stilt houses, and just plain boats on the Tonle Sap Lake. Even schools and hospitals are floating, and every year, the entire village migrates around the lake depending on the season. When the dry season arrives, they move further towards the centre of the lake since the water level can drop by several metres. The reverse happens when monsoon season comes around.

My hotel is another anomaly in this city. Operated by the trendy company that brought Bangkok's Bed Supper Club, the Hotel de la Paix is something of a modern oasis here in Siem Reap. Although nearly 100 hotels have sprung up in the area in the last few years, the de la Paix is probably the only one that will make you think that you are in London or New York the moment you step inside. The lobby is a public-space-slash-art-gallery-cum-bar-lounge that houses modern Khmer and Cambodian art work. The rooms are equipped with iPods and speakers -- the iPods even have preloaded podcasts of Angkor temple e-tours.

And of course, how could I not discuss Angkor? The temples at Angkor are really an amazing sight. Today I visited the main Angkor Wat temple (Angkor Wat, by the way, only refer to one temple -- the largest one -- in the entire Angkor area), and the ancient city of Angkor Thom. The symbolism used throughout the buildings were definitely deja vu; everything from Hindu influences (the 5 Angkor Wat towers were built to represent the three Hindu gods and their consorts), Buddhist elements, and the universal concepts of heaven and hell are repeated over and over again.

For example, the heaven and hell bas-reliefs in Angkor Wat reminded me of the Judgment Day depictions on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Beautiful apsaras (celestial dancers) figures adorn all of the temples, not unlike sirens or faeries in western mythology. As the largest Hindu temple in the world, the structure of Angkor Wat, with its giant moat representing the ocean, Naga bridging the ocean and the land, the concentric galleries the mountains, and the towers which represent Mt. Meru were consistent with the structures that we saw in Chiang Mai.

I think Bayon at Angkor Thom is probably my favourite temple so far. Built in a slightly different style from Angkor Wat, Bayon has an eerie mystical aura which remind me of a lost city.

Tomorrow I am off to attempt to see the sun rise at Angkor Wat. And then...more temples, including Ta Phrom, now better known as the temple that has the tree that was in Tomb Raider -- I guess that's all part of the legacy that Angelina Jolie has left for this country. *sigh*

And in case you missed on those "contextual" links, the photos from today are here.

Benevolent Bangkok

My second trip to Bangkok draws to a close. I must say that Bangkok has definitely come a long way since my first trip 2 years ago. I can't believe all of the new buildings (including the new airport, of course) that have sprung up over such a short time. Bangkok is really coming into her own as a world class city.

This time around, I did a little less sightseeing and a little more cultural exploration. Yesterday I took a cooking course at the venerable Blue Elephant (its restaurant is something of a Bangkok institution). Our instructor took us on a tour of a nearby market and explained various Thai spices and foods that I've never even seen before. Did you know that it takes about 50 fish to make one kilogram of base for the yummy Thai fish cakes? Or that supermarkets in Bangkok charge 2 to 3 times as much for exotic (to us) / local (to them) fruits such as dragon fruit and rambutan?

In my class, we learned how to make: a) Yellow Curry with Prawn, b) Spicy Chicken soup, c) Cashew chicken stir-fry, and d) Deep fried sea bass with green mango salad. All yummy Thai goodness, I tell you. Did you know that yellow curry is actually just red curry paste (which is less spicy than green curry) mixed with curry powder? We even learned how to make red curry paste from scratch -- during which I learned that if I were Thai, no one would marry me because I pounded the pestle too hard while grinding the chili. Go figure. ;-)

In short, I was once again struck by the awesome friendliness and kind hospitality of the Thai people. Everywhere you went, people smiled and bowed their heads, greeting each other with their palms held together and saying "sawatdee kaa" (if you're female). Everything is ridiculously affordable, yet western amenities are still widely available. If it weren't for the weather which kicks my ass (90% humidity all 4 days we were here), I would definitely come back more often (17 hour flight from LAX bedamned). Thailand rocks! (That, and staying at the Peninsula and getting upgraded to one of the presidential suites doesn't hurt either. ;))

My parents are safely headed home via Seoul, and I continue my journey solo. Tonight I head to Siem Reap in Cambodia, where three days of Angkor Wat magic await me. Khop khun kaa, Thailand.