The full day class had us making 6 dishes and curry paste (to make our own curry). We started with soup, of which we had 4 different choices, though everybody save one chose Coconut Soup. The process for making each dish was fairly similar: Nancy passed around a plate of one ingredient, we would take however many she told us, then she would tell us what to do with that ingredient; chop, slice, or in the case of garlic and chili peppers, smashing and dicing :) We got to adapt the recipes as we chose, I passed over mushrooms for one dish, we could add or subtract sugar and other flavors, and for each dish we chose the number of chilies that went in.
After the soup we made noodles (Pad Thai), then an appetizer (spring rolls, mango salad), a stir-fry (chicken with cashew nut), dessert (so it could cool as we cooked -- we made sticky mango rice and bananas in coconut milk), then curry paste, and finally curry.
After each dish we took a break from cooking to eat, so by the end we were so full. We did take away our leftovers, but everyone wanted to try each dish fresh, so we ate too much anyway :) Everyone had a great time and we also really enjoyed the company of our classmates: two lady friends (one from Australia, one from London) were enjoying a day away from families, and an international couple (the man from Australia and the lady from the Czech Republic, who were both living together in London). Both groups were interesting to talk with and there was never a dull or quiet moment.
Everyone loved the class and it was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. I have taken cooking class at home, but they were pretty pathetic. This was a really great experience and I hope to put it to good use when I get home!
We had expected that the end of the class would be the end of our day, but we learned that on Sunday there was a walking market in the Old City (we also learned that today was Sunday, which no one had been keeping track of).
So at 5 we hopped on the boat shuttle and cruised down the river into town. We found the market and got to work spending money. After about an hour and a half, some members of the party were quite ready to leave, so we tried to find our way out. Unfortunately, we chose the wrong direction. As the streets became more and more crowded, we got more and more stuck. It took us 2 hours to find our way out (though we continued to shop throughout) and when we finally caught a taxi back, everyone was tired and grumpy. But we made it back alive and the burden on our purses much lightened, so it was worth it in the end.
By the time we left, the market was insanely crowded. It was a struggle to force our way through the crowds to the exit. In addition to being the Sunday market, it appears it was combined with some sort of countdown festival for New Years. Large paper 'balloons' as they called them, were lit with a flame and launched into the sky to float off into the darkness. They were very pretty.
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